WPwatercooler - Weekly WordPress Talk Show

This week on WPblab we'll be speaking with WPShout about learning to do WordPress development. If you are looking to be a WordPress developer this should be the perfect episode for you.
http://www.wpshout.com

David B Hayes and Fred Meyer – WordPress developers, contributors, and enthusiasts. Our goal is to make the world of WordPress accessible to everybody.
Alex Denning – started publishing about WordPress development on WPShout in 2009
One of their projects for meditation – http://medivate.com
WPShout – mostly writing for people who are learning or who already are developers – not aimed at beginners
David writes a quick guide every Thursday for simple tips and suggestions
Good starting place for someone wanting to get into development – Up and Running – step by step introduction to WordPress development

Up and Running  – Discount code: WPBLAB – 20% off any package!! If you purchase before end of 3/24, you’ll also be entered to win some cool prizes!
Up and Running starts with the core technical fundamentals (and terminology) and breaks it down into a factory analogy to make it easier to understand the process … (Up and Running synthesizes WordPress development into a cohesive package)
The goal is to go from knowing about the concepts (html, css, php, wordpress basics, etc.) to becoming proficient and knowing how to use all the pieces and parts, and why & how they work, by the end of the program
“Everyone should use CMS’s and WordPress is the best one, so use it!”
Recorded a number of interviews with well known WP devs about how they got to where they are – Pippin Williamson, Helen Hou-Sandi, etc.
Screenflow is used for their video screen capture
Even if you never do the coding stuff or that’s not your focus, the hope is that Up and Running helps make it easier to understand the concepts and why it works the way it does – great for Designers too looking to level up their understanding
David started using WordPress in 2007 – learned how to be a web developer by having a website and wanting to make little changes here and there and beating his head against the wall – it was something he cared about strongly so making it better was important to him
WordPress is a great way to break into the entire field of Web Development
Learn WordPress Plugin Development
Some of the best ways to learn are to use Google to search for answers and to really dig through the Codex or the Code Reference



* https://codex.wordpress.org/
* https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/
* https://learn.calderalabs.org/

People come to WordPress from so many different backgrounds – sometimes it’s a nurse or an educator or a business person who was the most tech savvy in their office and they ‘inherited’ the site and the responsibility to market it

* Udemy.com
* Lynda.com
* Stackoverflow
*

This week on WPwatercooler we'll be continuing our image discussion from last week focusing on how to go about preparing your images for your WordPress site. We'll be discussing inline images, featured images and social media share images and how you can optimize these images for these uses. * Imagify-Online and CMS Image Compression Made Easy * Smush Image Compression and Optimization * ImageOptim — better Save for Web * JPEGmini-Your Photos on a Diet! * Pixelmator * Download photo editing software free trial * Downloads * Evernote * Sketch – Professional Digital Design for Mac * Droplr – All-in-One Screenshot and File Sharing Tool * Free Online Social Media Photo Editor * Word Swag App-Generate Cool Text, Words & Quotes on Your Photos * Pixelmator for iOS * VSCO — photo editor and community on the App Store * How to Change JPEG Compression in WordPress * Photo Extension Resize on the App Store * Simple Image Sizes * Website speed test * Cross Browser Testing Tool. 1000+ Browsers, Mobile, Real IE. * Son of GIFV

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on WPwatercooler we'll be continuing our image discussion from last week focusing on how to go about preparing your images for your WordPress site. We'll be discussing inline images, featured images and social media share images and how you can optimize these images for these uses.

* Imagify-Online and CMS Image Compression Made Easy
* Smush Image Compression and Optimization
* ImageOptim — better Save for Web
* JPEGmini-Your Photos on a Diet!
* Pixelmator
* Download photo editing software free trial
* Downloads
* Evernote
* Sketch – Professional Digital Design for Mac
* Droplr – All-in-One Screenshot and File Sharing Tool
* Free Online Social Media Photo Editor
* Word Swag App-Generate Cool Text, Words & Quotes on Your Photos
* Pixelmator for iOS
* VSCO — photo editor and community on the App Store
* How to Change JPEG Compression in WordPress
* Photo Extension Resize on the App Store
* Simple Image Sizes
* Website speed test
* Cross Browser Testing Tool. 1000+ Browsers, Mobile, Real IE.
* Son of GIFV

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week Bridget and Jen Miller discuss how you can market yourself by live tweeting a WordCamp Live Tweeting at WordCamp Bridget Willard You Too Can Be A Guru Jen Miller @jenblogs4u Offering Lead Conversion Tools and Blogging Need Someone To Blog? 100% Unique Website Content. Need Safe Blog Posts? Hire a Ghost Blogger… Jen – been using twitter for 6 years finally realized twitter is a relationship building medium Jen wanted to be a Guru too Bridget – in 2012 was helping with a political campaign She would listen over the internet and tweet out quotes with relevant hashtags to help with exposure When she finally made it to a WordCamp, it seemed so obvious that Live Tweeting would be a thing you should do Bridget’s tips & tricks: You Too Can Be A Guru Find out the official hashtag for the conference you are at, and if there isn’t one, make up one that makes sense, but try to make sure it’s not already being used Find out who speakers are and their Twitter handles Some WordCamps have speaker twitter lists that you can follow A good plan to have a document local on your device with your information / schedule – not all WordCamps have wi-fi and not all wi-fi is dependable! Also bring a powerstrip – good for you and is the ultimate “friend-maker”! Take your own personal hotspot and name it well – brand it with your business name – may bring new contacts. WHAT YOU DON’T DO – be careful not to mistype the twitter handles of the speakers Copy the hashtag of the event and the twitter handle of the speaker and load it into the tweet box and wait for those “tweetable moments. Then when they come along, you can just add in the text and send! These speakers are giving of their time and are unpaid – If you can amplify what the speaker is saying to that room and get it to more people – not only are you helping them, but you are helping yourself too! Live-tweeting doesn’t make it harder for you to pay attention – if you are listening carefully for those tweetable moments, you are paying even closer attention than normal and potentially absorbing more than you would without live-tweeting Live-tweeting is also really helpful for those “Armchair WordCampers” who weren’t able to make it to the event, but still try to follow along during the weekend ​Twubs Is good for following hashtags ​twubs.com Follow Hashtags. Discover Conversations. If there is closed-captioning at the event, you can use it to double-check your tweets and make sure you’re not misquoting anyone Make sure that you are using an accurate photo of yourself on twitter so that people will recognize you when you attend WordCamps! Also, start watching the hashtag for the camp as soon as it’s available so you can interact with other attendees and develop relationships! Get to know your fellow attendees before the event, what your interests are, the work you do, and even just general chit-chat — helps to break the ice when you finally meet in person! Especially if you are from out of town and don’t know anyone. Save a list of great quotes from the different sessions you attend, especially ones that are too long or just too good to use for only Twitter and use them as the base for a blog post/recap of the event If you can get images of the person speaking as well as a quote, that’s very valuable. Lots of people will tweet quotes, but not everyone will get a good picture! You can even help WordCamp organizers by tweeting out the WIFI name,

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week Bridget and Jen Miller discuss how you can market yourself by live tweeting a WordCamp
Live Tweeting at WordCamp
Bridget Willard
You Too Can Be A Guru
Jen Miller @jenblogs4u
Offering Lead Conversion Tools and Blogging
Need Someone To Blog? 100% Unique Website Content. Need Safe Blog Posts? Hire a Ghost Blogger…
Jen – been using twitter for 6 years

finally realized twitter is a relationship building medium

Jen wanted to be a Guru too
Bridget – in 2012 was helping with a political campaign

She would listen over the internet and tweet out quotes with relevant hashtags to help with exposure

When she finally made it to a WordCamp, it seemed so obvious that Live Tweeting would be a thing you should do
Bridget’s tips & tricks:
You Too Can Be A Guru
Find out the official hashtag for the conference you are at, and if there isn’t one, make up one that makes sense, but try to make sure it’s not already being used
Find out who speakers are and their Twitter handles

Some WordCamps have speaker twitter lists that you can follow
A good plan to have a document local on your device with your information / schedule – not all

WordCamps have wi-fi and not all wi-fi is dependable! Also bring a powerstrip – good for you and is the ultimate “friend-maker”! Take your own personal hotspot and name it well – brand it with your business name – may bring new contacts.
WHAT YOU DON’T DO – be careful not to mistype the twitter handles of the speakers
Copy the hashtag of the event and the twitter handle of the speaker and load it into the tweet box and wait for those “tweetable moments. Then when they come along, you can just add in the text and send!
These speakers are giving of their time and are unpaid – If you can amplify what the speaker is saying to that room and get it to more people – not only are you helping them, but you are helping yourself too!
Live-tweeting doesn’t make it harder for you to pay attention – if you are listening carefully for those tweetable moments, you are paying even closer attention than normal and potentially absorbing more than you would without live-tweeting
Live-tweeting is also really helpful for those “Armchair WordCampers” who weren’t able to make it to the event, but still try to follow along during the weekend
​Twubs Is good for following hashtags ​twubs.com Follow Hashtags. Discover Conversations.
If there is closed-captioning at the event, you can use it to double-check your tweets and make sure you’re not misquoting anyone
Make sure that you are using an accurate photo of yourself on twitter so that people will recognize you when you attend WordCamps! Also, start watching the hashtag for the camp as soon as it’s available so you can interact with other attendees and develop relationships!
Get to know your fellow attendees before the event, what your interests are, the work you do, and even just general chit-chat — helps to break the ice when you finally meet in person! Especially if you are from out of town and don’t know anyone.
Save a list of great quotes from the different sessions you attend, especially ones that are too long or just too good to use for only Twitter and use them as the base for a blog post/recap of the event
If you can get images of the person speaking as well as a quote, that’s very valuable. Lots of people will tweet quotes, but not everyone will get a good picture!
You can even help WordCamp organizers by tweeting out the WIFI name,

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on WPwatercooler we'll be revisiting a topic we discussed in 2013 about images, galleries and the may ways of using images on your WordPress site's posts and theme. * Smush Image Compression and Optimization * Imagify-Online and CMS Image Compression Made Easy * Photon — Jetpack for WordPress * CDN by MaxCDN|Experts in Content Delivery Network Services * ImageOptim ‚Äî better Save for Web * My Eyes Are Up Here * TinyPNG‚ÄìCompress PNG images while preserving transparency * WP Featherlight-A Simple jQuery Lightbox * Simple Lightbox * WP SmartCrop * Simple Lightbox * Auto Thickbox * Responsive and Social WordPress Lightbox for Media * Tiled Galleries — Jetpack for WordPress * jQuery Masonry Image Gallery * Gallery by Envira * Envira Gallery-Best Responsive WordPress Gallery Plugin * Exploring the Hero Image Trend in Web Design * RICG Responsive Images * a3 Lazy Load

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on WPwatercooler we'll be revisiting a topic we discussed in 2013 about images, galleries and the may ways of using images on your WordPress site's posts and theme.

* Smush Image Compression and Optimization
* Imagify-Online and CMS Image Compression Made Easy
* Photon — Jetpack for WordPress
* CDN by MaxCDN|Experts in Content Delivery Network Services
* ImageOptim — better Save for Web
* My Eyes Are Up Here
* TinyPNG–Compress PNG images while preserving transparency
* WP Featherlight-A Simple jQuery Lightbox
* Simple Lightbox
* WP SmartCrop
* Simple Lightbox
* Auto Thickbox
* Responsive and Social WordPress Lightbox for Media
* Tiled Galleries — Jetpack for WordPress
* jQuery Masonry Image Gallery
* Gallery by Envira
* Envira Gallery-Best Responsive WordPress Gallery Plugin
* Exploring the Hero Image Trend in Web Design
* RICG Responsive Images
* a3 Lazy Load

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on WPblab we'll be speaking with Nathan Porter on how you can use WordPress effectively to market your nonprofit. Nathan is CEO wannapixel and cofounder of ukuupeople. Interact with him on his personal blog. Components of a Nonprofit running WordPress Intranet – their internal company site Nonprofits are just like companies in that they have specific niches they are working with Nonprofits have two separate spheres they have to operate in – one is fundraising – the other is their cause, can be difficult to balance Marketing – “Who is it that we are trying to target online and what action is that we want them to take?” GiveWP only runs with WordPress – it is difficult to market something that only works if you have something else – important to educate (how do you start a site, buying a domain name, setting up WordPress) https://givewp.com/ Build Infrastructure CRM plugin for WordPress – help to keep your contacts updated. Everytime they interact with your WordPress website and provide more information, their contact info is updated. http://ukuupeople.com/ You need to have the infrastructure in place to be able to do good marketing for your nonprofit Storytelling When you are close to the organization, it can be harder to tell your story in a way that makes sense to outsiders, so…. Landing page content is important – needs to make sense.  What is it that you (or your company) does? It needs to be clear … not ambiguous.  Know who you are targeting.  If you are trying to talk to everyone, you are talking to no one. Put your fundraising message front and center.  Tell your story effectively – have to figure out how to get someone from just discovering your organization, to understanding, to connecting and to wanting to be a part and to support it Don’t just assume you know your audience – track your stats, check analytics, find out who your real demographic is and then you can figure out the best way to reach them Kevin Hoffman: ​I think sometimes WP devs choose proprietary software because they need out-of-the-box solutions and don't have time for setup/integration. So my question is, what can marketing do to make the benefits of a WordPress solution more appealing than the convenience of an alternative? Screen recording QA solutions * Usersnap.com * Hotjar.com * Validately.com Marketing with WordPress.org Donations The thing that can be hardest for nonprofits to understand is the investment in marketing and the return they will get for that investment (often a long term investment) Don’t increase your donation levels to increase donations, it’s counter-productive.  Instead, lower the donation levels, make it so easy to do that people don’t even think about it and your donations will increase.  Also, think about offering subscription donations, so that people don’t have to remember to come back and donate. Most common reason ppl didn't donate: weren't thanked previously, says Turnkey's Otis Fulton #P2PForum17 — P2P Forum (@P2PForum) March 2, 2017 CRM Having a CRM allows you to keep track of who’s giving what, and who’s been in contact with who – very important to keep track of who’s given during a campaign so you don’t ask twice.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on WPblab we'll be speaking with Nathan Porter on how you can use WordPress effectively to market your nonprofit. Nathan is CEO wannapixel and cofounder of ukuupeople. Interact with him on his personal blog.
Components of a Nonprofit running WordPress
Intranet – their internal company site
Nonprofits are just like companies in that they have specific niches they are working with
Nonprofits have two separate spheres they have to operate in – one is fundraising – the other is their cause, can be difficult to balance
Marketing – “Who is it that we are trying to target online and what action is that we want them to take?”
GiveWP only runs with WordPress – it is difficult to market something that only works if you have something else – important to educate (how do you start a site, buying a domain name, setting up WordPress) https://givewp.com/
Build Infrastructure
CRM plugin for WordPress – help to keep your contacts updated. Everytime they interact with your WordPress website and provide more information, their contact info is updated. http://ukuupeople.com/
You need to have the infrastructure in place to be able to do good marketing for your nonprofit
Storytelling
When you are close to the organization, it can be harder to tell your story in a way that makes sense to outsiders, so….
Landing page content is important – needs to make sense.  What is it that you (or your company) does? It needs to be clear … not ambiguous.  Know who you are targeting.  If you are trying to talk to everyone, you are talking to no one.
Put your fundraising message front and center.  Tell your story effectively – have to figure out how to get someone from just discovering your organization, to understanding, to connecting and to wanting to be a part and to support it
Don’t just assume you know your audience – track your stats, check analytics, find out who your real demographic is and then you can figure out the best way to reach them
Kevin Hoffman: ​I think sometimes WP devs choose proprietary software because they need out-of-the-box solutions and don't have time for setup/integration.
So my question is, what can marketing do to make the benefits of a WordPress solution more appealing than the convenience of an alternative?
Screen recording QA solutions

* Usersnap.com
* Hotjar.com
* Validately.com

Marketing with WordPress.org
Donations
The thing that can be hardest for nonprofits to understand is the investment in marketing and the return they will get for that investment (often a long term investment)
Don’t increase your donation levels to increase donations, it’s counter-productive.  Instead, lower the donation levels, make it so easy to do that people don’t even think about it and your donations will increase.  Also, think about offering subscription donations, so that people don’t have to remember to come back and donate.


Most common reason ppl didn't donate: weren't thanked previously, says Turnkey's Otis Fulton #P2PForum17
— P2P Forum (@P2PForum) March 2, 2017

CRM
Having a CRM allows you to keep track of who’s giving what, and who’s been in contact with who – very important to keep track of who’s given during a campaign so you don’t ask twice.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on WPwatercooler we'll be wrapping up our 2 part series on updates, last week we discussed themes and plugin updates this week we're discussing WordPress security updates. * Website Security News | Sucuri Blog * The SiteLock Blog * WPScan Vulnerability Database * WordPress Versions « WordPress Codex * DEF CON® Hacking Conference

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.