An Interview with "Sundog"

Larry "Sundog" Pollock was kind enough to entertain some questions for my latest interview. Sundog is well-known for his contributions to the RapidWeaver community, including outstanding support, the inside RapidWeaver website, a book and a new theme called Squeeze. Enjoy!

RapidWeaved: First off I'd like to ask a couple of questions concerning your involvement in the RapidWeaver community. When did you begin using RW and what was your previous experience with website design?

Sundog: I started to notice RW in the summer of 2005. I was using Dreamweaver but had become frustrated with the time it took to make changes to a site. But I had a hard time at first understanding how RW worked. Also, at that time the number of themes was very limited. When RW 3.2 was released in the fall I finally purchased a copy. But it still took me a month to really let go of the DW way. RW revitalized my desire to learn, build and expand my knowledge of all things "web". It made it fun again.

RapidWeaved: You are the lone "Prodigy" in the forums with an absurd amount of posts -- a majority of which are answering questions or providing some type of support to users. What drives you to be so involved and help so many people?

Sundog: LOL, I had no intent to get involved with the Forum at first. I tentatively posted a few times when I saw something I thought I understood. It was not until Tom Beardmore, the big Kahuna at that time, and a group of other folks announced they where going to take some time away to build a Learning Center on RW that I said I would step up to the plate as best I could and take on the support questions. At that time everyone thought that might be 30 to 60 days. I thought "I can do extra support for that time". As it turned out Tom had to take care of LIFE and has been unable to return.

I quickly found out that I really enjoy helping folks. But if everyone knew this one thing, they would all be trying to help: "The Teach Always Learns More Than The Students!". When folks ask a question I get the opportunity to say to myself "how would I do that?" Then I get try it out. Especially in the first 1.5 years. But the learning continues. Bottom line, I get back more than I give.

RapidWeaved: You created inside RapidWeaver as another resource for the community. How did you come up with the idea for the site and how did it evolve?

Sundog: I had shied away from doing anything that might require my support and add to my work load. I have a business that is in 5 countries already that is outside of the tech community. It was on a trip in July driving from Seattle to San Diego that I woke up and told my wife I was going it write books about RW and how to use it. I started writing ideas down as fast as I could write. It just sort of happened all at once, I had the desire and clarity and just "knew" I was ready to do this. I mentioned this to Nik (Sarge) and he offered the domain he had been sitting on and transferred it to me.

Since I had not built a theme from scratch and wanted a special look for Inside Rapidweaver I ended up having ADHD Graphics do some mock ups and the rest is "history".

RapidWeaved: RWcss, a book you wrote about modifying themes, took your support a step further. Can you describe the process of writing the book?

Sundog: That is interesting. I have written marketing pieces and ads for years. But, I had never written a book. Let alone a technical manual! I truly felt I have so much to learn my first pause was "who are you to write a how to book?!". Finally I thought "if not me, then who?!"

The way my mind works is to just sleep on it for a few days and then let an outline flow out on paper. I keep adding notes and thoughts about what RWcss should be like. Then I just simply start writing! I know it may sound strange, but I sort of let it flow out without edits at first. While doing this I start to get more ideas and see what may be missing.

RapidWeaved: What was the most difficult part of writing RWcss?

Sundog: The real hard part for me, and the part that takes the most time, is editing and perfecting. You have no idea how many times I looked it over, had it looked over by 3 other folks and then by me again several times. It is a process very much like reading code, word by word, line by line. I start with a larger scan of each page in hard copy making notes and then I go very slow over it again, and again... And much like software, it is never perfect but at some point you have to release it into the "wild" and then you will get the rest of the info you need to perfect it.

RapidWeaved: You recently took another step and entered into theme development. What has been your experience with that so far?

Sundog: First off I have to give huge Kudos to all the Developers who have been doing this for a while. It is a very different process from doing modifications of existing themes. I have modified lots of them. But starting with a blank theme SDK, CSSEdit, PlistEdit Pro and Textwrangler is a different animal for sure. I really found out my weak areas of understanding and had some frustration at times when I hit a wall and could not solve an issue. IE6 and 7 gave me some pause but I managed to get over it with some sage advice from Gary Byrd at RapidWeaverThemes and Chris over at Varsis Studios . I also received some nice advice from Giuseppe Caruso at Bonsai Studio and Henk Vrieselaar . OK, I drop their names and URLs as they deserve the acknowledgement!

I'm ready now to do more. Squeeze is a foundation theme. Next I will start doing some with interesting images and graphics. Hope to find a niche and style of my own.

RapidWeaved: What, if any, reservations did you have as you considered developing your own themes?

Sundog: Support. Do I have the time to do the support needed? Also I had to ask the same question as I did with the book, "do I know enough to write good quality themes?" The answer is one I have known for years. "You will never know it all until you are involved". In other words, there never is a time before before diving in that you will have enough information to feel totally comfortable. It's the old "arm chair quarterback" thing. It is easy to give advice and criticize from the sidelines but you truly won't have the knowledge unless you're on the "field".

RapidWeaved: How has the response to Squeeze been so far?

Sundog: Just fine. I would say moderate sales right now. Hey, it's the Holidays, there are lots of themes on the market and Holiday Specials going on too. Folks prioritize their $. I think in the long run it will sell well.

RapidWeaved: Any further ambitions you're considering for 2008?

Sundog: Weelllll, YES! But if I told you, I would have to kill you! (lol, not really). I do have a project in the works that will be announced in the next month I believe. It is a joint venture with a well-known person in the community. It will be something that will evolve and expand a lot over 2008.

I will do more themes and get more books out too I hope.

And I hope to keep up on some of the support on the Forum too. The Forum has matured nicely and I find I am needed less and less as there are more and more folks who can answer the questions. This is good. As my post count shows, I was doing a lot almost everyday. Now I get to let the community take it on. I am sure others who have been doing support for the last few years along side me feel the same too. We can be more selective and jump in where needed. One more thought on this, as RW grows and matures further I think you will see folks like myself being more specialized. I love CSS but have a few other areas I would like to expand my knowledge on.

RapidWeaved: Last question. It's summer in Arizona and you have to choose one: your hat or your sunglasses?

Sundog: Sunglasses! Definitely. Keep me away from the sunglasses counter. Keep Maui Jims away! I am a sucker for nice looking SGs. Hey, the difference between you and me is, I make these look goooooood!