Development

Decoupling the web – The headless WordPress approach

Event poster for #WPLDN featuring a presentation titled "Beyond the Basics: Selling the WordPress Block Editor"

Welcome to Headless WordPress – the magical land where you can keep all the good bits of WordPress (the admin, the plugins, the client’s obsession with it) and ditch the theme system, template hierarchy, and every get_the_thing() function that’s ever haunted a javascript developer’s dreams. We’ll dive into how to decouple WordPress from the front end entirely, freeing you to build slick, modern interfaces using javascript frameworks. We’ll cover what headless actually means, when it … Continue reading

What’s new for developers in WP 6.8

An event poster for #WPLDN featuring a presentation on WP 6.8 developer updates.

WordPress 6.8, also known as “Cecil,” comes with a bunch of useful updates for developers. It includes faster and cleaner ways to register block types, improvements to the Style Book, and new blocks like Query Total. This release also adds updates to APIs, better security with bcrypt password hashing, and performance boosts like speculative loading.In this talk, we’ll go over the key developer features in WordPress 6.8 and how they can help you build better … Continue reading

Running a WordPress-based site? A whistle-stop reminder of the security essentials

An event poster for #WPLDN featuring a presentation on WordPress security essentials.

In this lightning talk (and my first in-person speaking engagement; I’m naturally introverted so go easy on me!), my intention is to give people a refresher as to the basics of WordPress security best-practice, including three security plugins I wouldn’t do without!

Building Disaster Recovery Plans for WordPress Websites

Event poster for #WPLDN featuring a presentation on building WordPress disaster recovery plans.

This session will focus on creating effective disaster recovery plans for WordPress websites so as to prepare for emergencies like site crashes, data loss, and failed updates. It will highlight identifying common disaster scenarios and understanding their impact, automating backups, choosing the right disaster recovery tools, and testing disaster recovery processes to ensure that they work when they are actually needed. It will also discuss failover strategies, such as using reliable hosting providers, CDNs, strong … Continue reading

How we built the Kimbolton School website using Full site editing

#WPLDN session; Kimbolton School website project by Highrise Digital.

This will be a joint talk with both myself and Keith Devon presenting. Recently we launched our first full site editing WordPress site when we built a new website for Kimbolton School. In this talk, we can share an overview of how the site was built, focusing in on some of the major challenges we faced and how we solved them with this like custom blocks, block styles and some very cool CSS.

WordPress Security 101: Mind the Hack

“My website? Who’d want to hack that?” – If you’ve ever had this thought, you’re not alone – but you might be surprised. Welcome to “WordPress Security 101: Mind the Hack”, where we’ll challenge one of the most common misconceptions of website owners: that small or new websites are safe from cyber threats. The truth is that when it comes to WordPress hacking, everyone’s a target. In this session, we’ll pull back the curtain on … Continue reading

Demystifying Third-Party API Integrations in WordPress

Did you know there are over 20,000 web APIs out there, each offering unique possibilities for your WordPress site? If you’re not tapping into this vast ecosystem, you might be missing out on game-changing opportunities to enhance your website’s functionality and user experience. APIs are the building blocks of modern web development, but integrating them can often feel like navigating a maze blindfolded. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting out, this session will … Continue reading

What’s new for Developers in WordPress 6.6

WordPress 6.6 will be released on July 16, 2024, bringing many exciting new features for developers, especially for theme developers. Join me to explore how these updates enhance your plugins and themes and streamline your development processes.

Testing the fortifications – Hack Yourself

So you’ve been to the security, that other security talk and that really scary one. You followed the advice, and you are feeling confident. Perhaps you have never been to a security talk let alone scary one but feel its time to at least find out how you stand. In this talk, Tim is going to go through how to run a basic penetration test of a WordPress website. From start to finish, looking at … Continue reading

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