September 3, 2025 — It’s been over a decade since Atomic Design brought the world of digital design systems into the modern era. With the introduction of the block editor, and further expansion into Full Site Editing, WordPress has never been better suited to delivering modular, systemic, and consistent content editing experiences. However, without putting thought into the process of creating content, the editor interface becomes frustrating and complicated, and the experience of the end user often suffers as a result. We will discuss how incorporating User Experience tools to your workflow (including user research, information architecture, and design systems) can improve the content creation experience. We will also discuss how new and upcoming tools will make these system-driven editing experiences better, and how we can continue to improve the WordPress editor as we have more of these conversations. Presented byMichelle Schulp Hunt

February 27, 2024 — The maturation of the block editor brought with it a major shift in how WordPress theme development was expected to work. For many independent developers and small agencies, this shift seemed like an huge disruption to their workflow – a once-reliable codebase now in flux, entirely new coding languages and tooling to learn, and layers of complexity added to tools (like hooks and queries) that used to be simple and accessible.

The questions seem overwhelming: How do we build something modern for our clients while ensuring its stability and reliability in the years to come? How do we find the time to learn all these new tools while continuing to produce quality work (and support ourselves or our team in the process)? Can’t I just keep doing it the way I was doing it?

Through my own experience as a full-time independent developer – building and supporting real projects with classic WordPress, the block editor, “hybrid” themes, and Full Site Editing as these features were introduced – I will share what I have learned about navigating the triumphs and pitfalls of modern WordPress theme development, and how to confidently decide which tools and features make sense for your projects.

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December 10, 2023 — The maturation of the block editor brought a major shift in WordPress theme development. For many independent developers, this change was a huge disruption to workflow: a once-reliable codebase now in flux, entirely new coding languages and tooling to learn, and layers of complexity added to tools that used to be simple and accessible.

Hear from a full-time independent developer – someone building and supporting real projects with classic WordPress, the block editor, “hybrid” themes, and Full Site Editing.

This talk shares lessons learned about navigating the triumphs and pitfalls of modern WordPress theme development. Find out how to confidently decide which tools and features make sense for your projects.