Join us as we recount our recent accomplishments and commemorate our collective achievements. To our peers, fellow members of the WordPress community, and esteemed clients, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support throughout our journey. Without further ado, here’s a glimpse into our latest company news, brimming with excitement and promise.

WebDevStudios Celebrates 16 Years

Founded by pioneers of WordPress, WebDevStudios (WDS) is ecstatic about celebrating 16 years of building amazing websites for medium-sized and enterprise-level companies and organizations, such as NBA, Care.com, Monster, and Starbucks.

What started as a small business operating from a coffee table flourished into a one-stop-shop WordPress agency of nearly 40 people dedicated to making the web a better place. Please take a moment to learn more about WDS’ history.

This month marks our 16th anniversary at @webdevstudios!

I’m thankful for every single person that has had an impact on our company over the years. Without our team and our partners we wouldn’t be doing what we love day in and out for as long as we have. Thank you!

— Brad Williams (@williamsba) April 10, 2024

WordPress 6.5 Released

On April 2nd, WordPress 6.5, aka “Regina,” was released, boasting new and improved methods to fine-tune and enhance the site-building experience, allowing users to exert control in personalized ways. This release also features fresh approaches to managing site typography, increased availability of comprehensive revisions, and a series of updates to the Site Editor accompanied by notable performance enhancements, facilitating smoother and faster operations.

There’s more to WordPress 6.5 than what was just mentioned. Visit WordPress.org for a detailed list of all of Regina’s special features and improvements. Since this release, WordPress 6.5.2, a minor release, has been launched. Due to an issue with the initial package, WordPress 6.5.1 was not released.

WordPress 6.5.2 is a security and maintenance release with two bug fixes on Core, 12 bug fixes for the Block Editor, and one security fix. It is highly recommended that you update immediately if you haven’t already done so.

WordPress 6.5 Contributors

WordPress 6.5 wouldn’t be what it is without its contributors. That is the lovely nature of open-source technology.

Each WordPress release comprises numerous components with its own successes and obstacles. It requires a committed team of enthusiastic contributors to maintain momentum and ensure smooth progress. WordPress 6.5 owes its success to a diverse and cross-functional group of contributors, always eager to champion ideas, overcome obstacles, and address challenges. Among these contributors are our own CEO, Brad Williams, and Principal Engineer Sal Ferrarello.

Pretty cool to get props for contributing to WordPress 6.5! This stems from the plugin dependency work that spans over 12-years with MANY people involved. Glad to see it finally in WP Core! https://t.co/T3DAkD4Lnj

— Brad Williams (@williamsba) April 4, 2024

It took 700 contributors (150 of whom were first-time contributors) from at least 57 countries to make WordPress 6.5. Their collective efforts resulted in over 2,500 enhancements and fixes, guaranteeing a stable release for all users. This achievement underscores the strength and capability of the WordPress open-source community. Congratulations to Brad and Sal on their contributions to WordPress 6.5.

All WebDevStudios Plugins Are WordPress 6.5 Compatible

We are pleased to announce that all WDS plugins available at our online plugin shop, Pluginize, are compatible with WordPress 6.5. Pluginize posted the announcement on its blog on April 10th.

Some WDS plugins were updated with improvements in addition to compatibility. Furthermore, a couple of WDS-developed plugins require WordPress 6.5. Head over to the Pluginize blog for more details.

WordCamp Canada

Congratulations to WDS Account Manager Laura Byrne, who was announced as a featured speaker at WordCamp Canada, happening July 11-13, 2024. Her talk is titled “Turning a 10-Year WordPress Hobby Into a Successful New Career.” In it, Laura will address how she started a viral fan website, immersed herself in the WordPress community, and discovered a way to create a job out of doing something she loves. Tickets are on sale now.

Other upcoming WordCamps where you will find WebDevStudios in attendance are WordCamp Montclair (June 20th) and WordCamp US (September 17th-20th).

Behind the Scenes of the South College Website Redesign

The team at WebDevStudios recently launched the website redesign and rebuild of South College, a private for-profit college with its main campus in Knoxville, Tennessee. This project included a data migration and a full website redesign and rebuild.

The college aimed to enhance user experience, streamline content, and revitalize the layout for improved visual appeal and navigation. The primary objectives included boosting enrollment, optimizing site navigation, prioritizing mobile responsiveness, and ensuring seamless information retrieval for users. Simply put, the goal was to create a more intuitive and engaging web presence that fosters enrollment growth and user satisfaction.

After its launch, South College CMO Kathleen Stockholm made a guest appearance on the “Education Marketing Leader” podcast to discuss the strategy behind its success.

I am very proud of our team at ⁦@webdevstudios⁩ for the work we did on the redesign and re-platforming of the ⁦@SouthCollege⁩ website at https://t.co/aw7RBWtZjf https://t.co/gbev8QpEMZ

— LSW (@LisaSabinWilson) April 18, 2024

You can listen to the full episode below. Visit the South College website at South.edu. Learn more about using WordPress for education websites on this WDS Solutions page.

WDS Leadership Retreat

A WebDevStudios leadership team retreat is vital to our WordPress agency’s success, offering numerous benefits beyond the virtual boardroom. Firstly, it gives leaders a chance to step away from daily client projects. They can immerse themselves in an environment ideal for strategic planning and collaboration. This dedicated time away from distractions helps our leadership team gain new perspectives, brainstorm innovative ideas, and align on our company’s future vision.

On April 15-19, 2024, WDS hosted a leadership team retreat in Pennsylvania, where the future of our company was discussed, strategized, and planned.  Pictured below, left to right, are: COO and Co-Founder Lisa Sabin-Wilson, Director of Engineering Mitch Canter, Delivery Manager Deborah Hudson, Account Manager Laura Byrne, Engineering Manager John Heimkes, Engineering Manager JC Palmes, CEO and Co-Founder Brad Williams, Director of Accounts Jen Miller, Delivery Manager Autry Reeves, and Director of Operations April Williams.

Spent the week with the @webdevstudios leadership team in central PA. It’s been difficult to meet the past few years, but nothing replaces in person strategic planning. We made some amazing progress and had a lot of fun doing it! pic.twitter.com/YiVO9pz5bM

— Brad Williams (@williamsba) April 19, 2024

Overall, the importance of a leadership team retreat cannot be overstated. It is a cornerstone for organizational growth, fostering innovation, collaboration, and personal development among leaders. This ultimately drives WebDevStudios toward greater success and the achievement of our strategic objectives.

WebDevStudios Is Hiring a Technical Strategist

Don’t you want to join a remote team that fosters growth, innovation, and collaboration? You’re in luck because now is your chance!

WDS is seeking a Technical Strategist to perform needs analyses and gather requirements and acceptance criteria for client projects. Your day-to-day will involve conducting research, critical thinking, strategic planning, and relationship-building to enrich every client engagement and contribute to our portfolio of exceptional work. Each opportunity presents a unique challenge and demands a consultative yet efficient approach.

As a Technical Strategist, you will collaborate with industry-leading designers and developers to serve a diverse clientele. You’ll tackle complex problems, devise innovative solutions, and play a pivotal role in achieving tangible results for our clients. Apply via our Careers page.

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Sharing news about our WordPress agency may seem like a mundane task, but it is critical to our business. It allows us to stay connected with our clients, partners, and community, and help them understand what we do. It is more than just mere updates; we open the door and offer everyone a glimpse into our world, showcasing our latest WordPress adventures, innovative solutions, and the impressive accomplishments of our talented team.

By opening this door wider, we invite you to witness our growth, learn about our milestones, and celebrate our successes. But beyond that, sharing our news fosters transparency, builds trust, and reinforces the strong foundation upon which WebDevStudios stands. Every announcement, every accomplishment, and all the latest happenings are a testament to our commitment to excellence and our dedication to exceeding your expectations.

So, get ready to dive into a whirlwind of creativity, technology, and passion. Here is the latest company news from WebDevStudios.

State of Enterprise WordPress 2023

WordPress agencies, including industry leaders like WebDevStudios, are actively collecting data and insights for an upcoming comprehensive report named State of Enterprise WordPress 2023, slated for release later this year. This extensive report aims to delve into various crucial aspects, encompassing budgets, publishing procedures, customized functionalities, and more within the enterprise WordPress ecosystem.

The report will not only shed light on why enterprises opt for WordPress but also explore how they have expanded its capabilities and pinpoint the improvements they aspire to witness. State of Enterprise WordPress 2023 is poised to offer a profound understanding of the intricate needs and prerequisites of enterprise-level organizations. Its impact goes beyond mere analysis; it holds the potential to influence the trajectory of WordPress by shaping the development of future features and updates.

This is your chance to contribute to the evolution of WordPress. By participating in the survey today, you actively assist in shaping the platform’s future. Your insights matter and can play a pivotal role in molding the forthcoming advancements of WordPress. Join us in this journey by taking the survey now at soewp.com. Let your voice be heard, and let’s collectively shape the future landscape of WordPress together.

WordCamps

Wow! WordCamps really are back in full force, aren’t they?

WordCamps, as vibrant WordPress conferences, offer invaluable opportunities for enthusiasts, developers, and businesses to network, share knowledge, and collaborate on innovative ideas, fostering a dynamic sense of community within the global WordPress ecosystem.

These events provide a unique platform for attendees to gain insights from experts, participate in Contributor Day, and stay updated with the latest trends, ultimately empowering individuals and businesses to thrive in the digital landscape. In October, our team members participated in two different WordCamps in two different areas of the world,

WordCamp Mumbai

WordCamp Mumbai was a two-day conference of WordPress sessions, which took place October 28-29. Frontend Engineer Aslam Doctor attended, and Backend Engineer Lax Mariappan presented his talk titled “How to Migrate a WP Application Without Losing Your Mind.” The two engineers also met for the first time in person. Lax has made the slides from his talk available to the public.

WordCamp Managua

On the same weekend as WordCamp Mumbai, WordCamp Managua took place. Project Manager Leo Torres volunteered, and he has reported that the event went great.

From the awesome organizers who plan everything to the volunteers hustling during the event and the speakers who take time out to share their wisdom, WordCamps are a team effort. Making a WordCamp come to life is a big deal, and it takes a bunch of awesome people to do it, including generous people like Leo.

WP Search with Algolia Pro 1.3.0

If you still haven’t gone pro, you will want to because of the latest release of WP Search with Algolia Pro 1.3.0.

Support for SEOPress

Previous versions of WP Search with Algolia Pro included “noindex” matching for Yoast SEO, All In One SEO, and Rank Math SEO, but with Version 1.3.0, if you use SEOPress, WP Search with Algolia Pro will not index content marked as “noindex” for search engines.

Single Searchable Index for WordPress Multisite

The latest version of WP Search with Algolia Pro—Version 1.3.0—introduces an exciting new feature that has the potential to revolutionize search functionality for WordPress Multisites. With this update, users can now set up a single searchable index that consolidates content from across the entire multisite network.

This means that you can perform a global search of all the content available on your network, making it easier to find what you’re looking for. This feature is especially useful for those who manage multiple sites within the same network. Visit our plugin shop Pluginize to download WP Search with Algolia Pro.

WooSesh

Earlier this month, October 10-12, the live, virtual conference known as WooSesh happened. WooSesh is designed for WooCommerce store builders. It takes place annually, and each WooSesh is highly curated to provide attendees with the absolute best possible experience

WebDevStudios CEO Brad Williams participated in a panel discussion called “How to Rescue Disgruntled Clients.” Every presentation, including Brad’s, was recorded and published at WPSessions.

wd_s Hybrid Theme Release

wd_s is a well-known, highly used WordPress starter theme built by WebDevStudios. In late September, Engineering Manager JC Palmes announced the release of Version 4.0.0—a powerful hybrid theme, equipped with the Site Editor and pre-styled core blocks via theme.json, enhancing your creative possibilities. Go to GitHub to read JC’s announcement and download wd_s.

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It’s the perfect time to dive into the exciting developments buzzing behind the scenes, including WordCamps and our latest WordPress block patterns video tutorial. Trust us when we say we have a treasure trove of interesting and impressive company news information to dish out, so fasten your seatbelts and get ready to be wowed.

WordCamps

WordCamps are community-organized events that are a great way to learn about WordPress. You can also meet WordPress users, developers, and all-around experts. Attending WordCamps is a great way to get involved with the WordPress community. That’s one of the main reasons our team members like to participate in them, usually as organizers, volunteers, speakers, or attendees.

You can help shape the future of WordPress by participating in WordCamps. Find a WordCamp near you. Here are some WordCamps in which we have recently taken part.

WordCamp Montclair

WordCamp Montclair took place in New Jersey on June 24th. Talks included topics that covered accessibility, podcasting, and content strategy. The keynote was given by Caleb Matteis, in which he shared his remarkable journey of transitioning from a mail carrier to a software engineer in just three years.

WebDevStudios Account Manager Laura Byrne was a Lead Organizer of WordCamp Montclair, which means Laura was part of a team of people who managed and planned the event. Principal Engineer Sal Ferrarello was a speaker. His talk was titled “Fun with the WordPress API.”

One of our newest team members, Backend Engineer Matt Ryan, attended WordCamp Montclair. Lucky for us, they took time to capture a moment together.

WordCamp Iloilo

WebDevStudios is proud to be a Paraw Regatta Sponsor of WordCamp Iloilo 2023. Engineering Manager JC Palmes and UX Designer Spencer Ravago are the Lead Organizers of this WordCamp event.

WordCamp Iloilo takes place July 8th in Iloilo City, situated on Panay Island’s southeastern coast, the Philippines’ sixth-largest island. Tickets to WordCamp Iloilo are still available.

WordPress VIP Guest Blog Post

WebDevStudios CEO Brad Williams provided his expertise in a guest blog post for WordPress VIP. The article titled “Best Practices for Building an Enterprise WordPress Website” covers setting up a staging environment, optimizing site performance, and whether or not to build a block-based theme.

It’s a comprehensive piece and well-recommended. Head over to the WordPress VIP blog to read Brad’s guest post. Did you know that WebDevStudios is a proud WordPress VIP Gold Agency Partner?

WordPress Block Patterns Video Tutorial

If you have yet to switch from WordPress Classic Editor to Gutenberg, you’re bound to do so soon. Backend Engineer Topher DeRosia took some time to put together a WordPress block patterns video tutorial. In it, he shows how you can build a landing page using blocks. Watch it below.

Within WordPress Podcast

In a recent podcast interview with Remkus de Vries, Brad discussed how contributing to WordPress as an agency helps the WordPress Project. Brad explained that contributing to WordPress as an agency can take many forms, such as developing and maintaining plugins and themes, fixing bugs and security vulnerabilities, and writing documentation and tutorials. Watch the video below to learn why Brad encourages other agencies to get involved in the WordPress community.

WordPress Friday Hangout

On the last Friday of the month, when WebDevStudios is hosting a company-sponsored Five for the Future day, Brad joins Victor Ramirez to cohost WordPress Friday Hangout live on YouTube. Anyone can join the conversation to talk about WordPress.

If you’d like to be considered to hang out on a future WordPress Friday Hangout (aka #WPFriday) with Brad and Victor, tweet us @webdevstudios or leave a comment on this company news blog post. Watch last month’s hangout below.

We’re Hiring

Remote work isn’t dead. Some people don’t know how to do it successfully. WebDevStudios does. If you’re looking for a career in a remote-work environment that fosters passion, creativity, innovation, and pride, peruse the opportunities listed on our careers page and apply today.

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In November, WDS kept busy, focusing on big website projects for big brands, while also giving back to WordPress via Five for the Future. Here are some other activities our teammates were involved with.

WordCamp San José, Costa Rica

WordCamp San José (WCSJ) took place November 5-6, 2022 in Costa Rica. WDS Senior Frontend Engineer, Alfredo Navas, was there. Alfredo presented a talk titled, “Full Site Editing – Temas Badados en Bloques, Patrones Y El Theme.JSON.”

This talk addressed the transition of WordPress development to a no-code solution with block-based themes, pattern creation, and full-site editing. For more on this in-person WordCamp event, read Green Geek’s recap.

WordCamp Asia 2023

Happening in February of next year, WordCamp Asia is sold out! As the first flagship WordCamp in Asia, this event is bringing true value to the community.

WDS Backend Engineer, Lax Mariappan, took time to chat with Go with WP. about the importance of WordCamp Asia and WordPress technology. Watch the video below.

Updates

From plugin versions to event rescheduling, some important announcements were made this month. Here’s what you need to know.

Pluginize Plugins

Did you know WebDevStudios is the developer behind some of the most popular WordPress plugins? We offer our free and premium plugins at our online store Pluginize. The following is the latest news and updates on our products.

Custom Post Type UI (CPTUI) Extended
CPTUI Extended released Version 1.11.1 this month. This update includes a focus on user experience in our Gutenberg block.

WP Search with Algolia
Version 2.3.1 of WP Search with Algolia has been released. This is just a minor update to fix an immediate bug that was introduced in the previous release.

WordPress

At the beginning of the month, WordPress released Version 6.1, aka “Misha.” As such, we updated our WordPress Spotify playlist by adding a song from jazz artist, Mikhail “Misha” Alperin, to it.

Since then, Version 6.1.1 launched. Be sure you’re running the latest version of WordPress.

Events

WordFest Live has rescheduled its event to December 16, 2022. You can read the announcement of this change on the blog for Big Orange Heart.

WebDevStudios Is Hiring!

WDS is actively recruiting frontend engineers with all levels of experience, including junior, senior, and lead. If you’re interested in ending your year with a new job (and, who can blame you?), please view the job description for the position and apply online today.

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Between our blog, bi-monthly email newsletter, and Five for the Future contributions, our team can’t stop sharing our expertise and insights. Take a look at the events where you’ll find WDS soon. We can’t wait to share our knowledge with others.

WordCamp Santa Clarita 2021

Virtual WordCamps are proving to be valuable. The WordPress community wasn’t about to let a pandemic stop them from networking, bonding, and continuing to build up the growth of what is considered the backbone of WordPress. That’s why WordCamps have continued to take place, bringing together the community that powers WordPress.

WordCamp Santa Clarita happens virtually July 17-18, 2021. Are you registered? Be sure that you are because our own Christina Workman, Support Technician, will be presenting a talk called, “Understanding Neurodisabilities: Computers Don’t Run the Same OS and Neither Do Our Individual Brains.”

Christina is a huge advocate of website accessibility, and in this WordCamp talk, she will cover the various groups of cognitive/neurological disabilities and provide advice on making your website more accessible for people with these disabilities.

WordFest Live

A fundraising event that benefits Big Orange Heart, WordFest Live is a 24-hour festival of WordPress. You read that right—24 hours! WDS is especially excited about WordFest Live because we have a total of 6 team members participating. Topics and speakers are listed below:

• “Accessible Websites Benefit Everyone,” presented by Christina Workman, Support Technician
• “Meditating My Way to Success,” presented by Jodie Fiorenza, Director of Business Development
• “Introduction to PHP Namespaces,” presented by Sal Ferrarello, Senior Backend Engineer
• “Giving Back: How a Company Can Successfully Implement Five for the Future,” a panel style talk presented by Cristina Holt, Justin Foell, and Laura Coronado

WordFest Live is the WordPress event of the season that you absolutely do not want to miss. Check out the entire schedule and get registered today.

We’re Still Hiring

We can’t stop growing. WebDevStudios needs you on our team. Take a look at our current job openings, including Project Manager, UX Designer, and engineers. Apply today.

The post Company News – June appeared first on WebDevStudios.

We need to reconnect with one another.

-Jodie Riccelli

As the Director of Business Development for WebDevStudios (WDS), Jodie Riccelli is focused on building successful client relationships. She does this by doing nothing but communicating, all day, every day.

She communicates with prospective clients, current clients, business partners, peers, WDS leaders, team members, and the WordPress community. Yet, even in today’s modern, digital world, Jodie can tell you that there are challenges incurred during these communications and in the maintenance of the successful client relationships which she builds and nurtures daily.

In the video below, watch and listen to Jodie present her tips for building successful client relationships in a digital age at WordCamp Las Vegas in September 2019. She offers insight, such as why you should avoid multitasking, how to choose your words wisely, and finding your toolbox.

WordCamp talks should be an essential part of your WordPress education, but you can’t attend every single WordCamp there is, right? WordPress.tv has you covered. You can watch multiple talks and presentations from all over the world. Go to WordPress.tv to search for the WordCamp talks that appeal to you.

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Sales is not a dirty word.

At her WordCamp Atlanta 2018 talk, “Selling to Enterprise Clients,” Director of Business Development at WebDevStudios, Jodie Riccelli, made this statement, but it’s also a common expression used by sales professionals to encourage others to not be intimidated by the traits required to be successful in the industry, no matter the type of client. However, when it comes to specifically selling to enterprise clients, Jodie says that you have to “handle them a little differently.”

She says that enterprise clients involve a long sales cycle, requiring patience and a list of commitments you’ll need to make to not only attain the client but to also maintain them. You can watch her talk below and learn what it takes to  win over clients like Campbell’s and Microsoft, such as creating personalized proposals and not relying on cookie-cutter templates.

Jodie’s advice for selling to enterprise clients is valuable. Click the play button now and find more WordCamp talks at WordPress.tv.

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WordPress.org Repositories

Whether it’s a free theme or plugin, you can give back to the WordPress community by donating your development acumen to a project. But, Senior Backend Developer, Justin Foell, says that if you don’t code you can still help out: “Taking the time to post a review, especially a five-star one, is valuable. Also, if you’re tech-savvy, documentation with screenshots goes a long way.”
 
 
 

Community Contributions

While WDS Director of Client Strategy, Jodie Riccelli, is not a WordPress developer or designer, she vehemently states that she is still a member of the WordPress Community. “Contributing to WordPress as a strategist is essential. It allows me to keep current on core WordPress and it helps me make better recommendations to clients because I am informed.” Jodie suggests contributing to Five for the Future by testing new WordPress features, participating in support forums, and transcribing videos for WordPress.tv. “To me, the greatest part of WordPress is the community. Everyone is in this together. As a group, we are elevating the website experience user by user,” she adds.
 

WordPress Meetups

Meetups are a great way to learn more about WordPress and find answers to your burning questions. John Hawkins, WDS Client Strategist and Lead Organizer of the Las Vegas WordPress Meetup group, says that just being involved in your local affiliate is a way to give back to #5ftf.

“Give a presentation on something, anything! Tell us about a plugin that saves you time, or about how you solved an issue on your site,” he explains. But if you hate public speaking, John also recommends offering to take notes at each meeting or filming presentations and uploading them to YouTube for those who missed the meetup. Reach out to your local organizer and ask if there’s anything they could use your help with.

WordCamps

As is the case with meetups, WordCamps offer both an education and an opportunity to give back. Russell Aaron, Support Technician at Maintainn (the WordPress support and maintenance arm of our company), is an expert developer who enjoys volunteering at WordCamps, particularly the Happiness Bar. A Happiness Bar (not every camp has one) is staffed with volunteers offering their experience and expertise for WordPress users and website owners who need help.

“The best part about working at the Happiness Bar is showing somebody the answer to a question that has been stumping them for weeks,” Russell elaborates, “There have been many times when someone says to me, ‘Oh! That’s how it works? I didn’t know that.’”

Buy a Developer a Beer

For many folks, monetary donations are easiest. If that’s the case with you, we found a way you can contribute to the WordPress Five for the Future initiative by simply buying a developer a beer. Beerpay allows developers to receive support for their open-source projects on GitHub. You’ll need to create a GitHub account to donate, but once you’re set up, you can select a project to support and even donate anonymously.

So whatever level your knowledge of WordPress is, so long as you are using the software, you are a welcomed part of the community. Join the potluck today! Get involved by giving back. The above ideas offer lots of chances for you to do so.

Learn more about our February contributions in this blog post. Our next company-wide Five for the Future contribution day is tomorrow, March 23. We invite you to follow the hashtag #5ftf on Twitter to see what our team is up to. Re-tweets and shout-outs of support are always appreciated. Be sure to return to our WDS blog to keep up with our WordPress Five for the Future contributions.

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For the past few years, I have had the pleasure of helping organize this event in addition to the two years we hosted WordCamp US in our city. Each year, Philly opens its arms to the community and garnishes praise like the following:

What else makes Philly WordCamp so awesome? Well, this year we did it Halloween weekend. Philly WordCamp was held October 27th and 28th at the University of the Sciences in West Philadelphia. (It’s impossible to write that sentence without saying “born and raised” next.)

To see folks attend the event in costume gives the weekend a whole new dimension. When working with a creative group, it should be no surprise that the costumes are superior. From the Blue Screen of Death to Doctor Who, the costumes were the perfect backdrop for creativity, learning, adventure, and bonding.

Of course, the reason people attend WordCamps is not simply for the camaraderie and the food, they are primarily there for the amazing sessions led by community members. WordCamp sessions are meant to inspire you to go forth and make, design, market, and build really great websites. On the roster this year, WordCamp Philly had some of the most highly regarded speakers in the biz like our own Lisa Sabin-Wilson, who gave a talk entitled, “Systems for Success: Revenue Doesn’t Mean Sh*t if You’re Not Profitable.” Brad was spotlighted on a panel that talked about the WordPress Economy although his Mr. Halloween suit was really the talk of the event. Mr. Halloween does WordPress.

Additionally, Philly WordCampers got to hear Aaron Jorbin talk about advanced topics in developing, Mika Epstein talk about “Data Based Sites (Or: How Sara Lance Made Me Cry),” and Christopher Lauzon discuss “That Time I Blew Up Someone’s Site and Other Ways to Avoid Disaster.” We can’t forget the local Philly folks like, “Having My Website Hacked Was the Best Thing That Could Have Happened to Me,” presented by Laura Byrne-Cristiano and “Create Your First Shortcode,” presented by Sal Ferrarello. I think, however, everyone can agree that one of the highlights was Marc Coleman’s keynote talk on Diversity in the Tech Space titled, “The Risks and Rewards of Community”.

Now let’s talk about the fun stuff. I booked the party spaces. Friday Night we had the pleasure of hosting the speakers at La Fourno on South Street in Philadelphia. We stuffed ourselves with butternut squash ravioli and pizza! It was wonderful. The following evening was the Official After-Party at William Street Common in West Philly. We distributed prizes to our costume contest winners and Brad happened to walk away with a prize, as did other great winners like Bert from Sesame Street!

Then a group of us ended the evening with a time-honored Philly Tradition: the Philly Taco. This masterpiece starts with a slice of giant pizza from a local favorite spot called Lorenzo’s. Then you simply cross the street to another local spot called Jim’s and purchase a cheesesteak. The slice is lovingly wrapped around the cheesesteak sandwich similar to a taco. It’s perfection and disgusting all in one bite but so worth it if you are really looking to get that Philly experience.

On Sunday we held contributor day, and from what I hear it was incredible. I wish I could report more about it, however, I was unable to attend due to a previous commitment. It had nothing to do with the after-effects of the Philly Taco… I swear.

I love my city. I love WebDevStudios. I love WordPress and WordCamps, so it should come as no surprise this was one of my favorite weekends. Thank you to the organizers who made it so special and the attendees who made it shine brightly with the spirit of the community.

P.S. We are proud to say that Maintainn was a sponsor this year!

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Although I find it hard to believe that any of our regular readers are unfamiliar with WordCamp (come on, now!), for those of you that are completely green: WordCamps are events held all over the world where WordPress nerds unite to share their skills, insights, and learn a whole lot from a bunch of other smarties.

We’ve picked out a few presentations that caught our eye. Check them out, and we hope we’ll see you there!

Saturday, September 24th

11:30 AM – Tightening Up Your Process for Shorter Timelines and Happier Clients – Torre Kean

Numerous ways you can remove blockers from your website creation processes and reduce timelines while creating quality product and happy clients. Topics to discuss include:

1. Combining the design and development phase into one efficient process, starting with a discussion and a sketch.
2. Presenting ONE design to the client, and how to get it in front of the client quickly.
3. Which meetings you need, why you need to present your designs (actually, design) in person, and how to schedule them ahead of time and include those dates and times in your Scope of Work / contract.
4. Holding yourself accountable and not taking on too many projects at once.
5. How having a good, WordPress specific hosting company (we use WPEngine) can save you time and stress.
6. Picking a well supported, constantly updated, super-powered theme (we use Divi, I know many use Genesis) that you use as a base for all client sites to save time with a) a learning curve, and b) unexpected issues like incompatibility with WooCommerce or limitations in design.
7. Do what’s best for your client in all cases – for us this often means allowing them more time to gather their content and even work with a copywriter before we begin charging them. At the same time we do offer the option to help them with that process, but it will cost them money. It is entirely up to them. Another way we do this is to give them 100% ownership of their site including domain name and hosting, as opposed to reselling that to them. This is something we’re considering changing but only for clients that opt into the service as part of a payment plan.

Other advice to be inserted throughout the talk includes: Holding your clients accountable just like you do yourself, never starting ‘immediately’ even if you technically can, and thoughts on billing (not to underprice, to consider weekly billing to avoid the damaging effects of scope creep to your income, and the idea of a long term payment plan which we are ourselves toying with).

1:15 PM – Customer Information Security in eCommerce – Andrew Wikel

How to present and maintain a secure E-Commerce site. We will go over some details on PCI compliance, as well as privacy policy, and general web security.

3:15 PM – How to Build a Product in a Crowded Marketplace – AJ Morris

Come learn how a large company with $90+ million in revenue approaches ways to build a hosting platform for a CMS that powers over 25% of the web, WordPress. We’ll deep dive into how we approached multiple iterations into building a Managed WordPress offering and how we are continuing to position against our rivals.

4:15 PM – Preparing For and Dealing With Websites Imploding – Patrick Garman

The lessons learned with dealing with the constant growth and high traffic situations of ColourPop. We have seen extreme growth and extreme traffic, not only traffic, but traffic that is converting and placing orders on a site with an already massive (100GB) database and struggles to stay online with multiple orders per second being placed.

Success in emergency situations does not happen by accident, we’ve failed many times before we succeeded and still fail sometimes even with preparation. This talk will cover how to handle yourself, the site, and the overall situation of when your site is experiencing high traffic and is failing. As well as how to prepare in advance for these situations, and how to de-compress afterwards.

While the talk will be general on how to handle things, it will use a real world examples such as my WordCamp Chicago 2016 experience. ColourPop decides to do an unannounced, unplanned, more importantly un-hyped flash sale that weekend, when I am attending the conference. We experience more traffic in that sale than we have. From that moment the rest of my conference visit was spent ensuring we kept ColourPop online – which first failed, and then we found creative solutions to maintain stability.

Session descriptions pulled from the WCDFW website.

Will we see you in Texas?

If you can’t make it this round, but would like to live vicariously, you can follow @WordCampDFW or keep tabs on #WCDFW.

Have a great weekend, folks! Happy WordCamping!

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