Presented by Tim Covell in 2nd Floor Room 1, Content Creators.

A comparison of WordPress.com hosting versus self-hosting with WordPress.org. What’s the difference? And how does your choice affect costs, security, content restrictions, maintenance work, promotion, available features, available themes, plug-ins, using your own domain name, advertising and selling on your site, and so on? What about multi-sites? And if I use WordPress.org, why should I care about WordPress.com?

The goal of the talk is to help new users, creating individual or small organization sites or blogs, decide which service best meets their requirements.

Presented by Heather Deveaux in 2nd Floor Room 1, Content Creators.

Everyday small business owners like you incur a range of expenses that can sometimes break the bank.  Web design, launch, and maintenance doesn’t have to be one of those expenses.  WordPress provides an opportunity to design and launch your own website so that you can maintain creative control, update when needed, and learn a few new skills along the way.  Armed with just some Youtube videos, a notebook, and a pen, I quickly learned how to set up a WordPress website and launch my freelance writing business into the world.  While many people are still afraid of what web development means and requires, WordPress makes it easy for anyone to become their own web developer, and in turn, reduce of the biggest barriers that small business owners face today.  This talk explores how navigating a little discomfort in the beginning to learn how to set up and use a WordPress website can pay dividends throughout the life of your small business.

Presented by Shawn Hooper in 3rd Floor Room 2, Code Creators.

Yes, your code works, but is it the best it could be? This talk will guide you through tips and tricks to make your code efficient, safe, and easy to read. It’s a great primer for new developers, and a good reminder for those of us who have developed bad habits over time.

Understand the WordPress Coding Standard
Write Short, Reusable Functions
Begin using Unit Testing to ensure code functions as expected
Begin using UI testing to ensure pages behave as expected
Discuss benefits of code review

Presented by Gary Thayer in 3rd Floor Room 2, Code Creators.

This talk will look at the best practices for building and customizing themes and plugins for WooCommerce. We’ll talk about:

• Keeping template files up to date;
• Useful actions and filters;
• Custom solutions for unique eCommerce situations

Presented by Remy Perona in 3rd Floor Room 1, Site Creators.

A website’s loading time is very important, but measurement tools are often misleading. In this talk, I want to debunk some myths around PageSpeed, by explaining why the grade system doesn’t matter, which recommendations to follow, and how to apply them on a WordPress website to really optimize its loading time.

Presented by Alanna MacNevin in 3rd Floor Room 2, Code Creators.

Working with WordPress (and other similar CMS platforms) to assist small organizations increase their visibiliy. Trying to use agile methodolies in non-technical small teams with changing priorities and still having a definition of success that can be achieved. Designing and planning in unfamiliar environments. Training non-technical teams.

Alanna worked as a software developer (developing with WordPress and Drupal) with an NGO in South America. The talk will cover how WordPress is a great tool for non-technical teams, how to plan in unfamiliar environments and definining success.

Presented by Crystal Picard in 2nd Floor Room 1, Code Creators, Content Creators, Site Creators.

Like speed dating, but with plugins! Ever wonder what others think of the plugins you use? Wondering what options there are for back-ups, galleries, or booking appointments? In this session, audience members are encouraged to share their favourite plugin and why… in under one minute. A facilitator will be on hand to take notes, and will send out the final list at the end of WordCamp Halifax! This is a very popular session at the monthly Meetup.

Presented by Chris Van Patten, Jennifer Gyuricska, Renée Downs, Heather Deveaux in 3rd Floor Room 1, Code Creators, Content Creators, Site Creators.

Want to know what’s new in the wild world of WordPress? Want to know how everyone from content creators to custom coders are changing how the do things with the latest and greatest plugins, themes, tips and tricks?

Our panel will discuss how they’re using the platform to do what they do, focusing on how WordPress has helped them succeed in their field.

Presented by Enrique Hoyos in 3rd Floor Room 1, Site Creators.

Most of us have likely installed Google Analytics in the back end of our websites but how many of us really use this tool to help us strategically improve our website and business?

This talk is for anyone who wants to learn how data can help them improve their website and business. Whether you’ve never used Google Analytics or you use it in your day to day you will discover a measurement framework that will help you use that data even better.

This is a two-part talk: The first part is an introduction to Google Analytics, its metrics and reports. In the second part I will walk you through a 5-step framework to demystify and help you find the right data to improve your business and website.

Presented by Floria Aghdamimehr in 2nd Floor Room 1, Content Creators.

Mindset of Success for WordPress Entrepreneurs

You are passionate about having a business, have a fantastic idea, and work very hard. Is this enough? Why do some businesses succeed, and others struggle or never get off the ground? As a developer, content writer, designer or user of WordPress, you are skilled and talented. You have dreamed of owning your business and love the autonomy, however, there are challenges. Research points to Attitude as the secret ingredient. Our thoughts have energy, group of thoughts become a belief, which create our attitude. They also impact our mental health.

Are your beliefs or attitude helping you to get what you want? Join us to learn more about the Mindset of Success and how it can help you to be on leading edge. Let’s have fun on the journey to SUCCESS!

“Attitude = Outcomes”

www.RecognizeYourPotential.com
Gratitude @ Work http://www.recognizeyourpotential.ca/gratitude-at-work/
Leadership http://www.recognizeyourpotential.ca/Leadership/
Attitude of Leadership http://www.recognizeyourpotential.ca/coaching/

Presented by Jeremy H Josey in 3rd Floor Room 2, Code Creators.

I will walk attendees through the steps of building a Gutenberg block from start to finish.

Presented by Christian Oxner in 3rd Floor Room 2, Code Creators.

A talk on how to get started with WordPress theme development

The Happiness Bar is a part of the event where volunteer experts hang around and help attendees with any questions they have. Get your WordPress questions answered, one-on-one, by some of the best experts around. Tricky configuration question? Plugins issues? Design feedback? Whatever the question, our friendly volunteers will make sure you leave the chat with solutions.

Attendees are also welcome to share their wisdom with others. Consider this a fantastic area to recharge both your social (and phone) batteries!

Running 9:00am-4:45pm on 2nd Floor

Presented by Chris Van Patten in 3rd Floor Room 2, Code Creators.

The WordPress community is abuzz about Gutenberg. But what does it take to use it on a production website? And what if that website is a leading lifestyle magazine with tens of thousands of subscribers and readers? In this talk, you’ll learn why and how we built one of the first major Gutenberg-powered websites. You’ll get to hear about the hiccups and bumps we hit along the way, the surprising pieces that worked better than expected, how the editorial team integrated it into their flow, and lessons for your own Gutenberg integration.

Presented by Lisa Patts in 2nd Floor Room 1, Content Creators.

I have worked as a local freelance education professional for over two decades. After launching my online business, I now have customers around the globe. Instead of seeing just 10 local clients per day, I am able to service thousands of online customers daily.

Today we will walk through the steps I took to evolve my local freelance business to a global business.

If you’re a freelancer who earns their living “by the hour” this talk can help you develop a plan to cast a wider net and launch your online business, for free, using the tools provided by WordPress.

In this Session, Freelance To Free Launch, you will learn:

• Why you should scale your business to include the web.
• The 3 types of people you NEED to address to be successful online.
• How to design an array of products and services to satisfy customers from around the globe.
• 4 steps to launch your online business for free using WordPress.com and other free tools.

I am not a web specialist.  I am just a regular person who wanted to earn more and work less, and WordPress helped me do it.  Billable hours are limited by manpower, the scope of the internet is nearly unlimited.

Presented by Renée Downs in 2nd Floor Room 1, Content Creators.

Starting a blog can be intimidating. It was for me, especially since I didn’t really want to do it in the first place. I was told I had to! Sound familiar? If so, I hope you will join me. Once I found the right platform blogging soon became an obsession. WordPress made it easy for me to take baby steps and grow on my own terms. It helped me feel pretty, well online at least. Participants joining me For the Love of WordPress will bask in the glow of my love story while learning all about my latest WordPress beauty secrets; staying fresh online does not have to be time consuming. I look forward to showing you my palette.

Presented by David Moore in 3rd Floor Room 1, Site Creators.

eCommerce is a really REALLY big thing in the world, yet Canadians are still dragging their feet in the mud when it comes to selling online.  Let’s break down some walls as I guide you through the basics of setting up an online store.

There is a reason I’m one of the few WooCommerce developers in Nova Scotia… eCommerce scares people, even devs! This talk is good for anyone interested in e-commerce.

We’ll go over the basics: physical products vs digital products/services, shipping providers, taxes, payment gateways, SSL/security.  Depending on how people feel, we’ll go a little deeper, and maybe collectively pray to the shipping gods that USPS buys out CanadaPost & saves us all. (half joking).

When it comes to eCommerce, there are no stupid questions, no matter how small, and I’ll happily answer any questions anyone has.

Presented by Michael MacMillan in 3rd Floor Room 1, Site Creators.

A beginners guide to the dark arts. Topics include: determining what keywords have the most volume and best intent, optimizing your content, positioning your content for Quick Answers (position zero), what the heck is this schema & structured data, how to stroke people’s ego for backlinks and much, much more.

Presented by Ifo Ikede in 3rd Floor Room 1, Content Creators.

Linking with last year’s lecture (“A Field Guide to Caring for a Developer”) exploring mental health . We shall build on that and discuss diversity and inclusion in the IT sector.

You will want to attend this workshop if you ever wondered:

How may we grow our local wordpress community by actively and in practicum embracing and celebrating diversity?

and/or

How may we make our spaces and events truly safe for women, visible-minorities and other marginalised, under-represented groups and sectors of our community?

We will host a facilitated, vibrant and inclusive group discussion in which strategies may be shared and further developed with a view to increasing outreach to underepresented communities within our larger community. We will also dialogue and exhange ideas and strategem around making all spaces increasingly more welcoming and supportive to diverse groups of gendered, non-gendered, mental health and racialised communities.

We’ll begin with a brief overview outlining some of the challenges and positing solutions based in some measure on proven successful examples, including those of WordPress.com, and a bit of my personal journey in the IT sector.

At the end, I will include a resource list to provide folks the opportunity of digging deeper and to facilitate change withing their organizations going forward.

Presented by Jason Tremere in 2nd Floor Room 1, Content Creators.

You will learn how to create a professional looking WordPress website from start to finish in minutes.

You will get a look at 140+ free layout packs (expanding weekly inside the Divi Theme).

You will see how the Visual Page Builder allows you to create & edit your web pages, on the actual pages.

You will hear how to customize your environment & your designs for even more efficiency.

You will receive a list of free multimedia Divi resources to help you along the way.

Presented by Jennifer Gyuricska in 3rd Floor Room 1, Site Creators.

Marketing can be a real monster, one many bloggers and small business owners are intimidated by. Peel away the layers to map out actionable steps for authentic promotion. No more feeling liking an ogre when building your blog or business!

Presented by Chris Wiseman in 3rd Floor Room 2, Code Creators.

An overview of some of the tooling that makes developing and maintaining WordPress a little easier. A high-level overview of Bedrock (including Composer), Twig templating with Timber, WP-CLI, Laravel Valet, Local by Flywheel, Visual Studio Code with helpful extensions and PHPCS.