Topic: The Way to Theme Enlightenment
Amanda Giles is WordPress Evangelist and Enthusiast who loves converting people to WordPress. She’s been developing websites since 1994 and has been building WordPress themes since 2009. She hails from New Hampshire where she founded the Seacoast NH WordPress meetup in 2011. She works as an independent consultant and also as part of Spark Development, a small agency focusing on WordPress web development. You can often locate Amanda by her loud sneezes and it’s likely because of these sneezes that she leads such a blessed life.
How did you get involved in WordPress?
I’ve been a programmer for years and started developing websites around 2000. These were sporadic projects and often simple and small. I started working with WordPress in 2009 when my brother-in-law handed off a small WordPress site to me which he was too busy to work on. This was a fantastic start as he was still there to advise me, but I got to get my hands dirty and build a site on my own.
What do you do with WordPress?
I develop sites in WordPress for individual clients and agencies. These websites often have complex data needs or interaction. I’m usually receiving a design from a designer and I’m both building the front end of the site as well as architecting and building out the back end. Most often I’m creating a custom theme, but sometimes it’s a plugin (or a theme and a plugin) instead.
What has your experience with the WordPress community been like?
The WordPress community is amazing. I love going to WordCamps because it feels like going to a family reunion and I learn so much. The people I meet are always so friendly and I love that the ethos of the community seems to reflect the open source philosophy. I love it so much I started the Seacoast NH WordPress meetup in 2011.
Why did you want to speak at WordCamp DFW?
I love visiting new WordCamps and I have a good friend who moved to Dallas a few years ago (from NH where I live). That combined with a JetBlue sale made it an easy decision!
Why did you decide to speak on themes?
My session is an attempt to teach all the things I wish I had known when I first started writing themes. I’ve been creating themes for a while now and I want to pass on what I can and demystify some aspects of theme development.
What do you hope the audience gets from your talk?
I hope that folks already developing themes will up their game. I want them to learn some new techniques, better understand other things, and be unafraid to try some new things.
Tickets are now on sale for this year’s WordCamp DFW held on Nov. 11-12. There are also plenty of opportunities to sponsor the event or help run it. We hope to see you there!