The WordCamp Europe bucket-list

Taking place from 20th to 22nd June, WordCamp Europe is just over a week away. If you’re going, you’re going to need to make some sort of plan.

After all, there are more than 100 activities to get stuck into – everything from design workshops and discussions to yoga sessions!

Not got time to swot up on every session?

We’ve consulted with the WordPress experts at tsoHost to put together a bucket list of the things we’d most like to see from the schedule.

First things first – a bit about WordCamp Europe

Of course, in writing this post, we’re assuming you already have tickets. The bad news if you don’t is that tickets are sold out.

However, you can keep an eye on returns and last-minute unwanted ticket sales on twitter using the hashtag #WCEtickets.

The event will take place at the Estrel Hotel & Congress Centre in Berlin, with the after-party happening on June 22nd at The Festival Centre.

Now for the good bit…

6 top picks from the WordCamp Europe schedule

In calendar order…

Design your WordPress website to be accessible and usable – WCAG standards

When: Friday 21st June at 10:00

This three-hour workshop drills down into the subject of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Led by professor Izabela Mrochen, it will focus on the methods required to make images accessible using webmaster tools.

More specifically, it will cover elements such as adding alternative text, checking text colour ratio, using focus and skipping links.

WordPress for non-profits: website best practices, collecting donations, increasing exposure online

When: Friday 21st June at 10:00

Self-titled ‘digital ninja’ Charles Johnson is the owner of boutique web design agency HeartWired Technical Solutions and has more than two decades’ experience in the IT sector.

In this talk he’ll discuss the plug-ins that he finds best for donation-based model websites. He will also share insights on how to create a user experience that will increase both donations and awareness.

Renaissance jobs in WordPress: skills you need to survive the 21st-century career

When: Friday 21st June at 15:45

The bedrock for this talk, by Nevena Tomovic is stats. Drawing on the results of both global surveys and research within the WordPress community, Tomovic will look at the nature of careers in the 21st century and how WordPressers might need to adapt and develop their skills in order to remain competitive.

Tomovic works for Human Made – the WordPress development agency that gives big publishers and enterprise level clients access to open source.

How better performing websites can help save the planet

When: Saturday 22nd June at 09:00

The synopsis for this talk begins ‘The web has a dirty secret — its carbon footprint is larger than that of global air travel.’

It draws on research from Mozilla’s 2018 Internet Health Report to consider the sustainability of the internet. Plus, it will offer practical tips on how individuals and businesses can take steps to reduce the environmental impact of their work.

The man delivering the talk will be Jack Lenox – a regular WordCamp speaker and design engineer for Automattic.

SEO copywriting

When: Saturday 22nd June at 09:00

Led by the Yoast Academy team, this three-hour workshop claims to help you ‘write text that’s irresistible to visitors and search engines alike’.

It takes participants through the process of writing a blog post, from brainstorming an idea and researching keywords to first drafts.

The workshops leader will be Jesse van de Hulsbeek; a university trained teacher and head of the Yoast Academy.

WordPress through the bad guys’ glasses

When: Saturday 22nd June at 11:45

This talk on WordPress security will be delivered by network engineer, developer and security researcher Vladimír Smitka.

During the session Smitka will talk about the mistakes he most frequently encountered during his regular security scans of WordPress sites, touching on elements such as misconfigurations, forgotten endpoints, out of date components and emails.

He will also serve up tips on how to reduce risks, restricting access, how to enable Bcrypt password hashing and 2FA, and configuration directives.

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There’s a hat trick of packages to choose from. Each one comes with perks, like free domain names and daily site backups included in the price.