{"id":3,"date":"2014-01-10T15:13:43","date_gmt":"2014-01-10T20:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2014.asheville.wordcamp.org\/?page_id=3"},"modified":"2014-01-10T16:27:59","modified_gmt":"2014-01-10T21:27:59","slug":"sessions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/asheville.wordcamp.org\/2014\/sessions\/","title":{"rendered":"Sessions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Organizers note:<\/em> You can enter content for this page in the Sessions menu item in the sidebar.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tSocial Media Do’s and Dont’s\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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A panel discussion about social media. Come listen to local experts talk about how they utilize social media for success.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Power of Design\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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Learn about how human-centered design can help improve your web designs. Inspiration, brainstorming, color theory, design terminology, typography and web usability will be discussed.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tIntroduction to WordPress Plugin Development\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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The purpose of this presentation is to give a very basic introduction to the creation of a new plugin. The audience will learn about using the Codex, actions, filters, shortcodes, custom settings, and some best practices. The resulting custom plugin will be able to add custom css, insert fancy horizontal breaks, link to existing posts, add color to text, and find and replace content in WordPress posts and pages on display. An existing understanding of some PHP is required to get the most value from this presentation.<\/p>\n

Topics covered:
\n– The Codex
\n– Creating a plugin file
\n– Hooks – Actions & Filters
\n– Shortcodes
\n– Admin settings page<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tCustomizing Widgets and Nav Menus\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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If you’ve used WordPress for very long chances are you’ve used these features before. This talk will cover how to configure widgets and menus and possibly show you some new tricks that you may not have known about. Aimed for beginners and intermediate users.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s Your Story? Engaging Your Readers with the Power of Personal Narrative\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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Whether you\u2019re starting a personal blog to share your thoughts and ideas, or blogging to promote your business, storytelling is the most effective way to engage your audience. Recitations of facts or personal journal entries might convey meaning, but stories provide your audience with a relatable entry point into your subject matter. Story inspires, teaches, and stimulates discussion. The well-told story is memorable and unique, positioning you as a trusted voice.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t5 Steps for Building a More Active Online Community\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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There\u2019s no magic behind building a successful online community (unless blood, sweat and tears count), but there are a few key actions that lead to increased engagement. With over 5 years of experience in building communities online (in various forms), plus data gathered from 4 expert bloggers, Michael G. Calvert of Disqus will offer real-world examples as a guide. Join him for a talk outlining the 5 steps you can take build a vibrant, active community.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tUsing Google Analytics with WordPress\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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In this talk, we\u2019ll look at the basics of what you should be tracking on your site and why. There will also be a hands-on period for help and Q&A.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tPower Your Non-Profit Website\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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An important part of any non-profit organization’s mission is getting its message out to as many people as possible. WordPress can help make that process easier. A well-designed WordPress website can help even the smallest non-profit reach a wide audiences and help activate both supporters and volunteers. In this presentation, attendees will get tips for making their website content more effective at communicating their unique story and will and receive an overview of easy to install plugins that will help raise funds, engage donors and volunteers, and help promote the good work that they do.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tYour 10th Post: How to Keep Going After Your Initial Euphoria Winds Down\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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In their research to become the greatest Stuff-Something-Likes sites on the internet, Jim and Sarah of StuffMonstersLike.com<\/a> found a lot of blogs that never made it past the first 10 posts. Many never even made it to five. After years of thinking, writing, and posting on a regular basis, Jim and Sarah share their secrets about how to keep ideas flowing and keep writing every day, even after the initial excitement of starting a blog has faded away.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tWordPress User Experience\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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WordPress is a powerful CMS that allows us to create websites that are relatively simple for our clients to manage on their own. However, there are ways that we can custom tailer our WordPress dashboards for the users that will be managing the site’s content.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tMind Your Media – Effective Image Management\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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We’ll explore best practices for media management with the WordPress media library. Topics to be discussed: Image optimization – why this is important and ways to size original images; using featured images in your theme; how to use the images in pages, posts and widget areas; useful image related plugins; image attributes; file types and when\/how to use them; what happens behind the scenes (image scripts); Q&A.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tWordPress Business: The Basics\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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There is a lot of WordPress talent in North Carolina, people who want to contribute back to the WordPress community, people who want to make some really awesome stuff, but most importantly, people who want to get paid.<\/p>\n

In this presentation we will cover the basics of starting a WordPress business. We will look at what you will need to get started, how to protect yourself, what to charge, and some very common pitfalls that freelancers fall into.<\/p>\n

Bring a cup of coffee, let’s talk business.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tWork, Life, Blog Balance\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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Tips, tools, and action steps to a balanced blog life. This presentation will discuss how to organize and balance priorities between your day job, your life, and your passion for blogging. I’ll talk about specifics that will help you get organized to achieve the balance you desire.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tWordPress Security \u2013 It\u2019s All About the Basics\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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The key to website security is awareness, is what will be achieved in this talk. Getting down to the basics and sharing insight that very few can share through the experiences we have ascertained at Sucuri. The latest threats and trends will be shared, and of course, some good, hardening takeaways and recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tMove Your Site\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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Want to change hosts? Don’t be intimidated. There are differences between hosting services, but you can meet all the challenges as long as you have access to FTP\/SFTP and PHPMyAdmin. Topics that will be covered:
\n1. Preparing your site for moving
\n topics: backup, maintenance, domain name registration
\n2. Preparing the new hosting site
\n topics: new installation, uploading content, overwriting the database
\n3. Fixing issues on the new site
\n topics: file permissions, fixing postmeta media paths, testing, updating DNR.
\nDiana Brewster<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tPanel: Designer’s Grab Bag\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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Come prepared with questions for our panel of experienced web designers. We’ll cover topics like: designing in the browser, mockup and revision process with clients, web typography and icon fonts, and favorite design & web tools.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tChild Themes 101\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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What is a child theme and why should you care? WordPress themes make it easy to create a good-looking site fast but they’re not always exactly what we want out of the box. Child themes allow you to quickly and easily change things like link color, font, and content area dimensions while leaving the original theme untouched. This presentation will walk you through the basics of setting up a child theme. Basic CSS and FTP knowledge are recommended but not required.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tDesigning for Content\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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In this talk, I’ll go over the method I’ve created for designing websites from the content outward. I’ll cover aspects of designing in code, type choices, line height and typographic scale, creating a proper base style sheet for your child theme, usability best practices, semantic structure, and more. Since the web is fundamentally a text-based, utilitarian medium, making good type choices is the most important aspect of web design. In this presentation, I’ll walk you through the things I’ve learned in my 15 years designing for the web.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tPhotos and Colors and Layouts Oh My!: Resources to Help You Make Good Design\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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You\u2019ve got your perfect theme picked out! It has this amazing layout that you know will be perfect for presenting you and yours in the best possible way. Bought, downloaded, and ready to rumble. Now the tricky part: how to make it look as amazing for you as it did in the developer\u2019s demo? What images should you use? What colors work well together? How should the information be laid out? Although you will have to answer each of these questions on your own, this talk will discuss some tools and tips for finding images, colors, and a layout that will work best for you.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tCreate Effective Videos for the Web!\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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Video has the power to elicit strong emotions from viewers and communicate your message in ways not easy to achieve with static text. <\/p>\n

Create effective videos for the web! will be an awesome overview on different ways of embedding video in your WordPress site and websites in general so that it just works from desktop to mobile. This presentation will also empower you with tools and techniques for professionally creating and editing video yourself.<\/p>\n

Other topics discussed will include, but are not limited to, screen-capture tools, editing\/motion graphics software, camera equipment, HTML5 video formats, and HTML5 video coding. <\/p>\n

Get your video on!<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tBuilding Better Websites Through Collaboration, Communication, and Consistency\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t
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As a middleman between Designers, Developers, Project Managers, and Clients in countless web projects, Julien has noticed lots of things that we could be doing to make our projects and lives better. Changing your workflows can improve everything for everyone.
\nProject phases covered will include:<\/p>\n