May 27, 2010

Happy 7th Birthday WordPress!

WordPress LogoThe wonderful open source platform that is WordPress was released seven years ago today through the talented Matt Mullenweg. Here is his post in 2003 announcing the release of WordPress to the world. Since then, WP has grown into a widely used and incredible tool for anyone who wants to share ideas, manage content, and much more. In Scott Berkun's "The Future of WordPress" session at WordCamp San Francisco, He said "WordPress is the Platform for Revolution." I totally agree. So many people have been able to find their voice through WordPress, and have been able to form communities of change. Examples of this are:

MidEastYouth - a student-owned independent network that promotes constructive dialogue and understanding within the Middle East and North Africa.
Kloop.info - the largest blog platform in Kyrgyzstan that dared to cover beginning of the recent revolt

Not only has WordPress helped people find their voice and support their causes, but it has been the basis for employment for many people worldwide. This is why it is important to contribute in any way you possibly can to the WordPress community... be it core, plugins, free themes, or volunteering or speaking at a WordCamp.

Thank you WordPress and all of those who have contributed to it. May you thrive and your community grow!
- Sara Cannon

Scott Berkun - WordCamp San Francisco

Scott Berkun at WordCamp San Francisco - "WordPress is the Platform for Revolution"

May 17, 2010

WordCamp San Francisco 2010 Recap

I had the amazing privilege of attending WordCamp San Francisco this year. Having spoken at WordCamp Birmingham and WordCamp Atlanta on WordPress, I was thrilled to go to a WordCamp where I was just there to learn and absorb as much information in as possible.

I really enjoyed the sessions and absolutely loved meeting some of the really awesome people who attended. Personally, I was really challenged as a designer/developer to focus on themeing for future expansion and improvements, international capabilities, and for future sharing in the open source community.

One of the most informative sessions to me was Mitcho's "Abstract Your Code!" here is the description from the WordCamp SF website:

Abstract Your Code!
presented by Michael “mitcho” Erlewine

Writing code isn’t just about getting the job done, it’s about getting the job done right. In addition to being easier to read and maintain, one great advantage to writing properly abstracted code is that it is then easy to open-source it and give back to the WordPress community. Come learn about some best practices for writing portable, modular WordPress code and later open-sourcing that code as a plugin. Learn about the experiences of other programmers who have done client-sponsored open-source WordPress work and the benefits they reaped.

If anyone knows where there are videos or slides of that session.. I'd love to know and share it!

For those of you who were not able to attend, here's Matt Mullenweg's "State of the Word"

I would like to return to this mecca of WordCamp's next year if at all possible. A truly wonderful and challenging conference.

- sara cannon

Sara Cannon is a Design and Digital Strategy Consultant, UX/UI Designer, Creative Director, & Artist.
Have a project I could help you with? Contact me at sara@saracannon.com.

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