Patrick Rauland will be speaking at WordCamp. We asked him a few questions:

What’s your favorite theme or theme framework? Why?

_s (aka Underscores) by Automattic; Underscores is a perfect starter theme as it has everything you need ready for styling…oh and it’s built and maintained by Automattic – you know the guys who manage WordPress.

If you could change one thing today about WP, what would it be?

There has to be an easier way to work on another developers plugin. It should be as easy at GitHub to open issues, attach code, and submit pull requests.

Where do you see WordPress going in the next 2-3 years?

WordPress will be used more and more as the backend for mobile applications. I also see it being used more often as a boilerplate for a startup’s SaaS services.

What’s the biggest misconception you encounter about WordPress, and how do you clear it up for your clients?

The biggest misconception with WordPress (or any CMS) is that it can change absolutely ANYTHING. I’ve found that best way to clear this up is by telling the client that I’m only making certain regions of the site editable for easy of use and for the bottom line.

If you were interviewing another WordPress developer for a job, what is the first question you would ask and why?

How much do you read about the web in one week? (It better be at least an hour a day.)

Becky Davis

Do you use Themes & Child Themes, Roll your own, or both?

I used to do both, but these days I mostly roll my own.

What’s your favorite theme or theme framework? Why?

Underscores (_s). It gives me the very basic structure and then get’s out of my way.

What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done with Custom Post Types?

A staff list with specially formatted head shot and auto alphabetizing by last name.

What do you think is the biggest challenge that WP consultants will face in 2013?

Security and spam.

If you could change one thing today about WP, what would it be?

Image management. Don’t even get me started….

What’s the biggest misconception you encounter about WordPress, and how do you clear it up for your clients?

That just because it’s easy to edit text on a page does not make it easy to design/dev a whole site.

If you were interviewing another WordPress developer for a job, what is the first question you would ask and why?

How good are your communication and sharing skills? Can’t run a good project without the former and the latter is what the WP community is all about.

When was the first time that you really got excited about WordPress OR at what point did you decide to make it your career?

During WordCamp Chicago 2010, when my mind got blown open with the possibilities of WordPress.

Bridget Wessel will be discussing “When and How to Build Your Own Theme” at WordCamp Milwaukee.

We asked her the following questions:

What performance tips would you give to other pros (as related to speed, scalability, security, plugins, backup, etc.)?

Make sure your WP sites are secure or they will eventually get hacked. Put your clients on a maintenance plan and update plugins and WP frequently.

Do you use Themes & Child Themes, Roll your own, or both?

Roll my own – which is why I’m giving a talk on “When and how to build your own theme”. 🙂

Favorite plugin or least favorite plugin?

Favorite plugin hands down is Advanced Custom Fields by Elliot Condon with Options Page and Repeater Field add ons

When was the first time that you really got excited about WordPress OR at what point did you decide to make it your career?

When I built my first WP site after working with Drupal.

Here’s a little bit about Jamie Schmid, who will be speaking at WordCamp Milwaukee…

If you were going to spend this weekend creating a plugin that doesn’t exist, what would it be?

A plugin that adds an archive and taxonomy template page to the custom posts menu, giving you the opportunity to add custom content/fields through the admin, in addition to your template loop content. This would make it easier on both developers and Admin users, to keep all of the custom post type content accessible from a single location.

Do you use Themes & Child Themes, Roll your own, or both?

I always build my own themes. I find commercial themes to be too bulky and complicated when I am starting out with a completely custom design/content, but I give major props to the commercial template builders out there – it’s no small feat to build a site customizable to the many options that their users will require.

What do you think is the biggest challenge that WP consultants will face in 2013?

Being able to build websites that hold up to the new standards of Admin usability. Users are getting more and more used to Admin interfaces that give them complete customizability of their website, from experience with all the major social media websites.. They are going to want, and expect, more and more control, which for consultants means more forethought in the way they build their websites to allow for the most flexibility.

What’s the biggest misconception you encounter about WordPress, and how do you clear it up for your clients?

That WordPress is complex, confusing or difficult for Admins to use. Sometimes they have had a bad experience with WordPress.. maybe they used it “back in the day” when it was a blogging platform posing as a CMS, maybe they inherited a poorly-built website.. But this is no longer true!! I am always excited to show these users their new website admin panel, because it has come a LONG way since then, and a well-built WordPress site is very easy and intuitive to manage.

Joshua Alexander will be presenting on “How To Generate Leads With WordPress”.

We asked Joshua a few questions, so you can get to know him a little before hand…

Where do you go first to get your WP news, insights, and updates?

I get most my news from WordPress.org forums. But I find that being a beta tester for Automattic gives you the best information first since we can test the upcoming versions.

What WP consultants deserve more love than they get? Who should we be paying attention to?

I think there is two worlds one is those in the development and design business. And others are in the internet marketing industry. Some like myself dabble in both sides so we get to see the marketing side that some of the rest of the community doesn’t get to see.

What performance tips would you give to other pros (as related to speed, scalability, security, plugins, backup, etc.)?

Outsource sales and you’ll be able to do what you like doing. Ever since I outsourced my sales it has easily tripled my business.

Confess to us your biggest moment of WP fail?

I think that the biggest fail was in the beginning trying to push the envelope before I really knew what I was doing. Over time you learn what not to do. But you feel way better when you can fix the problems without re-installing that’s when I felt way more comfortable.

If you were going to spend this weekend creating a plugin that doesn’t exist, what would it be?

Either a drop box plugin to make it easier to transfer data between me and my clients without using drop box. Or a content syndication plugin to automatically blast out my content, videos, and audios to other websites.

Do you use Themes & Child Themes, Roll your own, or both?

We use Genesis and custom build child themes for them.

What’s your favorite theme or theme framework? Why?

My favorite is Genesis so far but I’m always open to looking at other frameworks. I’ve been using Genesis since I started so a lot of it is probably just comfort level for me.

Favorite plugin or least favorite plugin?

Favorite: Easy Webinar Plugin (Premium) Automated Webinar Plugin
Least Favorite: Popup Domination (Premium) Crashes too many sites

What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done with Custom Post Types?

Nothing really cool just the regular stuff required for client projects.

What do you think is the biggest challenge that WP consultants will face in 2013?

I think the biggest challenge WordPress in general faces is the introduction of new technologies. With tablets and mobile more prominent we need to ensure that the technology changes with it.

If you could change one thing today about WP, what would it be?

Making the default theme a drag and drop to attract new users.

Where do you see WordPress going in the next 2-3 years?

I wish I could tell so I can develop that market first. But I’m sure where ever it goes it will continually improve.

Tell us a story where you saved the WP day for yourself or on a client project. What made the difference for you?

During the recent hack attacks in WordPress we had several competitors contact us to unhack their client sites that weren’t properly protected. We were able to land several contracts where they decided to stop building and refer all future builds to my company.

What’s the biggest misconception you encounter about WordPress, and how do you clear it up for your clients?

I think we all have this one but we get isn’t that a blog. And I clarify it by showing examples of sites we’ve done and how much its not just a blog but a marketing hub that can help them send content from a single location by linking their social media etc to the site for automatic syndication.

If you were interviewing another WordPress developer for a job, what is the first question you would ask and why?

I usually want to see clean coding that keeps security in mind. Then I usually try them out on a one week trial for test project and make my determination after that.

When was the first time that you really got excited about WordPress OR at what point did you decide to make it your career?

I started out with WordPress back in 2008-2009 after testing several platforms. Been addicted ever since. I started a website development company as an accident actually I started out as a business consulting firm and found that websites seemed to be their number one issues that they were requesting so I decided to throw my hat in the ring now we are a full-time website development and SEO company.

Meet Christina Zila! She’ll be discussing ‘4 Keys To Great Content’ at WCMKE 2013. This presentation takes a look at four areas to examine before you put pen to paper or hands to keyboard.

We asked her:

Confess to us your biggest moment of WP fail?

Our WordPress blog was hosted on an employee’s URL. When he left the company, we didn’t get a new URL ready or archive our files locally before he shut the old site down. We had to recreate all our posts from scratch.

Lessons learned: 1) Don’t let employees host things, 2) archive regularly

Favorite plugin or least favorite plugin?

Besides the Textbroker for WordPress plug-in, I love JetPack. I like seeing my site stats all in one place.

What do you think is the biggest challenge that WP consultants will face in 2013?

The web is demanding more and more content, whether in inforgraphics, video or text. Encouraging clients to keep up with their competitors will be both a challenge and an opportunity.
Gaining new clients is always a challenge, and as more consultants get into the game, differentiating yourself will be more important.

Where do you see WordPress going in the next 2-3 years

I think we’ll start to see a consolidation of plug-ins and information. WordPress is already making moves to funnel information back to WordPress.org, and I think that will continue.

Get to know Lisa Ghisolf a little more. She will be speaking about “The good, the bad & the ugly of finding & keeping work as a freelancer” at this year’s WordCamp Milwaukee.

What performance tips would you give to other pros (as related to speed, scalability, security, plugins, backup, etc.)?

Backup daily!!!! It’s the single most effective way to get your site back online after a security breach or… heaven forbid, you mess up the code.

What’s your favorite theme or theme framework? Why?

I’m addicted to Elegant Themes, especially reskinning the framework and creating something new and different, but still getting security updates and good support.

Favorite plugin or least favorite plugin?

WP Super Cache is the bane of my existence.

If you could change one thing today about WP, what would it be?

Clean up the support forums, and same with the codycanyon plugins + WP repository. It’s all too confusing.

Where do you see WordPress going in the next 2-3 years?

More streamlined, and more Buddypress integrations.

Tell us a story where you saved the WP day for yourself or on a client project. What made the difference for you?

This happens daily! I rely on a really strong WordPress community who’s been there, done that, or who’s going through the same issues at the same time, to keep me ahead of the curve.

What’s the biggest misconception you encounter about WordPress, and how do you clear it up for your clients?

Still, it’s just a blogging platform. And massive sites run on it! WP needs to share more of these showcase sites.

If you were interviewing another WordPress developer for a job, what is the first question you would ask and why?

What’s the biggest issue you solved and how’d you go about solving it?

When was the first time that you really got excited about WordPress OR at what point did you decide to make it your career?

I saw a programmer using it to build a website I had designed for a NFP and saw its awesome capabilities — and this was back in 2008. I knew it was the future, especially in comparison to other CMSs out there.

Speaker: Pete Prodoehl

Pete will be speaking at WCMKE 2013 about “The Importance of Blogging to the Maker/DIY Community”

His session description is: “With the rise of the Maker & DIY movement, the importance of blogging, sharing, and self-hosting your own content becomes a critical issue. Many networks exist for the sharing of information, but having one you control yourself is not to be ignored.”

We asked Pete a few question. Get to know Pete a little here:

Where do you go first to get your WP news, insights, and updates?
“The Internet! 😉

People I follow on social networks, and the official WordPress channels. And (of course) I subscribe to 200+ RSS feeds, many of which mention new WordPress things.”

Confess to us your biggest moment of WP fail?

Not having a (recent) database backup. (We’ve all been there, right?) Luckily it was for one of my own sites.

Do you use Themes & Child Themes, Roll your own, or both?
I’ve dabbled in all of the above.

What’s the biggest misconception you encounter about WordPress, and how do you clear it up for your clients?

That it’s just for blogging. We just share with them all the amazing web sites built with it.

If you were interviewing another WordPress developer for a job, what is the first question you would ask and why?
How long have you been blogging? 😉

When was the first time that you really got excited about WordPress?

I’ve been blogging since 1997, but never settled on a platform I liked until WordPress came along. Having a well maintained (and secure!) application like WordPress was a good thing! MovableType was not open source, b2 had been pretty much abandoned, but WordPress was looking good, and in 2004 I decided to move my site to WordPress.

Follow Pete
Blog: RasterWeb.net
Twitter: @raster
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