Tag: WordCamp

What I Wish I’d Known When I Started–WordCamp Winnipeg 2015

I’m presenting today at WordCamp Winnipeg. My talk is titled What I Wish I’d Known When I Started and I described it this way:

WordPress provides many convenient functions, perhaps too many. All too often, new developers reinvent the wheel, as the cliche goes, when Core already has a function or utility to accomplish the same. Five years on and thinking back to when I started building WordPress plugins, I could’ve saved a lot of time and avoided a lot of anxiety if I’d known where to look.

Slides are available at https://speakerdeck.com/ethitter/what-i-wish-id-known-when-i-started; video will be posted as soon as it’s available. I’ve also embedded the slides below.

A copy of the slides along with their presenter notes is available at https://slides.ethitter.com/wcwpg-what-i-wish-id-known/slides-with-notes.pdf.

From URL To Query–WordCamp San Francisco 2014

WordCamp San Francisco is today, and I’ve been invited to present a five-minute lightning talk as part of this afternoon’s program. Drawing from my longer talk of the same name (given at past WordCamps), From URL to Query describes the process WordPress undertakes to deliver the right content for each URL.

Ever wonder what process WordPress undertakes when someone visits your site? Or how it translates that nice permalink to the database query that ultimately delivers the content your visitors requested? Or what it takes to load the appropriate template from your site’s theme?

In this talk, I’ll walk through WordPress’ loading process and shed some light on the various APIs used. I’ll also discuss how these APIs work together to make the software function.

Slides from today’s presentation are at https://slides.ethitter.com/from-url-to-query-wcsf/. The complete deck is also available at https://slides.ethitter.com/from-url-to-query/.

Moving on from always moving on

Five years ago, I was unemployed and bored, and somehow happened upon the idea of a WordCamp. As luck would have it, there were plans underway for one in Boston, and help was needed. With an abundance is free time, I gladly volunteered–a decision that led to a job and my current career.

The last five years have been a wild and often-surreal experience of travel, growth, and so much WordPress. Boston has been my base through this time, and New England where I’ve always called home, but soon that changes.

For more than two years now, I’ve been a nomad in a long-distance relationship, but I’ll soon drop both descriptors. Chris and I are moving to Los Angeles this summer.

I love traveling and the nomadic lifestyle, but I’m ready to settle down with my boyfriend and move on with our life together.

WP_Rewrite Isn’t As Scary As You Think–WordCamp Vancouver 2013

I just finished my presentation at WordCamp Vancouver 2013 entitled “WP_Rewrite Isn’t As Scary As You Think.” My intent was to reduce the fear surrounding WP_Rewrite in the hope that more developers will be able to leverage the API in their code. I described my talk thusly:

Everyone wants pretty URLs on their sites, and WordPress provides a powerful system to support this. Behind the magic of the Permalinks settings page is WP_Rewrite, an API terrifying to many developers.

Like most of WordPress, the Rewrites system isn’t limited just to internal use, and understanding how the API works lets developers build powerful tools atop the platform. We’ll start by discussing what happens when you set a permalink structure through the dashboard and how WordPress uses that to query for content. We’ll then explore how you can add custom rewrite rules, both with and without an understanding of regular expressions. By the end of this session, you’ll know what actions and filters are available to tweak rewrite rules, how endpoints enhance your code, and how you can leverage this powerful API to deliver a better user experience.

Proposed as a 45-minute presentation, I was offered a shorter slot instead. As such, the talk isn’t as in-depth as I described it, but it still provides a good primer for those unfamiliar with WP_Rewrite.

Slides from the talk are available at http://slides.ethitter.com/wp-rewrite-isnt-scary/. I’ll embed the video as soon as it’s available.

Year in Review

I experienced two notable milestones last week. It’s been a year since I joined Automattic, and I’ve been without a permanent home for the same duration. During this year, I’ve visited a new country, met innumerable incredible people from both Automattic and the WordPress community, attended fourteen (14!) WordCamps and spoken at seven (7!), and taken over as lead of Team Custom. I’ve flown in excess of 100,000 miles and spent at least seven months away from my Boston-area home base.

What a great experience I’ve had and a wild year it’s been! I have no desire or intent to settle down any time soon, and going forward, will be posting more about my nomadic experience  at Get Transient along with Siobhan McKeown,  Hanni Ross, and guests.

From URL to Query–WordCamp Miami 2013

Today at WordCamp Miami, I reprised my latest talk, From URL to Query. I’ve now given this talk at WordCamps Phoenix, Atlanta, and Miami; the latter two presentations are an expanded version of the original talk delivered in Phoenix.

Briefly, this was the intent of my talk:

Ever wonder what process WordPress undertakes when someone visits your site? Or how it translates that nice permalink to the database query that ultimately delivers the content your visitors requested? Or what it takes to load the appropriate template from your site’s theme?

In this talk, I’ll walk through WordPress’ loading process and shed some light on the various APIs used. I’ll also discuss how these APIs work together to make the software function.

Slides are available at http://slides.ethitter.com/from-url-to-query/.

I’ll link to the video once it becomes available. The recording of the WordCamp Phoenix iteration is available in the meantime, but isn’t as in-depth as what I covered in Atlanta or Miami.

From URL to Query–WordCamp Atlanta 2013

Today at WordCamp Atlanta, I reprised my latest talk, From URL to Query. This was an expanded version of the content I delivered at WordCamp Phoenix in January. Briefly, this was the intent of my talk:

Ever wonder what process WordPress undertakes when someone visits your site? Or how it translates that nice permalink to the database query that ultimately delivers the content your visitors requested? Or what it takes to load the appropriate template from your site’s theme?

In this talk, I’ll walk through WordPress’ loading process and shed some light on the various APIs used. I’ll also discuss how these APIs work together to make the software function.

Slides are available at http://slides.ethitter.com/from-url-to-query/.

I’ll link to the video once it becomes available. The recording of the WordCamp Phoenix iteration is available in the meantime, but isn’t as in-depth as what I covered in Atlanta.

From URL to Query–WordCamp Phoenix 2013

Today at WordCamp Phoenix, I presented my newest talk, From URL to Query. Briefly, this was the intent of my talk:

Ever wonder what process WordPress undertakes when someone visits your site? Or how it translates that nice permalink to the database query that ultimately delivers the content your visitors requested? Or what it takes to load the appropriate template from your site’s theme?

In this talk, I’ll walk through WordPress’ loading process and shed some light on the various APIs used. I’ll also discuss how these APIs work together to make the software function.

Slides are available at http://slides.ethitter.com/wcphx-from-url-to-query/.

WordCamp Phoenix 2013: WP401

Yesterday, Paul Clark (@pdclark, pdclark.com) and I ran WordCamp Phoenix 2013’s WP401 session. We covered everything from object-oriented plugin development to CSS preprocessors to WordPress’ rewrite system.

The session was recorded, so video should eventually be available on WordPress.tv.

In the meantime, slides for those topics I prepared them for are available:

Thanks to all who attended! It was a great day, due in no small part to the great audience we had. It was a pleasure to work with Paul on this as well!

The Power of WordPress’ Roles and Capabilities: Understanding map_meta_cap–WordCamp Toronto Developers 2012

Today I delivered a followup talk to The Power of WordPress’ Roles and Capabilities that delves into the map_meta_cap filter. This presentation is intended for developers who need greater control over permissions than roles alone provide.

Here’s the abstract:

In the second installment of this talk, I’ll discuss the true power behind WordPress’ roles and capabilities system, map_meta_cap. Starting with an overview of how it relates to the system as a whole, including the functions discussed in the first installment, this talk will then use real-world examples to demonstrate how the map_meta_cap function and filter can be properly used to fully leverage WordPress’ capabilities system. For anyone who’s ever needed to conditionally grant or deny a user or group of users a certain ability, or wondered what the map_meta_cap flag in register_post_type() does, this talk will provide the answers.

Slides are available here.