WPMU DEV Member Highlight: Mustafa Uysal

Hiya folks!

So we discuss a wide variety of topics here on WPMU.org and from time to time you’ll hear an announcement about a new product or addition to the team over on our sister site, WPMU DEV.  That’s really where I spend a majority of my time, and I gotta tell you, it seems every day some new idea, tool, snippet or site comes across my screen that is downright impressive and brings a smile to my face.

We even have a showcase page with many of the awesome sites that are using or powered-by WPMU DEV products.  Pictures are pretty, of course, but behind that site or service is a real-live person who’s working hard and using our products and services to get the job done.  We’ve decided it would be fun to go ahead in 2012 and feature one member each month right here on WPMU.org.

Our first one of the year is Mustafa Uysal, creator of the niche blogging site, LettoBlog.  Read on to hear Mustafa’s story.

1. What was your inspiration for starting LettoBlog?

The starting point for LettoBlog was to create a simple, powerful, functional and compatible blogging service. Secondly I wanted to create a local WordPress market for Turkey. I decided to go for it and LettoBlog was born.

2. I see you have a whole team on LettoBlog.  How did you all meet and decide to work together?

When I decided to begin the LettoBlog Project I discussed it with my brother first and he joined as a “tech ninja”.  Then I told and invited a few of my friends and they joined.  Our big advantage is that my bro is a computer engineer and I’m a student at computer and instructional technology department, so we have many friends with an interest in WordPress.

3. How did you decide on WordPress as the software for your services?

WordPress is a powerful CMS (since version 3.0) and, in fact, maybe the best reason is the “Developer Community.”  Many developer clubs sell their WordPress products such as plugins and themes. This allowed us to purchase what we need, and we haven’t needed more development.

Also personally, I’m big fan of Automattic’s open-source approach. I believe that these guys are really working at “making the web a better place.”

And finally, many success stories (edublogs.org, blog.com) encourages me to use WordPress.  I trust WordPress and decided to use it as our web software.

 4. What were your biggest obstacles in getting LettoBlog running?

WordPress updates are really tough for us.  We are using over 350 plugins and themes so when we want to update platform, we need to test their compatibility.  On the other hand, sometimes server management becomes a challenge for us as well.

 5. Which WPMU DEV products have you found most useful?

In fact we are using many WPMU DEV products.  But the most useful plugins: multi-db, Pro Sites, domain mapping, and MarketPress.  I want to thank WPMU DEV for offering these products and being our valuable partner.

6. What product or feature would you most like to see developed by WPMU DEV in the future?
Actually I know some improvements but specifically, a stats plugin and spam protection plugin (such as akismet) would be great.

So there ya have it.  Many thanks again to Mustafa for taking the time to respond to the interview.  Do you have a fantastic site using WPMU DEV products?  I’d love to hear from you and discuss the possibility of being one of our featured members this year.

Drop me a line via our contact form.  Please mark it to my attention in the subject and include a link to your site and a list of products in your initial contact.  There’s only 12 months this year (natch) and one of them is already taken so availability will be very limited!