WordCamp Milwaukee session slides and links

Here is some info to go with my WordCamp Milwaukee talk on Theme Choices, When To Have A Baby.

In this presentation I talked about developing with different types of themes including parent themes, child themes, theme frameworks, and starter themes. Some of the specific themes I talked about were TwentyEleven, Thematic, Hybrid, Genesis, and Underscores.

I also talked about splitting up design and functionality, and when to use a functionality plugin. View the presentation slides to learn more.

Speaking at WordCamp Milwaukee 2013

wcmke_2013

Next month I’ll be at WordCamp Milwaukee talking about WordPress themes in a session called Theme Choices, When To Have A Baby.

I’ll be talking about using a theme right off the shelf, hacking and forking themes, parent and child themes, starter themes, and theme frameworks. I’ll also discuss what functions should be in a theme, and when to use a plugin.

The organizers for WordCamp Milwaukee were kind enough to setup a coupon code for each speaker, you can use “Leuze” to save five bucks when you get a ticket.

I’m looking forward to yet another awesome WordCamp and also spending some time in Milwaukee instead of just seeing the city roll by on the train. If you’re going to be attending, you should definitely find me and say hi!

Inspecting WordPress With Firebug

I have been using WordPress for about six years. Different themes, plugins, and code editors have come and gone through this huge learning process as I have developed hundreds of websites, but the one constant for me has been the Firefox add-on Firebug.

It’s the only tool that I have stuck with throughout those years because I have been able to learn so much with Firebug and build projects so much faster by using it.

If you have never used a web inspector like Firebug before, what it does is allow you to bridge the gap between the source code and the rendered out page in your browser. You can look at each bit of code interactively and see how it fits into the page, adjusting the code in the inspector and seeing the updates live in your browser.

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Speaking at WordCamp Minneapolis 2013

WordCamp Minneapolis 2013 Badge I’m speaking at WordCamp Minneapolis next month, my session is called Inspecting WordPress. I’ll be talking about using Firebug or other web inspectors to dig into a site and learn how it is put together, make CSS tweaks, fix bugs, and optimize a site.

Several of us from the local MSP WordPress user group have been busy organizing the WordCamp. Everyone’s been doing an awesome job, the schedule, venues, parties, and swag are all coming along nicely. I built the theme, designed by the talented guys at WerkPress, and I’ve been managing the site. We just posted the speakers and sessions, there’s going to be a lot of brainpower to tap into.

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Five stars for Meteor Slides

Meteor Slides recently reached a big milestone, receiving 200 five star ratings on WordPress.org. It has also been getting some great reviews via the new review feature in the plugin directory.

My robot minion Ampersand has been hiding out lately and I haven’t been spending nearly enough time drawing, so I dusted off my Wacom tablet and did some sketching. First I drew Ampersand going on a 5 star balloon ride after hitting 200 ratings and then I drew a spiffy new donate page with buttons for PayPal and my Amazon wishlist. My reading queue is getting out of control!

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