Jonathan Stubbs

Via peter : 12 Feb 08 : interview, tennis, textpattern, txp

Jonathan was born in Wimbledon, has lived and coached tennis players in Dubai, Brunei, Bangalore and Barcelona, likes to visit Rome because it's like walking in history (and has the most incredible food) and has a Norwegian wife.

TXPQ What is life all about?

JS Life is about living a passionate existence - finding joy every day and trying to make a difference. Without passion for life what is the point of being on this earth?

TXPQ What motivates you or "makes you tick"?

JS Doing something in the best way I can. Integrity, honesty and passion motivate me.

Tennis Coaching

TXPQ Were you a successful tennis player at one time?

JS Reasonably good, but not enough time or money to become really good.

TXPQ When did you start coaching?

JS 16, to help fund my career while I was playing.

TXPQ How did you become a National Tennis Coach?

JS Luck, hard work, focus on what I wanted, and because I was known by the decision makers. The second National Coach role, in Brunei, came about as a result of the first, in the United Arab Emirates.

TXPQ You have worked with top class tennis players, Davis Cup teams and national champions. Please tell us more about working and playing with people so dedicated to their sport. What is the secret of success?

If the coach lacks character, commitment and knowledge, the environment for growth is not conduciveJS Great athletes are very single minded. The fun part is helping young players while they change into a professional athlete - it takes a long time and an awful lot of effort on the part of the athletes and coaches. If the coach lacks character, commitment and knowledge, the environment for growth is not conducive. At the end of the day though, its the athlete's dedication, commitment and professionalism that makes him/her successful. The coach is the guide.

In my opinion, success is a result of persistence and hard work. As Woody Allen said, 80% of success is showing up...!

TXPQ You were director of the High Performance Tennis Centre in Bangalore. You are now the director of the Spain Tennis Academy in Barcelona.

JS I started the HPTC in Bangalore, India and lived there for over 3 years. Then, I thought, why not do the same in Barcelona, the home of European tennis? (That's partly joking, partly true...) Working in India is fascinating and frustrating at the same time. Barcelona is a better place to live, but expensive and you need to earn well to really enjoy it.

TXPQ You have a beautiful Norwegian wife and son, successful coaching career/business and live in what many consider the most desirable city in Europe, Barcelona. Many would say you are living the dream.

JS I can't complain ;-) But its never as good as it sounds. Life in Europe is expensive and many people are stressed. For me, its hard to understand after living around very poor and desperate people in India, who don't have anything. Maybe the stressed people should go live in India for a while, and get another view on life!

TXPQ What are you doing tonight?

JS Watching a movie on the computer with my family. Drinking a Catalan wine I got from the local Bodega.

Textpattern and Web Design

TXPQ You have a full-time coaching business but have found time to design sites like Snoooz Tennis, Solborg FHS, Kameleon Systems and Spain Tennis Academy.

JS My wife is a designer (graphic design, illustration, corporate id etc) but we are no longer web designers per se. We used to web design more professionally, but no longer have the inclination or the time, although we still perform work for my wife's old clients, such as Solborg, if they need anything. My wife mostly designs, and I build, but it's more like a one-off thing and mainly we work on our own sites.

I started web design when my son was young and we were living in Brunei - we made a site to keep in touch with friends and family. My personal site (mainly used for testing TXP plugins and as somewhere to put my Textplates competition entry, TXP Minima), is not a designed site, it just sits there... I don't currently update it but I will do so in the near future.

TXPQ Do you use any tools to make web designing easier?

JS My preferred tools are Coda, CSSEdit and Text Wrangler.

I have not had any negative commentsTXPQ Do your clients love the ease of a Textpattern system?

JS All who have used TXP have loved it. Even those who came from Word Press and thought that system was easier.

TXPQ Any comments about what clients like or don't like about Textpattern?

JS I have not had any negative comments, only one person who said he preferred the way of blogging that he had with WP. But once he started using TXP, he changed his mind.

TXPQ Do you use many plugins?

JS Yes. Mainly ZCR, upm_ series, and wet_ series. stm_javascript and ob1_pagination are also very handy. I use of lot of plugins depending on the site.

TXPQ Do you like the txp plugin system?

JS Yes, very much. The worst part though is plugins which are abandoned by the authors. Why make a plugin available and then stop supporting it?

TXPQ When did you first use Textpattern?

JS Not sure exactly when, but it was in 2004. I think the version was g something - before version 1.

Nothing compares to TXPTXPQ Have you used any other broadly similar software?

JS I have tried lots - Word Press, Expression Engine and some others.

TXPQ How does Textpattern compare?

JS Nothing compares to TXP. I like WP in that it is easy if you want a quick blog, EE I found confusing and cumbersome.

TXPQ Are there any things you'd like to see improved?

JS One thing I would like to see in TXP would be plugin updates from the admin panel. Ditto for the latest TXP version. I would also like to see better image management and more consistency in Admin - for example the tag builders are different in the Page and Forms tabs - I would like to see the same options on more tabs. And wouldn't it be nice to have the same options in Sections and Images that we have in Articles?

TXPQ Why do you use Textpattern?

JS Because it's light, elegant and easy to use. Adding a plugin drastically increases the capabilities of the site. And I think the TXP community is very nice, always helpful, friendly and mature.

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