About me

Building for the web since 2011

I’m Matt Hummel, a WordPress and full-stack developer in Gettysburg, PA. I build themes, plugins, and web apps that owners can update on their own, with code the next developer can pick up without a headache.

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About

How I got here

I got my start in 2011 doing web work for a community college’s marketing office. Landing pages, news posts, event updates, and a lot of time figuring out why a page that looked fine still wasn’t getting clicks. That job taught me more about what people need from a website than any course did.

WordPress is the tool I kept coming back to. Most small businesses need to change things on their own: update hours, add a product, fix a typo. They shouldn’t have to email a developer and wait. I still build with that in mind.

From 2021 to 2026 I also worked as a contractor in SharePoint and Microsoft Power Platform, building Power Apps and Power Automate flows that replaced paper forms and email chains. That work is covered by NDAs, so I keep the details general here. I enjoyed it, but WordPress is the one I love most.

Today WordPress is my focus. I build themes, plugins, and web apps for shops, tours, inns, real estate agents, and agencies. Most of my earlier work belonged to my employers, so my public GitHub starts in 2025. The full history is in the resume below.

When I’m not coding, I’m a dad to twin boys. I love fishing, camping, and taking photos while I explore Gettysburg, which is a great place to live if you’re into Civil War history like I am. Every so often I sneak in a video game too.

Matt with his wife and twin sons in front of a red covered bridge in Gettysburg
Matt’s wife and twin sons walking hand in hand down a grassy hill toward a red barn in Gettysburg
Black and white photo of Civil War cannons in the snow at Gettysburg
Low-angle photo of a Civil War cannon on the Gettysburg battlefield under a blue sky
Campfire burning outside a small wooden cabin at a wooded campsite at dusk
Stone arch marking Spangler’s Spring on the Gettysburg battlefield
Matt Hummel, WordPress developer
Matt Hummel
Full-stack and WordPress developer · Gettysburg, PA

How I work

You own everything at handoff

Before we wrap up, your hosting, domain, database, and Git repo all live in accounts under your name. The theme, plugins, and deploy notes come with the site, so another developer can take over without guessing.

If you can’t edit it, it isn’t done

I build with Sage 11, Blade, Tailwind, and native WordPress blocks, so you edit pages the normal WordPress way. No page builder. If updating your hours or a product takes more than a couple of minutes, I keep working.

I use AI, and I review every line

Claude and ChatGPT help me scaffold features and write first-draft PHP. I read, test, and take responsibility for everything that ships, from the Vite build to the GitHub Actions deploy.

Code the next developer can read

Custom features go in small plugins with standard hooks and PHPDoc comments. Templates stay free of business logic. Markup is semantic, works with a keyboard, and has strong color contrast. Any function should make sense to a new developer in about 30 seconds.

Services

What I build

WordPress is my specialty. When a project needs more, like an API, a React front end, or a deploy pipeline, I build that too. I’ve been doing in-house web work since 2011.

WordPress sites

New builds, cleanups of sites that got messy, and themes you can edit yourself. I keep the plugin list short and only add what the site uses. See theme development.

Plugins and tools

Custom plugins for when WordPress doesn’t do what you need out of the box. Each one is small, documented, and easy for the next developer to follow. See plugin development.

Full-stack web applications

React front ends, PHP or Node back ends, logins, databases, APIs, and deploy workflows, built to work together and stay easy to maintain.

Want the details? See all my services, including how I work with agencies.

Selected work

Selected work

A few recent themes and plugins. I built each one so the owner can edit it and the next developer can read it.

4 projects Browse all

Experience

Experience

Newest first: freelance WordPress and full-stack work, Power Platform and SharePoint contract work, and nine years running a college website.

Role
WordPress / full-stack PHP
Stack
WordPress, PHP, custom themes & plugins
Timezone
America/New_York (ET)
Location
Gettysburg, PA · remote OK
Experience
Web work since 2011 · public WordPress work since 2025
Availability
Full-time, contract, freelance, agency overflow
LinkedIn

  1. Current

    WordPress Developer

    Matt Hummel

    Freelance · Remote

    • WordPress sites shops can edit, built with Sage 11, Blade, Tailwind, and Vite.
    • Public themes and plugins on GitHub so other developers can read the work.
    • Open to agencies, overflow dev work, and full-time roles. Remote anywhere.

  2. Senior Consultant

    Saliense

    Government Contract · Remote

    • Scoped and delivered Power Platform solutions for federal agency clients — from requirements intake to production deployment.
    • Built canvas PowerApps replacing legacy paper and email processes for government operations teams.
    • Designed Power Automate approval flows that reduced manual hand-off time on multi-step government workflows.
    • Served as technical point of contact between agency stakeholders and the development team.

  3. Applications and SharePoint Administrator

    All Native Group · Federal Services Division

    Government Contract · Remote

    • Administered SharePoint Online environments across multiple government site collections — permissions, views, content types, and governance.
    • Migrated legacy InfoPath forms and Designer workflows to PowerApps and Power Automate.
    • Provided Tier 1 and Tier 2 support to SharePoint and PowerApps users across federal teams.
    • Documented system configurations and standard operating procedures for handoff.

  4. SharePoint Web Developer

    Knowledge Capital Associates — USMC Contractor

    Government Contract

    • Built and maintained SharePoint sites for Marine Corps operational teams.
    • Led migration of SharePoint 2013 on-premises sites to SharePoint Online.
    • Replaced InfoPath forms with PowerApps and legacy Designer workflows with Power Automate.
    • Configured site collection architecture, navigation, and permissions to agency standards.

  5. Web Developer

    Germanna Community College

    Full-time · Public Information and Marketing

    • Led a full rebuild of the college's public-facing WordPress site — designed, developed, and handed off to non-technical staff who edited it daily.
    • Brought all public-facing pages into WCAG 2.0 / Section 508 compliance during a major site audit.
    • Implemented Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to support institutional marketing reporting.
    • Managed day-to-day content for Public Information and Marketing — news, events, department pages.

Skills and tools

The tools I use on client work and in my public repos, grouped by where they show up.

Front-end

9
  • HTMLSemantic markup
  • CSSLayout and tokens
  • JavaScriptUI behavior
  • TypeScriptTyped front ends
  • ReactComponent UIs
  • Next.jsReact apps
  • TailwindUtility CSS
  • SassStylesheets
  • ViteAsset pipeline

WordPress

3
  • PHPThemes and plugins
  • WordPressCMS builds
  • SageBlade + Vite themes

Ship

5
  • Node.jsTooling and APIs
  • LaravelPHP framework
  • GitVersion control
  • GitHubRepos and Actions
  • VS CodeDaily editor

Platforms and automation

2
  • Power AppsCanvas apps
  • n8nWorkflow automation

My contract work is under NDA, so the clients and project details stay private. Hiring managers can ask for a walkthrough of what I’m able to share.

Open source

Open-source code on GitHub

Sage themes, WordPress plugins, and small web apps that other developers can read and fork. The numbers below pull from GitHub automatically.

Synced from the GitHub API 25 minutes ago

Public repos
29
Contributions, last 12 months
1,764
Active days
78 about 23 a day
Current streak
9 days best 14
Stars earned
10
Followers
78

Last push to WP Cobbleandcandle,

Last 90 days

1,661 contributions in the last 90 days. Busiest day in 12 months: 110 contributions on Oct 2.

What the contributions are

Last 12 months

  • Commits 1,132 65%
  • Pull requests 606 35%
  • Reviews 3 <1%
  • Issues 0 0%

Active on 65 of the last 90 days.

Busiest day in 12 months: 110 contributions on Oct 2.

Recent activity

On GitHub →
  1. Pushed to feat/bnb-patterns in wp-cobbleandcandle
  2. Reviewed a pull request in wp-cobbleandcandle
  3. Opened pull request #41 in wp-cobbleandcandle
  4. Merged pull request #40 in wp-cobbleandcandle
  5. Merged pull request #39 in wp-cobbleandcandle
  6. Opened pull request #40 in wp-cobbleandcandle

Pinned on GitHub

These are the repos pinned to my GitHub profile, the ones I send developers to first. When I change my pins, this list catches up within the hour.

Questions

Common questions

Don’t see your question? Just ask.

What does “you own it” mean?

The domain, hosting, database, and code are all yours. After handoff, I don’t have access unless you invite me back. Any developer can pick up where I left off.

Do you do design, or just development?

Development. I can build from your design or from a clear reference site. If you need original design, I’ll refer you to a designer instead of guessing at it.

How long does a WordPress site usually take?

A simple site usually takes two to three weeks. Custom fields or online booking can push it to four to eight. You’ll get a realistic estimate when we scope the project.

Can I edit the site myself after handoff?

Yes. Pages use standard WordPress blocks, so editing works like any other WordPress site. If anything works differently, I’ll explain it in plain English before handoff.

Do you work with agencies?

Yes. I’m happy to stay in the background on agency work. Pricing is per project. Send me a note about what you need.

Is GitHub the start of your career?

No. I’ve done in-house web work since 2011, but most of it belonged to my employers and can’t be shown. My public GitHub starts in 2025.

Do you only do WordPress?

No. WordPress is my specialty, but I also build React interfaces, PHP and Node APIs, Power Platform apps, and deploy pipelines.

What projects aren’t a good fit?

Design-only projects (I can refer a designer), sites needed in less than a week, ongoing social media or ad management, and large custom ecommerce platforms built from scratch.

Get in touch

Hire a WordPress or full-stack developer

Full-time, contract, freelance, or agency overflow. Tell me a little about what you’re working on, and I’ll usually get back to you within one business day (Eastern).

Say hello
@matthummel-pa

Remote · within one business day (ET)