A couple days ago we shared some WordPress insight from a few of our speakers. Today, we continue with three more:
Robert Wagner
What’s your current relationship with WordPress?
I currently manage and/or write for about 26 WordPress sites, most of them self-hosted but a few at WordPress.com as well. I’m also in the middle of 5 different new WordPress-based projects for various clients. The last time I used anything else was 2008 and I did so very reluctantly.
What’s the neatest thing you’ve seen done with WordPress?
My favorite WordPress project was the site I built for pdx.fm, my Internet radio and podcasting network. I used WordPress MU (back when it was still WordPress MU) to create about 70 separate blogs so that each podcast host had their own unique presence within our organization. Watching each host do different things with their respective blogs was quite a fun and enlightening experience.
Have you ever made a WordPress mistake that we could all learn from?
I doubt that I’m unique when I say that I’ve more than once made the mistake of editing Twenty Ten without making a child theme first, only to have a WP update eliminate all my hard work. The runner up was when I installed a site with the admin password of “password” – it was hacked within about 3 minutes.
What are *you* hoping to get from WordCamp Portland 2012?
I’m hoping to find new and better ways to blog via mobile devices and tablets, something I’ve been unable to do effectively myself so far. Also, I could stand to sit in on some design sessions, I feel rather rusty lately.
Kailey Lampert
What’s your current relationship with WordPress?
We get a long wonderfully. Big or small, WordPress is my go-to CMS for any site that I need to build, and with every site I come away with at least one awesome code snippet to add to my repository.
What’s the neatest thing you’ve seen done with WordPress?
Slightly biased, I’m pretty proud of alfredthe.me.
Have you ever made a WordPress mistake that we could all learn from?
Don’t forget to turn off privacy mode.
What are *you* hoping to get from WordCamp Portland 2012?
Since I don’t like beer, I’m looking forward to learning new tricks. Anytime I can make my code better, I’m happy. And I guess meeting new people would be pretty cool too 😀
Grant Landram
What’s your current relationship with WordPress?
I own and operate FreshMuse, a small design and development shop that works exclusively with clients using WordPress as their CMS.
What’s the neatest thing you’ve seen done with WordPress?
It’s hard to give an omniscient answer since so much of the web is built with WordPress, however the most recent tool that we use and love is http://wpremote.com, a FREE plugin/hosted service for monitoring and backing up all your WordPress installs.
Have you ever made a WordPress mistake that we could all learn from?
How about a million? After enough years of working with WordPress it’s safe to say we’ve probably seen it all. One of the more learnable mistakes has been the continued struggle of theme lockin, and how it relates to client sites as they change over time. I hope to touch on this topic in my talk, but our general take away is to be very thoughtful in the planning stages of any project about what features may carry forward into the next generation of a site/product, and not arrogantly assuming that our build/design will last forever.
What are *you* hoping to get from WordCamp Portland 2012?
I’m really looking forward to many of the other featured presentations, as well as sitting in on the un-conference portion of the event to see what sort of ideas the general audience is interested in. It’s also always fun to connect with other WordPressers that live elsewhere in the country that you chat with online regularly but seldom get to chat with face to face. See you all in PDX!