Speakers and Sessions – Round Two

Quick! Grab your tickets to WordCamp Sunshine Coast here.

wordcamp sunshine coast speakers - stuart shields, hannah marcom, bryce adams

So excited about these speakers and the session they’ll be presenting!

Getting to know the Facebook Instant Articles plugin for WordPress

This session is an introduction to the Facebook Instant Articles Plugin for WordPress, it will also include examples on how to add Google Analytics with and without a plugin, Facebook Ads and extending the plugin itself: adding a custom template for the Instant Articles Feed and adding related articles to that template.

By Stuart Shields

How I built a custom theme in 10 minutes, and you can too!

At Matter Solutions, we recognised that there was a need for cheaper custom themes out in the marketplace. Currently, the only way to build a theme really quickly is to download or purchase an existing theme and begin modifying it… remember this is done by creating a child theme (shame on those who don’t). We decided to innovate by creating a fully implemented design and development framework into a base WordPress theme, complete with Sass for styling that allows for rapid customisation of branding elements and is highly extendable. The result is something that matters, something we think is worth releasing open source. We built a custom WordPress theme in 10 minutes. And we have a screen-capture video to prove it.

The system works for low and high budget clients because a developer can focus effort on the changes the clients wants to pay for and give them an “out of the box” (still great) design on the rest. This means using this framework can have a direct significant impact for clients and developers businesses. We’re using this at Matter Solutions to empower lower-budget clients with a basic website that they can upgrade later, if they want, knowing that futures works won’t bring “technical debt” because we all know “tacking something on” can bite you later on.

The websites using this system are fully responsive, load faster than the popular purchased themes and are SEO friendly. And the best part? We’re open sourcing it (ETA late April). Link to the repo on github coming soon.

By Hannah Malcolm

Building your first WooCommerce extension

I built my first WooCommerce plugin out of necessity 2 years ago, and have been building new ones almost weekly every since. While WooCommerce extensions start off just like other WordPress plugins, there’s still some things to keep in mind that can make your life a lot easier. I’ll take you through every step of building your first WooCommerce extension, providing you with the knowledge and skills required to bend WooCommerce to meet all of your needs, from altering product pages to modifying the checkout flow.

By Bryce Adams

 

Want to hear these great talks? Head on over and grab a ticket!

Announcing the First Round of Speakers & Sessions

Wow. It’s going to be a good weekend!

We’ve received dozens of brilliant speaker and session applications, of which we’re excited to start sharing with you.

So here’s the first round.

Post-Mortem of a Hacked Website

This talk offers an insight into the methods we use at Conetix to determine the root cause of a hacked website. This will include examples of some of the more common exploits seen and what they look like in the log files.

– Tim Butler, Conetix

 

WordPress as a Product (WPaaP)

Luke will outline his framework for taking your product idea from conception through to reality, with his tips on experimentation, validation, user engagement, hiring, branding, and monetisation.

– Luke Carbis, XWP

 

This Could Get Awkward

Cath Beaton (Phase Creative) and Troy Dean present their ideas and experiences of how they have developed and grown as individuals in their respective businesses by being prepared to get out of their comfort zone.

– Troy Dean, WP Elevation & Cath Beaton, Phase Creative

 

Changing Tack: Adjusting your sails for the winds of change.

It’s almost as if every day there’s some new framework, toolkit or productivity hack that could ‘totally change your workflow’. Quite frankly, it’s overwhelming. We will be discussing the kinds of ways you can adjust your trajectory, and your mindset to confidently navigate large scale change as it approaches.

– Dee Teal, The Web Princess

 

How we disrupted the way the industry makes websites

This presentation is a case study of our ‘website in a day’ product that came to life when we kept on encountering businesses with next to no budget and we got tired of blown out project timelines.

– Yvette Adams, Creative Collective

 

Never fear, the Customiser is here!

Introduction to the Customiser, what it is and does, and what options are available, followed by a tutorial on how to add your own settings to the Customiser and how to see them in the live preview.

– Cameron Jones

 

Local Business Challenges & How To Solve Them With WordPress

Tips for local businesses to help get the best results out of their WordPress websites.

Tracey Kemp, Get Web Creative

 

How To Create A Client Newsletter In Less Than 17 Minutes

One of the hardest ‘Good Intentions’ in business is to send a regular client email newsletter. Learn how to take a 2 hour process and turn in to a 15 minute task.

– Nik Cree, Positive Business Online

 

Developing your Online Video Strategy

In this presentation, I’ll walk you through my 7 Elements for an Effective Online Video Strategy.

– Ben Amos, Innovate Media

 

This is only the first batch. We’ll be announcing the next round in the next week so stay tuned.

Also, if you’ve not purchased your ticket yet, grab one now before they sell out.