About me

Hi there! 👋 I am a developer from Serbia with more than a decade of experience within WordPress.

Serbia is not Siberia; it is located in Europe, specifically in the Western Balkans. Many great figures have roots here, from world-renowned scientists and doctors to elite athletes—most notably Nikola Tesla, Vlade Divac and certainly Novak Đoković. A bunch of others too, but this is my “About Me” page! 😁

My home country faced many struggles throughout most of my youth. Even though it was love at first sight with computers, it was hard to find a clear path. I spent my time figuring out how to use different software and tools, while also dismantling and upgrading (or breaking!) PCs. That experience turned me into a PC assembler and repairman, and I worked in many hardware stores over the years. And yes, I played a ton of games too, starting with the classics like Nintendo™ and SEGA™.

Being a web developer didn’t interest me at all initially. However, while experimenting with Photoshop, I discovered it could be used to design web pages. As a result, my very first website was actually built using photo editing software! 😂 I soon realized that wasn’t the right way to do it, so I moved on to Macromedia Dreamweaver. It was a pioneering tool that allowed me to create some nice sites without needing to know how to code just yet.

As CMS platforms rose in popularity, I tried my hand at Joomla in 2009 before finally discovering WordPress in 2012. I was immediately hooked and began diving deep into professional web development. I landed my first “real” projects on Elance (now Upwork), and my career followed a textbook trajectory: starting in support, moving to Deputy Head of Support, and eventually evolving into a Developer and Dev Lead.

With many years behind me building themes, stores, and plugins; transitioning from various page builders to the Full Site Editor and AI-driven development; I’ve moved past caring about titles. I’m simply interested in sticking with WordPress, doing meaningful work the right way, and contributing more to the community.

I had a blog at one point under diwebdeveloper.com, which is why my LinkedIn URL still contains that name. However, life happened early on, and I simply didn’t have the time to maintain it. I’ve recently restarted my blogging journey at markocodes.com, which actually includes posts from the old blog. We’ll see how long I can keep it running this time! 😉

On a personal note, I am married to Dijana, and we have one child. While we are currently based in Belgrade, we have deep roots in central Serbia and spend a significant part of the year in Kraljevo, where I finished my primary and secondary education. I find that balancing life between the capital and the heart of the country keeps me grounded and inspired.

Well, that’s enough rambling about me! Not a bad start for a guy who grew up with nothing more than a telephone and a color TV in the house. I’m always happy to chat, so feel free to reach out if you want to talk all things WordPress! 🙂