October 30, 2020 — If you’ve never heard of Zapier, then your life’s about to get…well… a little happier!

This introductory talk explains the basics of Zapier, and demonstrates how creating workflow automations (or zaps) can eliminate hundreds of hours of repetitive work. Learn how to use Zapier to extend WordPress in delightfully creative ways.

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October 30, 2020 — This talk explains how to use free resources to examine and prune WordPress databases.

How tidy is your WordPress database? While WordPress site content can be exported and imported into a newly installed environment, many larger or more active sites need surgical precision to clean the database. This is especially true for eCommerce stores or sites where user content (such as comments, accounts) are active, and migration or downtime must be avoided.

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October 30, 2020 — This talk explains how to create custom Gutenberg Blocks with the Advanced Custom Fields Pro plugin instead of learning React. The presentation also comments on the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches.

October 30, 2020 — Accessibility is a practice that touches on many aspects of good web design and development, including performance. This talk will highlight opportunities and techniques to improve your website or web app’s performance by embracing an accessible, inclusive mindset.

October 30, 2020 — Not having enough time or energy to manage all our systems and processes is one of the biggest stress inducers for freelancers. In this talk, Allie takes a look at how useful automation tools can sometimes be overused to the point of disconnecting us from our work entirely and how that ultimately causes more stress for freelancers. We will then explore how to find a healthy balance so that automation can be a friend, not a foe.

October 30, 2020

October 30, 2020 — WordPress is often used to build websites for nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit needs are slightly different in that they usually require online giving solutions, and they are often trying to address several distinct audiences such as donors, volunteers, clients, and the general public. Today we’ll tour a few nonprofit websites that are built on WordPress, learn about an online donation form plugin called Give, and talk about helping multiple audiences navigate your website along with some other capabilities often needed by nonprofits.

October 30, 2020 — WordPress is powerful software with a large, diverse community — even if you know how to use WordPress, it can be hard to know how to get started in the community! In this session, Angela will share lessons learned from one year of participation in the WordPress community, including key terminology, an overview of the teams and skills that build WordPress, and tips for cross-discipline communication, all with the goal of helping you get involved.

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October 30, 2020 — WordPress is changing and evolving quickly, how can we adapt and grow our projects as the platform continues to progress? BU Learning Blocks is a new plugin created by BU to assist with online, interactive learning. We will explore the process of developing a new plugin in the Gutenberg era and the various twists and turns the team encountered along the way.

October 30, 2020 — In this case study you’ll learn how one company used its core values to turn a public dispute over website logs with the DOJ into a wildly successful global campaign for internet privacy, AND you’ll learn why open platforms like WordPress are so important to preserving a free and open internet, especially in times of crisis.

At the end of the session you’ll better understand how to:

Use your WordPress blog as a central component of an overall messaging strategy
Interact with media to tell your story
Turn your brand’s core values into media talking points
Navigate the treacherous waters of political brand involvement while maintaining an ostensibly neutral stance