🇨🇦 WordCamp Canada 2024

WordPress provides flexibility, ease of use, customization options, and the ability to integrate with other tools, making it a strong choice as an eLearning platform. Content published in a WordPress Learning Management System (LMS) needs to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). However, following WCAG is not enough. We want to make sure that students have a great experience. To build a great learning experience, we need to do more than follow the rules.

With so many themes and plugins, how do you choose which are accessible, robust and produce engaging interactions that meet your intended learning objectives?

In this session, we’ll talk about ways to go beyond checklists, explore Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and accessibility best practices to evaluate WordPress tools and create digital learning content that is accessible and easy to use.

Join veteran business leader Cory Miller as he delves into his personal journey of encountering severe burnout, culminating in a ‘forced’ six-month sabbatical from his career. This candid talk reveals the depths of burnout’s impact, the critical turning point leading to a necessary pause, and the ongoing process of recovery and discovery. Cory will share the lessons learned during this challenging period and the wisdom he continues to gain on his path to well-being and balance. Cory offers his experiences as a case study in burnout so others know they are not alone and can also make their own best decisions to navigate their paths. 

Take a journey with Lucas Rodriguez, a down-to-earth entrepreneur, as he shares his story of making websites for business owners in small towns in rural Ontario. Lucas, a Latino designer, talks about the ups and downs he faced and how he’s using the magic of WordPress to help communities that often get overlooked.

In this talk, Lucas shows how simple website tools, like WordPress, can do big things for communities that usually don’t get much attention. He’ll tell stories about specific projects where websites have helped bring people together and make positive changes.

Learn about the real-life impact of Lucas’ work. Hear about how his clients and their towns have seen better opportunities and more attention, all thanks to the websites he builds using WordPress.

Lucas doesn’t just talk about success stories – he’s also sharing the struggles that small communities face. But here’s the exciting part: Lucas will explain how WordPress is helping these communities overcome challenges and grow.

Canada is a mix of many cultures, and Lucas, being Latino, brings a unique flavor to the tech world. He’ll talk about why having different voices in the tech industry is essential and how it leads to cool and inclusive ideas in the WordPress community.

But this talk isn’t just about Lucas – it’s about inspiring you to do something too. Lucas encourages everyone, whether they know a lot about websites or just a little, to use their skills to make a positive impact. He’ll share simple ideas about how you can help small towns and diverse communities with your own website projects, making the digital world a better place for everyone.

Join Lucas Rodriguez in this welcoming chat about “Empowering the Underserved in Rural Ontario” Get ready to be inspired to use your skills and be a part of the WordPress community’s journey to make a real impact in the lives of everyday people.

WordPress provides flexibility, ease of use, customization options, and the ability to integrate with other tools, making it a strong choice as an eLearning platform. Content published in a WordPress Learning Management System (LMS) needs to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). However, following WCAG is not enough. We want to make sure that students have a great experience. To build a great learning experience, we need to do more than follow the rules.

With so many themes and plugins, how do you choose which are accessible, robust and produce engaging interactions that meet your intended learning objectives?

In this session, we’ll talk about ways to go beyond checklists, explore Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and accessibility best practices to evaluate WordPress tools and create digital learning content that is accessible and easy to use.

Uncovers the hidden dangers lurking within your website’s About Page. In today’s digital landscape, neglecting this crucial element could cost you valuable clients and opportunities. Discover the subtle yet significant ways an ineffective About Page can sabotage your online presence and learn practical strategies to transform it into a powerful asset. Don’t let your About Page become a liability – take the first step towards unlocking the full potential of your online presence by arming yourself with the knowledge and tools needed to elevate your website and drive meaningful connections with your audience.

This presentation will provide an overview of web accessibility laws across Canada, both at the federal and provincial levels, including the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the Accessibility for Manitobans Act. Both of these laws require accessibility for private sector and non-profit organizations.
After discussing the legal requirements, Amber will provide a framework for implementing accessibility at all phases of a new website project and options for remediating accessibility over time on existing websites. Whether you’re a website owner or website creator, you’ll leave this session with ideas for how your organization can better ensure accessibility on its websites.

The prevailing opinion in the WordPress community today is that plugin vulnerabilities are the primary and most effective attack vectors leading to compromised sites. It’s actually compromised user accounts (possibly in combination with one or more vulnerabilities) that lead to hacked sites. Current research shows stolen sessions and account credentials are the targets threat actors are hitting most successfully by exploiting human vulnerabilities: bad personal security practices leading to stolen or guessed passwords, AI-powered social engineering (pre-texting and spearphishing), and a lack of enforced user security policies that protect WordPress user sessions and sensitive data. In this presentation, you’ll learn how to protect yourself, your WordPress sites, and your users from a potentially devastating security breach.

After 30 years of employment in the nonprofit world with an impenetrable glass ceiling, enough was enough. I took my background in sales, marketing, and customer service and mixed it with my hobbyist experience running viral WordPress websites in the entertainment field.

The result: if you can demonstrate the value of your skillset, be open to learning every day, and walk away when it’s the wrong fit, then there is a place for you in WordPress without knowing code.

A how to on changing your career trajectory ( I changed mine at age 50), and a road map for agencies looking to diversify their teams.

In “An Editor’s Eye on Code Reviews, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Curly Brackets,” content editor and WordPress enthusiast Mike Davey will share a unique perspective on how editorial best practices can be applied to the code review process, improving code quality and team collaboration.

The presentation will cover topics such as:

* Applying an editorial mindset to code reviews
* Coding standards, coding style, and why they’re both important
* Implementing a consistent and fair review process
* Building a positive and collaborative review culture

Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting out, this presentation will provide valuable insights and practical tips for anyone involved in code reviews. Attendees will leave with a newfound appreciation for the role that editorial best practices can play in improving code quality and team collaboration.

When discussing the necessity of a privacy policy with clients, it’s essential to emphasize that a privacy policy is not just a legal requirement but a component of building trust with users. It transparently outlines how their data is collected, used, and protected, making it crucial for any business collecting personal information online.

In this session we will discuss the above, the anatomy of a website privacy policy, what information clients need to provide and consider, and how the privacy policy works with other legal requirements,

The needs of having a bilingual website can vary – and each comes with a different outcome and toolkit. In this talk, I’d like to share three examples using different tools. Talk about how to identify opportunities and how to properly resource the work.

1. Mandate: We have worked with national non-profits who are required to offer English and French.
2. Opportunity Strikes: Helping a Quebec-based company go “english” across the country
3. Compliance comes knocking: Working with companies who are required to operate in multiple provinces, meaning they need to have “some” of their site in French.

Each of these has different requirements, different workload (project cost), and requires a maintenance plan that can be very profitable. You’re getting into a small club of people who can build and manage bilingual sites.

The WordPress REST API is a powerful tool to enhance your web development projects. In this workshop, attendees will learn how to leverage WordPress’s existing endpoints and create custom ones using PHP, requiring only one free plugin (Polylang) to handle translations. Attendees will learn to create a custom translated public endpoint that can be used to power a simple frontend React app. Attendees will learn about security concerns and how to lock down the REST API. Time permitting, attendees can have a Q&A period to ask questions. This workshop will be a hands-on adaptation of my WordCamp Montreal 2023 talk on the same topic and is intended for intermediate developers. (~2-3 hours is ideal for this workshop). This workshop will be in English; however, I am bilingual and can explain and answer questions in French if needed.

Requirements for this workshop:

• Good knowledge of PHP. (React & CSS knowledge not required)
• A blank local WordPress install (Preferably LocalWP) with the Polylang plugin
• An IDE with syntax highlighting (PHPStorm, VSCode, Atom, etc.)
• Firefox or Chrome with the JSONvue extension (by Gildas) installed.
• Optional: An API Testing tool (Postman, Insomnia etc.)

In response to generative AI, misinformation and the ever-growing internet, Google has responded by changing its definition of quality content and what a website needs to look like to be considered trustworthy. While there won’t be any sacking, attendees will be served an understanding of what E-E-A-T is, why it needs to be part of your web strategy and practical ways that WordPress can help demonstrate your website’s trust and authority.

In the fast-paced world of web development, understanding and optimizing key performance metrics is crucial for delivering exceptional user experiences. This session aims to demystify the world of web performance metrics and provide practical insights for WordPress developers looking to enhance the speed and efficiency of their websites.

This session will take attendees on a journey through the most important web performance metrics, breaking down complex concepts into actionable steps. We’ll explore metrics such as:

1. Page Load Time: Unpacking the factors influencing page load time and strategies to minimize it.
2. First Contentful Paint (FCP) and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How to measure and improve the time it takes for users to see meaningful content on their screens.
3. Time to Interactive (TTI): Strategies for ensuring that websites are not only fast to load but also quick to respond to user interactions.
4. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Understanding and mitigating layout shifts to enhance the visual stability of web pages.
5. Total Blocking Time (TBT) and First Input Delay (FID): Examining the user-centric metrics related to interactivity and responsiveness.

In an era where user expectations for fast-loading websites are higher than ever, understanding and optimizing web performance metrics are paramount. This session empowers attendees to not only comprehend these metrics but also implement tangible improvements in their WordPress projects, resulting in faster, more responsive, and user-friendly websites.

If you can never seem to find time to redesign your own website or launch a new service because you’re too busy with client work… you’re not alone, and this talk is for you!

Attendees will leave with a (1) better understanding of why it’s so hard to move our businesses forward when we’re busy with client work, (2) a clear strategy to address this very common issue, and (3) the motivation to make it happen!

Not getting the results you want from your newsletter? you might be making some simple, easy-to-fix mistakes!

In this session, I’ll show you what NOT to do when sending a newsletter, and 5 things you should do instead so you can maximize engagement.

Then, if you stick around till the end of the session, learn how you can automate some simple newsletters to put engagement on autopilot.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the unique opportunity to work extensively with organizations based in the U.S., and I’ve gathered invaluable insights into why these opportunities came my way, and how others can potentially navigate similar paths. This session aims to outline the reasons behind my career trajectory, including the strategic decisions and networking approaches that opened these doors for me.

Additionally, I plan to delve into the advantages and disadvantages of working with American firms from a Canadian perspective. Key benefits often include exposure to large-scale projects and advanced technologies, while challenges might involve cultural differences and logistical complexities.

A significant focus of the talk will be on self-advocacy in the workplace. I’ll share strategies on how to effectively demonstrate your value in a competitive environment, ensuring your skills and contributions are recognized and rewarded.

I will provide practical advice on where and how to find these opportunities, discussing both traditional job platforms and the less conventional paths that might not be as well-trodden but can lead to rewarding careers.

Diversity enriches everything. Your life, your business, even chocolate cake. It’s something that will make your life better in every way. This talk will discuss how to look at where you are now and where you want to be, and then how to get there.

A wise man once said, “Hard things are hard.” WPML aims to make the hard things easier by adding multilingual capabilities to your site. But during the course of your development, you will come across times when you’ll have to roll up your sleeves and get into the code to make something work. This talk will show how I’ve met challenges in site traslation, and the code that made it happen.

Topics will include
– adjusting server settings to avoid drama
– what a text domain is and how to use it
– escaping translated text and why you should
– crafting string translations that make your translator’s life easier
– making your own language switcher
– and any other gotchas I can think up.

Discover the untapped potential of WordPress’s Editor and Site Editor in this presentation, aimed at demonstrating the many editor curation tools available to developers. We’ll address a common challenge in the community: the need for a more controlled, user-friendly block editing experience that aligns with brand guidelines, limits the capabilities of certain users, prevents accidental modifications, etc. Learn how WordPress’s editing tools can be customized to create a ‘locked-down’ environment, ideal for clients or non-technical users.

During the session, we’ll explore a variety of tools like locked patterns, advanced theme.json configurations, client-side filters, and more to craft a bespoke editing experience. The talk includes practical examples, showcasing these tools in action, and emphasizes the importance of community involvement in the ongoing development of WordPress. By participating, you will gain a deeper understanding of these powerful features and learn how you can contribute to and shape the future of WordPress’s extensibility and customizability.

More and more of us work remotely and often work with people across multiple timezones. I’ve been working remotely for over a decade now and have honed a good routine for doing so while still adapting as situations, teams, and timezones change.

The talk will cover tips and tricks for working remotely, asynchronous communication etiquette, and tools and apps that make technical collaboration easier remotely.

WordPress has long been a cornerstone of the web development community, providing a robust platform for creating diverse websites and applications. However, as the web evolves, developers seek new ways to enhance user experiences while maintaining scalability and consistency across projects. This proposal introduces the integration of Web Components into WordPress, offering a powerful solution to bridge the gap between flexibility and web standards.

Via WASM we can run the Enhance server side rendering engine to leverage standards based components anywhere in the WordPress ecosystem, including in PHP templates, in the block editor, and through raw HTML. They are server side rendered by default to work immediately. But they can include enhanced client-side behavior eliminating the need for a JavaScript frontend framework in most cases. The components can also be used anywhere outside of WordPress, allowing organizations to leverage them in other properties.

Accessibility in the digital space is always growing and changing as technology advances and new needs arise. During this session, we will discuss getting started in web accessibility, how to approach existing sites versus starting fresh, internal training for teams and working with clients, WCAG compliance versus real usability, and the journey to developing real empathy for your users.

Building WordPress websites for a living can become a soul searing experience. In the beginning, you think it’s great that you are doing something you love. In the end, you’re miserable, frustrated and unfulfilled with the process.

If this is your story come join me as I explain what career path I took by accident that is providing some of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. I will show you how to take 4 things you already know to build your next career.

Attendees will learn how to leverage what they already know about WordPress into new career possibilities that will change how they feel about themselves and the work they do.

Yes, there is life after web design and development.

Discover the inspiring journey of how a simple free WordPress plugin was transformed into a seven-figure enterprise in just two years, without spending a single dollar on advertisements. In this talk, I will share the strategic insights and pivotal decisions that catapulted my plugin from a free offering to a robust, money-making machine. Attendees will learn about leveraging organic growth, community building, value-driven enhancements, and innovative monetization strategies that defy conventional digital marketing wisdom.

I will delve into the challenges faced, the milestones reached, and the crucial do’s and don’ts that shaped my entrepreneurial voyage. This session will offer practical advice on product development, market positioning, customer engagement, and scaling a business sustainably. Whether you’re a developer, a business owner, or a digital enthusiast, this talk will equip you with actionable tactics and real-world lessons to help you navigate your own path to success in the competitive world of WordPress plugins.

In 2019 Allie Nimmons and Michelle Frechette grew tired of people constantly asking if they knew any black people who could speak at events or be guests on podcasts. So they set out to create a spreadsheet of folks that they knew in the WordPress space.

But about 20 rows into that Google sheet, they realized that it would be a herculean effort to reach out to each of those people on a regular basis to make sure they were still available and interested in being contacted. There was also no way to include people they didn’t know. And that limiting such an endeavor to one group of underrepresented people was shortsighted.

So Underrepresented in Tech was born.

In the almost five years since the database was published, the project has grown to include a podcast and webinars. There have been racist rants and online attacks, but there have also been gratitude and acclaim for the work that’s been done.

This session will talk about the WHY, the HOW, and the HOPES associated with Underrepresented in Tech. Attendees will leave with an understanding of how each of us can make a difference for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

In today’s dynamic digital landscape, the convergence of WordPress, immersive technologies, and the influx of traditionally marginalized individuals into the WP space presents a thrilling opportunity for proactive engagement and inclusive growth.

Let’s embark on a journey together to navigate through the vibrant realm of WordPress, a cornerstone of online presence, creation, and management. We’ll uncover the transformative potential it holds for individuals and organizations alike, empowering them to tell their own digital stories.

But the excitement doesn’t end there. We’ll delve into immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and AI, envisioning a future where digital interactions transcend boundaries and captivate audiences like never before. These technologies can not only revolutionize communication but also pave the way for enhanced user engagement across diverse communities.

Yet, as we embrace this technological revolution, it’s imperative to shine a light on those who have historically been sidelined. We’ll shed light on emerging minorities, encompassing marginalized communities and underrepresented voices, and discuss the vital importance of amplifying their narratives. By addressing the challenges and barriers they face in accessing and utilizing technology, we can create a more inclusive digital landscape.

Through WordPress and immersive technologies, we have the power to bridge this gap, ushering in an era where every voice is heard and every story matters. By the end of our discussion, attendees will be equipped with not just inspiration but also practical tools to champion inclusivity within the WordPress ecosystem, ultimately contributing to the democratization of the web. Let’s pivot towards a future where everyone has a seat at the table.

As WordPress celebrates its 21st anniversary this year, it stands as a testament to unmatched growth, claiming the platform of choice for over 40% of all websites globally (give or take). Such a dominant presence in the digital space, coupled with decades of evolution, naturally brings its own set of challenges.

In this session, I plan to conduct a candid exploration of the current issues plaguing WordPress. Far from a solitary rant, this discussion draws on the diverse experiences and insights from the WordPress Community, underscoring the collective desire for improvement. By leveraging shared critiques and suggestions, we aim to not just spotlight problems but also to foster solutions that resonate with the WordPress Community as a whole.

The idea is to spark thoughtful dialogue and drive productive engagement that will elevate WordPress beyond its current limitations.

Currently, it isn’t easy to translate your WordPress into different languages. Many plugins have various ways of solving Multilingualism, and even the core has something in store for us in the future. We dive into the differences between the most used plugins and things to be aware of when translating websites

WordPress is the CMS leader, but will this trend continue? In today’s era of one-click seamless content creation, young users do not relate to the demanding and complicated nature of WordPress. But all is not lost! In this talk we’ll look at how we can we educate and encourage next generations to adopt and embrace WordPress, and continue democratizing publishing, and the web.

Being a part of a community member and contributing to several programs and events can help you bring new opportunities.

I will share my experience regarding my contribution to establishing a community and making it bigger in a small city in Nepal where you find limited resources and a small number of people involved in this field.

Additionally, I will express the feelings from building the first tech communities in my town to successfully organizing the event with over 500 attendees, which also opened endless doors for my career.

Right now there are four different and distinct generations in the workforce right now. Some of the boomers are working on their retirement exit strategy while team Gen Z are starting the careers. Navigating between different slang definitions of a word plus keeping everything can be daunting to say the least. While a 40-something would take a thumbs up emoji response as an approval, someone in their early 20’s may consider that as a passive-aggressive response.

In this talk we will discuss some of the differences in language between generations and genders. We will cover written, oral, and other various ways of communication. There are groves of people using emojis, memes, GIF’s and more to have full conversations and each of them can have various meanings. We will cover some communication styles you should never use in a professional setting while discussing some tips that should keep you at the top of the communication game.

It can sometimes be tricky to understand how the different pieces of the WordPress puzzle connect: how do blocks, patterns, template parts, templates, and themes differ? When should you use one versus another? This session will demystify all of that, and help you harness the power of templates to create the site you envision.

Diving into the Site Editor, we’ll explore the key elements that drive the look and layout of your site, clarifying the purpose of each built-in template. We’ll look at some scenarios when it makes sense to create a custom template, and get hands-on to build a couple of them together.

By the end of the presentation, you’ll have a better understanding of the potential of WordPress templates, and be excited to play with templates on your own site!

The create-block package is one of the most powerful tools available to WordPress developers today.

A scaffolding tool with loads of time-saving utilities for creating custom blocks, it can be used by any developer that wants to create custom blocks quickly, efficiently, and with code consistency.

Whether you are just starting out with blocks, are a seasoned developer, or an agency that needs a tool that saves time and can be easily extended to fit your needs, create-block has a feature for you.

In this talk, aimed at developers, we’ll discuss what the create-block package is, explore the various options it provides, demonstrate how it can be customized to fit your custom block scaffolding needs, and then look at some real-world examples.

As designers, building and maintaining a Design System is beyond WordPress’ boundaries. Not only do we focus on building and structuring reusable UI components that overlap with theming, but we also define unified visual and functional language for a cohesive product that provides value and saves resources.

As developers, we seek to isolate each component, while remaining reusable and fitting into the larger system of the CMS. We want to maintain strict control over our blocks, while not being bothered with simple, trivial changes to colours or border radii.

However, building and maintaining a Design System cannot be done by either role in a vacuum; it requires effort from both designers and developers to combine different skill sets and perspectives to enhance consistency, efficiency and scalability of the system that new team members can easily onboard.

In this session, we’ll discuss maintaining a Design System during its life cycle and what can we do when the number of components and variants grows along with the project. We’ll explore how to integrate your Figma design system with WordPress blocks and block themes. And we’ll dream about the ideal future state.