November 12, 2017 — In 2006, I started working in a non-profit music school and founded the first ever accessible harp programme in the west of Ireland. Ten years later in 2016, my harp students were invited to perform in a concert of music students from all over the world in the Royal Albert Hall… and they rocked out! My students come from a background of no harp, and/or no music education in their families, so I had to think outside the box to reinforce their learning. I used WordPress to create a site with video tutorials and other resources for them, which was a huge factor in their successful performance.

December 5, 2016 — This talk will focus on what I’ve learned about BuddyPress since it was in alpha seven years ago. Here are some of the key touchpoints:

Quick history and evolution of BuddyPress
When you should use BuddyPress — when the site requirements match up
When you should not use BuddyPress — red flags
What add-ons are available for BuddyPress
Helpful resources to get started with BuddyPress

Presentation Slides »

December 1, 2016 — There are many resources for developers online which show how to code a WordPress Theme or a WordPress plugin. However, there are fewer resources which explain the necessity for, and advantages of, separating functionality between Themes and Plugins, planning development according to modular coding principles, and working on WordPress projects which go beyond the blog.

Touching on front end techniques most commonly known from programmers like Brad Frost, I’ll explain how to plan a development project for both front end and backend environments in an overview, using a recent real-world example of developing for both blogs and non-blog-type WordPress multisite installation.

My talk will provide a summarized insight into maintaining individual features through the use of your own Plugins, why it’s important to decide whether to add features to a Theme or via a Plugin, and the flexibility and organisation which modular coding brings.

Presentation Slides »