September 14, 2025 — A comprehensive, step-by-step guide that walks you through the entire process of WordPress plugin development—from your plugin idea to coding it with best practices, optimizing performance, and ensuring security. You’ll also learn how to properly structure your plugin for scalability and compatibility, test it for bugs, and implement effective documentation for users. Finally, this session will cover the submission process to the official WordPress Plugin Repository, including meeting WordPress guidelines and handling updates.

Presentation Slides »

September 9, 2025 — In today’s rapidly evolving tech and open-source landscape, creating environments where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered has become more critical than ever. This engaging panel discussion brought together insightful leaders to explore Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), addressing the unique challenges faced by marginalized groups within software development and tech communities.

Drawing on perspectives from impactful initiatives focused on disability inclusion, vibrant community organizing, and global open-source best practices, the panelists shared actionable strategies for fostering truly welcoming and representative spaces. They examined ways to recognize and address unconscious biases, cultivate a deep sense of belonging, promote clear and respectful communication, and actively support career pathways for underrepresented individuals.

The session explored key areas such as:

Practical strategies for building and sustaining inclusive tech and WordPress communities.

Addressing systemic barriers and cultivating a culture of belonging for all.

Effective communication techniques for diverse teams and cultural contexts.

Supporting career development and amplifying voices from underrepresented backgrounds.

Bridging social and geographical gaps through inclusive community outreach.

Presentation Slides »

September 9, 2025 — As WordPress evolves, a crucial question emerges: who will shape its future? Standing at WordPress events as one of the few Black women in the room, I can’t help but wonder about the next generation of WordPress leaders, developers, and innovators. This isn’t just about diversity at events – it’s about WordPress’s sustainability and growth. With WordPress powering 43% of the web and serving a global audience, can we continue to grow and innovate without diverse perspectives shaping its future?

We’ll explore:

Why representation matters for WordPress’s continued evolution
How the lack of diverse voices impacts WordPress’s future development
What we lose when perspectives are missing from the conversation
Ways to attract new and diverse talent to WordPress
How to ensure WordPress remains relevant for future generations
Key Takeaways:

Understanding why diverse voices are crucial for WordPress’s future
Impact of representation on WordPress’s continued growth
Practical ways to attract diverse talent to WordPress
How to make WordPress appealing to the next generation
Creating pathways for diverse leadership in WordPress’s future

Presentation Slides »

September 9, 2025

September 5, 2025 — YouTubers are increasingly becoming influential voices in the WordPress space—onboarding new users, spotlighting features, discussing the latest trends, and telling the story of open source in dynamic, accessible ways. But who are these creators? What drives them? What feedback loops can we create with them? And how can the broader WordPress community better support and learn from their work? Join this Campfire Chat to meet fellow WordPress YouTubers, aspiring content creators, and folks curious about how video content is shaping the future of the project. Together, we’ll swap stories, surface challenges, and explore ways to better connect the dots between community contributors, product teams, and creators who are translating our work for the world. This discussion builds on ongoing efforts to unite WordPress YouTubers and aims to open up space for idea-sharing, collaboration, and networking. Whether you’re behind the camera, in front of it, or just thinking about hitting “record” you’re welcome here.

September 5, 2025 — Unlock the next frontier of WordPress development by transforming your local WordPress install into your AI coding assistant! In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to connect the dots between WordPress, the Model Context Protocol (MCP), the experimental WordPress Abilities API, and your code editing environment. I’ll guide you through the installation and set up of the different working parts, show you what’s possible with the default tools, and then we’ll build some advanced custom Abilities. To participate in this workshop, you will need the following:  A working computer with Composer and Node.js installed A local WordPress installation An AI-powered code editor with MCP support I’ll be using WordPress Studio and VS Code with GitHub CoPilot on the free tier. You are welcome to use any AI code editor/agentic tool you prefer, as long as it supports MCP. By the end of this workshop, you’ll have a fully operational, AI-augmented local WordPress development environment. You’ll understand how to expose site features to AI to automate all your development tasks, all inside your coding environment. Get ready to build faster, smarter, and with the full power of AI at your fingertips!

September 5, 2025 — WordPress is a powerful CMS, but without the right structure, even great builds can buckle under the weight of scale. In this session, Meeky Hwang, Co-Founder and CEO of Ndevr, introduces the 3E Framework—Audience Experience, Creator Experience, and Developer Experience—a model that helps teams align cross-functional priorities and build resilient platforms that perform under pressure. Drawing from 20+ years of experience supporting enterprise clients like Forbes, Bloomberg, and PMC, Meeky will share how this framework eliminates platform fragility by reducing friction between teams, preventing constant rework, and supports long-term success. Whether you’re leading a redesign, refining your infrastructure, or supporting a large content team, this session will offer practical strategies for building a WordPress platform that lasts—and grows—with you.

September 5, 2025 — Direct from appearances at WC Asia and WCEU, the Block Developer Cookbook is coming to America! In this fully interactive workshop, attendees will vote on which recipes to explore, and we’ll work through them together. Each iteration of this workshop expands with new recipes and content, leveraging the latest features in WordPress, including: Custom social icons New! Working with the command palette New! Converting static blocks to dynamic New! Block Bindings API Plugin Template Registration API Interactivity API Performantly loading multiple blocks in a single plugin Using third-party API data in a custom block Creating a block variation bound to the post excerpt Registering a custom post type with its own template Building a dark/light mode toggle that saves to user meta Developing a gallery slider with the Interactivity API Using filters and the HTML Tag Processor to extend core blocks Designing a custom Image block style Adding a fade-in effect to core blocks Restricting publishing based on word count Customizing the @wordpress/scripts build process Connecting a block to custom fields Implementing front-end JavaScript for blocks Using the data layer in a block Creating a custom format Working with block transforms And more… Join us to expand your block development skills with hands-on guidance and real-world examples. Workshop Requirements: An account at http://www.blockdevelopercookbook.com to be able to vote. Laptop configured for block development and your IDE of choice. I’ll be using VSCode. Local WordPress development environment. I’ll be using WordPress Studio. Copy of the workshop repository installed and configured inside your local environment. Chef Hat (optional, but you’ll be a legend) There will be copies of WordPress Studio along with import files to get you up and running on USB keys during the event, but in the interest of time, please come prepared.

September 5, 2025 — This 2-hour masterclass is for anyone building or growing a WordPress product – current founders, aspiring product creators, and developers transitioning from services to products. Led by Katie Keith (Barn2 Plugins) and Matt Cromwell (GiveWP / StellarWP), we will present practical lessons from our own product businesses and from 40+ interviews with top product company founders on the WP Product Talk podcast.

September 5, 2025 — This talk covers how to improve QA using Playwright alongside AI tools based on real experience. It explores common challenges like flaky tests and missed edge cases and offers practical do’s and don’ts for writing effective, maintainable tests. You’ll learn how AI can help generate test scenarios, catch bugs that human testers might miss, and speed up debugging, as well as when AI may produce misleading results. The focus is on using AI as a supportive tool within a solid QA process, not as a replacement for human judgment