This presentation will go into detail for something very commonly overlooked in WordPress development – How to make the admin panel experience amazing when managing or adding content to your website.

Learning the basics of blogging in the WordPress admin panel is pretty easy. How you setup more complex templates can cause a lot of confusion & frustration if you do not plan it out correctly.

The presentation will detail a few common use-cases that make things difficult for users to grasp, then move into different ways to gauge who will be using WordPress  and how to design a highly effective, efficient and easy to use administration experience.

Engage your audience with improved imagery.

If you are using a picture to replace words, as the saying goes, then it needs to be dynamic and support your story. Good imagery adds to the professionalism of your site and keeps viewers intrigued rather than distracted. This session is a basic overview of blog imagery improvement. Initially we will cover good capture practices and tips, including basic software improvements that most images need. You will be armed with creative ways to take images that tell a focused story. The second part of this session will familiarize you with WordPress settings for image upload. There will be a quick review of how to prepare for upload and the procedure including good SEO practices. We will briefly look at WordPress apps for IPad/phone upload of imagery when blogging on the go.

After this session you will realize you don’t need fancy gear to show off good images on your blog!

As a business owner–and a new one at that–why WordPress is the ultimate tool in growing a business. From look, to feel, to functionality, to analytics, to social media integration, to setting-up goals to finding success and doing so cost-effectively; WordPress has the ability to evolve a business to new heights.

Starting from a fresh WordPress installation, we’ll run through the whole process of getting set-up for selling your stuff online. We’ll look at different business models (selling downloads, memberships, products, and services) and get your site set up for best results. From finding the problem-solving plug-ins, to setting up secure credit card processing, we’ll cover everything you need for online business with WordPress.

Level: Beginner to Intermediate

I’ll start by describing how to use the functions.php file. In this, I’ll describe what actions are, what filters are, and how to know when to use them. After we’ve done some work in the functions.php file, then, I’ll show how you can turn your code into a plugin.

After you’ve done your 100th technical SEO audit, you start to see some trends. Dana will review her broad experience with problematic issues like Canonicalization, Pagination, Localization, Authorship, Mobile and Responsive and show you all the ways in which you accidentally mess up your WordPress sites. At the end of this talk, you’ll be armed with a checklist you can use on your next WordPress project!

Legendary graphic designer Saul Bass said, “Design is thinking made visual.” Yet to so many who are not professionals, design relevancy remains a mystery.

The theme of Uncoding the Mystery of Design is exposing the disconnect between personal branding and visual consistency throughout your blog. I will be discussing methods behind effectively implementing a personal visual strategy for your blog and social networks.

These methods will help people establish themselves as forces in blogging through a tastefully executed visual presence. I will be also exploring how design relevancy can affect potential blogger-brand relationships and PR outreach.

This talk is aimed at any individual who wants their blog to look and function with a relevant, appropriate design.

Prereqs: No prior graphic design knowledge required.

How blogging and blogging/CMS software has changed since Chris started writing on the web over 17 years ago, and what this means for WordPress developers, designers, and users.

With so many people blogging, tweeting and pinning, how do you generate content that’s right for you and more importantly, your readers? We’ll talk about where you can find stories and how to make them stand out and build your audience.

Websites need to be able to adapt to a growing marketplace where people are viewing them with anything that measures from 320px to 55”. We now have more screen sizes to be ready for: phones, tablets, and laptops. To face this newly gained mobile-riety, some smart people came up with media queries aka responsive design.

“We are living in a post-PC world” the famous words Tim Cook coined when he launched the iPad will sum up my presentation. We live in a world today where workflows, accessibility, advertising and entertainment are changing dramatically. I will share on how I have used WordPress as an engine to tap into these changing times and give some pointers on how to stay afloat in a sea of growing choice in web apps.

There are as many productivity apps on the web today as there are choices of deodorant in the grocery store. The list just keeps growing. The tools you used yesterday to “get er done” are outdated, costly and don’t play nice with others. I want to explore the end of copy-and-paste processes and dive into a suite of tools that you can use right now to improve your workflow, free up your time to stimulate your creative genius, and maximize your ability to leverage mobile accessibility and tools.

Quality video content for your blog can be intimidating. Editing, Cost, Time, Equipment, and Shyness all play a part in the decision to do it or not to do it. However all of this can be easily overcome. New software makes it easy to edit taking much less time, odds are you already have everything you need and shyness is just an excuse. With YouTube being the second largest search engine on the planet not having content there to drive traffic to your blog is foolish. Let me show you how to make quick quality videos in minutes and take advantage of YouTube traffic.

Thousands of fine art websites are being visually slaughtered out there on the web right now. An otherwise exceptionally talented artist is being demeaned because of their site design and image presentation, not to mention their content (or lack thereof). Kim is going to talk about the senseless massacre of the fine art website and what we can do about it using WordPress. Good art deserves to be seen – properly!

You’ve got experience publishing English content online, but what about expanding your audience to include new languages, cultures or markets? Welcome to the world of translation and localization. Content creators entering this space can enjoy many opportunities, but there are also several pitfalls to watch out for. This presentation will give an overview of the localization discipline, advice for publishing translated content on WordPress, plus some tips and best practices to make your multilingual site shine.

While designing the 2013 WordCamp Calgary website, it became clear that the only way to do it was through the power of CSS. Unfortunately for Marshall Stevenson, it was at that moment he was told (without much option) that he’d be presenting at least one session about how CSS can do wonderful things.

In an exploration of the WordPress.com platform, the pure power and illustration of CSS can be seen by those who step it up. Learn some basics, and slightly more advanced methods for making your website stand out.

*As a note, there will be no handcuffs intentionally used in the presentation, though you may be required to cuff yourself to the chair to stay.