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WordPress Presentations

Last updated on March 29, 2014 by Sal Ferrarello

I’m interested in doing some presentations at the Philly ‘burbs WordPress Meetup and have been brainstorming ideas.  I’m sharing my list here and I’m certainly open to feedback or recommendations.

My Web Development Milestones

Over the years as a web developer, there has been certain changes or tools I’ve adopted that have had a dramatic impact on my development.  These seem relevant when I’m thinking about presentation topics.  In approximate chronological order:

Local Development

When I started out doing development, I was doing all of my work on the server.  There are a number of issues that arise with this but the primary issue that got me to start developing locally was time.  The time to save a change and let it update via SFTP adds up quickly.  Of course, developing locally adds lots of other advantages but speed was the one that finally got me doing it.  I’ve used MAMP for years but I’m now also using Vagrant (and Varying Vagrant Vagrants) specifically for my WordPress development.

Version Control

I really started understanding the power of version control when I started using Bazaar.  Prior to that I was using Subversion on and off but never really appreciated it.  I think a lot of that had to do with the point I was at in terms of collaboration with other programmers.  I’ve since moved to using Git for all of my version control.  To me the big benefits of version control are:

  1. Eliminate the problem of overwriting changes others make
  2. Creating an offsite backup of your development with checkpoints you can roll back to

WordPress with Hooks and Filters

The Genesis framework is where the power of hooks and filters really became clear to me.  Hooks and filters allow modification rather than writing replacement code, which is a was a huge boost in my development.

Sass and Grunt

While Sass and Grunt are two different technologies, the watch behavior and ability to compile files on the fly is what really got me using them.

WordPress Presentation Ideas

Adding filters for beginners

assumed skill level of editing functions.php file

Creating shortcodes

assumed skill level of editing functions.php file

Git for Mortals

No branches, no upstreams, one canonical origin.  Bitbucket Centralized Workflow.  When I started using version control, I knew very little about the process.  This workflow allowed me to quickly start using version control and the advantages of: merging work with other team members and backing up with set restore points. (my knowledge is Mac Command Line centric)

Grunt your Theme

Start using Grunt when building themes to automate Sass compilation as well as CSS and JS combination and minification. (my knowledge is Mac centric, this topic requires command line usage)

Debugging with the error log

assumed skill level of editing functions.php file, most useful if developing locally

DNS

A records, CNAMEs, TTLs, name servers, AWS Route53, and testing all these things with the dig command line tool

What is a CDN?

only suitable for 5 minutes, any level

Cleaner functions.php files with mu-plugins directory

only suitable for 5 minutes, assumed skill level of editing functions.php file

Three jQuery Tips to Improve Your JavaScript

only suitable for longer presentation, appropriate for those writing jQuery

  • IDs not classes
  • use the ‘data-‘ attribute
  • cache your jQuery selector results

How to Name a File

only suitable for 5 minutes, any level.  Related article How to Name a File

Testing Redirects

only suitable for 5 minutes, any level. Related article Testing Redirects

Sal Ferrarello
Sal Ferrarello (@salcode)
Sal is a PHP developer with a focus on the WordPress platform. He is a conference speaker with a background including Piano Player, Radio DJ, Magician/Juggler, Beach Photographer, and High School Math Teacher. Sal can be found professionally at WebDevStudios, where he works as a senior backend engineer.

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