Sessions

  • An Open Forum with WordCamp Buffalo Speakers

    Come meet our speakers, ask questions, learn more about what they do with WordPress, what makes the tick, and why they love our ecosystem.

    May 6, 2023 at 8:45 am EDT in Allentown

  • Clue: A Detective’s Guide to Troubleshooting in WordPress

    Presented by Micah Wood

    WordPress is awesome, but everyone runs into issues now and then. Whether you own, maintain or build WordPress sites, troubleshooting is a skill set that will save you time and money.

    In this session, you will:
    – Learn about the types of WordPress issues you may encounter and how to diagnose them.
    – Discover the step-by-step processes that will help you find the root cause of an issue.
    – Learn what your next steps are once you know the source of an issue.
    – Learn what information you should be providing when interacting with developers or your web host to help speed up the problem resolution process.

    May 6, 2023 at 9:30 am EDT in Allentown

  • How to Monetize Your WordPress Site Without Spamming it With Ads!

    Presented by Marybeth Smith

    Throughout my time at WordCamps I’ve seen many talks about designing and developing WordPress sites, but only a few about how to monetize those sites once they are up and running. As someone who has developed WordPress sites in the past, it would have been very helpful to have known there were ways I could have been earning revenue to help manage those sites. When I started in 2012, there weren’t many ways to monetize, but as the web grew, so did the opportunities for making money on those sites. One of those ways is Affiliate Marketing, which allows you to monetize your site without cluttering your WordPress site with ads. Today’s websites are about more than just creating content, it’s about monetizing that content.You can have your website overflowing with pop up ads, annoying your customers and increasing your bounce rate, or you can utilize affiliate marketing to help bring in extra income in a clean and easy way. Affiliate marketing can also help with SEO by creating valuable content that ranks well on Google and other search engines. How many times have we mentioned an Amazon product on our website, only to have our readers purchase that product and think to ourselves after, “If only I’d gotten paid to promote that!” Companies like Amazon, Walmart, Web Hosting Platforms, Fiverr, Sephora, Constant Contact, and more all do Affiliate Marketing and offer commission on any sales made using their links. Though I may be biased, Affiliate Marketing has so many benefits and few drawbacks. I’d like to instruct designers and developers about what Affiliate Marketing is and how it can help bring their sites to the next level while earning them revenue in the process.

    May 6, 2023 at 9:30 am EDT in Elmwood Village

  • Under-Engineered Patterns

    Presented by Adrian Roselli

    Sometimes a developer will reach for a library or framework for the most basic kinds of controls, such as form fields. Reasons vary from design flexibility to less time spent coding that one instance. But the impact can be significant for page weight, accessibility, and maintenance. Instead, I will walk through some of what HTML offers already and show how you can still satisfy design and code requirements without the potential side effects.

    May 6, 2023 at 9:30 am EDT in Canalside

  • Sell Smarter With Your HEADless Starter

    Presented by Maestro Stevens

    Step into the future of e-commerce with “Sell Smarter: Use A HEADless Starter” – your ultimate guide to a streamlined online store experience.

    Discover the power of SureCart, the headless plugin that enables you to create lightning-fast checkout pages and sales funnels in WordPress, effortlessly.

    In this engaging WordCamp presentation, we’ll also unveil SureTriggers, the innovative headless automation plugin to automate transactional information and boost your sales process efficiency.

    Learn practical tips and strategies for harnessing these dynamic tools to elevate your e-commerce and automation game, regardless of your WordPress expertise.

    May 6, 2023 at 10:30 am EDT in Canalside

  • So You Want to Launch a Podcast…

    Presented by Michelle Frechette

    That’s what I thought to myself back in 2019 when I launched WPCoffeeTalk. I learned by doing. (Which means I learned by making a LOT of mistakes.)

    Since then I’ve launched a few more podcasts, guested on even more, and co-host a few, too.

    Launching a podcast is amazing, but there’s a lot you need to take into consideration, and a lot of questions to ask yourself when you get started.

    Join me for a session to learn what to do, and what not to do, when you decide it’s time to become a podcaster.

    May 6, 2023 at 10:30 am EDT in Allentown

  • The WordPress Training Team’s Journey Towards Creating Accessible and Engaging Educational Materials

    Presented by Courtney Robertson

    The open-source community thrives on collaboration and the sharing of knowledge. In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on inclusivity and accessibility in educational materials. The WordPress Training Team is at the forefront of this movement, continually striving to improve the quality and accessibility of their training resources. We invite researchers, educators, and open-source enthusiasts as contributors in creating inclusive education within the open-source community.

    May 6, 2023 at 10:30 am EDT in Elmwood Village

  • Leading Forward: Strategies for Creating a Positive Workplace Culture

    Presented by James Giroux

    As the world of work rapidly evolves, leaders must navigate a range of new challenges and opportunities. In this talk, we’ll explore the importance of building a positive workplace culture in response to these changes and provide practical techniques for developing effective leadership strategies that promote collaboration, communication, and innovation. We’ll cover practical techniques for building trust, fostering employee engagement, and developing a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the role of leadership in creating a positive workplace culture and practical strategies for adapting their leadership style to meet the needs of a changing workforce. Join us to learn how to build a thriving culture that supports employee well-being, drives business success, and navigates the complexities of the digital age.

    May 6, 2023 at 11:30 am EDT in Canalside

  • The Metaverse and WordPress, Oh My Gosh Here Comes VR

    Presented by William D Jackson

    The Metaverse and WordPress, Oh My Gosh Here Comes VR
    The explosion of the Metaverse, AltSpace VR, Infiniverse and
    other Immersive Environments is changing the structure and
    face of web development.
    WordPress will have to pivot and maneuver through the myriad
    of digital languages, codes, programming and growth of AI, VR,
    XR, MR realities.
    William will share how to understand and provide strategies
    to navigate the differences and nuances associated with
    maneuvering through immersive environments while
    maintaining a sense of normalcy, coherence, and connection.
    Those attending will take away knowledge that should prepare
    them for the new worlds being developed and shaped to replace basic web development.

    May 6, 2023 at 11:30 am EDT in Elmwood Village

  • Transitioning from Consulting to Products

    Presented by Jason Coleman

    This talk will be helpful for any WordPress developers or consultants who are thinking of building products of their own. I’ll use our own story as one example of how to do this, with advice that should helpful for businesses and freelancers looking to increase the value of their consulting services, add revenue streams from products, or transition 100% into products like we did.

    Note that I’ve given this talk at WordCamps twice before, but it has been over 5 years. It’s time to update the talk. And this talk is also one that is beneficial to see in person.

    May 6, 2023 at 11:30 am EDT in Allentown

  • Fixing Stubborn Accessibility Problems with JavaScript

    Presented by Peter Surowski

    Making your websites accessible has never been more important and urgent as it is now. But WordPress doesn’t always make it easy to fix some of the most pressing issues. Tab order, focus borders, aria labels, and many other aspects of a web page tend to be beyond the reach of the dashboard interface. But using a few lines of JavaScript, most of these problems are easily fixed, even for a user who doesn’t understand JavaScript. I will provide code snippets that a lay user can insert into a Gutenberg code block and provide a demonstration on how to customize that code block to fix some common and tricky accessibility problems.

    May 6, 2023 at 1:30 pm EDT in Allentown

  • I Just Got This WordPress and Don’t Know How To Use It!

    Presented by Tiffany Bridge

    You’ve just gotten a new job, or maybe you’re doing some volunteering, and you’ve been put in charge of a WordPress website. The person who built it is long gone, and you aren’t a savvy WordPress user (yet!) so where do you start? What are all these alerts in the dashboard? What if you break something?

    We’re going to talk about the basics of managing and editing a WordPress site, pitfalls to avoid, and precautions to put in place so that you can take over that site with confidence.

    May 6, 2023 at 1:30 pm EDT in Elmwood Village

  • Recessions, Inflations, and Business, Oh My! (No, we aren’t in Kansas anymore!)

    Presented by Nev Harris

    Tech moves fast but what moves faster is the speed of business when the fundamentals change. The WordPress businesses that will be standing after the financial tornado will be the ones that adapt to the new environment. We may no longer be in Kansas anymore but that doesn’t mean you can’t thrive in Oz. I am going to show you tactics that you can use to throw a bucket of water on the recession witch and make your business worries melt away.

    Takeaways

    What to do about pricing
    Strategies to win at recessions
    The key numbers to watch to remain profitable

    The Wizard of Oz told Dorothy, “You have plenty of courage, I am sure. All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid” This is true during an economic downturn too. I’m going to show you how to have the confidence to not only survive in a time of inflation and recessions but to thrive in it.

    May 6, 2023 at 1:30 pm EDT in Canalside

  • Contributing in WordPress: A Panel Discussion

    Presented by Chrissie Pollock, Courtney Robertson, Maestro Stevens, and Topher DeRosia

    Chrissie Pollock will moderate a panel of veteran WordPressers as they discuss how to contribute to the WordPress open source project. (Hint: it’s not all code. But yeah, some of it is!)

    May 6, 2023 at 2:30 pm EDT in Elmwood Village

  • Make a Living by Giving it Away for Free

    Presented by Christopher Ross

    Described as “an absolute gem of a presentation” by people who aren’t my mom, this presentation is all about how contributing to the community and offering improved value will help developers, consultants, designers and everyone else in the WordPress eco-system make money by giving away WordPress for free.

    May 6, 2023 at 2:30 pm EDT in Allentown

  • Passkeys: The Future of Authentication

    Presented by Timothy Jacobs

    We all know we should be using Strong Passwords and Two-Factor to protect our online accounts, but following best practices isn’t always easy. Teaching clients that they need to be using a distinct strong password on all their sites plus a password manager to keep track of all of them has already been difficult. And while Two-Factor protects against nearly all attempts to hack your accounts, it’s even harder to convince clients to use it.

    Luckily, the fine folks at the FIDO Alliance have been working hard at this problem for years. WebAuthn is a comprehensive standard to let users log into apps & websites without needing to user a password or a two-factor code. With WebAuthn you can log in using authentication methods built into your device like Face ID, Touch ID, or Windows Hello.

    Passkeys is the latest version of this standard and it promises to deliver a simpler and even more secure way of getting signed in. In this talk, we’ll explore the different ways hackers can break into your user accounts. Them, we’ll explore how you can use passkeys across the web and to protect your WordPress website.

    May 6, 2023 at 2:30 pm EDT in Canalside

  • Add Measurement Tags Without Editing Code, Adding Extra Plugins or Increasing Page Load Times

    Presented by Sajid Islam

    Google Tag Manager (GTM) is free software from Google that allows you to install various types of measurement tags (code) to your website. Prior to GTM, tracking codes had to be added to WP sites using plugins or hard-coded, usually by a web developer on each individual page. Over time, it gets difficult when it comes to maintaining/updating them. But Google Tag Manager solves this problem because all your tags are stored in one place, your GTM account.

    During this session, Sajid will walk you through the benefits of using GTM, best practices, and share the steps to get started right away without having to hire a developer.

    May 6, 2023 at 3:30 pm EDT in Allentown

  • Are Child Themes Dead?

    Presented by Ben Dunkle

    Child themes have always been an important part of the WordPress theme developer’s workflow. With the dawning of FSE (Full Site Editing) and block-based themes, developers are finding that old approaches don’t work anymore, and asking important questions: Where should customization take place? What is this theme.json thing? And, do we even need child themes anymore?
    In this talk, I’ll address these questions and propose best practices for how to handle child themes and site customization.

    May 6, 2023 at 3:30 pm EDT in Elmwood Village

  • Growing Up In WordPress, and How I Used That To Start My Career

    Presented by Sophia DeRosia

    The values of getting involved in the WordPress community. My perspective from getting started at a young age, and how I’m using what I learned to make a career.

    May 6, 2023 at 3:30 pm EDT in Canalside

  • Building the Future with Block Themes

    Presented by Damon Cook

    Blocks themes are reigning in a new era of theme development, which paves the way for full site editing. Let’s dive in and discover the foundations for a block theme: patterns, templates, parts, and style variants.

    May 6, 2023 at 4:30 pm EDT in Canalside

  • So, You’re Not a Writer- Blogging Even If You Think You Can’t Write 2.0

    Presented by Aida Correa-Jackson

    Have you always wanted to start a blog, but think you’re a terrible writer? Let me show you ways that you can not only start a blog, but you can also do it without having masterful writing skills, creating the content yourself, or even having to write at all!
    In this talk, you will learn proven strategies used by bloggers and social media influencers for years! You will learn how to hone in on your ideas, different styles of blogging, microblogging, outsourcing, AI, and more!

    May 6, 2023 at 4:30 pm EDT in Allentown

  • Stories of HeroPress

    Presented by Topher DeRosia

    HeroPress has been collecting the stories of WordPress for over seven years now. This talk will include some stories behind the stories. I’ll talk about how I find people to talk to about writing essays, how we decide what they’ll write, and the process for publishing.

    We’ll also talk about how HeroPress stories have impacted both writers and readers. Lives have been, and continue to be, changed.

    May 6, 2023 at 4:30 pm EDT in Elmwood Village

  • Closing Remarks

    May 6, 2023 at 5:15 pm EDT in Allentown

  • After Party: Classic Lanes on Military Rd. In Kenmore. (About 3 minutes away from the venue)

    May 6, 2023 at 6:00 pm EDT in Allentown

WordCamp Buffalo 2023 is over. Check out the next edition!