October 21, 2023 — Writing readable code is one of the most important aspects of web development. A developer should write code which another human is able to understand without the help of too many comments.

This talk will show you how to tidy up your code and write readable PHP.

October 21, 2023 — Community is not only for networking. It can help with other aspects of one’s life. In this talk, Meher will share her learnings and insights into why being part of a tech community is important and how it can help people to grow.

October 21, 2023 — Managing multiple analytics and marketing tags for your site can be a challenge. Redundant or incorrect tags can distort data measurement and reduce your site performance. In this session, you’ll learn how Google Tag Manager can simplify the tag implementation and management process for marketers, analysts, and developers.

October 21, 2023 — Content is the King, or is content here to KILL totally depends on you. And why not. The world runs on content and data. Data derived from the content attracts users to your brand, or you. Content today derives your sales and provides your brand with a unique identity. Does that mean content creation is tough? Not really. Ashutosh’s talk defines a breakdown of content creation that can be taken into consideration the next time you write or create content for yourself and your audience/brand. His talk would also define what to keep in mind and how the changing trends should be kept up to date while creating content.

October 21, 2023 — This talk is meant to be an advanced deep dive into how we can extend the block editor to fit our needs for highly customized WordPress builds in 2023. It will go into details how to build custom blocks that interface with the query loop, using block variations, theme.json filters and much more.

October 21, 2023 — Leerpodium (Dutch name) / Portfolio.education (international name) is a platform dedicated to portfolio learning. Within this platform, students can build and design their own portfolio site, as a full-fledged autonomous WordPress website. Teachers can organize and facilitate the learning process from a powerful learning system which is fully integrated with the student portfolios.
We are currently hosting thousands of WordPress portfolio’s for multiple educational institutions in the Netherlands, both higher education and secondary schools.
In our talk, we would like to share our insights and lessons learned from developing and hosting WordPress multisite networks for the educational field in the Netherlands.
For more info: leerpodium.nl | portfolio.education

October 21, 2023 — Looking at websites over the past decades, performance is becoming more and more crucial. But still, it’s treated as a “nice to have” or “add-on” late in the development process of a website. What if we would integrate performance into our workflows so we don’t have to worry about it when we’re already done developing?
In my work at the performance-focused WordPress hosting company Servebolt, I come across a variety of developers. From those who build sites using existing themes to those who build their sites from scratch. And many of them have the same problem: their sites aren’t as performant as they could be. Not because they are built badly, but because they aren’t built with performance in mind. It’s treated as an afterthought.
In this talk I will explain why Performance First as a developing methodology should be more widely adapted and what benefits it will bring to you when developing sites for clients.

October 21, 2023 — Failing to pursue a career in IT as a woman from an underserved community is often not a lack of motivation but a lack of access! In Uganda, for example, young women encounter multiple challenges in accessing adequate and formal employment opportunities. The growing demand in the IT sector, however, represents a turning point both for young talent with unmet potential and the constrained market by matching the skills demand – a real chance to create meaningful win-win situations.
Unfortunately, to this day, women are less likely to be employed in the tech sector – and when they are, they get paid less. The gender pay gap of 21.1% in the tech sector, higher than the median gap for the general economy, reflects the urgency for meaningful change. The same happens in African countries, such as Uganda, where the gender gap participation in the tech industry is widening, and women often find themselves stuck in junior and learner roles, hindering their growth and career progression. To address this issue, we at Groundbreaker gGmbH believe it is essential for companies from the Global North to take action and support female talent in sub-Saharan Africa. Implementing a progressive form of corporate giving and engaging employees in a mentorship program can be a powerful step in this direction.
For 5 years, our non-profit organization has been committed to bridging the gap between local initiatives in the Global South and motivated donor companies in the Global North. Our IT scholarship program, “Groundbreaker Talents,” exemplifies our approach to creating win-win situations for young talent and tech companies alike. By focusing on young women from the most underserved backgrounds, we believe in driving change with a gender-centric approach.
Let’s explore how tech companies can move from generosity to effective altruism and how we can all become agents of change to foster diversity and equality in the IT industry!

October 21, 2023 — The way visual design to the WordPress theme development cycle used to run in the pre-Gutenberg era needs to undergo significant change to unlock the efficiency made available by Gutenberg. Educating designers about Gutenberg constructs such as block styles, block variations, block patterns, global style variations, and reusable blocks can bring designers and developers closers, reducing turnaround time on projects and improving quality.

October 21, 2023 — Consider the evolving landscape of the WordPress industry. Striking a balance between the cost of open-source contribution, business involvement, and the sustainability of WordCamps has become a critical necessity. This talk offers an honest look at the issues at hand.

It’s time to pave the way for sustainable contribution to the project, including WordCamps, creating a more balanced WordPress ecosystem.