When not writing code or integrating designs, Michal likes to take care of his spouse, his three cats and read comic books. You can see how little he posts online at http://isotrope.net or follow him on Twitter at @isotrope
Michal is presenting: Down with Sliders! Show them everything!
1) Why do you like using WordPress?
I’ve always enjoyed how easy it is to use WordPress as a CMS. Like many other self-taught devs, WordPress was my gateway drug into learning PHP as a programming language. Thanks to the fabulous WordPress community and the plethora of resources, it’s always my go-to application for any new project.
2) Why did you decide to speak at WordCamp Ottawa?
I gave my first talk at WordCamp Montreal last year (http://isotrope.net/talks/wcmtl2013/english.html ) on Child Themes. Although the turnout for my talk wasn’t very big, I enjoyed the experience immensely. The most fun was having strangers come up to me before my talk, nervous, asking questions that I actually had answers to. I’ve been lucky enough to find many solutions online or through folks in our awesome WPMTL community when I was facing an obstacle. I really want to try to give back to other like-minded people. If I manage to give a single person an Aha! moment, it’ll all be worth it.
3) What is the one thing you want people to walk away with from your talk?
Just one? Aww… Can it be a two-part answer? Ok then…
I want to show people that there are already two “tools” included in every new WordPress install that can help them in their quest to present information in an attractive, visually rich way.
4) What is your favourite WordPress plugin or theme? Why?
That’s easy! _s (AKA _underscores)
It’s such a marvelous starting point for building any site. Even more so, in my humble opinion, if you’re working in an actual pipeline where there are designers, integrators and developers. It includes a slew of wonderful functionality out of the box and is pretty barebones in its styling.
Chop up, code, launch!
That’s not to say that there aren’t any other great alternatives. This is, after all, the WordPress community. The community that has endless solutions for any need you might have.
