WordCamp Maui 2015

A look at how Hawaii State Government has been using WordPress to launch over 450 cloud-based, open-source, mobile first websites. In the fall of 2012, we responded to an RFP by our 1st CIO Sonny Bhagowalia to build a common template for all state agencies. We had <6 months to build and implement EVERYTHING! As of January, 2013, 28 sites were launched. As of 2014, we have over 80 WordPress installs hosting almost 450 sites and all state agencies are now using WordPress. Learn how we did it and hear about our custom solutions and unique updating process that allows the State to push out bug fixes and feature requests with ease.

There is a lot of talk these days about tapping into the resources available through external APIs (Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc). Much of the functionality needed to interact with APIs is already included in the core through the HTTP class. In this session you will learn the concepts behind pulling data from an external API, sending data to an external API, how to utilize WordPress caching to increase speed and functionality, etc.

Get ready for an engaging and interactive presentation where you’ll learn the value of structured data and how it impacts the appearance of your search results. ‘Making sense of structured data’, will teach you the fundamentals of structured data, show multiple use-cases for its use, and leave you with a clear actionable strategy on how to implement structured data on your own WordPress website.

Google and other search engines use schema.org formatted structured data to power rich snippets in search results, and data crawlers use standardized data to build machine learning muscle. These rich snippets make a search listing stand out, and effect the way someone might interactive with your website based on the listing. This talk focuses on understanding what a schema and markup is, and how you can use the PODS framework to easily add schema.org structured data information to your WordPress content to improve the Google search listing for your content.

This talk will be covering the following:

A look at how Hawaii State Government has been using WordPress to launch over 450 cloud-based, open-source, mobile first websites. In the fall of 2012, we responded to an RFP by our 1st CIO Sonny Bhagowalia to build a common template for all state agencies. We had <6 months to build and implement EVERYTHING! As of January, 2013, 28 sites were launched. As of 2014, we have over 80 WordPress installs hosting almost 450 sites and all state agencies are now using WordPress. Learn how we did it and hear about our custom solutions and unique updating process that allows the State to push out bug fixes and feature requests with ease.

Learn ways in which user-centered thinking and data can improve your process of creating WordPress websites for both end users and clients, including:

• How to conduct research and interviews to better understand your client’s target audiences and prioritize their needs alongside your client’s business objectives

• Ensure your clients’ user experience is also seamless and intuitive by customizing the WordPress back-end and creating easy to follow documentation

Having a blog post pick up the kind of speed only viral sharing can produce is something most bloggers dream of.  And though there are no magic bullets, steps can be made to ensure the largest audience finds your post and are encouraged to share it.  Chris will share his company’s personal successes and failures from years of low-budget web marketing, along with their experiences with SEO, social media, and crafting content which drives converting traffic.

The world is full of amazing things, and if you’re like me you would like to see as much of this beautiful planet as possible. The existence of the Internet has made working off grid a real possibility for people. During my talk I will discuss my experience running a WordPress business while being “off-grid”, the types of products that make this lifestyle a possibility, and the challenges that come along with it.

With the REST API shortly due to be merged into WordPress core, it’s about time developers started thinking about building themes that use it. The REST API allows developers to create much more engaging user experiences. This will be a talk that covers the challenges one faces when working with the REST API, how to extend the REST API itself from within your theme, and suggested ways that themes can be built to use it.

It’s time to stop putting everything including the kitchen sink into themes. A theme shouldn’t be a bloated monster with an options panel that stretches out the horizon. This talk is a call to action, to stop making themes that do everything and start making themes that focus. Themes that are designed to meet a need, to fit a market. Themes that work out of the box and don’t require a manual you could use to hold up a table that’s missing a leg. Themes that don’t be my everything.

No design skills?  Can’t code PHP or Javascript?  There are still many careers available to you within the WordPress world for freelancers like me and you.  Start your own WordPress business or link arms with a growing business.  This is an amazing time to be working with WordPress… even if you’re not a designer or developer.

Have you developed enough WordPress skills to make your own custom themes, but they still look like crap? Don’t worry, there’s some simple steps and tools that can help you design less like a developer. Come with your questions, leave with concrete examples and tools to use right away… and designers everywhere will thank you.

Everyday there are 2.5 billion people online. If you were looking to start or grow a business and find customers, the Internet is the best place to find them. There is however, a ton of competition talking about the same topics. This session will teach you how to take a simple WordPress website and build a profitable location independent online business. It will teach you how to get traffic, what products and services to create, how to market them and how to scale. It will teach you how I’ve used these strategies to build a business that supported our family’s move from Wisconsin to Maui!

We all acknowledge the power and beauty of simplicity. Whether in art, technology, music, fashion, or software development, simplicity is the undisputed mark of quality craft. As WordPress blazes into its second decade, theming, plugin development, and WordPress core itself are reaching troublesome levels of complexity and confusion, challenging the very essence of what has gotten WordPress to where it is in the first place. Pulling from diverse areas of culture and tech, we’ll tie together our need for simplicity, and issue a call to arms for the next ten years of WordPress.

This session will help you understand WordPress while you learn to
build and manage your website. Topics will include everything from
initial setup to publishing posts, adding categories, tagging content,
and much more. We will go through the entire Dashboard, sharing all
the useful tools and providing tips along the way.

John Hawkins founder and owner of 9seeds, a custom WordPress development agency with over 5 years working in the WordPress space and nearly 20 on the web.

So you want a WordPress website? Great! Where will it live? There are
many companies that will offer to host your website. How do you know
which ones have the services you need? Which ones will charge you
appropriately? We will talk about various large and small hosting
companies, and how to look for the features you will need, including
databases, domains, and bandwidth.

Now that you’re hosted, is your site safe? Security is not just for
shopping carts anymore. Even if for a private blog, you still need to
make sure your WordPress site is locked down and secure. There are a
number of free and paid security plug-ins that help keep the bad guys
out of your information.

Getting online is the first part, and getting money is the best part! Whether you are selling a few hand-made products, or want to become a retail giant, WordPress has features and plug-ins to get your merchandise out to the world.

The huge range of over 35,000 community-contributed plugins is one of
the most valuable features of WordPress.org. But how do you determine
what’s a safe and effective plugin without being overwhelmed by
choice? In this session we’ll look at when to use a plugin and clarify
the difference between widgets and plugins. We’ll discuss how to make
an informed decision about which plugin to use – and explore how to
troubleshoot any conflicts that may crop up.

Most people have heard of Jetpack, but do you know how to really make it work for you?  In this talk we’ll look at some of the coolest features (like Elastic Search, Remote Management and much more), and talk about how you can best use them to make your site faster, more powerful and more useful.

You have the urge. You have the content. You have the will. You feel
the call to write and share your message with the world. This is your
time! Even better, you’ve decided on WordPress, since you are
brilliant.  You also realize you want the site to look good. Really
good. Awesome good. What do you do? You start researching and learn
about “themes” & “frameworks” – but there are so many variables. Child
themes, Headway, Genesis, Divi, responsive, retina, mobile,
multi-column, squeeze pages, wrappers – you are overwhelmed, to say
the least!  You even consider Weebly… don’t do it! I’ll break
everything down for you: where to look for in a WordPress theme, how
to find a good one, best practices, and then some!