WordCamp Minneapolis-St. Paul this weekend for the first time in a big way. Even as an inaugural event it was able to bring in over 400 people to see over 35 presentations across five tracks of varying skill level.
Whether you attended WordCamp MSP or not, there’s no way you could have kept up with all of the presentations. Lucky for you, we’ve gathered together information on all of the presentations, including slides and relevant posts when available.
If you spoke this weekend and don’t see your slides here, let us know in the comments. We’re still working on tracking down all of the presentation links, and we want to make sure none are left out!
WordPress 401 track presentations
The 401 track was meant specifically for the developers and advanced users (likely wanting to become developers) among the attendees. Starting at the beginning of the day, the presentations went as follows.
Customizing WordPress
Josh Byers’ presentation, Customizing WordPress, began with a strong Lord of the Rings analogy and ended with specific ways to customize the WordPress Dashboard for an improved client experience.
You can view Byers’ slides on SlideShare, and follow him on Twitter at @joshbyers.
Advanced SEO
Mert Sahinoglu presented Advanced SEO, and gave a number of practical tips for WordPress users to improve their search engine status. His advice included noteworthy plugins as well as content development strategy.
Interestingly, Sahinoglu said that at the moment Platinum SEO is the best SEO plugin, though he did say to keep an eye on Joost de Valk’s upcoming plugin.
His slides aren’t currently available, but you can follow him on Twitter at @mertsahinoglu. We’ll update this post when his slides are online.
Extending Functionality Through Custom Fields
Tim Schoffelman showed how to create and present custom field content using a number of client case studies. You can’t grab his slides yet, but a large portion of his presentation was done using Textmate and live site demonstrations anyway.
You can follow Shoffelman on Twitter at @silentgap.
Rapid Theme Development with Theme Frameworks
Ptah Dunbar not only unveiled version 0.3 of his WP Framework theme framework, but he gave a presentation on it’s new features and how to take advantage of it to efficiently develop themes. He also differentiated between “options based” and “starter” theme frameworks, which was interesting.
You cab see Dunbar’s slides on SlideShare and follow him on Twitter at @ptahdunbar.
Understanding WordPress Multisite
The WordPress Multisite presentation was given by me (Ryan Imel) and served as a developer’s introduction to using Multisite. I’ve updated my post on the topic, which includes my updated slides.
You can, of course, follow me on Twitter @ryanimel.
WP E-commerce
Justin Sainton demonstrated the latest version of WP E-commerce, and showed how a new plugin demonstrates its extensibility. Best for those who already have some experience with the WP E-commerce plugin.
The slides aren’t yet available, but you can follow Sainton on Twitter at @js_zao.
WordPress Offroad
Sam Parsons gave a presentation on how to integrate and use WordPress within non-WordPress sites. Specific functions and techniques were covered, with a ton of code examples.
Parsons’ presentation can be downloaded in PDF format from his site. You can follow Parsons on Twitter @sjparsons.
WordPress Performance
Dave Buchanan used a case study to show how to make sure WordPress performs optimally in all situations.
The slides are not yet available.
WordPress 301 track presentations
The 301 track was designed for advanced users looking to extend WordPress beyond the basics. Starting at the beginning of the day, the presentations went as follows.
Social Marketing
Kate-Madonna Hindes was going to present on social marketing, but ended up getting caught in the snow. You can still view the slides she was going to be using, on box.net.
You can also follow her on Twitter at @girlmeetsgeek.
One Plugin Too Many
Rick Mahn explored the use (and over-use) of plugins on a WordPress blog. He focused on what things should be left behind.
We’re still tracking down these slides. You can follow Mahn on Twitter at @rickmahn.
Social Media is SEO Much More Than Idle Chatter
Susan Maus discussed how social media can contribute to search engine optimization.
We’re still tracking down this presentation, but you can follow Maus on Twitter at @susanmaus.
Site Analysis Workshop
Julie Kosbab and Joe Leyba gave a site analysis workshop, where live URLs from the audience members were used to be evaluated from an SEO and strategy perspective. As it was a workshop format, there are no online slides for this presentation.
Building Your First Plugin
John Hawkins walked those in attendance through the first steps of WordPress development.
You can see his slides on SlideShare, and you can follow him on Twitter @vegasgeek.
WordPress for Small Business, Non-Profits and Startups
Steve Borsch and Tim Elliot discuss how to use WordPress to improve your business, non-profit, and startup in the long run. They showed how to take vision and turn it into applicable steps for a business to take online.
The slides for this presentation can be found on their blog.
Theme Customization and Creation
Mykl Roventine showed how to customize a theme in order to “make WordPress your own”.
You can see his slides on SlideShare, and follow him on Twitter at @myklroventine.
Creating Your Own Page Templates
Josh Leuze gave a solid intermediate presentation on creating page templates, with an intro to the WordPress template hierarchy and how to add templates to a theme.
You can check out Leuze’s slides in the form of a tutorial on his site. You can also follow him on Twitter at @jleuze.
WordPress 201 track presentations
Starting at the beginning of the day, the presentations went as follows.
How-to: Reporting Issues
John Havlik walked through the process of submitting a bug (after verifying that it is a bug) so that it can be taken care of.
You can see Havlik’s slides on SlideShare. You can follow Havlik on Twitter at @mtekkmonkey.
Theme Selection
Todd J. List went over the basics of choosing the right theme for your blog, giving lots of solid resources and guidance for the new WordPress user. He discusses the relative importance of a site’s design, and when it might be a good time to look at really improving your theme.
You can see his slides on SlideShare, and follow him on Twitter at @tjlist.
WordPress as a New Media Strategy
Erik Hare spoke on using WordPress as a part of your media strategy. We’re still tracking down these slides.
You can follow Hare on Twitter at @wabbitoid.
WordPress as a CMS
Toby Cryns discussed WordPress as a content management system, giving demonstrations of Gravity Forms, using a “page” as your front page, using custom fields, user management, and more.
You can see the slides in the form of a blog post on Cryns’ website. You can follow him on Twitter at @tobycryns.
Zero to WordPress in 45 Minutes
Toby Cryns showed attendees how to set up a WordPress.com site, enter in basic content, and manage their navigation. For those that hadn’t done it before, this was a perfect introduction.
You can see the slides in blog post format at Cryns’ website. You can follow him on Twitter at @tobycryns.
Child Theme Modification
Kiko Doran showed how to use WordPress child themes to improve your development process.
We’re still tracking down these slides. You can follow Doran on Twitter at @kikodoran.
Beyond Hits: Metrics beyond the simple
Mitchell Hislop expanded on the topic of analytics, showing how to look beyond simple metrics to show more of the advanced features in Google Analytics, as well as other metric options.
You can see Hislop’s slides on SlideShare (although the bulk of the presentation was demonstration based). You can also follow Hislop on Twitter at @mitchellhislop.
Getting Started with WP E-commerce
Justin Sainton gave a solid introduction to WordPress and e-commerce, walking through the process of creating an e-commerce website with WordPress start to finish.
We’re still tracking down these slides. You can follow Sainton on Twitter at @js_zao.
WordPress 101 track presentations
One complaint at some WordCamps is the lack of developer-centric talks, with a an overwhelming amount of beginner, or introductory material. WordCamp MSP gave an entire track for attendees interested in 1010 stuff, which seemed to be a nice addition. Starting at the beginning of the day, the presentations went as follows.
WordPress Basics for Noobs
Griff Wigley gave a no-nonsense talk that introduced “noobs” to WordPress. He went through the Dashboard, creating posts and pages, assigning categories and tags, customizing your site, and more.
We’re still tracking down these slides. You can follow Wigley on Twitter at @griff_wigley.
Creating a Post with Photos from Scratch
Kay Roseland showed how to insert photos into a WordPress post.
We’re still tracking down these slides. You can follow Roseland on Twitter at @kayloire.
Working with Images, Galleries, and Lightboxes
David Hedrick Skarjune went a bit in depth into using images, setting up galleries with WordPress, and using lightboxes to display them in.
We’re still tracking down these slides. You can follow Skarjune on Twitter at @skarjune.
Hits: A Beginners Look at Web Metrics
Mitchell Hislop gave a presentation on basic web metrics which included a live examples during the talk. Unfortunately those examples aren’t in his slides, but you can have a look at them on Slideshare.
You can follow Hislop on Twitter at @mitchellhislop.
Widgets
Dan Huynh, in an aptly named presentation, discussed WordPress widgets and how to use them effectively.
We’re still tracking down these slides. You can follow Huynh on Twitter at @dfhuynh.
The Toy Box: 10 Plugins to Get You Started
Carl Bliss used his presentation to give a list of ten plugins that new users should try out first on their site.
You can see his presentation in the format of a blog post on his website. You can follow Bliss on Twitter at @ckbliss.
Blogger track presentations
For those not entirely interested in building websites, but more in developing content, the blogger track was for them. Starting at the beginning of the day, the presentations went as follows.
Finding Your Blogging Voice
Teresa Boardman spoke on the importance of a blogging voice (and of course how to find it).
We’re still tracking down these slides.You can follow Boardman on Twitter at @tboard.
24 Ways to Feed Your Blog Beast
Arik Hanson, practical blogging tips for those with a lack of time and creative ideas.
We’re still tracking down these slides. You can follow Hanson on Twitter at @arikhanson.
WordPress Security
Announced at the last minute, Toby Cryns showed how to secure your WordPress blog from those who wish to do it harm.
We’re still working on tracking down the slides for this presentation. You can follow Cryns on Twitter at @tobycryns.
How to Turn Your Business into a Media Powerhouse
Robert Dempsey presented how to leverage WordPres and social media to met you and your customer’s needs.
We’re still tracking down this presentation, but you can follow Dempsey on Twitter @rdempsey.
Finding a Topic
Genevieve Ruebel spoke about finding your blogging topic.
We’re still tracking down this presentation.
Using Analytics to Improve Your ROI
Susan Maus spoke on using analytics to improve your blog’s return on investment.
We’re still tracking down this presentation, but you can follow Maus on Twitter at @susanmaus.
Monetizing Your Blog
Carrie Rocha spoke on how she, and therefore how anyone, can create a profitable blog in a relatively short amount of time.
We’re still tracking down these presentation slides. You can follow Rocha on Twitter at @dollarspocket.
Blog-Based Conversations
Griff Wigley presented on how to increase and cultivate blog conversations using the comment area of your blog.
We’re still tracking down these presentation slides. You can follow Wigley on Twitter at @griff_wigley.
Phew, just browsing through the list is exhausting! Of all of these, which presentations at WordCamp MSP were your favorite?
Hey, WP Candy!
Thanks for being at WordCamp MSP. So glad to know your group exists. This central site for speaker content is fabulous! Just another way you guys provide excellent content.
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