All posts by Rebecca Haden

Sponsor Spotlight: New Design School

Uncategorized

The New Design School will be hosting the Sunday Implementation Jam Session.  Since 2006, they’ve been providing both rigorous academic training, licensed and regulated through the Arkansas State Board of Private Career Education, and community “makeshops” to enrich the lives of the people of Northwest Arkansas.

New Design School also works to bring creative entrepreneurs together for cocktails, seminars, and projects that strengthen local networks and help local creative entrepreneurs to increase both their skills and their level of professionalism.

It’s all part of their mission: “to educate the next generation of creative entrepreneurs that will shape the future of innovation in design and technology.”

The Jam Session will be a place to try out the takeaways from the sessions you attend. We’ve challenged each speaker to give participants some things they can put into practice right away, and the Sunday Jam Session gives you the chance to try those things out with support from WordPress experts. If you don’t yet have a WordCamp ticket, register now to take advantage of this opportunity!

Sponsor Spotlight: Dreamhost

Uncategorized

News flash: Dreamhost has a sale going on right now! That might not be big news, because Dreamhost often has specials. Their WordPress hosting is fast, reasonably priced even without a special, and includes automatic installation.

Dreamhost offers managed hosting on virtual private servers, with separate MySQL database hosting for maximum security. You’ll have a C-Panel as well as your WP admin area and auto-scaling RAM. SSL certificates are available.

24/7 support and unlimited email are nice touches, too.

You can also register your domains with Dreamhost, to keep everything in one place, and there are cloud storage plans available. This is a hosting company that will grow with you.

Sponsor Highlight: Jetpack

Uncategorized

Jetpack is a plugin for WordPress.org sites that brings the functionality of WordPress.com to self-hosted sites.

Huh?

A lot of WordPress users don’t know about Jetpack, but it includes a lot of fun and fancy stuff, and it’s free.

What does Jetpack provide? Site stats, for one thing. If Google Analytics is too rich for your blood, Jetpack’s site stats give you a handy overview of how many visitors you have, how they found you, and what they read while they were there.

jetpack

My personal favorite is Beautiful Math, which allows you to add mathematical formulae easily and attractively. But there are also features like social sharing buttons, a carousel, Publicize and Enhanced Distribution, both of which share content automatically, and Related Posts, all of which might be just what you need.

There are in fact 27 different cool tools included in Jetpack. You could seriously cut down on the number of plugins you use if you use Jetpack instead, and you could reduce compatibility issues as well.

And you’ll connect your site with WordPress.com. There’s a lot of support and connection over there which we self-hosted folks may be missing out on.

If you haven’t tried Jetpack — and let’s be honest, most of us probably haven’t tried all 27 of the features even if we’ve played around with it a little — it’s time to give it a shot.

Developer and Designer Track

Track highlights

WordCamp Fayetteville has a varied schedule of speakers in the Developer and Designer tracks this year.

Tammy Hart from Uptrending kicks things off with a Designer/Developer session on building modular WordPress themes. Tammy has spoken at WordCamp Fayetteville in the past and is looking forward to being back in town.

Sky Shabatura is up next with a Designer/Developer session on the Customizer, which is becoming increasingly important to WordPress themes. If you’re building a theme for sale, it’s a must, and even though there has been a lot of controversy about it in the WordPress developer community, it offers a lot to love. “Customizer? I barely know ‘er!” is Sky’s title.

Sean Morrison is up next with the last of the Designer/Developer combined sessions, bringing some wisdom on SEO. Content may be king, but designers and developers can actually do a lot for their clients in this area.

After lunch and the keynote session, Daniel Herron invites designers to think more deeply about the creative content surrounding us and how we can use it to our best advantage.  Daniel is with Scout Retail here in Northwest Arkansas.

Dave Navarro compares and contrasts a whole bunch of responsive plugins and brings some new ideas to the mobile first vs. responsive controversy in the Developer track. Dave works with radio and manages a large number of websites, so he comes to WordPress from a different perspective.

Tom Hapgood shares a live demo of responsive techniques in the Designer track next. Hapgood is a custom WordPress website designer with Haden Interactive and also teaches web design at the University of Arkansas.

Michael McCranie of Type 3 Web Design in Bentonville knows how to speed up a website, and he’s going to let us all in on his secrets in the Developer track. McCranie’s current focus is on WordPress sites for small business, but he has a varied development background.

Next in the Developer track, Sean Borsodi says, “Protect Yo Self Or Wreck Yo Self” with the REST API. This is the Developer track session on security — there is a security session in the Business track as well, but the focus is different in each.

Last but not least, Eric Huber of Blue Zoo Creative explains to designers how to avoid the robot apocalypse through clever strategies designed to keep your robots busy. Eric works with business and nonprofit clients, helping them meet important goals like avoiding the robot apocalypse.

Everyone can attend any session, but these sessions assume quite a bit of technical knowledge.

Sponsor Spotlight: Mediatemple

Uncategorized

One thing that every WordPress site — and every other website, too — must have is a place to live. The company that provides that place to live is your web host. WordPress.com is hosted by WordPress, but the other type of WordPress site is called “self hosted” because you have to arrange hosting for yourself.

One hosting company to consider is Mediatemple, a 16 year old hosting company that serves 1.5 million websites in 100 different countries. They approach hosting with a high degree of passion and dedication; it shows in their 24/7/365 service.

Mediatemple offers a bunch of different hosting plans, from basic WordPress single-site hosting to professional-grade VPS hosting. They offer secure hosting and lots of extras like Google Apps and email, and they’ll help you move your website, too!

If mass market hosting isn’t meeting your needs, it might be time to step up to more specialized hosting services. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by Mediatemple’s prices if you’ve shopped around.

They also have a very intriguing blog. Click through that link for an interesting selection.

Sponsor Spotlight: GoDaddy Pro

Sponsors

GoDaddy is one of the top web hosting companies in the nation, if not in the world. They are definitely the top shop for domain registration. They provide professional email addresses, too.

And while their Website Builder may not be the best option for creating a website, they offer WordPress hosting at an unbeatable price.

GoDaddy Pro is for agencies, designers, and developers. Here’s what you get with Pro that you won’t find in the ordinary GoDaddy plans:

  • Client Access Tools
    Get secure admin access to client sites without password sharing
  • Site Monitoring
    GoDaddy Pro lets you know if there are ever any issues with uptime or site speed.
  • Simplified Shopping
    Fill a shopping cart for your client and email it directly to the client so they can checkout without confusion.
  • Pros-Only Support
    It’s your livelihood, so GoDaddy Pro gives you faster service and support.

You’ll get discounts, too, and they even promise you hugs. Not many hosting options offer that.

That list of benefits probably reminded you of some of the more frustrating moments in your career if you’re a WordPress pro, and signing up could bring a great sigh of relief. We’re expecting a GoDaddy rep at WordCamp, so stop by their table and see if GoDaddy Pro is for you.

Hey — it’s WordPress Month in the GoDaddy Garage, so go get some knowledge when you check out their Pro package!

Goals for WordCamp

#WCFay tips

Our keynote speaker, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, was given a goal by Automattic when they sent her to WordCamp Brisbane in Australia: she had to meet 30 new people. She met that goal.

You don’t have to set goals for WordCamp. You can come just for fun and look on the experience as an adventure.

But if you like to have goals, here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Meet new people. It doesn’t have to be 30 new people, but challenge yourself to make some new connections.
  • Find the right person. Looking to hire someone? Hoping to be hired? Need a strategic partner or a gym buddy? WordCamp is a great place to find the right WordPress partner.
  • Learn some new things. I always write a blog post about 10 things I learned at WordCamp, so that’s a goal for me. (Click through that link for some special treats.)
  • Find the answers to some questions. The WP101 4:00 session is a question and answer time and the Sunday Jam Session is a great place to get questions answered, but you can get answers all along the way, too.
  • Learn what you don’t know. No matter what your background or training, there’s somebody at WordCamp who knows things you don’t know. WordCamp can start you off in a brand new direction.
  • Share your knowledge. Not only is there someone who knows something you don’t know, but there are also people who don’t know everything you know. You will have an opportunity to help someone, so be prepared to take that opportunity.
  • Get refreshed and inspired. If you sometimes get burned out with blogging or disenchanted with development, WordCamp can be your annual restart.
  • Develop a new goal for yourself or your company. It’s easy to get settled in. You can come away from WordCamp with a new personal challenge for yourself.

Do you have goals for WordCamp Fayetteville 2015?

Crystal Bridges

#WCFay tips

WordCamp Fayetteville will keep you busy with parties on Friday and Saturday nights, sessions all day Saturday, and a Sunday Jam Session.

If you come in early or stay on for an extra day or two, though, you should not miss Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, a world-class museum in Bentonville, about a half hour north of Fayetteville.

The architecture is stunning, there is a fine and varied collection of American art work from colonial times to the present, and the restaurant at the museum is an excellent place to enjoy a gourmet lunch.

Current exhibitions include Andy Warhol’s nature photos, which you probably haven’t seen before.

museum

There’s a beautiful sculpture walk as well.

You can see all the artworks in half an hour, if you want to stop off quickly on your way to or from WordCamp, but there are beautiful walks on the grounds, including the short and easy Art Trail as well as longer trails that connect with Downtown Bentonville and the Compton Gardens.

Take a Hike!

#WCFay tips

When I get to a new town, my first impulse is to find a good place to walk. If that’s on your list for downtime during WordCamp Fayetteville, you’re in luck.

Fayetteville has a wonderful system of trails connecting with an almost-complete walking or biking tour up to Bentonville. Take the Virtual Tour to get a complete picture, with a map and everything.

Or read on for a few highlights.

If you want to get a real hiking feeling without leaving town, head to Lake Fayetteville. You’ll find an entrance just off of Zion Road — turn east off of College Ave. by the Northwest Arkansas Mall and park at the Veterans Memorial Park.

Lake_Fayetteville

Want to see more of the town on your walk?

Consider the Scull Creek Trail, which is wheelchair accessible, or the Mud Creek Trail. Click through the links to get maps. Both of these fully-paved trails give you a good view of the town, and they’re connected. Start with Mud Creek off of Old Missouri Road, continue on to Scull Creek, and then take the Frisco Trail, and you can get in 7.6 miles before you join us on Friday night at Mermaids.

mud-creek

Do you want some physical challenge beyond just getting in the steps? Consider the Mt. Sequoyah Woods Trail. This trail is popular for mountain bikes, but you’ll often have it to yourself. Expect to do a bit of climbing along the way.It’s only a mile from downtown, but you’ll definitely feel like you’ve had a walk in the woods.
sequoyah-trail

 

Giving Back

Sponsors

WordPress has asked all of us who make their livings with WordPress to give back to the community. They suggest 5% of your time — a couple of hours a week. There are plenty of ways to give back: help in the support forums at WordPress.org, organize and participate in meetups, help with WordPress sites at Give Camps…

Here’s something else you can do: present at WordCamp.

Chances are there’s something that you know but which other people don’t know. Maybe there’s a great plugin you know how to use. Or perhaps you have a special way of organizing your blogging calendar. Maybe you have a trick for integrating social media with your WordPress site that other people don’t know.

Think about sharing that knowledge with the rest of the community.

What will you get out of it?

  • You might get extra visibility, a job, a lead, or some other measurable return on your investment. We’re not here to promote our companies, but you know what they say about casting bread on the waters.
  • You’ll learn things, too. The comments and questions and discussions after your talk will almost certainly teach you something, and then there are other people’s sessions.
  • It’s fun. WordCamp is a great place to meet people and to get to know folks you’ve only talked to on Twitter.

And you’ll be doing your part to give back to WordPress, that free tool that makes you money.

Not a speaker? That’s understandable; some say that fear of public speaking is the #1 phobia in the nation. In that case, think about sponsoring, volunteering, or just helping to spread the word!