Matt Medeiros continues Season 8 with his interview with Birgit Pauli-Haack. Birgit is a web developer in Naples, Florida and started as a freelancer in 2002. She became a developer because there was not enough software to do what she wanted to on the web. She uses WordPress and Cold Fusion on a few sites in her agency. In addition to working with non-profits, small business and government agencies, she is very instrumental in the WordPress Community.

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WordPress – The Non-profit space 

Matt – The world of non-profits has changed. There initially was not a lot of money in non-profits but they have developed over the years. (4:00)

Birgit – There are a lot of donations being taken online so websites need to be able to handle that. Non-profits that adopted technology are the ones that are hiring consultants.  If the leadership of the non-profit sees the perceived value of having a strong website you will be more successful building and maintaining sites for them. If you are working with a non-profit, you must be able to present before the board and be able to manage many people that represent that board. (4:37)

Changes in WordPress

Matt – Page builders have changed the adoption and price point for non-profits.  Page builders have become a good entry point for web developers. (9:41)

Birgit – The release of page builder software has changed the conversation with the client, as they can now see what the software can do. WordPress was still difficult to understand for a non-technical person that needed to create content or newsletters. Birgit is a supporter of Gutenberg and the transition that it is allowing the non-profit client to create content.  Once Gutenberg was released as a plugin in 2017, she wanted to learn as much as possible about it. (10:40)

Matt – We need something in the core of Wor...