Session Descriptions

Plugin Workshop: Custom Post Type UI

The Plugin Workshops are designed to help users install, configure and get the basics for our commonly used plugins.

Custom Post Type UI is an Admin UI for creating custom post types and custom taxonomies in WordPress. AND it is written by our very own Brad Williams who will be presenting this plugin. From the repository:

This plugin provides an easy to use interface to create and administer custom post types and taxonomies in WordPress. This plugin is created for WordPress 3.x.

Plugin Workshop: Relevanssi

The Plugin Workshops are designed to help users install, configure and get the basics for our commonly used plugins.

Relevanssi – A Better Search replaces the default search with a partial-match search that sorts results by relevance. It also indexes comments and shortcode content. From the repository:

Relevanssi replaces the standard WordPress search with a better search engine, with lots of features and configurable options. You’ll get better results, better presentation of results – your users will thank you.

Plugin Workshop: WordPress SEO

The Plugin Workshops are designed to help users install, configure and get the basics for our commonly used plugins.

WordPress SEO is a search engine optimization plugin built by the glorious Joost de Valk. From the repository:

WordPress out of the box is already technically quite a good platform for SEO, this was true when I wrote my original WordPress SEO article in 2008 and it’s still true today, but that doesn’t mean you can’t improve it further! This plugin is written from the ground up byWordPress SEO consultant and WordPress developer Joost de Valk to improve your site’s SEO on all needed aspects. While this WordPress SEO plugin goes the extra mile to take care of all the technical optimization, more on that below, it first and foremost helps you write better content. WordPress SEO forces you to choose a focus keyword when you’re writing your articles, and then makes sure you use that focus keyword everywhere.

wpMBA

If you’re running a business that leverages WordPress, and have always wanted but could never afford a consultant’s time, come ask your questions. We’ve assembled marketing, conversion, customer management, pricing, contract and hiring gurus to take their morning and offer it to you. This will be a moderated Q&A with the founders of Zeek Interactive, VeloMedia, MaxCDN, & wpBeginner.

Introduction to Command Line

Learn the basics of the command line in a a hands-on walkthrough!

Bring your laptop. You’ll be given a temporary SSH account to play with, and guided through basic commands for site management.

You’ll learn to connect and manage files and directories, including downloading, unzipping, and installing plugins manually.

The goal is to help you leave feeling more comfortable with the CLI — it doesn’t have to be intimidating any longer.

WordPress Site Use Cases

In the past 3 years we’ve dealt with projects of all shapes and sizes. Clients approach us with a problem and we work with them to come up with a solution. In my session I will show examples of some fun, interesting and crazy solutions we’ve come up with over the years.

Weight: Beginner/Intermediate • Audience: General

The 100 Hour Work Week to Passive Income – The Inside Scoop on Membership Sites

If you build it (a membership site), they will come. Forgetting the “they will come” part of it – how do you go about building it? What tools are the right ones. With so many options out there, it’s hard to know which options give you the best bang for your buck. This session will walk you through your options and leave you with recommendations and practical steps to building your next membership site.

Weight: Beginner/Intermediate • Audience: Business, Developer

The Right Tool for the Job: Frameworks Vs. Parent/Child Themes Vs. Starter Themes

You’ve built a number of themes; or perhaps you’re just getting started. Having a solid development foundation is one key to being more efficient in what you do for your clients. Knowing what tools are in your arsenal and which ones are right for the job is crucial. The topic of theme frameworks and parent themes is always a popular discussion. Which one should you go with? Why?

I attempt to discuss the differences, advantages, pitfalls, caveats and more to open up some discussion and, perhaps get people thinking about their development process a little bit more all in the name of building a better theme and kicking some more ass in the process.

Weight: Intermediate • Audience: Developer

Prepare for a Global Audience with Plugin Internationalization

Our world is shrinking fast, and as web usage becomes more prevalent it is important to reach your audience no matter where they are located or what language they speak. WordPress has an easy to use internationalization API that allows you to translate your plugin into any language with ease. In this presentation I will walk you through creating a fully internationalized plugin and show you that it is so easy to internationalize with WordPress that there is no reason not to.

Weight: Intermediate • Audience: Developer

LIVE DradCast

The DradCast is a weekly video podcast that primarily concentrates on the latest news around WordPress, upcoming WordPress events, and the wonderful community surrounding the premiere open source content management system on the internet.

Each week the DradCast is hosted by a new guest host and will cover topics ranging your favorite GPL discussion, to the latest amazing plugin. The show will of course include discussion and that world famous craziness brought to you by the two knuckleheads who the show is named after.

WordPress Website Optimization for Speed

Everyone wants a fast website. You, your visitors, Google (especially). WordPress often gets a bad wrap for being “slow”. During this presentation we will explode 25 of the top ways you can speed up your website. This will include mentioning top optimization plugins, hosting solutions, front and back-end tips and tricks and more.

Weight: Intermediate • Audience: General

What You Need to Know about Computer Science and WordPress

I work with WordPress all day every day. I also have a BS in Computer Science. I’ve noticed most WP developers don’t have computer related degrees. I’ve never presented at a WordCamp before and I really want to do this. This talk will educate listeners on useful things in Computer Science that can make them better web developers: big O notation (performance measurements), search algorithms, data races, etc. This will be an awesome talk, I promise!

Weight: Intermediate • Audience: Developer

WordPress Mobile

Learn to love mobile. It’s here to stay.

According to recent studies, 25% of Americans say that they are now doing most of their Internet browsing on a mobile device instead of a computer. And this stat is growing every day. Your WordPress site must offer a good mobile experience or you risk losing a QUARTER of your audience!

Zeek Interactive has developed several mobile projects using WordPress as the content management system. These projects include responsive websites, framed WordPress pages, and native iOS applications. Steve will discuss how to determine your best mobile user experience and what technology you should be considering.

Steve is going to discuss the current state of the the WordPress mobile plugins and what drawbacks you need to be aware of. He will also look at popular responsive themes. Discussion will include XML-RPC and how it is used to develop native mobile apps.

Weight: Intermediate • Audience: Developer

Plugin Workshop: WP Super Cache

The Plugin Workshops are designed to help users install, configure and get the basics for our commonly used plugins.

WP Super Cache is a plugin designed to help speed up the performance of your website through caching your pages into static content. From the repository:

This plugin generates static html files from your dynamic WordPress blog. After a html file is generated your webserver will serve that file instead of processing the comparatively heavier and more expensive WordPress PHP scripts.

The static html files will be served to the vast majority of your users, but because a user’s details are displayed in the comment form after they leave a comment those requests are handled by the legacy caching engine.

Responsive Typography in WordPress Themes

As a designer, you already know your serifs from your sans-serifs, how to pair typefaces, and the difference between kerning and tracking. But what you might not know is how to use all the tools available to you to implement gorgeous typography in your WordPress theme. We’ll explore the how’s and why’s of typography in responsive web design. I’ll show you how to use tools like ems, rems, vm/vh, Sass, Compass, lettering.js, FitText, kern.js in your WordPress themes.

Weight: Intermediate • Audience: Designer

Time Management for Bloggers: Streamlining your Editorial Workflow & Grow your Business Efficiently

Time is our biggest asset. Using it efficiently can significantly catalyze the growth of your blogging business. Many bloggers complain that there is not enough hours in the day. When I told people everything that I was doing, they would ask: “How do you do it all?” In this presentation, I will share personal insights on how to streamline your editorial workflow, actively engage in social media, respond to every email, make new connections, and grow your business without losing any sleep.

Weight: Beginner • Audience: Business

3:10 to YouTube – Navigating the Wild West of Native HTML5 Media

People are bonkers about the idea of native HTML5 media integration, but let’s face it: HTML5 is still the Wild West. I’m going to cover the current state of HTML5 media (audio/video), best practices, and ways to integrate it into your WordPress site.

Weight: Intermediate • Audience: General, Developer

Creating and Connecting to Web Services with WordPress

Today, web services are much more prevalent and becoming more important as time goes by. If you’re a WordPress developer, chances are you’ll be asked to either connect to a remote API or create a custom API for your clients.

In this session I’ll talk about some of the best practices for working with web services and will demonstrate how this works.

Weight: Advanced • Audience: Developer

An Agile WordPress Design Process

Developers have been using the concept of agile development to streamline their process and produce better work for quite a while now. The design process, though, is pretty much the same as it was when I started designing websites 17 years ago. With the promise of the responsive web coming to fruition, I propose that it’s time to move beyond the tried-and-true PSD to WordPress conversion method and start designing for the web we have now. I’d love to discuss why I’ve moved to using an agile design process, what tools I’ve used to facilitate the move, and present a case study to demonstrate how the process works.

Weight: Advanced • Audience: Designer

Legally Blogging: Keep Your Blog From Being Sued

The 5 most common mistakes made by bloggers which can lead to lawsuits, and how to avoid them. Topics covered are legal pitfalls in:

  1.  Written Content
  2. Images
  3. Video
  4. Product Reviews
  5. Product Sales

Weight: Beginner • Audience: Business

WordPress 101

An explanation of the key concepts you need to understand to build your WordPress site, whether it’s a simple blog or a brochure site for your business. When to use Posts or Pages? How to use Custom Menus, how to install Plugins and Themes. What’s the difference between a Plugin and a Widget? Understanding these foundations will set you on the road to WordPress success!

Weight: Beginner • Audience: General

Security

Learn how to keep your WordPress-powered website secure from hackers and exploits. Brad Williams from WebDevStudios.com shows examples of hacked sites, shares tips and plugins for keeping WordPress secure, and talks about his experiences with WordPress and security.

Weight: Intermediate • Audience: General

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