September 30, 2023 — The panel brings together a diverse group of people for an honest discussion about underrepresented folx involvement in the WordPress open source project.

The panelists will discuss their achievements, struggles and give advice to those starting out.

September 7, 2023 — In 2013, this speaker launched a blog for female creative entrepreneurs. It became an overnight success in its niche in Italy. Nine years later, the blog is still going strong. It grew from a handful of contributors to a newsroom of over one hundred authors.

In December 2017, a new team was able to take over thanks to the smooth editorial processes.

This talk shares the challenges encountered in creating a workflow for the authors.

Learn practical solutions that different teams can use to coordinate their efforts. Get tips for managing user permissions, assigning editing and curation, and publishing.

December 18, 2022 — Affrontare qualcosa di nuovo, come contribuire a WordPress o fare un cambiamento di carriera, non è sempre facile per le persone oltre una certa età. Parlo per esperienza! Ho iniziato a contribuire al progetto globale di WordPress nel 2015 all’età di 41 anni senza avere esperienze precedenti con progetti Open Source. All’età di 45 anni, sono stata la co-lead di due release major di WordPress.org. E a 47 anni, ho iniziato una nuova carriera con XWP.

All’inizio è terrificante, soprattutto in un mondo che richiede ai giovani lauree, master, specializzazioni, e tirocini. Tuttavia, ho capito che anche le competenze della “scuola della vita”, come la gestione di progetti e team in settori molto diversi tra di loro o l’agenda di una famiglia, sono preziose.

In questo talk, condividerò ciò che ho imparato negli ultimi dieci anni, quando ho iniziato a dare un’orientamento diverso alla mia vita, in una fase considerata relativamente avanzata soprattutto nel settore tech.
Spero che i questi suggerimenti aiuteranno le persone in situazioni simili a sapere cosa aspettarsi lungo il percorso e le incoraggeranno ad affrontare la loro prossima sfida.

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November 26, 2020 — For the next two years, there are at least seven WordPress releases scheduled. While some features are yet to be determined, there is already a rich and interesting list of enhancements that are planned.

What does the future have in store for the WordPress industry? If you are part of it, you should be aware of what’s in the pipeline for 2020 and beyond and how it could affect you and your business.

Join Francesca, the current release co-lead, to hear the latest news and plans from the WordPress project.

November 12, 2020 — In 2013 I launched a blog for female creative entrepreneurs that became an overnight success in its own niche in Italy. Six years later, the blog is still going strong: it grew from a handful of contributors to a newsroom of over eighty authors. Last December I was able to hand it off to a new team thanks to the smooth editorial processes we put in place. In this talk, I’ll share the challenges we encountered over the years creating an effective workflow for the growing number of authors and my experience in keeping the quality consistent while maintaining a schedule relevant to the audience’s expectations. I’ll recommend best practices including how to manage user permissions, how to assign editing and curation, deciding who has the final editorial say and delegating the task of actually getting the content online. I will share practical solutions, based on what worked for us, that many different types of teams can use to coordinate their efforts and keep things in check.

November 3, 2020 — For the next two years, there are at least six WordPress releases scheduled. While some features are yet to be determined, there is already a rich and interesting list of enhancements that are planned.

What does the future have in store for the WordPress industry? If you are part of it, you should be aware of what’s in the pipeline for 2020 and beyond and how it could affect you and your business.

Join me to hear the latest news and plans from the WordPress project.

Presentation Slides »

July 6, 2020 — Why do people contribute to the WordPress project? If you’ve ever wondered this but never gotten involved in an open source project, you might want to know the value of spending time contributing to one.
All contributors do it for the greater good — making the web a better place — but we also do it for ourselves: to advance personally and professionally.
In less than five years Francesca went from being a small-town website maker to landing a dream job in tech and leading releases of WordPress. In this talk, she will share some of the benefits you can get by contributing to WordPress, such as improved skills, increased reputation, and meeting new people.

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June 1, 2020 — A two-person panel, featuring Francesca Marano and Umar Draz, discussing how to start and maintain a healthy, local community. Some of the questions covered:
– Why did they start the community?
– What issues did they faced (and are they still facing)?
– What advice would they give to others that are thinking about starting a local community?

May 30, 2020 — In this talk, Francesca will go over the basic sections of a business plan and show you some examples of how you can make one that represents you and your business.

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November 18, 2019 — WordPress è sicuro? Sì, certo! Tuttavia, un’installazione obsoleta di WordPress, con una password debole e plugin mal scelti, è decisamente vulnerabile.

Si dice spesso che “la sicurezza è un processo” e la sicurezza del proprio sito inizia con l’installazione di WordPress. Perché dovresti preoccuparti della sicurezza dal primo giorno, quando il tuo sito è nuovo di zecca e solo tua mamma lo legge? Cosa dovresti fare da solo, mentre il tuo sito cresce, quando non hai (ancora) il budget per assumere un esperto? Come puoi rendere più sicura la navigazione dei tuoi visitatori? Come puoi minimizzare il rischio di essere hackerato?

In questo talk, esaminerò alcune best practice che è possibile implementare per rendere il tuo sito più sicuro e perché dovresti averne cura. Nessuno di questi richiede una singola riga di codice. Tutto ciò di cui hai bisogno è buon senso e una buona comprensione di cosa fare e cosa non fare quando gestisci il tuo sito.

Presentation Slides »