March 30, 2020 — Whether you manage a large site or a small one, if you write your own code one of the most tedious parts can be getting started. This talk will show you techniques such as scaffolding tools and others to get you a fully functional WordPress plugin with unit tests, continuous integration, a local development environment and more with just a single command. It will help you stop rebuilding the wheel so you can focus on the functionality you need and can be extended to themes, libraries or whatever else you need.

February 10, 2020 — With the release of WordPress 5.0 imminent the future of WordPress is brighter than ever. From personal blogs to the enterprise new capabilities and new ways to approach the WordPress platform are helping users of all sizes to make the most of the technology and their careers. This talk will provide a glimpse of that future and our places, as a WordPress community within it with a focus on the future of WordPress as a platform where we can do more than just participate to get the most out of it.

January 15, 2020 — November 9th, 2018 – There’s a lot of talk about website security, keeping sites updated and making sure passwords are strong, etc. These techniques might be great for your site itself but aren’t helping your privacy or your users and, in the right circumstances, can leave your fancy new passwords and other data open to anyone who might be listening. We’ll look beyond passwords and updates at ways to protect your privacy, your users’ privacy and the data that is sent to and from our own sites as well as those we use every day.

November 19, 2019 — Is there a topic you are itching to discuss but it didn’t make it into the speaker lineup this year? Is there a plugin you just have to tell everyone about? Here is your chance to be a part of the WCUS speaker lineup and make that topic a reality.

June 25, 2019 — Whether you manage a large site or a small one, if you write your own code one of the most tedious parts can be getting started. This talk will show you techniques such as scaffolding tools and others to get you a fully functional WordPress plugin with unit tests, continuous integration, a local development environment and more with just a single command. It will help you stop rebuilding the wheel so you can focus on the functionality you need and can be extended to themes, libraries or whatever else you need.

June 2, 2017 — Chris is a developer for UF Health at the University of Florida who has been working on WordPress since 2008. Over the years Chris built one of the largest security plugins on WordPress.org as well as numerous other plugins, themes and other solutions.
His talk was on practical encryption that covers the basics of what encryption is, what it does and how it can be used in some of our every day communications.

Presentation Slides »

April 29, 2016 — This intermediate to advanced developer talk will focus on the types of vulnerabilities common in WordPress plugins by providing insight into the common vulnerabilities prevalent in WordPress plugins and themes including what they are, how they work and what a developer can do to prevent them. Topics will include XSS, CSRF and various other vulnerabilities often seen in WordPress.

Presentation Slides »

January 14, 2016 — Getting any plugin on the WordPress.org forum can be a lot of work. Taking a plugin like Better WP Security (now iThemes Security) to more than 2.5 million downloads when it isn’t your full-time job can seem nearly impossible. This talk will discuss how I built Better WP Security to one of the largest plugins on WordPress.org including what I did right and what I could have done better. Specific tips will involve handling support, marketing a plugin and squashing bugs when you wear all the hats (developer, marketer, teacher, project manager, etc). This session will help to equip you with the tools you will need to not just get your plugin out there but also to make sure it is successful.

December 13, 2015 — WP_CLI is a powerful tool, even right out of the box. But it can be made to do so much more. This talk will discuss extending WP_CLI by adding your own commands. Whether for simple site maintenance or helping to manage clients learn to utilize WP_CLI to it’s maximum extent the right way with tips on adding commands, handling input and output and making sure that users can figure out just what your command is doing. This is an advanced talk appropriate for intermediate to advanced developers.

August 3, 2015 — There’s a lot of information out there on making WordPress as secure as possible. Some of it is great and some of it, well, not so great. My session will walk users through numerous tips and tricks for securing WordPress the right way from the start. In addition we’ll look at a few security misconceptions in an attempt to sort the good information from the bad and keep you from becoming the next victim.