Google failed me, AI didn't


👋 Hello nerds!

After last week's article, I bet some of you thought I'd ditched WordPress entirely. Not true! While I'm leaning more into Rails for app development, I'm definitely still playing with WordPress.

The Challenge

During my recent website redesign, I wanted to add a consistent post intro. Simple enough, right?

The block editor lets you add excerpts above content, but they don't show up when editing posts. I wanted the editing experience to match the frontend as closely as possible, so that wasn't going to cut it.

The Search

I'd Googled this problem before but never found a simple solution (and honestly, this should be simple). So this time, I asked Claude to help me build something custom.

The Surprise

​Claude came back with a simple snippet, just a couple of lines of code. I was shocked. I'd mentally prepared for a half-day project.

The issue? I'd been Googling the wrong terms, but Claude instantly understood what I was trying to accomplish and found the simplest solution.

Why This Matters

This has become my favorite way to use AI for coding. You can describe what you want in plain English, and it fills in the technical gaps you might be missing. You still need enough knowledge to ask good questions, but AI bridges those knowledge gaps you didn't know you had.

Your Turn

How are you using AI in your development workflow? I'd love to hear about it, just hit reply and let me know!

Keep Creating!
Chris

P.S. Do you use Instagram? I share a lot of behind the scenes on there, give me a follow and see how I run my business!

113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​

NerdNotes | Learn. Build. Ship.

Join readers of Build Log gaining an edge on their own indie maker adventure. The wisdom, tips, and inspiration you need for your own product building journey.

Read more from NerdNotes | Learn. Build. Ship.

👋 Hello Nerds! Today, I want to dive into one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced this year while traveling: finding time to work. As we move from one place to another, the days we’re not on the road are often spent exploring our current location. Balancing work with this lifestyle has required some creative solutions. Working in the car? One strategy I’ve adopted is working in the car. Yes, you read that right—in the car! It’s not always easy, battling the sun’s glare, the bumps on the...

👋 Hello! You can read this on CH.com if you prefer. You can always edit it…. As developers we can login to FTP, open the file, and make the change. It is that easy. Don’t overthink it. As a designer you can adjust that landing page design later, or fix the social template post launch. We spend so much time hoping to get it just perfect. But the truth is, we need to focus on getting the MVP out there. Figure out the core functionality and focus on that. Once that is ready, ship it. You can add...

Hello! When I first had the idea for Block by Block, I was excited. I opened up Notion and started to write out the idea and concept furiously. I was ready to go all in. But then I slowed myself down. I needed to validate the idea before I spent my time on it. Validation You can validate an idea in many ways. My process is quite simple. I look for tiny moments of validation and let them continue building on each other. These moments continue to stack up, which creates momentum for your idea....