WordPress upgrades, they bring us new features, faster sites, and better security. But pushing that upgrade button can be a scary moment, unless you’ve ensured your site is ready and compatible. I’ll show you the best practices for ensuring your site is ready including a simple strategy that works whether you manage one site or hundreds.

We will be discussing the magical powers of WP_Query, what things you can do with it beyond the standard loop and why you would want to unleash the power of WP_Query by modifying the query and using it in different areas on your project.

BuddyPress & bbPress, the same but different. JJJ will demystify the reasons why you might use one vs. the other — for yourself, clients, hobby projects, and more. He’ll share what direction they are likely to take in the future. He’ll show you exactly what his favorite parts are if you’re looking for inspiration. He’ll give you an intimate look into what influences him for shaping the way people communicate on the web. He’ll probably talk about Prince.

Based on 3+ years of teaching countless students, I see a bunch of the same confusing issues. From picking a host (shared, VPS, managed) to theme selection (free vs premium) plugin installation (free vs premium) as well as best practices in securing your site from hackers. (25% marketshare makes WordPress a target!)

Posts, pages, categories and tags only get you so far. This talk will focus on the differences between hierarchical and non-hierarchical taxonomies, the benefits of creating custom taxonomies and how to plan the architecture for several types of sites.