June 10, 2019 — WordPress 5.0 brings with it a new default theme called TwentyNineteen which is the first “official” theme to be distributed with full and native support for the new core block editing experience.

Using this theme as a guide, let’s take a deeper dive into:
– What customizations are available within each of the native blocks.
– Examples of other customizations that are possible with additional SASS/ CSS rules. (This includes a review of the new block-level classes.)
– Manipulating the position and layout of a block on the page using flexbox and CSS Grid.
– Where to find additional block collections and how to install them.
– Some possibilities of making additional custom blocks without code. (ACF, Carbon Fields and other generators.)

This talk is geared for those with beginning or intermediate web development skills. Ideal audience members will have some knowledge of WordPress and a willingness to make small alterations to a child theme’s CSS and functions.php files.

This talk is also NOT geared toward a discussion of how to create a “gutenblock” from scratch. (The topic has been covered quite a bit more in-depth by people much smarter than me. =-] )

Presentation Slides »

June 10, 2019 — The new WordPress editor (Gutenberg) is how all new content is to be created on WordPress. However with the way the data is stored, is that really the best way to power an application? I will walk through the drawbacks for how Gutenberg stores data, and how to easily change that to more easily power custom headless (and not) web applications.

June 10, 2019 — Did you know your website can rank better than #1 in Google? You’ve probably noticed answers to your searches appearing directly in Google. That’s called position zero. Learn how to leverage your content to rise above the competition and achieve position zero results. I’ll share a 4 step process you can apply to your content marketing efforts to leap to the top of Google.

Presentation Slides »

June 10, 2019 — With the release of WordPress 5.0, users now have default control over page-level design decisions. In this talk we will discuss the thought process that went into core Gutenberg architecture decisions, different strategies to achieve “smart” control: that balance between complete content freedom, and heavyhanded control. Jamie will present some options to create flexible content strategies for your clients in this new era.

June 10, 2019 — A mother with a wailing baby in her arms – maybe the baby has an ear infection. A trainer at the rec center who is overwhelmed with requests for team building exercises. A gifted data scientist who just. needs. to. focus. An executive with the future of a three billion dollar company on his shoulders.

These are all people who use the intranet web site my team builds. The code we write affects their daily lives, their work, their health, and the company we all work for.

The developer to end user relationship is very direct. We are in the perfect position to advocate for site users, and ensure that the site we build is compassionate in its design, because we write the code. We are the gatekeepers, and we have a both a responsibility and an opportunity to help, and not harm, the users of our site.

June 10, 2019 — It’s true that having a strong social media presence is important, but when your latest viral post drives them to your website, will your business be seen as credible? With a little planning, you can design a WordPress website that will create and leverage trust signals to gain the confidence of your site visitors.

Participants will learn how to do a “trust audit” of their website and leave with an actionable plan to improve the trustworthiness of their website.

June 10, 2019 — I will be talking about the best ways to setup and execute your WooCommerce stores along with tips and tricks that I have used to monetize my own websites using this powerful shopping cart plugin.

June 10, 2019 — Topic Description: We cover a few different things that have to do with web accessibility.
1. Why web accessibility is important for WordPress developers to understand.
2. What WCAG 2.1 and Section 508 are.
3. Then we offer our simple steps that we can take as WordPress developers to help our sites be in compliance.

June 10, 2019 — There’s been a lot of talk of “storytelling” recently, but what does it actually mean when it comes the web? This talk will introduce you the importance of storytelling through design. You will learn some UX design fundamentals and be challenged to think through the way we rely on visual stories every day.

No technical skills are required and all you need to bring is a notebook, a willingness to collaborate, and an open mind!

June 10, 2019 — Do_action? Apply_filter? What the hook!?

Hooks play a powerful role in WordPress development, but they can be confusing when you’re just getting started.

Let’s delve into the differences between actions and filters and look at examples of how they are used in core, themes, and plugins.

This talk is geared towards WordPressers who know their way around theme files and may have created child themes or are itching to do more customizations with existing themes & plugins, but don’t know where to start.

We’ll get into the nitty gritty of actions and filters, taking a look at input, output, priority, and naming schemes. We’ll also discuss how to find and understand hooks in core, themes, and plugins.

I will give examples of custom hooks I have added to my own projects and explain the advantages of doing so. By the end, I would like every attendee to be empowered to create their own hook in their next project.