August 19, 2016 — Rewrite rules are how WordPress creates clean/pretty URIs from URL query parameters. When your new page or blog post automatically gets a human-friendly URL, this is provided by a rewrite rule, which itself is using WordPress’s Rewrite API. In this presentation Jonathan Daggerhart will go over the basics of the Rewrite API, create a few new rewrite rules as examples, and make use of the data the Rewrite API provides the global WP_Query object when it matches a rule’s pattern. Hopefully by the end of the class, you’ll have a good understanding of what the Rewrite API is, how it works, and some use-cases where it could be beneficial.

September 20, 2015 — This session teachs developers how to write custom WP_Query loops, the different functions available for interacting with WP_Query objects, and how to use each function appropriately. We discuss the cases where WP_Query doesn’t fit your needs, and how to deal with the global $wpdb object directly. And we look at the most useful methods available with the $wpdb object, and discuss responsible usage and implementation there of.

September 27, 2014 — This introduction to WordPress walks the fine line between abstract concepts and specific use-cases for many administrative tasks within WordPress. The goal of the presentation is to not-only teach you how to navigate and use different functionality with WordPress’s dashboard, but to also provide understanding as to why the differences in functionality exist. By the end of the presentation, you should understand how to use WordPress to effectively create and manage simple websites. Topics covered: common settings, pages, posts, categories & tags, themes, widgets, and plugins.

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September 24, 2014 — The purpose of this presentation is to give a very basic introduction to the creation of a new plugin. The audience will learn about using the Codex, actions, filters, shortcodes, custom settings, and some best practices. The resulting custom plugin will be able to add custom css, insert fancy horizontal breaks, link to existing posts, add color to text, and find and replace content in WordPress posts and pages on display. An existing understanding of some PHP is required to get the most value from this presentation.

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