Every year around this time I reflect over the past year, and consider the people, products, and events that shape the direction I took over the past year. This is the first of three posts. This first post is focused on WordPress (the CMS platform) since a lot of my work revolves around this awesome software. The second post deals with my personal growth over the past year, and this year will focus heavily on my involvement with the fire department. The third post is my “crystal ball” post in which I look at the future that is 2012 and pontificate about changes I see coming and changes I WISH will happen.

I have built a career on top of WordPress. For the past two years I’ve been blazing new trails with WebDesign.com training business leaders, educators, freelancers, developers, designers and people who are life long learners how to use and maximize the potential of WordPress. We’ve dug deep into the code and development aspects of building rock-solid websites with cutting edge functionality. We’ve been dissecting the individual necessary elements that when combined create a comprehensive SEO strategy for success. We’ve been going “right-brained” on design and creativity while striving to harness the power of design tools like Photoshop, Pixelmator, and more. We’ve detailed the roadmap required to become a successful business owner and freelancer. All in all, this has been an exciting and fascinating year. We’ve got so much in store for the upcoming year at WebDesign.com and I’d like invite you to take a closer look at who we are and what types of training and community we can provide for you.

But I realize this year would not have been possible without the amazing talents of many people within the WordPress ecosystem. So I wanted to take a moment to thank many of them and I’m sure some have no idea they have had any such influence on a large group of members at WebDesign.com. So without further delay, here are some of my top influential people within the WordPress world.

Chris Jean

Chris is the lead developer over at iThemes.com and the brilliant brain child of the Builder Theme. Chris exemplifies the words of Lao Tzu when he said that “to see things in the seed, that is genius”. Chris is able to see complex topics/solutions/ideas and see them from the littlest element and what that small tool/code/sample could become. Plus, Chris knows how to turn that little element into the fully fleshed out practical tool that he originally envisioned. His love of code, logic, and the ability to think through solving problems has been an inspiration to me. Plus, his Builder theme which enables all levels of programmers/developers/designers to harness immense amounts of power in crafting websites. So to you Chris, I raise my glass of holiday egg nog!

Carl Hancock

For many people Carl’s name is synonymous with Gravity Forms. But really it is Carl and his team that have done so much to shape the direction of premium plugins within the WordPress ecosystem. Carl’s dedication to ease-of-use, accessibility to advanced functionality, and a rock-solid plugin is a great blueprint for any other plugin developers to heed. Gravity Forms has revolutionized the toolbox of freelance and professional development studios. Gravity Forms is now one of the “must install” plugins that should be on every single WordPress installation. Gravity Forms allows me to point the community of WebDesign.com to the plugin as a solution for many of their problems. So to Carl and the Gravity Forms team, this second glass of egg nog goes to you.

Dustin Bolton

Dustin has the ability to change an entire industry. He did this with a homerun right out of the gate as the lead developer at PluginBuddy with BackupBuddy. BackupBuddy single-handedly changed the way developers worked with and backed up their WordPress sites. BackupBuddy allowed for simple (and complex) site migrations from different servers, automated backups, and so much more. Like Gravity Forms, BackupBuddy is a “must install” plugin for WordPress. And for many developers and studios using WordPress, BackupBuddy has created a new revenue stream as they are easily able to automate backup solutions for clients. Dustin (and your PluginBuddy team), I was able to get a special coupon code for buying one egg nog and getting two for free. This one’s for you.

Scott Kingsley Clark

Sometimes a person has to think outside the box to not only get something done but to change the way people interact with technology. And as Steve Jobs said, “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” Scott Kingsley Clark and the team he works with on the Pods plugin is the embodiment of that type of thinking. WordPress had an issue and pods solved that issue and allowed developers to have little relational databases of content existing inside of WordPress. Pods provided a new way of dealing with data in WordPress, from creating new content systems to a simple way to customize thousands of dynamically created pages. Pods even powers a large portion of the WebDesign.com training library. So Scott and the pods developers out there… $pods->showTemplate(‘MassiveGlassofEggNog’);

Justin Tadlock & Pippin Williamson

I put Justin Tadlock (Hybrid Theme) and Pippin Williamson (Pippin’s Plugins) together because they both have a great desire to not only educate the WordPress community about developing with WordPress but are also committed to releasing great products that add useful tools to the WordPress community and WordPress itself. Whether it is Justin’s Members plugin or Hybrid theme, or Pippins’ Easy Custom Post Type plugin or his Post Type Column Editor, these two developers are good at identifying needs within the community and providing solid solutions. And to Justin and Pippin, I drain the final bit of egg nog in your honor.

These six individuals have shaped my approach to development and also shaped how I teach development. It is my opinion that these six individuals have made WordPress a better community to be a part of and I’m thankful that they are who they are. And while there are many people who have great influence in the WordPress ecosystem, I wanted to highlight these six who have had tremendous impact in the WordPress community.

Who do you think in the industry has changed the way you worked with WordPress this past year?