We’re Headed to the OC!

It’s already turning out to be one WordCamp-filled summer! And this weekend, WebDevStudios (WDS) is headed to the OC for WordCamp Orange County (WCOC), Saturday and Sunday, June 10-11. Not only does this educational WordPress event offer a bevy of informative sessions and workshops, including “How to Get Started with Building a Website for your Business” and “Becoming a Better Blogger,” but this particular WordCamp also features plugin competition Plugin-A-Palooza. Our own Backend Developer, Russell Aaron, will be entering his self-developed plugin, Plugins Admin Bar, into the contest. Last year, Russ walked away with second place. Not too shabby, huh?

“Plugins Admin Bar is a simple plugin adding quick links to the WP-Admin bar, in order to get to the plugins screen,” Russell explains his plugin. “As of now, it takes two or three clicks to get to your plugins admin page, four clicks if you want to add a new plugin, and five if you want to add a new plugin and search. With Plugins Admin Bar, I’ve reduced those numbers down to two or three total.”

But as if that wasn’t enough, Russ is also speaking on plugin development during his discussion, “Best Practices for Plugin Building,” 2 p.m. on Saturday.

“There are many things to learn about building a plugin,” says Russell. “The WCOC session is an open discussion involving all parties present to contribute to my conversation and teach everyone in the audience. I think a more open discussion about plugin building can help others who are there to learn.”

Senior Frontend Developer, Carrie Forde, will also be presenting at WCOC. Her topic is “Using Component Libraries for Rapid Theme Development,” which takes place at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Venture track.

“I love atomic design and pattern libraries,” Carrie says, “And there is a real opportunity for increasing theming productivity using component libraries, which are heavily related to atomic design. I want to share what I know about component libraries, and how we can better work with them within the WordPress ecosystem.”

Carrie’s looking forward to connecting with WDS coworkers, making new friends, and attending some of the JavaScript (JS) workshops. She hopes to meet Zac Gordon in-person and possibly snagging a JavaScript for WordPress laptop sticker for her collection. (Carrie is in the process of completing Zac’s master course.)

“While I haven’t delved too deeply into any of the hot JS frameworks, I have been following the React vs. Vue.js debate, and I’m really interested in learning more about Vue in Jacob Arriola’s session,” says Carrie.

If you can’t make this WordCamp event, skip the FOMO and just follow the WCOC buzz on Twitter. Catch Carrie at her next presentation at WordCamp Sacramento. And keep up with where WDS will be next by visiting our WDS Gives Back page.