WordCamp Hamilton 2015 speaker line-up posted
WordCamps are conferences that focus on everything WordPress. They’re informal and community organized, and are a great way to learn new skills and connect with others in the community.
The speaker line-up for WordCamp Hamilton 2015 has been released, check out the line-up below and get your ticket today! Only $20 – what a deal!
When: Saturday June 6th 2015
Where: McMaster Innovation Park @ 175 Longwood Road South Hamilton, Ontario
Register: hamilton.wordcamp.org/2015
Advanced/Developer Track
Time: 9:30 am
Talk: A Modern WordPress Developer’s Toolkit
Description:
The talk would be targeted to intermediate to advanced WordPress developers and would be about using some of the common and popular development tools in a WordPress specific settings. We’ll look at a number of issues that come up during WordPress development (such as sharing code between multiple developers, developer ramp up, repetitive tasks and deployment) and some modern tools to help developers worry more about development and less about the headaches that can come with it.
Speaker: Adam Wills
Time: 10:30 am
Talk: High Voltage: Building Static Sites with WordPress-Managed Content
Description:
WordPress evolved from a simple blog platform into a full-fledged content management system. It is now evolving beyond that into an application development framework. It is a new era for WordPress. One that partly made possible by the WP-API plugin. The plugin bolts a REST API on top of the WordPress platform, allowing for integration of WordPress with other systems.
WP-API can be leveraged in many ways. For example, there is a lot of excitement around using WordPress as a backend for single page web apps and mobile apps. But the possibilities don’t end there. In this talk, we will explore the use of WP-API to integrate WordPress-managed content with static site generators.
Static site generators and flat-file CMSs have been growing in popularity over the past few years, due largely to developer productivity, reliability, security, performance and ease-of-deployment. They are a compelling alternative but compromises must be made to realize the benefits. It doesn’t have to be an either-or decision. We will explore strategies for using WordPress as a collaborative writing room – similar to proprietary alternatives like Prismic.io and Contentful. And we will explore strategies for building static sites using that content.
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Intermediate to advanced WordPress developers
Speaker: Nick Kenyeres
Time: 11:30 am
Talk: How To Set a Vagrant Development System
Description:
If you need to have a development environment that matches a typical production environment.
See how the default server configuration provisioned by VVV matches a common configuration for working with high traffic WordPress sites.
See WordPress configurations provided by VVV create an environment ideal for developing themes and plugins as well as for contributing to WordPress core.
See how to run PHPCS (static code analyst) and PHPunit in vagrant.
Speaker: Paul Bearne
Time: 1:30 pm
Talk: WordPress Accessibility – the fundamentals of Web Accessibility
Description:
The focus of my presentation will be on WordPress and website accessibility; from a front-end perspective. First, I will explain what web accessibility is and why it is important. To continue, I will discuss AODA and Section 508 regulations for Canada and the United States. Then, I will go over some key WCAG 2.0 compliancy requirements a developer will need to ensure the websites they develop are fully accessible. From there, I will showcase a few web accessibility tools, then some WordPress accessibility plugins; followed by a quick demonstration on how to evaluate a website’s accessibility.
Speaker: Jordan Quintal
Time: 2:30 pm
Talk: Sharing the Love: Leveraging the WordPress REST API to Syndicate Content
Description:
We know and love WordPress as a great content management system. Wouldn’t it be great if we could leverage the power, ease, and simplicity of WordPress-as-CMS across a wide range of web platforms? We might display pages and posts in a node.js or Ruby on Rails web application, say, decoupling the front and back ends of WordPress to connect the CMS to a foreign site or application.
Future versions of WordPress will include a RESTful API to allow easy syndication of WordPress content across multiple platforms with a consistent. We will look at the plugin (WP REST API) slated to become part of core WordPress, review how the API came to be and where it’s going, and check out a bunch of cool things one might do with the API.
Speaker: Brian Hoke
Time: 3:30 pm
Talk: Speed up your WordPress site
Description:
Speeding up a WordPress site (or any content site) is economical, boost rankings, and most of all, improve the user experience. The presentation discusses the different general strategies to make your site more speedy or suck less if you are inheriting a mess. There will be some demonstration of how to make a site run faster by using different engines, installation of plugins and changes in general.
Developers of all abilities will benefit from the tips, and intermediate/advanced developers will find some of the examples/case studies useful.
Speaker: Alan Lok
Time: 4:30 pm
Time: WordPress For Web Apps – Using your favourite CMS to build the next big startup
Description:
You’ve got an awesome idea for a startup, but you’re just a WordPress developer—you don’t have the skills or resources to build a fancy web app. Or do you?
In this talk, you’ll learn how you can use the world’s most popular CMS to build a killer web app without investing time and resources into learning new frameworks or hiring other developers. You’ll see how easy it is to get started with real-life examples of WordPress-based web apps, learn how to adapt your ideas to work within the WordPress architecture to save development time, and get a step-by-step walkthrough of the app-building process. By the time you leave the talk, you’ll have all the knowledge you need to build the next big app—guaranteed!
Speaker: Chris Van Patten
Beginner/Blogger/Designer Track
Time: 9:30 am
Talk: WordPress 101
Description:
This talk will introduce WordPress to people who are new to WordPress or have never touched the platform. People want to know what their getting into! What kind of commitment does this mean? What things can it do for me on social media? A quick look at the dashboard and take questions that people have. Why would people use WordPress?
Speaker: Shanta Nathwani
Time:10:30 am
Talk: 10 Steps to Build a Better Business Site For Less Than $100
Description:
You don’t need to be a developer to build a great website in WordPress.
***
In this session we’ll be walking through the process of building a business website, from initial planning to site launch, for less than $100. Attendees will walk away with an actionable list of to-do items that they can follow to build a business site for themselves or for their clients.
The ideal audience for this session includes:
– Novice WordPress users looking to expand their marketable skills.
– Marketers looking to improve their technical skill set.
– Developers aiming to make their work more client-focused.
Attendees should already have a fundamental understanding of how WordPress works (pages, posts, plugins, themes, etc.)
Speaker: Andy McIlwain
Time: 11:30 am
Talk: Getting Started with Child Themes
Description:
The session would be directed towards beginner DIY WordPress users. I would cover what Child Themes are, why they should be used and how to create them. I would also cover the difference between Themes, Starter Themes and Frameworks. At the end of the session, the audience will know how to create a child theme from an existing theme and use the child theme to customize the site.
Speaker: Nick Adams
Time: 1:30 pm
Talk: Make your WordPress Blog Pinterest friendly
Description:
This session is for anyone who is curious about Pinterest and those already using it.
We’ll touch on the following topics…
* how Pinterest can make you a better blogger
* Pinterest Boards for your blog
* Resources for creating free images for your blog
* Pinterest Plugins for WordPress
* SEO
Speaker: Ruth Maude
Time: 2:30 pm
Talk: Typography and WordPress
Description:
Why Typography matters on the web, with particular focus on why it matters for WordPress. Discussion on type choices, type pairings, when and where to use specific type styles. Some quick ways to make a difference with some type style (whether via plugins or CSS).
In general the talk would be somewhere in the middle the user/blogger track and the dev track, but I can easily adjust it to focus on one track vs the other depending on what you’d prefer.
Speaker: Andy Staple
Time: 3:30 pm
Talk: Plugins for the People: A beginners look at extending WordPress With Plugins
Description:
This session will help beginner level users understand how they can leverage the power of Plugins to extend the functionality of WordPress.
We will look at how to find and evaluate plugins and some of the amazing things they can do.
Speaker: Geoff Campbell
Time: 4:30 pm
Talk: How to Write Blog Posts that Get Results
Description:
Do you feel like no one’s reading your blog but your mom and your best friend? Are you wondering whether blogging is really worth it? Learn powerful strategies to help you attract readers, encourage social sharing, and ultimately generate more business. Suitable for both new and experienced bloggers.
Speaker: Janet Barclay
