WordPress Holiday Grab Bag

Vintage style line drawing of boy in pajamas opening a WordPress gift box.
WordPress Hartford CT Meetup
December 12, 2023
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Watch Recording

Click below to watch our December 2023 meetup on YouTube, or visit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui_tNeApWsc.

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Agenda

  • Speaker Introductions
  • 2023 – The Year of AI (Ray)
  • WordPress in 2023
  • Some Favorites
  • The Grab Bag
  • Wrap-Up
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Ray Michno

Cute Yellow Wapuu WordPress Mascot
ray@ctwebgeek.com
  • Hartford WordPress Co-Organizer
  • 25+ years in IT
  • Developer/Software Architect
  • Pratt & Whitney, Aetna, UnitedHealthGroup
  • 7+ years using WordPress
  • Self-employed – CTWebGeek
  • Married, No Kids, Lives in Newington, CT
  • Geek
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Peter Ingersoll

peter@ingersollinteractive.com
  • Hartford WordPress Co-Organizer
  • 25+ working on the Web
  • Marketing, communications, design, tech guy
  • Hartford Courant, logistics, agency
  • 10 years using WordPress
  • Self-employed – Ingersoll Interactive
  • Married, two adult kids, lives in South Windsor, CT
  • WordPress Admin and DIY Advocate – IngersollWP.com
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2023 – The Year of AI

Killer Robot
How some people think of AI
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“Good” AI

  • Generative AI – tools which can create new content (text, images, audio, etc.) based on natural language prompts from a person.
  • Popular Examples:
  • ChatGPT – a general-purpose AI tool
  • DALL-E, Midjourney – image creation tools
  • Jasper AI – marketing-focused content creator
  • Copilot – coding-focused tool from GitHub
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AI & WordPress

  • WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, etc. are all pushing to incorporate AI tools into the website creation process
  • How Can AI be Used?
  • Text Content Generation (ex. Blog Post titles, Post content)
  • Text Corrections and Improvement (ex. spelling, grammar, tone, clarity)
  • Image Content Generation (ex. Feature image, content images)
  • Code Generation (ex. create CSS, JavaScript, etc.)
  • Website Template Generation (ex. create a sample page or entire website)
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AI & Page Builders

  • Divi AI works within Divi’s code module. Generates custom HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Since it’s trained on the Divi Module codebase, it can generate intuitive results and better interpret your prompts. Add-on to Divi Theme, $13.50 per month, annual license, unlimited use.
  • Elementor AI will empower you to generate and improve text and custom code (HTML, Custom Code, and Custom CSS). They are also already working on additional phases, which will include an AI-based image solution. Add-on to Elementor, $3/$8.50 per month, depending on credits needed.
  • Kadence AI – generate starter templates/content for a website based on question prompts – bring in images, and more specific placeholder text. Currently included with a Kadence Pro subscription.
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Live Demo

Wapuu Dev
It’s Demo Time!

WordPress 6.2, 6.3, & 6.4

  • WordPress 6.2 “Dolphy” March, 2023
  • The beginnings of a usable site editor
  • Continuous improvement to the block editor
  • WordPress 6.3 “Lionel” August, 2023
  • Significant improvement to the site editor
  • Footnote and Details blocks
  • WordPress 6.4 “Shirley” November, 2023
  • An excellent new default theme Twenty Twenty-Four
  • Improvements to saving and managing block patterns
  • Improvements and additions to design tools
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WordPress.org & The Community

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The Many Ways to WordPress

  • There is no one way to use WordPress
  • There is no “best” way to WordPress
  • “It depends…” is part of (most) answers to WP questions
  • There are many combinations for creating
  • Classic Editor / Classic Themes
  • Block Editor / Classic Themes
  • Page Builder / Classic Themes
  • Block Editor / Block Themes
  • Many other combinations…
  • Remember: When seeking help, be sure you are looking at a similar WordPress environment
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Some Favorites: Themes

  • Kadence & Kadence Blocks (classic)
  • Astra and Spectra (classic)
  • GeneratePress & GenerateBlocks (classic)
  • Blocksy & Blocksy Companion (classic)
  • Twenty Twenty-Four (block)
  • Powder (block)
  • Ollie (block)
  • Bricks (new builder often recommended)
  • Try for free at InstaWP, TasteWP, or playground.wordpress.net
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The Grab Bag

Wapuu Dev
What Shall We Look At?

Theme & Plugin Dependency

What you experience may not match what you see in demos or tutorials.

Wrap Up & Q&A

Wapuu with laptop and cat
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