Speaking at the Inaugural WordCamp Greenville

I was excited to hear about another WordCamp being held close to my home base in Atlanta. Greenville announced their first WordCamp and I was happy to apply as a speaker with a few presentation ideas. I was excited to hear that I was selected as a speaker. Today it dawned on me that as I’m preparing to head to Clemson tomorrow, that I hadn’t even posted that I would be there. So here’s the announcement that I’m speaking at the Inaugural WordCamp Greenville 2018, tomorrow. 🙂

There’s the official announcement from @WordCampGVL.

I’ll be presenting a quick introduction to all things development. While I have presented this topic a couple times now, I still enjoy it. Each time I have a handful of attendees come to thank me and say they had never seen the big picture so simply before. I remember (and still am sometimes) a beginner with certain technologies and getting a quick overview sweep of the whole landscape is helpful and grounding so I can know how it all fits together. I joke when talking about being a web developer/engineer that I started more on the design side. Heck, I even have a BFA, bachelor’s of fine art degree. So, what you might ask am I doing programming sites. I started more on the design side but have since joined the dark side. I have found a more fun and creative outlet writing code than I did actually visually designing things. I still feel that web development is a creative exercise and enjoy the technical side as well as the process and the creativity required. I enjoy helping others grasp this complicated landscape we call web development because I was there and still get lost sometimes myself. So, this talk is called:


Beware the dark side, or an Intro to Development

Crash course introduction to web development for WordPress covering acronyms, buzzwords and concepts that often leave outsiders mystified. Overview of primary development processes and what software and tools are needed to play the game. We’ll cover what you need to go from zero to developer and hopefully how to have fun on the way. WordPress development tools explained for beginners: ftp, git, svn, php, html, css, sass, js, jquery, IDEs, themes, child themes, the Loop, hooks, APIs, CLI, agile, bootstrap, slack, linting, sniffing … etc.


If you’re in the area, sorry for the late notice, because the Conference is sold out, but I’ll update you with slides once they are complete on my WordPress page and the presentation will be up on wordpress.tv eventually.

Speaker at WordCamp Birmingham – More WP REST API

I am excited to be a speaker at WordCamp Birmingham 2016. I’ll be speaking on October 29th – just a couple weeks away and now that they have announced the #wcbhm schedule I’m announcing my participation as well. I’ll be opening up the developer track for the day at 10am. I will be presenting more about the WP REST API. A lot will be taken from my WordCamp Raleigh presentation on the same subject, but as usually happens, once you do present, you realize a few holes in your slides and have some additions, suffice it to say, this won’t just be a repeat presentation.

wordcamp-birmingham-badge-speaking

WP API, What is it Good For? Absolutely Everything!

I am very excited about the WP API and am tracking it’s progress closely. There are big discussions as to when it will be rolled into core and all and we’ll discuss these details in the presentation, we’ll also discuss things we can do with the API. It allows us to further separate the data from the code. Because WordPress is a great CMS we can use it to manage our data and then via the API access that data to power whatever we like. We’ll touch a handful of examples and explore an iOS app pulling all it’s data and assets from a WordPress site via this API. We’ll discuss authentication and terms to bring API beginners up to speed on what it’s all about!

So if you’re anywhere close, I encourage you to go get yourself a ticket (just $20) to WordCamp Birmingham and check it out. There will be many other presentations worth checking out as well. I hope to see some familiar faces in Birmingham!

Speaker at WordCamp Raleigh – WP REST API

I’m pleased to be a Speaker at WordCamp Raleigh as well this year. It will be all about the WordPress REST API! WordCamp has been a quick turnaround in Raleigh, it’s already coming up this weekend, September 24-25th, and my speaking time is Saturday afternoon at 4pm. I’ll discuss the forthcoming API, which is partly integrated into WordPress core, but in order to use still requires we install the feature plugin. I’ll recap the history so we know where the API came from, talk about what it means to the WordPress ecosystem, and the web as a whole, that every site will have an API built-in. We’ll talk about routes and endpoints and authentication as well as look at some brave examples that are using this beta feature in production! Get your tickets (there are still about a dozen available) and come out out to Raleigh, North Carolina for WordCamp 2016.wordcamp-raleigh-hero-2016

WordCamp Presentation

WP API, what is it good for? Absolutely Everything!

See the Power of the WP API. Now that every WordPress website has (or will have) an API built-in, what can you do with it? It allows us to further separate the data from the code. Use WordPress to manage our data and then via the API easily access or update that data to power whatever we like. We’ll touch how to set it up and a handful of examples and then explore an iOS app pulling all it’s data and assets from a WordPress site via this API.

banner-772x250

This will be geared for developers with some “how to” but also for everyone interested in the power of WordPress and where things are heading.

  • Learn how to spell WP-API
  • Learn about the power and flexibility it brings to WordPress
  • See it working in a live app

I’ll update this post with slides and links and notes and maybe one day even a video of the presentation as WordCamp Raleigh. I’m excited to meet the Raleigh WordCamp enthusiasts and share what I can with them as well as the WordPress community as a whole. It’s been quite a busy year as far as speaking and especially this fall, as in 2 weeks I’ll be down in Orlando for another WordCamp.

Modifying Your Theme’s Design – Learning CSS: Atlanta WordPress Users Group Presentation

Here’s my presentation for the Atlanta WordPress Users Group to continuing their discussion on theming. The meetup gives you a first hand look at modifying your Theme’s look and feel. We’ll be showing you how to make typical changes to existing themes. We will not be showing you how to create your own theme from scratch, though we will have a meetup later in the year to do that.

During this meetup we discussed:

• What is CSS and why do we use it?

• What are ‘typical’ modifications to themes and how to make them

• Using ‘inspect element’ and/or ‘firebug’ to find and test

• Correct way to change Fonts

• Simple color theory and design

Here’s the slide deck for the presentation

The presentation overviews the internet, teaches us how to spell HTML and other web programming “languages” that come together to form a WordPress website, like HTML, CSS & PHP. We even discussed web development tools like FTP clients and which text editors to use. We went over what makes up a wordpress theme and then the concept of child themes. Discussed the process of creating your own child theme with just a couple files and that you can create a child theme for any theme out there. We demoed how to view source and dissect any website, but more importantly, how to inspect elements on your site and live-edit the css for any element. Then to write these CSS rules to our theme to lock in the edits in your child theme.

If you have any further questions that you would specifically like reviewed, leave them in the comments below and I’ll respond.

We created a child theme for twentysixteen

We created our own child theme and discussed the benefit to creating a child theme over other ways to modify a WP theme. Our twentysixteen child theme did wonders for the look:

Screenshot 2016-03-10 08.32.56

We explored the code to create our own WordPress child theme

Here are the code snippets for review


<?php
function theme_enqueue_styles() {
$parent_style = 'parent-style';
wp_enqueue_style( $parent_style, get_template_directory_uri() . '/style.css' );
wp_enqueue_style( 'child-style', get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/style.css', array( $parent_style ) );
}
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'theme_enqueue_styles' );
?>

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functions.php

hosted with ❤ by GitHub


<?php
/**
* The template for displaying the header
*
* Displays all of the head element and everything up until the "site-content" div.
*
* @package WordPress
* @subpackage Twenty_Sixteen
* @since Twenty Sixteen 1.0
*/
?><!DOCTYPE html>
<html <?php language_attributes(); ?> class="no-js">
<head>
<meta charset="<?php bloginfo( 'charset' ); ?>">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<meta name="who" content="is your daddy">
<link rel="profile" href="http://gmpg.org/xfn/11">
<?php if ( is_singular() && pings_open( get_queried_object() ) ) : ?>
<link rel="pingback" href="<?php bloginfo( 'pingback_url' ); ?>">
<?php endif; ?>
<?php wp_head(); ?>
</head>
<body <?php body_class(); ?>>
<div id="page" class="site">
<div class="site-inner">
<a class="skip-link screen-reader-text" href="#content"><?php _e( 'Skip to content', 'twentysixteen' ); ?></a>
<header id="masthead" class="site-header" role="banner">
<div class="site-header-main">
<div class="site-branding">
<?php
$description = get_bloginfo( 'description', 'display' );
if ( $description || is_customize_preview() ) : ?>
<p class="site-description"><?php echo $description; ?></p>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php if ( is_front_page() && is_home() ) : ?>
<h1 class="site-title"><a href="<?php echo esc_url( home_url( '/' ) ); ?>" rel="home"><?php bloginfo( 'name' ); ?></a></h1>
<?php else : ?>
<p class="site-title"><a href="<?php echo esc_url( home_url( '/' ) ); ?>" rel="home"><?php bloginfo( 'name' ); ?></a></p>
<?php endif; ?>
</div><!– .site-branding –>
<?php if ( has_nav_menu( 'primary' ) || has_nav_menu( 'social' ) ) : ?>
<button id="menu-toggle" class="menu-toggle"><?php _e( 'Menu', 'twentysixteen' ); ?></button>
<div id="site-header-menu" class="site-header-menu">
<?php if ( has_nav_menu( 'primary' ) ) : ?>
<nav id="site-navigation" class="main-navigation" role="navigation" aria-label="<?php esc_attr_e( 'Primary Menu', 'twentysixteen' ); ?>">
<?php
wp_nav_menu( array(
'theme_location' => 'primary',
'menu_class' => 'primary-menu',
) );
?>
</nav><!– .main-navigation –>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php if ( has_nav_menu( 'social' ) ) : ?>
<nav id="social-navigation" class="social-navigation" role="navigation" aria-label="<?php esc_attr_e( 'Social Links Menu', 'twentysixteen' ); ?>">
<?php
wp_nav_menu( array(
'theme_location' => 'social',
'menu_class' => 'social-links-menu',
'depth' => 1,
'link_before' => '<span class="screen-reader-text">',
'link_after' => '</span>',
) );
?>
</nav><!– .social-navigation –>
<?php endif; ?>
</div><!– .site-header-menu –>
<?php endif; ?>
</div><!– .site-header-main –>
<?php if ( get_header_image() ) : ?>
<?php
/**
* Filter the default twentysixteen custom header sizes attribute.
*
* @since Twenty Sixteen 1.0
*
* @param string $custom_header_sizes sizes attribute
* for Custom Header. Default '(max-width: 709px) 85vw,
* (max-width: 909px) 81vw, (max-width: 1362px) 88vw, 1200px'.
*/
$custom_header_sizes = apply_filters( 'twentysixteen_custom_header_sizes', '(max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 81vw, (max-width: 1362px) 88vw, 1200px' );
?>
<div class="header-image">
<a href="<?php echo esc_url( home_url( '/' ) ); ?>" rel="home">
<img src="<?php header_image(); ?>" srcset="<?php echo esc_attr( wp_get_attachment_image_srcset( get_custom_header()->attachment_id ) ); ?>" sizes="<?php echo esc_attr( $custom_header_sizes ); ?>" width="<?php echo esc_attr( get_custom_header()->width ); ?>" height="<?php echo esc_attr( get_custom_header()->height ); ?>" alt="<?php echo esc_attr( get_bloginfo( 'name', 'display' ) ); ?>">
</a>
</div><!– .header-image –>
<?php endif; // End header image check. ?>
</header><!– .site-header –>
<div id="content" class="site-content">

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header.php

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/*
Theme Name: Child of 2016
Theme URI: http://example.com/twenty-fifteen-child/
Description: Twenty Sixteen Child Theme
Author: Evan Mullins
Author URI: https://circlecube.com
Template: twentysixteen
Version: 1.0.0
License: GNU General Public License v2 or later
License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html
Text Domain: twenty-sixteen-child
*/
.site-branding .site-title a {
color: cyan;
font-size: 4rem;
// border: 1px solid red;
margin: 50px;
padding: 50px;
}
.site-description {
text-indent: -999rem;
background: url(img/logo.png) center center no-repeat transparent;
background-image: url(img/logo.png);
display: block;
width: 500px;
height: 500px;
background-size: contain;
padding:0;
}
.entry-date {
font-size: 10px;
}
.entry-footer,
.entry-footer a {
color: pink;
}
.entry-footer a {
color: pink;
}
a {
color: tomato;
}
a:hover {
color: rgba(130,203,45, .8);
}
a:visited {
color: #00cc33;
}
.widget_meta {
display:none;
}
.widget_recent_comments {
padding: 1rem;
margin: 1rem 0 4rem;
}
.widget_recent_comments .widget-title {
background: black;
color: pink;
padding: 1rem;
}
.site-info .site-title {
font-size: 3rem;
}

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style.css

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Custom Post Types or Choose Your Own Adventure – WordCamp Atlanta 2014

I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to present at WordCamp Atlanta 2014. That makes the 3rd year in a row I’ve been able to contribute to WordCamp Atlanta!

WCATL-Speaker

Here are my slides. I’ll be posting a full blown post of my presentation as soon as I can get it all down. Plus I hear there will be a video posted to wordpress.tv at some point, so, watch for that.

Presenting at WordCamp Atlanta – Child Themes

The presentation? Your firstborn child theme. Child themes 101+2.

I’m speaking at wordcamp atlanta this afternoon about themes and child themes. I’ll update this post with post-presentation notes.

Learn how to mod themes the right way. Using child themes you won’t loose your edits when there’s a theme update. (101) We’ll go over the advantages and how to set up a child theme. (102) Plus we’ll cover some tricks to make the process a bit easier.

Slides on slideshare

Presentation video via wordpress.tv