Presented by Adam Soucie in WordPress Development Workshop.

WordPress themes have always been a complicated topic. What goes into a theme? What doesn’t? What’s actually required versus what’s a nice-to-have feature? Should I use a framework?

In this workshop, I’ll walk you through the basics of building your own custom theme from scratch. I’ll cover all of the necessary files and features you need to get your custom theme up and running, as well as teach you a few tricks on how to speed up your development process along the way.

Presented by Laura Byrne-Cristiano in WordPress 102 Workshop.

I made my first WordPress site in 2006. More or less, the same way you created content in 2006 was pretty much the same up until the Gutenberg (AKA the Block Editor) came along.

Sometimes it’s difficult to transition into something new, especially when you’re so ingrained in doing something in a particular way. After three months of using Gutenberg every day, I’ve come to love it, and I have a couple of tricks that I’d like to pass along.

Presented by Nathan Ingram in Business Development Workshop.

We’ll do a deep dive into the importance of recurring revenue, how to create, price and sell services for recurring revenue, the nuts and bolts of creating and managing an effective WordPress care plan, making recurring billing painless, and structuring your business for profitability.

Nathan has helped hundreds of WordPress business owners build recurring revenue to make their businesses more profitable and stable. This interactive workshop could (legitimately) transform your business!

Presented by Michele Butcher-Jones in Business Development Workshop.

Give your sales department an assist by providing your customers with a 5 Star experience. In one short session you can learn how to use the time you already spend on customer support to your best advantage. My take-away tips will help you create loyal, repeat customers and free marketing tools for your business, making each customer feel like a vital, valued client. And all with minimal effort on your part.

From your first response until after the ticket closes, every customer should feel like one in a million and I’ll show you how!

Presented by William Earnhardt in WordPress Development Workshop.

I’ve worked with WordPress for over a decade. For the most part that meant writing a lot of PHP, with a bit of JavaScript sprinkled in, usually powered by jQuery. But with the arrival of Gutenberg, the future of WordPress is in JavaScript.

I’ll walk through how I navigated the transition of writing mostly PHP to more modern JavaScript and show you that it’s nothing to be scared of—from how I was able to wrap my head around the general differences in the languages, to some basics of tooling and build processes, to working with React and building things with Gutenberg.

Presented by Mary Baum in WordPress 102 Workshop.

First, I promise you I was never a disco fan. (You’re over 50 if you got that joke.)

But I gotta say. Gutenberg has changed everything, and I’m over the moon.

Standard layouts with grids of posts? Done in a couple of hours.

Wild and crazy layouts, with all kinds of things going every which way? Again, Gutenberg’s the star!

And not just in experimental for-designers’-eyes-only pages.

But home pages. Archive pages. Pages of posts. Single posts. Even WooCommerce shop pages!

So let’s get visual!

Presented by Mike Demo in WordPress 102 Workshop.

It’s wonderful many people earn a living using WordPress: launching sites, building plugins, and designing themes. But sometimes we find ourselves in the middle of running a business we thought was just a fun hobby. How do you change your hobby to a hustle?

A successful hobby is the path to a successful business. So, how do you take your WordPress side hustle to a full-time gig? In this talk, we’ll discuss how to recognize your hobby isn’t just a hobby, how to build in steps and processes to help it scale, and how to know that the timing is right to launch.

Presented by Jason Coleman in Business Development Workshop.

Money isn’t everything, but having more of it tends to solve the stressful problems of modern living: things like paying rent and traveling to WordCamps. This presentation is for anyone who wants to make more money with WordPress.

I will start with some basic frameworks for thinking about income and business revenue and then transition into specific actions you can take to make more money in your freelance business, product business, side gig, or full time job.

Attendees should come out of this talk with more confidence in their ability to make money and some tactical advice to increase their income or business revenue.

Presented by Josh Pollock in WordPress Development Workshop.

Gutenberg is a new UI framework for WordPress that power the post editor in version 5.0 and will be used throughout wp-admin as WordPress moves forward. This is the largest change to the WordPress content editing experience in WordPress’s history. How you develop custom WordPress sites for clients, as well as WordPress plugins and themes, is changing — for the better.

For the internet’s most popular CMS, everything is a block now. What does that mean, how do you develop your own blocks and integrate them with your theme or WordPress-powered app? Learn everything you need to know to develop for WordPress the new, more fun way.

Here is what you will learn:

– What is Gutenberg?
– Why is it the future of WordPress development?
– What is a block? Learn the technology and terminology.
– How do you build a block? From “hello world” to basic blocks with editable data.
– How do you make blocks dynamic? Building more advanced blocks with the WordPress REST API and Redux.

Presented by Jonathan Brinley in WordPress Development Workshop.

You built a site for a client, who complains that it takes forever to load the admin. You released a plugin, and your users tell you it’s slowing down their site. You explain to them that it’s busy doing very important things: sending emails, importing data from APIs, generating reports… All essential, but your users don’t want to wait around while these jobs run. As a plugin or site developer, you can improve the user experience of your application by processing these tasks in the background, or even on a separate server. Let’s take a look at the options, benefits, and trade-offs when implementing queues to handle background tasks.

Presented by Chris Edwards in WordPress 102 Workshop.

Everybody knows Google Analytics is the best way to track traffic to your WordPress website. But setting up Google Analytics correctly and understanding all the information they provide can be a challenge. In this session, Chris Edwards will do a deep dive into Google Analytics. We’ll cover:

• Basic installation on WordPress Website
• Audience reports
• Acquisition reports
• Behavior reports
• Filters & Segments
• Event Tracking
• Setting up Goals & Goal Tracking
• UTMs
• Setting up Custom Dimensions
• Overview of Google Data Studio
• List of recommended plugins

Presented by Jessica Frick in Business Development Workshop.

The 80/20 rule for business also applies to your projects — 80% of your success comes from 20% of the work, but 20% of your projects might take 80% of your time. To get ahead in today’s impatient economy, you need to work smarter, not harder.

In this talk, we’ll quickly walk through project management methodologies and we’ll discuss the practical actions you can employ today in your WordPress business to enjoy a more productive tomorrow. #RIPOverwhelm

Presented in Track 1, Track 2, Track 3.

Presented by Rep. Anna Eskamani in Track 3.

Technology is a tool that can be used for good and bad, so how do we knock out the bad and lift up the good?

Representative Anna V. Eskamani was a first time candidate in 2018, running for State House in what became one of the most contentious and exciting races in Central Florida. Her campaign was unique in a lot of ways, with the use of technology standing out.

How did Anna integrate tech in her work, and how do we continue to use tech as a means to do good, and bring people together for positive change?

Presented by Nathan Ingram in Track 2.

Our success as freelancers is built upon the lessons we’ve learned from our biggest mistakes. In this talk, Nathan draws on more than 20 years experience in the web business to share 10 important lessons he had to learn the hard way and common mistakes we all can avoid. Each lesson is summarized in a succinct, proverbial statement and then unpacked with examples that will make you laugh, cringe and think

Presented by Kevin Cristiano in Track 1.

WordPress is open source software, it’s license is GPL v2. Why does that matter? Why should I care? In this talk we’ll discuss why Open source matters, why the GPL is important. I’ll do an overview of what GPL is the differences between GPL and proprietary licenses. I’ll discuss why Open Source Matters and why we all users benefit from it. The target audience is not developers or implementors that have heard this before, but WP users who may never have heard these terms nor considered that they are important. The goal is to help people understand the value, protections, and security that WordPress gives them due to the GPL and Open Source

Presented by Jonathan Brinley in Track 1.

Settings, widgets, HTTP requests, shortcodes… WordPress gives plugin developers more than a dozen PHP APIs. Using these APIs enables developers to write extensions the “right” way, using methods, actions, and filters that make plugins forward-compatible, maintainable, and extensible. We’ll take a tour of these APIs, exploring when and how to use them to build a WordPress plugin.

Presented by Rian Kinney, Kara Franco, Allie Nimmons, Rep. Anna Eskamani, Chris Wiegman in Track 3.

Join us for a panel discussion on the ethical frameworks that currently rule the web. We’ll touch upon the duties of platforms, publishers, developers, designers, marketers, business owners, and end users when it comes to how they use the web.

Presented by Michele Butcher-Jones in Kids.

Please note a signed waiver is required to participate. You can download and print this waiver here and bring with you day-of or you can sign one at registration.

WAIVER

WordCamp parents can now usher in the next generation of WordPress builders at our annual KidsCamp! Parents attending WordCamp can bring their junior website creators along and enjoy a day of parent-child learning under the advisement of some of our WordPress Experts!

These special kid-friendly lessons will introduce your child to the wonderful world of WordPress and help them learn or improve upon WordPress development, design, and use skills! After the day is complete, your child will leave with their very own WordPress.com or WordPress.org site up and running! We will have 2 learning tracks for the children who are new to WordPress and for those more advanced students. The event will also include hands-on STEAM education projects for the students to enjoy. 

Interested WordPress parents or guardians will need to have a ticket for Saturday attendance purchased before signing up their junior creators. Parents will be responsible for staying with their child during KidsCamp but may switch guardians during the course of the day if you are both attending. Each child will need his or her own laptop to work on.

Each KidsCamp ticket provides your child with lunch, an afternoon snack, and full access to the day’s lessons. We are accepting children from ages 7 to 14 to participate in these special lessons and spots are limited to only 30 students (not including their parental sponsors).

Ready to start your child out on their own WordPress project? KidsCamp tickets will go on sale with the general admission tickets in June (both the parents and the children need tickets). Also, if you have an older child ready to learn some advanced topics, they are welcome to join us for the full sessions and workshops with a regular ticket!

Presented by Charles Johnston in Track 2.

Ever had that conversation with your parents, coworkers or friends when you tell them you want to build websites for a living? Then they look at you with a look that says are you crazy, but they say something like oh that’s nice?

Anyone starting a company thinks they have the world in their grasp and no one can stop them, and yet like in any business there are ups and downs, pros and cons and it is truly then when you will find out who your true friends, clients, cheerleaders and naysayers really are. While you struggle to make ends meet, they wait chomping at the bit to tell you “I told you so”.

I will share lessons learned as both a freelancer and an agency owner that will not only share that we are not alone in the struggle (although it may feel that way) but also ways to avoid some of the same mistakes I have made along the way. Owning a web agency can be fun as long as you leverage your time. resources, and most of all learn what you are or perhaps are not good at and how to delegate those items in a way that not only can provide for you but give the opportunity to change others lives along the way all the while having a great time making the web beautiful one site at a time.

Presented by Jason Coleman, Tricia Clements, Beth Livingston, Robert Jacobi, David Wolfpaw in Track 3.

Join our panel for a QA on business related topics. Then stick around afterward for small roundtable discussion about business.

Panel runs two hours

Presented by Allie Nimmons in Track 1.

Not having enough time or energy to manage all our systems and processes is one of the biggest stress inducers for freelancers. In this talk, Allie takes a look at how useful automation tools can sometimes be overused to the point of disconnecting us from our work entirely and how that ultimately causes more stress for freelancers. We will then explore how to find a healthy balance so that automation can be a friend, not a foe.

Presented by Steve Curtis in Track 2.

How to audit your WP website for accessibility

I will explain how you can very easily run an accessibility audit for your WordPress website using completely free tools.

I will also show you some techniques to run a few manual accessibility tests on your website. This includes tab navigation and using a screen reader.

It is very important that we as WordPress developers continue to design and create with inclusion and accessibility in mind.

This talk will help you find where your websites accessibility compliance issues are.

After attending this talk you will be able to run simple automatic and manual accessibility audits on your website.

Please join me and learn how to help make WordPress accessible to everyone!

Presented by Jason Coleman, Tricia Clements, Beth Livingston, Robert Jacobi, David Wolfpaw in Track 3.

Join our panel for a QA on business related topics. Then stick around afterward for small roundtable discussion about business.

Panel runs two hours

Presented by Chris Wiegman in Track 1.

Whether you manage a large site or a small one, if you write your own code one of the most tedious parts can be getting started. This talk will show you techniques such as scaffolding tools and others to get you a fully functional WordPress plugin with unit tests, continuous integration, a local development environment and more with just a single command. It will help you stop rebuilding the wheel so you can focus on the functionality you need and can be extended to themes, libraries or whatever else you need.

Presented by Mary Baum in Track 2.

I’ve been a type nut for 45 years.

Seriously.

I have OPINIONS on the shapes of PARTS of LETTERS.

In the scheme of things, you probably don’t want to get as picky as I am.

Still:

You want to make sure your type is easy to read.

You want to make sure it speaks in the same voice as your site — it looks like it belongs.

Those things matter—a lot.

(Would you choose a swirly script for Jiffy Lube? Didn’t think so.)

But you don’t have to spend decades to learn the basics. Just come spend a few minutes learning a few basics that won’t change with the tech — at least as long as people still have eyes!

Presented by Tessa Kriesel in Track 1.

For those of us that rely greatly on Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) for customizing our themes, the release of Gutenberg was and still is scary at times.

Have no fear! acf_register_block() allows you to create your own Gutenberg blocks using just Advanced Custom Fields.

You will learn:
– ACF & it’s awesome capabilities
– How to create Gutenberg blocks with ACF
– A few other handy ACF tips & tricks

Presented by Lindsey Soucie, Mike Demo, Patrice Turner, Andrea Zoellner in Track 3.

Join our panel for a QA on content related topics. Then stick around afterward for small roundtable discussion about content.

Presented by Karla Campos in Track 2.

Haven’t ventured into Gutenberg? Are you using the classic editor? Did you know that the classic editor will be supported until Dec 2021? Join us for Gutenberg 101.

In this session we will go through the basics of Gutenberg. You will see how easy it is to get around and create great looking media rich pages and posts. Bring your devices and let’s jump right in.

Presented in Track 1, Track 2, Track 3.

Take a short break to get a snack and spend some time with our sponsors!

Presented by Roy Sivan in Track 1.

The new WordPress editor (Gutenberg) is how all new content is to be created on WordPress. However with the way the data is stored, is that really the best way to power an application? I will walk through the drawbacks for how Gutenberg stores data, and how to easily change that to more easily power custom headless (and not) web applications.

Presented by James Tryon, Geoff Myers, Josh Pollock, Michele Butcher-Jones, Tessa Kriesel in Track 3.

Join us for a panel discussion on WordPress development. We will have four speakers available to answer audience questions on the topic of coding for WordPress.

Panel runs two hours

Presented by Irina Blumenfeld in Track 2.

What if there was a way that you could communicate directly with search engines?

You could help Google understand your content and give them more information to make your site more visible.

We’ll talk about Structured Data and how it can help your website stand out in search results.

We’ll also discuss how you can implement it, submit to Google and test the results.

Presented by James Tryon, Geoff Myers, Josh Pollock, Michele Butcher-Jones, Tessa Kriesel in Track 3.

Join us for a panel discussion on WordPress development. We will have four speakers available to answer audience questions on the topic of coding for WordPress.

Panel runs two hours

Presented by Adam Soucie in Track 1.

As developers and marketers, we spend most of our day sitting down in front of a computer. While comfortable, this leads to a sedentary lifestyle that carries with it a myriad of health risks. In this talk, I’ll discuss the risks of our lifestyle while also discussing the important warning signs you need to look out for and sharing tips to stave off obesity, diabetes, and more.

Presented by Stephanie Brinley in Track 2.

A smart business owner has a business plan, but how many businesses have a smart plan for branding? Join me for a discussion about what branding is, the importance of consistency, and action steps to put a plan in place for your business.

Presented in Track 1, Track 2, Track 3.

This year for our 10th anniversary, WordCamp Orlando is doing things differently! After our sessions end on Saturday, August 24th we will be staying on campus for some appetizers, drinks, and games.

Whether you’re keto, vegan, gluten-free, or a picky eater we have something for everyone!

The best part is that all of this is happening at the same venue as WordCamp Orlando itself. No need to worry about driving anywhere!

While some will be enjoying food and networking with attendees around campus, in the Disney Dining Hall you can play games and hang out with other WordCampers.

Knowing that not all attendees want a loud experience we are providing areas for those wanting a quieter experience too – either to just sit back and relax and their own or perhaps wanting to network without too much background noise. The Three Pillar Cafe will also be open for those wanting a quieter atmosphere.

Our after party starts at 5:30 pm and ends at 7:30 pm. Organizers and volunteers will be available at all locations should you have questions or need assistance. The entire after party is a family-friendly event so even the Kids Campers can join in.

Presented by Frank Corso in Track 5.

Once you have your WordPress site set up, there are many things you will want to set up as well as some things that you will want to check regularly. Your maintenance strategy should include everything from keeping regular backups to being notified if your site is down or hacked.

In this talk, we will be discussing:

• Staging Sites
• Backups
• Updates
• Monitoring
• Security
• and More!

Presented by David Zimmerman in Track 4.

Have you ever launched a website only to return to find some annoying SEO has come after you and destroyed it? Has some obnoxious marketer bugged you for lots of little changes- outside the client’s scope and budget?

I’m sorry. That might have been my fault.

Let’s work together to help our clients. I’ll share my secrets on setting up a WordPress site for SEO success. While this won’t guarantee SEO results, but it will set up your clients for optimal Google love.

Presented by Tricia Clements in Track 6.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve been in business for 5 days, 5 years or 15 years, how you present your business online matters. From your website, to your email to your social media, there are certain areas that you can’t neglect. Show prospective clients and referral partners that you’re professional and you take your business seriously – You Mean Business!

Covered:

• Best Practices to create and maintain your online identity
• Where you should spend your money and where you can save money with your business’s online identity
• Tips to help others easily find your business online
• Tips on what you’re doing that are hurting your business, so STOP it!

Presented by Andrea Zoellner in Track 6.

With the new Gutenberg editor, the possibilities for visually striking and engaging storytelling in WordPress have grown exponentially. For marketing content creators, journalists, and bloggers, harnessing the power of Gutenberg can improve the effectiveness of your messages, elevate your designs, and save you time.
This talk will include an overview of marketing and content creation trends, as well as an introduction to block-based design, and how to make it work for blogs and content-heavy sites.

Key takeaways: In this talk, you’ll learn about current marketing trends in content design and how to put them into practice on your own site using Gutenberg. You’ll be introduced to wireframing content with a block design and how to find and use popular third-party blocks. I’ll share blogging and page design tricks that make the most of block design and can help your content pop and help your site be more successful.

Presented by Laura Byrne-Cristiano in Track 4.

Maybe you’ve seen videos like this where cars float downstream in what’s normally a quiet, little creek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzoaXclhnZs and thought, “Thank God that’s not us.” Only on August 11, 2018 it was us. Imagine being an 80-year-old community theatre (run entirely by volunteers) who finds itself under 4 feet of water after a devastating and historic flash flood.

Question: How do you recover when you literally lose everything and insurance money will barely scratch the surface and not be available for months?

Answer: Smart content and social media strategy learned from attending WordCamps led to massive media coverage, an army of volunteers we never met before, and more money than we dreamed possible raised in three days.

Presented by Matt Kopala in Track 5.

Presented by Beth Livingston in Track 5.

Do you hate Project Management and wish you could spend more time just building beautiful websites? No worries.

In this talk, we will explore 6 practical and proven project management best practices you can put into place right now to make your WordPress business run more smoothly and efficiently.

With a 30-year success history, these best practices are really common-sense methods developing better specs and estimates, setting proper client expectations, and putting the brakes on scope creep and project bottlenecks.

Hate project management, you say? You won’t after you attend this session.

Presented by Michele Butcher-Jones in Track 6.

Learning about WordPress Security can leave you feeling overwhelmed but you don’t have to. We will talk best practices and simple steps to keep your site safe and secure. From secure passwords, to security plugins, to what to do when you have been hacked, we will discuss it all.

Presented by Matthew Montoya in Track 4.

If you haven’t thought about your email strategy in a while (or ever), now is the time!

An email list built from your site and in person has tremendous potential value — value that doing the same old thing or taking no action at all won’t tap. Regardless if you are a blogger or a small business, making sure you build a relationship with your visitors, keep them coming back and in most cases taking some action should be your goal. Each person who takes time to visit your site AND join your email list should be handled like gold, as that’s a very passionate client, customer or subscriber.

In this presentation, we’ll share tips and essential steps to take to make sure you’re leveraging your email marketing list to grow your business or subscriber base effectively.

We will cover:

· Why you may want to think about using an email service provider

· How mobile is impacting email marketing readership

· How to build an email that gets results in this short attention span era

· How to build a killer subject line

· How to turn more website visitors into new email contacts

· How to automate timely engagement with new contacts

· How to do get results by sending more relevant emails

Presented by Robert Jacobi in Track 4.

Picking a CMS is a technical, business, and personal decision. You’ll learn about the future of content management, and why migrating to “Invisible” CMS is critical to your success. You can create your own “Invisible” CMS, and grow your business. “Invisible” CMS is about creating a business with WordPress while not being fixated on the actual platform. To be successful, it’s critical to understand that very few people care about the actual CMS, they need to see solutions; and developers need to provide more than just a custom template. The focus will be on reimagining what you as a developer/integrator/agency are doing, integrating 3rd party technologies, and selling a solution.

Presented by Patrice Turner in Track 5.

Get Google’s attention and get the Yoast green light with this simple five-step SEO-optimization strategy.

Presented by Steve Schwartz in Track 6.

You can’t just install a couple of security plugins and call it a day when it comes to safeguarding your WordPress website. Plugins help with the 5th layer of security. Did you know there are 4 more layers that you are most likely not protecting? Huh? Did he say 4 more? Come learn how to safeguard the other 4 layers so that even with the best of plugins, you drastically reduce your (and your client’s) chances of getting hacked. Don’t know what the other 4 layers are? You should definitely attend this talk.

Just as you would add layers of security to protect your home and family, your WordPress security needs a multi layered approach. Come learn how to build a wall, a moat, and some additional lookout towers to keep the bad guys away from your castle.

Presented in Track 4, Track 5, Track 6.