WordCamp Orange County is happening today, and even though we can’t be there ourselves, the WPCandy Liveblog is still happening! Thanks to a couple of awesome volunteers, this blog should still be updated with awesome stuff from WordCamp throughout the day. This is the post to bookmark and watch; we’ll be posting to it throughout the day.
If you’re seeing this, and you’re in Orange County at the big event yourself, get in touch and we’ll set you up to publish to the liveblog as well. Every volunteer helps!
The liveblog starts just after the jump—what are you waiting for?
The Throwing of shirts.
That’s it for the conference. Closing announcements coming up, then waffles and the after party. More photos?
Almost wrap-up and raffle time. Hard to believe that day has blown by so fast. A number of great folks are here.
More practical tips from Adam Ware (@wheresitworking):
- Push cookies into your CRM – Your Google Analytics added to your CRM data gives you more info on where your customers initially came from
- GetClicky – A bit Big Brotherish, gives you more insight on site visitors
- Twitterfeed – A plugin for automating tasks like auto-tweeting blog posts
If you stomp the $global you will end up in a world of pain.
Adam Ware (@wheresitworking) is discusing advanced settings for the plugin Google Analytics for WordPress in his session Site Metrics – Measure Twice, Blog Once.
Tips:
- If you are going to use this plugin and already have Google Analytics, your content will be double-counted. Remove it first.
- Under Advanced Settings, checking the “Add tracking to the comment forms” allows you to see where people come from who comment the most on your site.
BTW, if you didn’t know this. It’s my first presentation in front of a crowd. /via @Todd Huish. Crowd claps
On Screen: “I miss the way you smile”. Thanks to Hello Dolly.
We are up in the terminizzle with @toddhuish, installing @wordpress multi-site at #wcoc
via @beaulebens
And now, @ToddHuish on Multi-Site.
What organization do you work for? “Automattic”. Hey! Crowd cheers.
Marcy Massura (@marcymassura) began her presentation Visually Speaking by pointing out how businesses often do not have a visual strategy. Her advice? Make sure one that supports your business strategy is applied to all your digital assets, including one’s Twitter page. From there, she dove into her presentation:
Design and Placement: Where is the most valuable real estate? Keep in mind that users in the United States are used to looking top down and from left-to-right.
Art and Color: Colors have a psychological meaning to them, even neutrals. For example, Oscar Mayer’s logo includes red representing ketchup and yellow for mustard. The colors for Pepsi remind one of Coke, but also feelings of Americana. If you are looking for inspiration — either for yourself or a client — take a look at:
Font: A font may look good, but it does not benefit your business if it is not readable.
It’s HAMMER time!
via wheresitworking
Sidebar: Watching from camp? Looks like there will be a bunch of campers heading to @BruxieWaffles for WordCampWaffles.
Questions for @JeffHester? Use hash tag #intrawc with #wcoc.
@JeffHester having everyone stand and move up to the front rows.
More random tid bits from Luke Pilom’s Mobile and Geo Strategies for WordPress session:
Paraphrased Q&A
Question for the audience: How can geolocation be beneficial for small mom and pop organizations?
Answer: Can be used for checking in and receiving a targeted coupon, targeted marketing, sharing your experience.
Question: What if you have sites all over the country and not in one local area?
Answer: You can serve up targeted content that is geographically relevant to the user. For example, if you have an office in Texas and your user is in TX, you could serve up TX content.
Question: How do you test your geo-location content?
Answer: Reach out to your users and ask for help.
Critical Mobile Moments
A mobile moment is ANY time you leave the desktop environment. The user may be deciding, notifying, referencing, or sharing. Examples: Contemplating a purchase at a store, cooking a new recipe via one’s phone
Mobile Site Technologies for WP
- Mobify
- MobilePosty
- Wapple Architect
- WordPress Mobile Pack
- WPTouch
Miscellaneous Mobile Site Best Practices
- Simple layouts
- Optimize and remove unnecessary content
- Leverage phone features – People are trying to get ahold of you. Perhaps they are on the way to your office and need your address
- Lower barrier to contact
- Remember the thumbs
Miscellaneous
- Leverage Google Analytics
- Not all of your existing content will be relevant in a mobile environment
- Interested in learning more from Luke, find him on Twitter @lukepilon
@lukepilon recommends the following #WordPress plugins for geolocation call to action: Geoposty Ip2location tags and WP Geolocation #wcoc.
IPGeo Plugin Suggestions from Luke Pilon from the Mobile and Geo Strategies for WordPress session:
- GeoPosty
- IP2Location Tags
- WP Glocation
Example use: You operate a site for a band that tours. Display a special message to a site visitor that is within X miles of where the band will be touring.
Lookin’ good @i3inary – RT: Oldy but Goody: Page.ly Staches http://bit.ly/e6JMFH /via mandiees
How many raving fans do you need? – Topic that has been coming up throughout the day.
Mobile and Geo Strategies for WordPress with Luke Pilon is starting: First tip — Read Seth Godin’s Tribes.
I’ve moved into room #3 for Luke Pilon’s presentation on Mobile Strategies and Geolocation.
It’s been a treat to listen to Krochet Kids CEO and Co-founder Kohl Crecelius (@kohlgreyson, @krochetkids) discuss Social Media for Social Change in the Awesome Bloggin’ track. He started his session by explaining the organization’s origins. A short, powerful video (right side of the home page) then explained how buying a hat can change a life.
Since each of the hats sold by Krochet Kids is hand-signed. To extend the personal touch, Krochet Kids has bios on their site about each person who makes their hand-made products. If you receive one, you can leave a thank you. This is one of the ways that Krochet Kids keeps people engaged.
In addition to using their website, Krochet Kid’s uses Twitter, FaceBook, Tumblr, and a newsletter. Each of these mediums has a unique use. For example, Krochet Kids’ interns post on Tumblr.
Other aspects of their social media strategy:
- Posting once a day on the blog
- Posting on FaceBook once a day in a way that ties back to the blog post
- Tweeting 3-4 times / day about events in the office (Tip: Thank your supporters.)
Another tip: FaceBook now allows you to tag users using your product or service. There are limitations on its use.
Do you really need all those “likes”? If you only have one “like” out of one hundred posts, remove it.
Your host matters. Know when to upgrade.
Jonathan is listing the top 3 plugins for e-commerce in WordPress: WP E-commerce, Cart66, Shopp. Also see: MarketPress.
If anyone is using IE6, please, the door is that way. Crowd laughs
I would trust anything Austin makes
And that my friends, is the cloud.
WP Super Cache has over 2.2 million downloads. Thanks for the update @JoshHighland.
Jonathan is explaining the different PayPal options for off-site checkout: PayPal Standard, Express Checkout, and Website Payments Pro.
And they just fixed the broken microphone. Everyone applauds.
Jonathan Davis from Shopp is talking about e-commerce and all its intricate details. What’s the best way to do e-commerce?
And we are back. Up now @Josh Highland on Site Optimization
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Looking for WordPress design inspiration? Cody Landefeld suggested CSSREMIX (not WP specifc) and We Love WP.
Pro tip: Don’t eat a ton of ginger and wassabi. /via Josh Strebel
Going to lunch, looks like there is bag lunch or BBQ down the street.
Cody Landefeld is presenting a Strategic Approach to Theme Design to an audience of business owners using WordPress. He advises wireframing using a tool like iMockups, Omnigraffle, or Balsamiq. After mentioning these tools, he began disucussing the design process by breaking a site down piece by piece — first with the header, the home page, a sidebar, a subpage, and then the footer. To illustrate his points, Cody used real-world examples for a dentist, a doctor, and an association.
All the speakers are playing with their laser pointers on screen.
Up next Strategic Approach to Theme Design w/ Cody Landefeld.
Random pieces of advice and observations from Beau Lebens during his session Jetpack-powered Plugin Development:
- Internationalization is pretty easy, when done from the start. It can be harder to go back and retro-fit.
- Custom admin messages can be a nice touch
- If you are going to provide support, include diagnostics
- XML-RPC is not always available –> Some webhosts block it at the web server
- When adding your plugin to the WordPress directory, tag your stable versions as “stable”
Beau is talking about custom plugin headers. Which I am using on the themelit.com theme pages which reads the header info on the demos page.
Beau Lebens: Think of your plugin as a platform. Include hooks, so that others can tap into your plugin.
Beau Lebens is using a cool WordPress plugin for his presentaton. Missed the name of it, but will ask in the Q&A.
JetPack is:
A WordPress plugin, almost 10,000 lines of code already! Pre-installed on some webhost one-click installers, the power of WordPress.com, the control of self-hosted WordPress, the best of both worlds!
/via @BeauLebens
For her presentation on BuddyPress, Suzette Franck combined Powerpoint along with a demo. Here are a few tid bits I learned from her this morning:
- Remember to look for BuddyPress compatible themes if you are going to use it
- Custom menus that come with WordPress 3.0 do not work with BuddyPress
- To future proof your site, use child themes. Create a new folder under /wp-content/themes and copy BP-Default theme files to a new folder. In your style.css, define the template as bp-default
- For editing your BuddyPress files, do not use the WordPress editor
- Plugins for monetizing your site: s2member, Advertising Manager, AdRotate
She plans on making slides from her presentation available.
Beau Lebens getting ready to start Jetpack-powered Plugin Development Details
15 minutes until I’m on with some advanced plugin dev discussion! #WCOC
“Most entrepreneurs focus on just getting the plan done rather than trying to get it done correctly.”
“A business can do one of two things, create value or destroy value.”
Great point by Robert Price, how do you manage a networked enterprise?
Looking to set up a private community for your BuddyPress site? Looks no further than BuddyPress Private Community plugin.
I am at the Entrepreneurship talk by Robert Price. He’s talking about getting funded by VCs, having a start-up strategy, and communicating what you do to provide value to your customers/clients and how to communicate it.
Mic check one two.
For database back-ups, Suzette Franck recommends WP Migrate DB.
Suzette Franck is starting her presentation on BuddyPress: what it is, installing, configuring, and useful resources.
I’ve moved into room #2 for BuddyPress with Suzette Franck
In case you have fun today, be sure to attend @WordCampSD or @WordCampLA.
The hashtag for the event is #WCOC. As Jeff pointed out, let’s make it trend.
Jeff is wrapping up opening remarks. Awesome giveaways include WordPress books, themes, memberships, shirts, all types of excellent WordPress-related goodies!
Epic quote from Jeff, “We don’t eat the lawyer food, we eat the nerd food.”
Jeffery Zinn doing opening announcements.
Hello WPCandy friends! This is Chris Wallace from UpThemes and I’m hanging out today at WordCamp OC bringing you some photos and other awesome stuff. We’re just now getting kicked off and Jeff is running through his opening slides, photos coming in a sec.
The kick-off for Orange County WordCamp is minutes away. While the picture still shows some empty seats, many of them are now filled. In back, others are mingling over coffee and pastries. It’s been fun listening to the steadily increasing chatter throughout the room.
Hello campers, wanted to introduce myself. I am Austin Passy, local WordCamp organizer and WordPress developer. I’m waiting for my ride to Chapman University. So will see you in a few!
Heard via the grapevine that this sign marks the way to WordCamp OC.
Local time in California is just after 7am. The events get going at 9am.
I’m excited to welcome guest bloggers Austin Passy, Chris Wallace, and Colleen Brady to the liveblog today. When they are available they will be jumping in to share their take on the event. I’m happy to have them here!
You can follow the event using the official #wcoc hashtag. There are also livestreams of the event, which you can find the links for on the schedule page. You know I’ll be watching!
Sound check.
Testing, testing, is this mic on?
.” We can all take bets on when “fast approaching release” means, but there’s one thing that isn’t debatable: throwing your hat in the ring and helping with development and testing now will speed up the plugin’s release.
