Editorial

Long-form articles with the thoughts, opinions and insights from across the WordPress Realm.

A Few Lessons I’ve Learned as a WordCamp Organizer

27 March 2013 by David Bisset

This will be my fourth year as an organizer of WordCamp Miami, but don’t be fooled; I’m still learning how to pull off a flawless, successful event. The cruel irony here is, of course, that such a thing doesn’t exist. At least at the level of a large-scale WordCamp, something is bound to go wrong. It’s just a question how big that something will be, whether will you ever know about it and, after reflecting on the event (say, six months down the road) if that something was a big deal.

Every conference has unique challenges, depending on the people involved, where it’s located, and a thousand other factors. What i’m going to relate to you now are the lessons I’ve learned from drama in past WordCamp Miami events. Maybe you can relate, or maybe you can’t, but it might be entertaining. [Read more…] about A Few Lessons I’ve Learned as a WordCamp Organizer

The Road to a Simpler WordPress Dashboard

11 January 2013 by Brian Krogsgard

WordPress is a terrific publishing tool and you probably agree with me if you are reading this blog. But that does not mean there isn’t a learning curve, especially for users that aren’t very tech savvy. When we build websites for our clients, or even perhaps for WordPress verticals, it is important that we put ourselves in the shoes of the users, identify their pain points, and help them along so that they aren’t intimidated by the system.

I will show you how to make the current interface simpler on your websites, with currently available tools. We’ll also look forward to the future of the platform and its level of administrative simplicity in general.

What’s in a Name? Moving Beyond Hack Days

17 December 2012 by Siobhan McKeown

It’s become pretty standard for WordCamps to have a hack day, or a developer day, following a day or two of conference activity. The most notable of these is the Developer Hack Day that follows WordCamp San Francisco. The idea is that WordPress people get together to work on WordPress core – this could be on tickets, bugs, or developing features. Developers hang out with their laptops, drink coffee, eat, and hack. [Read more…] about What’s in a Name? Moving Beyond Hack Days

The Art of Editing Your Design

28 September 2012 by Tammie Lister

One of the biggest mistakes I see people making in theme design is not editing their work. A large part of being a designer is about training and channeling that inner editing voice. Being a good editor of your work is a strong tool in your design kit. [Read more…] about The Art of Editing Your Design

Make Your Clients an Offer They Can’t Refuse

18 September 2012 by Luc De Brouwer

Over the past few years I’ve developed my fair share of WordPress plugins. Not just as projects for myself but also for bigger firms. And especially for those bigger firms I’d like to have some sort of continuation plan. Not so much for myself but more for them, just in case the plugin could use some improvements due to advancements in WordPress itself or if there’s better ways of achieving the same outcome. And to me personally there is no better way to do this then to make the plugin publicly available so others can use it, fork it and what not. I like to educate my clients, teach them that they reap what they sow and that giving back to the community will ultimately be beneficial to themselves as well. [Read more…] about Make Your Clients an Offer They Can’t Refuse

It’s Time to Stop Kicking the BuddyPress Puppy

31 July 2012 by Tammie Lister

If I had a £ for every time someone complained at BuddyPress or moaned about this or that shortcoming, I’d probably be quite rich and typing this from a desert island. To me, it sometimes feels as if BuddyPress were a poor puppy, tossed out into the world and kicked as an easy target. In the words of Chris Crocker: “Leave BuddyPress alone!”.

In an attempt to redress this imbalance, I am going to roll out a few of the old chestnuts levied at BuddyPress and try to prevent the puppy kicking with some counter points. I will state from the outset that this is not meant as a deep analysis, but rather just my responses to the nay sayers. I might be a member of the BuddyPress-pompom-cheerleading-fan-club-squad and don’t hide it, but keep in mind that BuddyPress pays most of my bills so it kind of deserves my defence, to some degree. That said, I am certainly not blind to where it needs a little nudge to get better.

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I Attend WordCamps: You Should Too

16 July 2012 by Siobhan McKeown

Today I’m travelling home from my third WordCamp since March. As I write, the other WP Realmers are having transportation troubles. Noel Tock is stranded at Heathrow Airport, while Tammie Lister and BuddyPress Core Developer Paul Gibbs are stuck on a broken-down train between Edinburgh and London. The British transportation system is its usual reliable self. The weather is grey, it’s threatening to rain; I, and no doubt all of us, are suffering from post-WordCamp blues.

Sitting on a rattling train, I became aware that it’s my week to write an editorial for WP Realm. No doubt Zé, who is my own personal editor, will be grumbling about this, but it’s my prerogative to tell the ~~wise~~ grumpy old man to stfu (love you! 🙂 ). I thought I’d use my slot to reflect not only on WordCamp Edinburgh, but the series of WordCamps I’ve visited over the past four months and on WordCamps more generally.

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