For our designers and developers, you might want to sit in on Michelle Schulp’s talk, as she will be presenting Designed to Sell: The Huge Impact of Small Decisions, at WordCamp St. Louis. Below is a little bit about her WordPress journey.
Interview with Michelle Schulp
NILE FLORES: When did you start using WordPress?
MICHELLE SCHULP: I started playing around with WordPress themes in 2010 with zero knowledge of how any of it worked, and only a rudimentary understanding of frontend development.
NILE FLORES: What are a few takeaways that attendees will get from your talk?
MICHELLE SCHULP: If you’re not a designer, some specific design techniques that will make your site more navigable and understandable. And for everyone, some techniques and vocabulary for identifying the purpose of a site and whether a site is successful.
NILE FLORES: WordPress is turning 15 years old. What would you like to see in the future for WordPress?
MICHELLE SCHULP: To see it evolve with changing technologies, but not forget its core mission to democratize publishing (and hopefully, to continue to foster a supportive and welcoming community that allows new talent to flourish from all backgrounds.)
NILE FLORES: “And just for funsies”, over the past few years, the WordPress community has seen the rise of the cute Wapuu character? Heard of it? And if so, what’s your favorite Wapuu? (Wapuu Reference: https://wapu.us/ )
MICHELLE SCHULP: I may have heard of Wapuu. 🙂 Many WordCamps have done gorgeous, lavish Wapuu designs which I love. I’m a big fan of many of the original Japanese designs. My favorite one I’ve put together is probably Hipster Wapuu though, which was inspired by the Hipster Mickey portraits.
NILE FLORES: What is your favorite area of the WordPress admin?
MICHELLE SCHULP: We’re supposed to have a favorite? I dunno, all of it, when it’s working. 🙂
NILE FLORES: What are the top three WordPress plugins that you believe every WordPress user should have installed?
MICHELLE SCHULP:
Favorite form plugin (I use Gravity Forms but there are many amazing ones.)
Favorite plugin that registers all your custom post types/taxonomies/fields/data collection (because it needs to be separate from the theme. I use a combination of custom code and code built on top of Advanced Custom Fields)
Some kind of stats/analytics plugin. Could be Google Analytics, the stats tracking in Jetpack, or something more custom to your needs. But you don’t know how people are using your site if you don’t have any analytics!
Want to meet and hear Michelle’s talk? Get your ticket to WordCamp St. Louis, and come out to Washington University during May 12th and 13th.