January 16, 2024 — Welcome to the first Developer Hours session of 2024 where we explored the “Build your first block” tutorial from the Block Editor Handbook.

During the session, we worked through the tutorial together, answering any questions folks had along the way. Attendees learned the basics of building a custom block, including the key concepts of block development and an overview of the common tools and packages used.

January 15, 2024 — Getting your show off the ground is not rocket science – even if it’s about rocket science. Video and audio are simple tools to help get your message in front of an expanded audience. The only thing standing in your way is you – and it’s time for you to get it done.

January 15, 2024 — Have you ever wondered if your website is useable for people with disabilities or those using assistive technology? Would you like to make your plugins or themes more accessible?

Learn how to test websites for accessibility problems using automated testing tools, keyboard testing, and screen readers so you can make your website better for people with disabilities. No dev skills are required! We’ll show ways that anyone can quickly find accessibility problems, many of which can be fixed directly in the content area.

January 15, 2024 — Most of us realize how incredibly valuable and stress relieving having recurring revenue can be not only for our business but for our state of mind. We tend to price it in our normal fashion though. There are other considerations that are often overlooked and this ends up with our recurring revenue being less profitable than we expected. Understanding how to apply two simple concepts can ensure that our recurring revenue leads to higher profits with less stress.

January 15, 2024 — You’re working with some data and find yourself needing to find a specific piece of information, but your searches keep matching things that you don’t want. While basic searches are fine for some things, every once in a while you need something more powerful.
Enter regular expressions (also referred to as “regex”). BUT WAIT! Before you scroll to the next session description: did you know that this powerful searching capability is available in things like Word and Excel, as well as Google Search Console and Google Analytics? And not only can you use it to search for information, you can also use it to transform information!

In this session, we’ll jump into a brief history of regex, discuss pattern matching, and dive into the fundamentals of how we can use regex to surface the data we’ve been searching for in powerful ways. We’ll play some regex-based games to help hone our skills, all while demystifying the idea that regular expressions are dark magic, beyond the capabilities of mere mortals.

January 15, 2024 — During the pandemic churches have had to totally transform their way of thinking, working, and holding services. The value of a professional web person to meet the ever-changing needs has never been higher. Let’s go over some tips and tools (plugins) that will make your church web clients happy.

January 15, 2024 — Successful WordPress agencies have one thing in common: they have a system in place for their business that acts as a template for growth.

In this talk, we will cover the basics of the Entrepreneurial Operating System, as outlined by Gino Wickman in his book Traction. We will take a deep dive into what it means to build a working business plan, how to create a vision for your business, and how to create annual and quarterly goals to set you up for predictable business growth.

We’ll also talk about the driving force behind every agency: finding the right employees. You will leave with a template for a two-page business plan that you can implement tomorrow, and use as a tool to grow your business and align your team.

January 15, 2024 — Navigate your way around your website with the aid of the navigation block. This tutorial will walk a user through how to create a menu with the navigation block using WordPress v. 6.4 with the block editor. The tutorial will use the 2024 theme. It will also touch on moving menu items, creating a second menu, adding a button and a sub-menu.

Learning outcomes
Adding pages to a current navigation
Setting up a new navigation menu
How to move navigation items to different locations
How to create a second navigation menu to use in a second location such as the footer or sidebar.

January 15, 2024 — We all want the free traffic that SEO can bring to our sites. However, SEO advice always seems to be changing. What’s the best thing you can do to get more traffic (and, better, business) from your SEO efforts in 2023? More specifically, what do WordPress users need to pay attention to in order to get the most love out of Google? David will share what he’s doing with his clients- so you can apply this advice to your website, as well.

January 15, 2024 — Never waste a bad move. Success as a business owner is built on the lessons we’ve learned from our biggest mistakes. In this talk, Nathan draws on almost 30 years of experience in the web business to share the most important lessons he had to learn the hard way. Each lesson is summarized in a succinct statement and then unpacked with examples that will make you laugh, cringe and think.