Let’s explore the benefits of thinking in re-usable blocks. Atomic design, Modular Development, and D.R.Y. methodology improves productivity, enhances UI and empowers authors. We will explore multiple methods to achieve modularity in our WP themes. Leveraging the WordPress templating system and Advanced Custom Fields or Using blocks in the form of Gutenberg.
Gutenberg & Custom Applications – How do effectively build apps powered by Gutenberg
The new WordPress editor (Gutenberg) is how all new content is to be created on WordPress. However with the way the data is stored, is that really the best way to power an application? I will walk through the drawbacks for how Gutenberg stores data, and how to easily change that to more easily power custom headless (and not) web applications.
Actions and Filters and Mail Hooks and Shopping Trips
Hooks are one thing which intermediate programmers struggle with the most. Mastering actions and filters will elevate intermediate developers to advanced ones. However, much of the documentation about hooks are hard to understand, and the standard examples are insufficient. I’m a big fan of putting a different spin on lectures and using analogies which no one else has in order to make things more understandable. I explain the difference between the two by drawing a parallel to a shopping trip. Filters are when my wife calls me to ask me to pick something new up from the store I’m going to; actions are when she asks me to go to a completely different store. I then go into how to use hooks from a developer side – add_action and add_filter – as well as how to use them from a “builder” side – apply_filters and do_action.
How to start testing an existing WordPress plugin with PHPUnit
PHPUnit is the standard PHP testing framework, but getting it working with a WordPress plugin is challenging. If you ever wanted to start adding automated tests to your code, but did not know how and where to start, this talk is for you.
This presentation covers:
– brief introduction to unit and integration testing
– scaffolding a test suite for an existing WordPress plugin using WP-CLI
– refactoring the existing code to make it testable
– writing and running the first tests
Creating Dynamic Gutenberg Blocks
In this session, I’ll talk about what a dynamic Gutenberg block is, how it functions from a high level, and then what it takes to create one.
We’ll cover:
– What a dynamic block is
– How a dynamic block functions
– How the editor interacts with the WordPress REST API to fetch data
– How a callback function loads the correct content on the front-end using PHP
Dipping into Child Themes
Dipping into Child Themes is an introduction to theme modification & development for anyone curious about how WordPress themes are built and safely modified.
This talk will provide several simple and practical Child Theme examples and explain the modular nature of the Template Hierarchy. We’ll also touch on how Template Tags and Conditional Tags and how they can be used to enhance a website.
Let’s learn Git. No more excuses.
Whether it is for re-using the same code or deploying a bug fix or just for better document management, one of the most important leaps any site builder will ever take in their path towards becoming a developer is learning a version control system, or VCS. Since Git is the standard VCS over 80% of developers, lets roll up our sleeves and dive in. The benefits far outweigh the efforts needed to learn this tooling. Once you start, you will wonder why it took you so long to unleash the power of this awesome tech.
This talk will briefly explore the need for git, the history and use cases. Then we will jump into how to get started and the basic organizational concepts. We will also examine Github, the web based Git hosting service. Bring your laptops to play along at home and get started before you leave the room.