{"id":15819,"date":"2026-05-06T10:24:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dream.press\/news\/?post_type=announcement&p=15819"},"modified":"2026-05-06T10:24:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:24:53","slug":"spotlight-on-zane-defazio-exploring-wordpress-and-digging-for-root-causes","status":"publish","type":"announcement","link":"https:\/\/news.dream.press\/news\/announcements\/spotlight-on-zane-defazio-exploring-wordpress-and-digging-for-root-causes\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight on Zane DeFazio: Exploring WordPress and Digging for Root Causes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Zane DeFazio doesn\u2019t love talking about himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give him a minute, though, and he\u2019ll warm up, usually by diving into a problem he solved, going on a tangent, or, if the timing\u2019s right, mentioning Friday Night Knicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFriday Night Knicks and pizza is our thing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a small glimpse into how DeFazio operates: all in on the things he cares about, whether that\u2019s a Knicks basketball game, a side project, or a stubborn WordPress issue that refuses to cooperate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeFazio is a WordPress Expert at DreamHost, currently in his second stint with the company. \u201cTwo years\u2026with an asterisk,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That asterisk goes back more than a decade. He first worked in technical support at DreamHost before leaving to dip his toes in web development, teaching at a code school, and taking on agency work. But after reconnecting with former DreamHost coworkers at the company\u2019s annual Halloween party, something stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018Oh man, I miss this place,\u2019\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So he came back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He Doesn\u2019t Stop at the Symptom, He Tracks the Cause<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

DeFazio gravitates toward the kinds of problems that don\u2019t have obvious answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ones where you have to dig deeper, test a few ideas, and keep following the trail until something finally makes sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like trying to find the core issue,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat is that little piece of code doing that\u2019s setting everything else off?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That approach often leads him down what he calls \u201crabbit holes,\u201d tracing issues step by step until the real cause shows itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, the answer ends up being something surprisingly small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the time a customer\u2019s site kept crashing under heavy traffic. After working through layers of scripts and behavior, DeFazio found the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour video counter is DDoSing your site,\u201d he told them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the kind of fix that only looks simple once someone has taken the time to really understand what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And even when there isn\u2019t a perfect solution, DeFazio sticks with it. One customer followed up after a long troubleshooting session just to say how much they appreciated the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those are the moments he remembers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Team Where Curiosity Turns Into Expertise<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Part of what keeps DeFazio engaged is the people around him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just like a mixture of experts,\u201d he says. \u201cEverybody has their own rabbit hole of expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At DreamHost, knowledge grows out of real problems. Someone runs into something new, keeps digging, and eventually becomes the person others turn to for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That curiosity is shared. Questions are encouraged. People jump in to help. And over time, that builds a team that knows a little bit about everything, and a lot about a few things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Fixing Websites to Building Them From Scratch<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These days, DeFazio spends much of his time working on DreamHost\u2019s Production Sites program, where the work shifts from fixing customer websites to building them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That shift has required a different way of thinking: both for him and for the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s a totally different skill set,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many team members came from support roles, so DeFazio has helped guide the transition including training builders, refining documentation, and creating tools to make the process smoother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of those tools captures screenshots of sites at delivery, helping the team track changes and review quality over time. What started as a quick internal solution has turned into something the team relies on daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And like most things DeFazio touches, it\u2019s still evolving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Scrappy Group That Wasn\u2019t Supposed to Work, But Does<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

DeFazio describes the Production Sites team as \u201ca scrappy group of misfits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not a traditional path into building websites, but that hasn\u2019t slowed anyone down. If anything, it\u2019s pushed the team to adapt quickly and figure things out as they go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s just kind of zeroed in\u2026 like, how can we help the customer?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That focus shows up in the final product, and in the customers who walk away with something they can actually use to move their ideas forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning by Doing (and Then Doing More)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

DeFazio doesn\u2019t wait around to learn something new. He picks it up when he needs it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s how he ended up learning Perl to build internal tools. It\u2019s also why he\u2019s currently experimenting with AI in his spare time, testing what it can do and where it might go next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just want to learn more\u2026 and see what we can do with it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s always something new to figure out, and he\u2019s usually already halfway into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Off the Clock: Family, Pop Punk, and a 1965 Truck<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When he\u2019s not working, DeFazio\u2019s focus shifts to family, and things get just as energetic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He spends time with his wife, Akvile, and their daughter, Giana, whether that\u2019s watching Ghostbuster cartoons from the 90s, cheering at soccer games or keeping up their Friday night routine when the Knicks are on. He\u2019s the loud, supportive dad on the sidelines. He\u2019s fully invested, just without the yelling at referees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At home, music is a constant. Pop punk, specifically. Paramore is currently a household favorite, and their Spotify habits have even landed them in top listener rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeFazio also has a habit of picking up projects and going all in, sometimes in unexpected directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What started as an interest in woodworking turned into something else entirely when he needed a better way to transport materials. Instead of buying a new truck, he picked up a 1965 Ford F100 that, by his description, was \u201ca smoking pile of crap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The engine didn\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So he replaced it. Along with the drivetrain, despite having little prior experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew nothing about mechanics\u2026 and ended up doing a full drivetrain and engine replacement,\u201d he says. Naturally, he became more interested in working on the truck than woodworking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, the truck sits in the garage, waiting for its next round of attention, but like most of DeFazio\u2019s projects, it\u2019s not something he\u2019s likely to leave unfinished forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Rule That Guides Everything<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For someone who spends so much time working through complex problems, DeFazio keeps his personal philosophy simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust try to be kind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a mindset that shows up everywhere particularly in how he helps customers, supports teammates, and approaches challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And whether he\u2019s chasing down a tricky WordPress issue, tinkering with a new idea, or settling in for a Knicks game and pizza, that approach stays the same: stay curious, stick with it, and see it through.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zane DeFazio doesn\u2019t love talking about himself. Give him a minute, though, and he\u2019ll warm up, usually by diving into a problem he solved, going on a tangent, or, if the timing\u2019s right, mentioning Friday Night Knicks. \u201cFriday Night Knicks and pizza is our thing,\u201d he says. It\u2019s a small glimpse into how DeFazio operates: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":15821,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15819","announcement","type-announcement","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotlight on Zane DeFazio: Exploring WordPress and Digging for Root Causes - DreamHost<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.dream.press\/news\/announcements\/spotlight-on-zane-defazio-exploring-wordpress-and-digging-for-root-causes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spotlight on Zane DeFazio: Exploring WordPress and Digging for Root Causes - DreamHost\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zane DeFazio doesn\u2019t love talking about himself. Give him a minute, though, and he\u2019ll warm up, usually by diving into a problem he solved, going on a tangent, or, if the timing\u2019s right, mentioning Friday Night Knicks. \u201cFriday Night Knicks and pizza is our thing,\u201d he says. 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