WordCamp Bristol was a great opportunity to interact with the WordPress community. Here’s our roundup of some of the best moments.
Fasthosts at WordCamp Bristol 2019
One of the best things about WordPress is the community that’s grown up around it. The content management system has a dedicated and global following of developers, users and fans, and they don’t limit themselves to online forums. WordCamp conferences take place worldwide, providing a relaxed social setting for WordPress enthusiasts to share knowledge, listen to expert speakers, and get maximum use from their website platform of choice.
This last weekend, Fasthosts attended WordCamp Bristol 2019. With our new WordPress Hosting platform, it was an excellent chance to talk to customers and get direct feedback from the community. In terms of speakers, WordCamp Bristol featured top-quality talks covering all aspects of WordPress development. Here are just a few of our favourites from the two-day conference.
Gutenberg – how a WordPress studio adapted – David Darke
One of the first talks kicked off the weekend with the hot topic of the Gutenberg block editor. As the owner of an agency that builds highly customised WordPress sites, David Darke has had to deal with more than his fair share of the Gutenberg backlash.
Interestingly though, David sees more opportunities than challenges, and this talk did a great job of explaining how, despite the short-term negativity, Gutenberg is likely to be a key element of future WordPress development.
Why Multisite? Uses for WordPress Multisite you may not have thought of – Rachel McCollin
The Multisite feature of WordPress has a wide range of benefits, and writer/WordPress fan Rachel McCollin was more than happy to highlight them. From simply managing several sites from one installation, to creating sub-divisions of a website with child themes, Rachel gave a great overview of just what Multisite is capable of.
Custom theme building structures & techniques to save your sanity! – Jonny Allbut
Building custom themes for WordPress is no easy undertaking. Fortunately, agency director and WordPress theme specialist Jonny Allbut was on hand with some practical tips. The importance of version control, the potential impact of plugins, and the need for collaboration with creatives – Jonny covered a lot in this detailed and insightful talk.
So what have the new HTML5 elements ever done for accessibility? – Graham Armfield
Graham Armfield is clearly a vocal and passionate advocate for web accessibility. In his excellent talk Graham looked specifically at HTML5 elements and how they offer substantial potential – all too often untapped – to implement higher standards of accessibility on sites built with WordPress.
The magic (key)word: why your site is not getting the traffic it deserves – Jesse van de Hulsbeek
Representing SEO plugin Yoast, it's no surprise that Jesse van de Hulsbeek offered a goldmine of keyword ranking advice. In a talk very much focused on the search engine optimisation needs of WordPress users, Jesse provided some expert guidance on critical topics such as keyword research, SEO content strategy, and short-tail vs long-tail keywords.
At the Fasthosts stand
As well as highlighting the key features of our WordPress Hosting product, we were giving away goodie bags and T-shirts, and inviting visitors to enter our competition to win a Nintendo Switch games console. Congratulations to the winner, Phil, and thanks to everyone who took the time to visit the Fasthosts stand.
We had a fantastic time catching up with attendees about WordPress, web hosting, and everything in between. Meetups like WordCamp are brilliant opportunities for building closer relationships with our customers and likeminded people throughout the technology industry. We’re already looking forward to our next event!
