October 4, 2023 — I’ve almost always worked for someone. Contracts mostly, but I’ve always thrived in this environment. When the pandemic hit, I found myself running my own company. I felt like I was drowning, thinking about all the pieces that had to go into this. I was running thin.

In our environment today, there are a number of freelancers and it is touted as the best way to work in WordPress by many. But what about those of us that don’t? We aren’t all made out to be freelancers and that’s okay! It’s not for everyone and I’m going to give you some pointers that might help you determine if you are right for not being a freelancer.

October 4, 2023 — Newsletters have made a resurgence in the past few years, thanks in large part to renewed focus on reaching subscribers outside of social media, and a slew of new tools that make it easier than ever to get started.

In the past there were fewer options for building your own newsletters. Platforms like Constant Contact and Mailchimp have been around for a long time for business, but newer tools like Substack and Revue have been getting a lot of attention for empowering writers. And if you want to make newsletters in WordPress along with the rest of your website, there are some great tools available for that as well.

You’ve heard the advice to start your own email list countless times, but what do you do after collecting emails? How do you ask for them ethically in the first place? What type of content should you be sharing to your mailing list and how often?

I’ve written newsletters for myself and clients for years on a variety of platforms. I currently write for personal enrichment, as well as to promote business offerings. I think that anyone who has something that interests themselves to write about has something of interest to share.

In this presentation I’d like to share with you:

– Why you might want to start a newsletter
– What you should write about
– How to setup a WordPress based newsletter
– Where to find subscribers
– When to send your newsletter
– Who to talk to about building it up

October 4, 2023 — In our increasingly digital world, remote work has become a mainstay, especially in the dynamic and fast-paced WordPress domain. Whether you’re a coder, a content writer, or anywhere in-between, maintaining mental health while working remotely can be a unique challenge. Join Matt, someone who’s spent many years in the WordPress space, as he delves deep into personal experiences, learnings, and insights garnered over 5 years of remote work while navigating the complexities of mental health.

October 4, 2023 — Join Michelle Frechette as she leads the conversation about what the Open Source Community means to three different members of the community. Where have we come from? How do we navigate where we are? What does the future hold? And how do we define success as both individuals and as a global community?

And what does this mean for WordPress?

Moderated byMichelle Frechette

October 3, 2023 — Curious about how the Domain Name System (DNS) actually works? Eager to dive into the world of DNS records and their pivotal role in your website’s functionality? Look no further!
We’re thrilled to invite you to our exclusive live webinar where we demystify the complexities of the Domain Name System. Join us as we unravel the secrets behind DNS operation, helping you grasp its significance in setting landing pages of domain names and in directing traffic across the vast expanse of the internet.

– Here’s What We’ll Cover:

1. Understanding DNS Fundamentals: Delve into the core mechanics of the DNS and gain insights into its crucial role in converting user-friendly domain names into IP addresses that computers understand.

2. Decoding DNS Records: Navigate the DNS record landscape. Learn how various record types like A, CNAME, MX, and more impact your website’s functionality and email delivery.

3. Crafting Your DNS Strategy: Get hands-on guidance on determining the essential DNS records your website needs. From pointing your domain to your hosting server to configuring email services, we’ve got you covered.

4. Editing DNS Records with Confidence: Discover where and how to edit your domain’s DNS records hassle-free, enabling you to fine-tune your website’s performance and services.

5. Demystifying Domain Record Propagation: Understand the intricacies of how DNS changes ripple across the internet, affecting accessibility and what you can do to minimize downtime during this process.

Don’t miss this golden opportunity to become a DNS maestro and elevate your website management skills. Reserve your spot now, and get ready to journey through the fascinating world of DNS with our expert speaker. Your online presence will thank you!

See you at the webinar, where knowledge meets empowerment! —

Audience: Blog Owners, Domain Owners, Website Developer, Web Agencies, Developers, and anyone who is keen to learn new things

Level: Intermediate

Presentation Slides »

October 3, 2023 — In this session, we will build a home page:

1. Select a static home page.
2. Choose a template.
3. Create a header and footer using patterns.
4. Delete the Title block from the relevant template.
5. Build a page using the block editor and patterns.

October 3, 2023 — Full site editing in WordPress is becoming more and more real, and that means that many elements of our websites have to evolve as well.

In this workshop you will learn how to convert some basic elements common in web pages to Gutenberg blocks, so you won’t be afraid of evolution and keep on progressing.

Everything will be done from scratch, from the WordPress documentation. I’ll also bring you some of my own experience creating Gutenberg blocks since the project practically started.

October 3, 2023 — The starting point for blocks is clear and easy: at page-build time, you can configure blocks and add content to them. This gets converted into HTML and displayed, more or less statically, in the end-user’s browser.

But what if you want your block to react to what the member level of the current user is? You can embed JavaScript in the HTML of your block, but all the familiar variables from the back end server PHP are unknown to you. Can you pass them into the block? Can you call back to the server to get the data before the block is rendered?

If you have a form in your block, can you post the data you collect back to the server? Can you use Ajax for this? What if you’d like to prefill the form with the current data, let the user edit it, and then save it back? Can you rerender the block as the user interacts with them?

The answer to all of these is yes. In the workshop, we’ll (quickly) work through live examples of all of these. If you’re OK with setting up a local installation of WP, you’re invited to follow along.

October 3, 2023 — Join Thomas and Niels as they create an extension for WooCommerce Blocks that will add an additional field to the Checkout block that allows shoppers to define where a parcel should be dropped or delivered if they won’t be at home when it arrives.

We will explore the extensibility interfaces that WooCommerce Blocks has and show how some of them can be used to change and customise the checkout experience for shoppers.

October 2, 2023 — A template provides the structure for how a page is displayed. In this session, we will differentiate between pages and templates, modify one of our base templates, learn how to add a new template, and lastly, how to assign a custom template to a page or post.