WordCamp Asia 2026 - Conference Day 1 (Foundation)

WordCamp Asia 2026 - Conference Day 1 (Foundation) 🔗 **Source:** [WordCamp Asia 2026 - Conference Day 1 (Foundation)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1egsOFk6Fg) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: #wordpress #community #education #india #asia #wordcamp #wapu #mascot #career-change #marketing #community-building #open-source #student-programs > author: WordCamp Asia 2026 > source: YouTube > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1egsOFk6Fg > date created: 2024-12-28 17:15 > > # 🏷️ Title: WordCamp Asia 2026 - Conference Day 1 (Foundation) >  ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Connect with WordPress education initiatives to support campus programs — panel discussion #education - [H2] Consider user-focused WordPress sales approach instead of tech-focused — Aval's presentation #marketing - [H3] Explore WordPress Campus Connect for local community building — education panel #community-building ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [[#📝 Summary]] - [[#📖 Main Content]] - [[#🗒️ Notes]] - [[#📚 References]] - [[#🗣️ Paraphrase]] - [[#📰 Newsletter]] - [[#✅ Action Items]] - [[#🧪 Hypotheses]] - [[#📊 Methodology]] - [[#❓ Questions]] - [[#🔮 Future Research]] - [[#💡 Implications]] - [[#🧠 Learning Styles Assessment]] - [[#📊 Accessibility Assessment]] - [[#🌍 DEIB Assessment]] - [[#✅ Logical Validity]] - [[#🛡️ DARVO Analysis]] - [[#🎯 Conclusion]] ### 🔗 References - [WordPress Education Initiatives](https://wordpress.org/education) - [Learn WordPress](https://learn.wordpress.org/) - [WordPress Community](https://make.wordpress.org/) ## 📝 Summary WordCamp Asia 2026's foundation day featured three main presentations and a panel discussion focusing on community, education, and marketing within the WordPress ecosystem. Kazuko Kushi shared the origin story of Wapu, the beloved WordPress mascot that sparked a global movement of localized mascots. Kotaro Kitamura presented his personal transformation from corporate sales to WordPress entrepreneurship, inspired by his experiences in India. Aval Mittel challenged conventional WordPress marketing approaches, advocating for user-focused rather than technology-focused sales strategies. The day concluded with a comprehensive panel on WordPress education initiatives, including Campus Connect, Student Clubs, and WordPress Credits programs aimed at bridging academia and the WordPress community. ## 📖 Main Content The conference highlighted the human and community aspects of WordPress that extend far beyond its technical capabilities. Wapu's creation story demonstrates how a simple mascot design became a catalyst for global community expression and cultural adaptation. Kotaro's journey illustrates how international connections and community support can enable successful career transitions into the WordPress ecosystem. The marketing session challenged the prevalent tech-centric approach to selling WordPress, emphasizing that most site operators are non-technical users who prioritize ease of use over architectural sophistication. This perspective aligns with WordPress's core mission of democratizing publishing. The education panel revealed a comprehensive ecosystem of programs designed to introduce students to WordPress through campus visits, ongoing student clubs, and formal contribution-based internships. These initiatives address the aging WordPress community while building the next generation of users and contributors. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=0) — [H1] Opening and Wapu Introduction - Key idea: Conference opening with focus on accessibility and Wapu creator introduction - Evidence: "Closing caption is available on your personal device for all sessions" #### ⏱️ [05:20](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=320) — [H1] Wapu Origin Story - Community Request - Key idea: Wapu was created in response to Japanese WordPress community request for a mascot - Evidence: "In 2010, the Japanese WordPress community asked me for a mascot" #### ⏱️ [08:45](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=525) — [H2] Wapu Design Process and Birth - Key idea: Wapu evolved through sketches and community feedback before official debut - Evidence: "Finally, on February 19th, 2011 at WordCamp Fukuoka 2011, Official Japanese mascot was born" #### ⏱️ [12:10](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=730) — [H2] Global Wapu Movement - Key idea: Local WordPress communities worldwide created their own Wapu variations - Evidence: "Wapu contributes to be born all over the world, Europe, Asia, America and more" #### ⏱️ [16:30](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=990) — [H1] Kotaro's India Inspiration - Key idea: Business trips to India inspired career transition from sales to technology - Evidence: "India is a place that changed my life" #### ⏱️ [20:45](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=1245) — [H2] Technology Revelation in India - Key idea: Exposure to Indian tech solutions shifted perspective on technology's business impact - Evidence: "I started to think technology can change the people work. Technology can make life easier" #### ⏱️ [25:15](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=1515) — [H2] Pandemic Career Pivot - Key idea: COVID-19 disrupted India expansion plans but catalyzed WordPress learning journey - Evidence: "Our plan stopped. The deal was cancelled and the future I had imagined suddenly disappeared" #### ⏱️ [30:20](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=1820) — [H1] WordPress Community Impact - Key idea: WordPress community provided knowledge, connections, and confidence for business growth - Evidence: "The WordPress community gave me three very important things: Knowledge, connections, and confidence" #### ⏱️ [35:50](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=2150) — [H1] Stop Selling WordPress Technology - Key idea: Focus on user needs rather than technical features when presenting WordPress - Evidence: "Stop selling WordPress as a technology" #### ⏱️ [40:30](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=2430) — [H2] Focus on End Users Not Developers - Key idea: Most WordPress sites are managed by non-technical marketing teams, not engineers - Evidence: "99% of the time... The site is going to be managed by a marketing team, usually a non-technical marketing team" #### ⏱️ [45:20](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=2720) — [H2] WordPress Advantage is User Autonomy - Key idea: WordPress's competitive edge lies in empowering non-technical users with publishing autonomy - Evidence: "You are selling speed to market. You are selling marketing autonomy. You are selling peace of mind" #### ⏱️ [52:40](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=3160) — [H1] Education Panel - Campus Connect Overview - Key idea: WordPress Campus Connect brings WordPress education directly to university campuses - Evidence: "We are going to their campus and telling them about what is WordPress, what are the career opportunities" #### ⏱️ [58:15](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=3495) — [H2] WordPress Credits Program Structure - Key idea: Formal internship program allowing students to contribute to WordPress foundation - Evidence: "150 hours and... 50 hours. The program is split into three phases" #### ⏱️ [65:30](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=3930) — [H1] Aging Community Challenge - Key idea: WordPress community faces aging demographics requiring fresh talent influx - Evidence: "The European WordPress community is aging... we need like fresh people" #### ⏱️ [72:45](https://youtu.be/E1egsOFk6Fg?t=4365) — [H2] Business Support for Education - Key idea: WordPress businesses can support education through hosting, tools, mentorship, and expertise - Evidence: "Companies can provide us with tools plugins or hosting... sponsor mentors" ## 📚 References - [WordPress Campus Connect](https://wordpress.org/education) - [WordPress Credits Program](https://wordpress.org/education) - [Make WordPress](https://make.wordpress.org/) - [Wapu Official Site](https://wapu.jp/) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - Wapu emerged from community need and became a global symbol of local WordPress community identity and cultural expression - Career transitions into WordPress are possible through community engagement, learning, and leveraging international experiences and connections - WordPress marketing should prioritize end-user publishing experience over technical architecture to better serve non-technical site operators - Educational initiatives create a pipeline from students to WordPress community members through campus programs, clubs, and formal contribution opportunities ## 📰 Newsletter **Building WordPress Community Through Education and User-Focused Thinking** WordCamp Asia 2026 kicked off with powerful stories about community, transformation, and education that remind us why WordPress continues to thrive after 20+ years. **Key Takeaways:** - **Community Expression**: Wapu's global variations show how WordPress communities adapt and localize the platform while maintaining unity - **Career Opportunities**: International experiences and community engagement can open paths into WordPress entrepreneurship - **Marketing Strategy**: Focus on solving user publishing challenges rather than competing on technical specifications - **Education Pipeline**: Campus Connect, Student Clubs, and WordPress Credits create structured pathways for students to join our community **Take Action:** - Consider how your local community can support campus programs - Evaluate whether your WordPress sales approach addresses real user needs - Explore mentorship opportunities for students interested in WordPress Resources: [WordPress Education](https://wordpress.org/education), [Learn WordPress](https://learn.wordpress.org/), [Make WordPress](https://make.wordpress.org/) ## ✅ Action Items #### Community - Campus Connect: Organize local campus visits to introduce WordPress career opportunities - Student Clubs: Support ongoing WordPress learning groups within universities - Mentorship: Connect experienced professionals with student contributors through Credits program - Sponsors: Provide hosting, tools, and expertise to support educational initiatives #### WordPress - Education: Develop content and resources for campus programs and student learning paths - Community: Bridge gap between academic institutions and WordPress community - Marketing: Shift messaging from technical features to user empowerment and publishing autonomy - Documentation: Create materials specifically designed for student onboarding and contribution #### DevRel - Education: Workshop development for campus programs and student skill building - Community engagement: Connect educational initiatives with broader WordPress ecosystem - Developer marketing: Focus messaging on user outcomes rather than technical architecture ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Campus-based WordPress education programs increase long-term community engagement compared to traditional event formats - User-focused WordPress marketing converts more enterprise clients than technology-focused approaches - International community connections accelerate career transitions into WordPress ecosystem - Structured contribution programs like WordPress Credits improve retention of new community members ### 📊 Methodology - Track student engagement metrics from Campus Connect through Credits programs to measure conversion rates - A/B test user-focused vs. technology-focused WordPress sales presentations with enterprise prospects - Survey international community members about career transition experiences and success factors ### ❓ Questions - How can WordPress education programs scale to address aging community demographics globally? - What specific user pain points should WordPress marketing emphasize over technical capabilities? - How can businesses effectively support education initiatives while achieving their own growth objectives? ### 🔮 Future Research - Longitudinal study of student journey from Campus Connect through long-term community contribution - Analysis of WordPress adoption patterns in organizations that prioritize user experience vs. technical architecture - Cross-cultural study of how local WordPress communities adapt global initiatives to regional contexts ### 💡 Implications - Practice: WordPress professionals should assess whether they're selling technology or solving user problems - Education: Universities represent untapped potential for WordPress community growth and renewal - Community: Local cultural adaptation strengthens rather than dilutes global WordPress unity - Funding: Educational initiatives require sustained business support to address community aging challenges ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 10th Grade (accessible to broad WordPress community audience) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Wapu evolution sketches, conference presentation slides - Improve: Campus Connect process diagrams, Credits program flowcharts, marketing framework visuals #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Full conference audio with multiple speakers and discussion formats - Improve: Podcast-style summaries of key insights, audio guides for education programs #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Personal stories, analogies (doorman example), clear terminology definitions - Improve: Glossary of education program terms, story-driven explanations of technical concepts #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Campus Connect hands-on workshops, Credits contribution projects - Improve: Step-by-step guides for organizing campus programs, interactive application processes #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Three-phase Credits structure, education initiative progression pathways - Improve: Decision trees for program selection, metrics dashboards for tracking success #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Panel discussions, networking breaks, community connection emphasis - Improve: Structured networking activities, peer mentorship matching systems #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Individual reflection opportunities during presentations - Improve: Self-assessment tools for education program fit, private application processes #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Community ecosystem analogies, organic growth patterns - Improve: Environmental impact considerations for education programs, sustainability metrics ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Conference structure with clear speaker transitions and topic breaks - Improve: Detailed speaker identification, slide content descriptions, visual element alt text #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Standard video player controls - Improve: Timestamp navigation shortcuts, skip-to-section functionality #### Contrast and readability - Present: Standard conference video quality - Improve: High contrast slide templates, larger text for presentation materials #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: Video format maintains aspect ratio - Improve: Responsive transcript layouts, scalable presentation materials #### Media and captions - Present: Closed captioning mentioned as available via QR code - Improve: Embedded captions in video, downloadable transcripts, audio descriptions #### Forms and interactions - Present: QR code system for caption access - Improve: Multiple access methods for captions, keyboard-accessible caption controls ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: International speakers from Japan and multiple perspectives on WordPress adoption - Improve: More diverse geographic representation, multilingual session options #### Inclusive language - Present: Welcoming tone, acknowledgment of different skill levels and backgrounds - Improve: Gender-neutral language throughout, plain-language explanations of technical terms #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Structured presentation format with clear topic transitions - Improve: Content warnings for long sessions, frequent breaks, visual agenda displays #### Representation - Present: Mix of technical and non-technical perspectives, varied career backgrounds - Improve: More balanced gender representation, diverse cultural perspectives on community building #### Psychological safety - Present: Encouraging tone about career transitions and learning opportunities - Improve: Explicit community guidelines, safe space policies, content accessibility notices ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: Clear progression from community need to global Wapu adoption demonstrates WordPress community's cultural adaptation capacity - Inductive strength: Personal success stories provide evidence that WordPress community support enables career transitions - Causal reasoning: User-focused marketing approach addresses root cause of WordPress adoption barriers - Analogical strength: Doorman analogy effectively illustrates over-optimization risks in technology selection #### Fallacies - Appeal to numbers: "WordPress powers 42% of the web" doesn't automatically validate all community approaches - Hasty generalization: Individual career success stories may not represent typical community member experiences #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Inspiring and inclusive, emphasizing community support and opportunity while acknowledging challenges ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No significant denial patterns observed - Attack: No attacks on accusers or competitors noted - Reverse victim/offender: No victim/offender reversal identified - Emotional cues: Positive emotional framing around community building and personal growth ## 🎯 Conclusion WordCamp Asia 2026's foundation day emphasized that WordPress's strength lies not in its technology but in its community and user empowerment philosophy. The presentations demonstrate how personal connections, cultural adaptation, and educational initiatives create sustainable community growth. For WordPress professionals, the --- ## Full Transcript [01:13] Heat. Heat. [02:33] Hello. Hello. Hello. That's one, two. [02:36] Yep. [02:42] because [02:58] you [03:06] Heat. Heat. [03:41] feel. [03:49] Feeling [04:07] be [05:03] feel. [05:11] Feel feeling. [05:29] in. [05:35] Hey, hey, hey. [06:18] pretty [07:11] Heat. Heat. [07:42] Hello hello hello everyone [07:44] how you doing [07:47] so my name is Ti and before we start [07:52] with our session we have some uh notes [07:56] so closing caption is available on your [07:59] personal device for all sessions scan [08:01] the QR code for this room and follow the [08:03] onscreen prompt to begin receiving [08:06] caption. So without further ado, [08:10] we'll start our session with our speaker [08:15] with us. Our first speaker is Kazuko [08:19] Kushi. [08:21] She have she is an active member of the [08:23] WordPress community also known as Wapu [08:27] moms. She bring a unique voice to [08:29] WordPress. She continued to inspire [08:32] others through her dedication. Her [08:35] contribution bring Wapur to life on the [08:38] 12th of August 2011. [08:42] And she will be here to thanks everyone [08:45] who love Wapu. So please welcome Kazuko [08:49] Kanei on stage. Give her a round of [08:52] applause. [09:11] Thanks to everyone who loves [09:17] Hello everyone. [09:19] I'm Kazgo Kui. [09:23] Thank you. [09:27] I'm a UI designer from Fukoka, Japan, [09:32] but you might know me as a designer of [09:35] Wapu. [09:37] >> Thank you. Thank you. [09:40] I travel a long way from Koka to Mumbai [09:43] to see you all today. [09:50] Now, please watch the short movie. [09:58] My people [10:01] alone. You get your crew. From Niger to [10:05] Yankee, we are with you. Woo! [10:09] You're not alone. Friends day for you. [10:12] All over the world, adventures they [10:15] wait. Oh yeah, let's go. Adventures they [10:18] wait. Oh yeah, let's go. [10:25] Thank you. [10:31] Now I'll give you a brief story about [10:35] the origins of Woo. [10:41] In 2010, [10:43] the Japanese WordPress community asked [10:46] me for a mascot. Why me? because I was [10:52] recommended by community members in [10:56] Koka. [10:58] One of the people who recommended me was [11:02] Mr. Moshi. [11:05] He is also the speaker of [11:08] this world camp Asia 2026. [11:15] Mr. Samoshi [11:18] next day he will speak [11:24] at that time [11:28] I was too nervous [11:31] I'm not an engineer I can write code [11:36] I thought how can I give back to [11:40] WordPress [11:46] Then I realized I can contribute through [11:51] design. [11:53] Making a character is my way of saying [11:57] thank you to the community. [12:04] You can see my Ari sketches here. [12:08] Some are cats, some are even. [12:20] After narrowing down the ideas from the [12:24] rough sketch, I colored them. [12:31] Four is like wapoo. [12:38] Finally, [12:40] on [12:41] February 19th, 2011 [12:46] at World Campoka 2011. [12:52] Official Japanese mascot was [12:56] born in Fukoka, Japan, [12:59] but it was no name. [13:03] later named Wapu. [13:10] This cake was where the legend began. [13:15] It was delicious. [13:18] >> Me. [13:22] At first it was just one woo, [13:27] but look what happened. [13:33] Japan [13:36] waffle waffle [13:42] local waffles were born all over Japan. [13:50] Then [13:57] all over the world [14:09] wapu wapu many wapoo [14:17] including a bank in London. [14:20] Wapu contributes to be born all over the [14:24] world, Europe, Asia, America and more. [14:32] Of course, [14:34] India [14:36] India woo many many wap. [14:41] Thank you. [14:45] Papuba's costume is elaborate and [14:48] beautiful. [14:50] Apu and amu are cute as they as they [14:54] face each other like twins. [15:01] Of course, this event of Sher [15:04] Mascottoika [15:06] is also amazing and beautiful. [15:14] I never imagined this. [15:18] You took my design, [15:21] added your culture and gave it new life. [15:27] This is what makes the world press [15:31] community wonderful. [15:39] I think it's a chain of a chain of [15:43] gratitude. [15:47] Thank you local creators. [15:51] Thank you community members [15:54] and thank you for loving Wapoo. [16:00] Please keep remixing, [16:04] keep sharing with respect and love. [16:09] Thank you so much [16:22] and thank you for your contribution. And [16:25] here's a small of appreciation. Oh, [16:29] surprise. [16:32] Thank you so much. [16:40] Okay, without further delay, we'll go to [16:43] the next speaker of this session. We [16:46] have [16:48] Kataro Kitamura. Kuro Kataro Kitamurra [16:53] is the CEO of Techbridge Incorporation [16:58] delivering trusted WordPress [17:00] development, maintenance and security [17:02] solution with strong focus on [17:04] reliability. Inspired by his time in [17:07] Mumbai, he boldly transitioned from a 14 [17:11] years corporation sales career into text [17:15] building his own company and actively [17:18] energizing the WordPress community and [17:21] his session will be from Mumbai to [17:23] WordPress how community shape my career [17:28] change. Please welcome on stage Kataro [17:30] Kitamura. [17:49] Hello everyone. My name is Kotarokamura. [17:52] I came from Osaka, Japan. I run a [17:56] company called Techbridge. We build [17:59] websites for businesses and we provide [18:03] maintenance and security services for [18:05] WordPress sites. [18:07] I am truly happy to be here in Mumbai [18:10] today because India is not just a [18:13] country I I visited before. [18:17] India is a place that changed my life [18:21] and now to be back here in India and to [18:25] speak at WordPress event means a lot to [18:28] me. [18:29] Today I want to share a personal story. [18:32] It is a story about community [18:36] change and gratitude and most of all it [18:40] is my way of saying thank you to India [18:43] and WordPress community [18:46] in 2019. I came to Mumbai for work at [18:50] that time. I had spent many years in [18:53] sales. I was not an engineer. [18:57] I was here to explore business [18:59] opportunities and research the Indian [19:02] market. [19:04] But this trip gave me much more than [19:07] business knowledge. [19:10] In India, I met talented engineers, [19:14] startup founders and people working in [19:17] technology. [19:19] Every conversation inspired me. [19:22] I felt that technology here was not [19:24] something far away. [19:28] It was connected to real work, real [19:31] business and real growth. [19:34] I was also very impressed by the apps [19:37] and web service web services I used in [19:39] India. They were simple, beautiful and [19:43] easy to easy to use. That was a big [19:47] moment for me. [19:49] I started to think technology can change [19:52] the people work. [19:54] Technology can make life easier and [19:58] maybe I want to be part of this war too. [20:01] That was the beginning. [20:04] And it was not only about business or [20:06] technology. [20:08] I also fell in love with India itself. I [20:11] love the foods, the music, the movies [20:15] and the people. [20:17] The more time I spend here, the more I [20:20] felt connected to this country. [20:24] After I returned to Japan, I kept [20:27] preparing for business expansion in into [20:29] India. [20:30] In 2020, I came back again with my [20:33] company's president and IT manager. [20:36] We had a meetings with Indian companies [20:39] and our plans started moving forward. [20:43] At that time, I was seriously dreaming [20:45] about a future connected with India. [20:48] I even imagined that one day I might [20:51] live here and start something new. [20:56] But then the pandemic happened. Our plan [21:00] stopped. The deal was cancelled and the [21:03] future I had imagined suddenly [21:05] disappeared. [21:07] At that time I was already going through [21:09] a difficult period in my career. So when [21:12] that plan stopped it it hit me very [21:16] hard. [21:17] After that I left my company. [21:21] At first it it felt that I lost [21:24] something very important. But now when I [21:27] look back, I see that it was also the [21:30] start of a new chapter. [21:33] While I was on leave, I started asking [21:37] myself what should I learn now? What [21:40] kind of work do I need do I want to do [21:43] next? [21:45] Because of the inspiration I have [21:47] received in India, I decided to move [21:50] toward IT industry. [21:55] That was when I started learning [21:57] programming. [21:58] At first I was interested in app [22:01] development. [22:03] I wanted to create something clear, [22:05] beautiful, easy to use just like the [22:08] digital products that had impressed me [22:11] in India. [22:13] But as I kept learning learning my [22:16] interest slowly toward moved toward web [22:19] development. [22:21] I studied every day. I wrote co code [22:25] every single day. I learned HTML, CSS, [22:29] JavaScript and WordPress. [22:32] Little by little, my curiosity became a [22:34] skill. And that skill became work. [22:39] Later, I got a job at the co as a coder [22:42] at the web production company. [22:46] There I gained practical experience. [22:50] After that I also worked as a freelance [22:52] coder and joined many different [22:54] projects. [22:56] I was very grateful for those [22:58] opportunities [23:01] but at the same time I often felt alone. [23:05] I was studying alone. I was working [23:08] alone and I was worrying alone. [23:12] I did not always know the best uh latest [23:16] WordPress updates. I did not always know [23:19] the best ways to build, maintain and [23:22] secure WordPress sites. [23:25] Sometimes I was not sure if I was doing [23:28] the things the right way. [23:32] Then one day I met someone from the [23:35] WordPress community [23:37] and that led me to join WordPress meetup [23:40] for the first time. [23:42] That experience became another big [23:45] turning point in my life. [23:47] Until then, WordPress had been a tool [23:50] for my work. But through the community, [23:54] WordPress became something more. [23:57] It became a place to learn, a place to [24:01] connect, and place to grow. [24:05] The WordPress community gave me three [24:07] very important things. Knowledge, [24:10] connections, and confidence. [24:15] First, it gave me knowledge. By the by [24:18] joining the community, I learned about [24:20] the latest WordPress updates, new ideas, [24:24] and better ways of working. [24:26] I learned not only how to build [24:29] websites, but also how to make them more [24:32] safely and more responsibly. [24:35] This was very important for me because [24:37] maintenance and security are a big part [24:39] of my work today. [24:43] Second, it gave me connections. [24:47] I met people who truly love WordPress. [24:51] Skilled people, generous people, people [24:55] who keep learning and sharing. [24:58] Before that, I have been trying to grow [25:01] on my own. [25:03] But in the community, I found people I [25:06] could learn from, talk with, and walk [25:10] with. [25:12] And third, it gave me confidence. [25:16] This was very important for me. The [25:19] knowledge I gained from the community [25:21] helped me feel more confident with [25:23] clients. [25:25] And the connections I made gave me [25:27] people I could trust. [25:30] Together, we could solve problems. [25:34] That confidence changed my the way I [25:36] worked. [25:38] It helped me grow my business too. [25:43] The community also changed the kind of [25:45] work I could do. [25:47] By working with people from the [25:50] WordPress community who has skills [25:52] beyond my own, I was able to take on [25:55] work that I could never have done alone. [25:59] That changed my career too. [26:02] I grew from being a coder to become a [26:05] director and eventually I started my own [26:08] company. [26:13] So when I say the WordPress community [26:15] changed my life, I really mean it. [26:19] It changed my work, my confidence and my [26:23] future. [26:25] And now I am standing here at work camp [26:27] Asia in Mumbai sharing this story with [26:30] you. [26:31] If I had never come to India, I might [26:34] never had have entered the IT world. [26:38] And if I had never found a WordPress [26:40] community, [26:42] I'm not I might not be here today. [26:45] So from the bottom of my heart, thank [26:48] you so much. [26:50] India gave me a new direction. The [26:53] WordPress community helped me build a [26:55] new life and a career. [26:59] And now I have a dream. My dream is to [27:02] keep growing my business and to give [27:05] back to WordPress. [27:08] And I also hope to become a bridge [27:10] between India and Japan. [27:14] This is one of the meaning meanings [27:16] behind my company name techbridge. [27:20] I want to connect people, skills and [27:23] opportunities through technology. [27:26] I do not know exactly how that dream [27:29] will grow yet, but one day I hope I can [27:33] help create more connection and more [27:35] collaboration between India and Japan. [27:40] And finally, if there is anyone here [27:42] today who is thinking about a new [27:45] challenge or career change or joining [27:48] the WordPress community for the first [27:50] time, I want to encourage you to take [27:53] that step. [27:55] A meetup or work camp may give you more [27:57] than knowledge. [27:59] It may give you connection. It may give [28:02] you confidence [28:04] and it may even give you a new direction [28:07] in life. [28:09] At least that is what it gave me. [28:13] Thank you very much. [28:22] Thank you. Thank you for the speech and [28:24] your contribution. Just a small token of [28:28] appreciation. [28:34] >> Thank you so much. [28:35] >> Thank you. [28:42] >> Okay. [28:44] So, [28:46] we'll have our next speaker [28:48] and that is Aval Mittel. AL Mel is a [28:52] marketing lead at RT cam combining [28:56] storytelling [28:58] with hands-on work on advanced WordPress [29:02] solution like AIdriven experiences and [29:06] multibrand platforms. He also strongly [29:08] believe in WordPress as a powerful [29:12] enterprise solution and he also he is [29:16] also a colleagues and friend. He'll be [29:20] his session will be how to sell [29:23] WordPress know who you are building for. [29:27] So please welcome on stage Aal [29:30] Mel [29:34] thanks. Yeah. [29:39] Thanks Rey. [29:42] Hello everyone. I am Airal Bittal. I'm [29:47] the CMO at RTMP and I have a perspective [29:50] to share today on how to sell WordPress. [29:53] Let's get right into it. [29:56] I want you to picture a scenario that [29:59] I'm sure almost every person here might [30:02] have experienced, [30:04] increasingly so. [30:06] You're sitting across from a prospective [30:08] client or maybe on a Zoom call. They've [30:12] been doing their research. And by [30:14] research I mean they've been talking to [30:16] vendors and platforms. [30:18] They've been reading about reading tech [30:20] blogs and lurking on LinkedIn. [30:24] They come to you swimming in a soup of [30:26] buzzwords. They're asking if they need a [30:29] headless architecture. They want to know [30:32] if they should be on a DXP. They're [30:35] trying to make sense of terms like [30:37] Jamstack, static side generators, [30:40] serverless, React, Vue, Angular, and [30:44] what have you. [30:47] They have been told that they need the [30:49] absolute latest bleeding edge tech [30:52] stack. [30:54] There is fear of missing out. They feel [30:57] like their competitors are out there [30:59] building a spaceship and they would [31:01] rather not fall behind. of course. And [31:05] into this environment of confusion, [31:07] FOMO, and the desperate need to have the [31:10] greatest and the latest, you look them [31:12] in the eye and say, "We should use [31:15] WordPress." [31:17] And right there, the energy in the room [31:19] shifts. [31:21] You're not the expert guiding them [31:23] anymore. You're just one option among [31:26] many. [31:27] They've been to Twitter or Reddit and [31:30] they see tech bros shilling their modern [31:33] frameworks. They see the same old jokes. [31:36] WordPress is old. It's built on outdated [31:40] PHP. It is bloated. And my favorite, [31:44] WordPress is dead. Yet again, [31:48] WordPress has been declared dead more [31:50] times than a comic book villain. [31:53] And as WordPress professionals, our [31:56] natural instinct is to get defensive. We [32:00] try to f fight back on their terms. [32:04] We start talking about the REST API. We [32:08] talk about how Gutenberg is built on [32:09] React. We talk about how WordPress is [32:12] modernizing and how we can actually [32:14] build a decoupled headless WordPress [32:16] site for them. [32:18] The problem is by going into this [32:21] conversation we try to play the play on [32:24] the turf of these fancy architectures [32:27] and frameworks. [32:29] Even when we are 100% right that [32:32] WordPress has been evolving as a [32:34] platform for the past 20 plus years, we [32:38] play defense and many a times even lose [32:41] the pitch because we are arguing about [32:44] the engine when the client really just [32:46] needs to know how to drive the car. [32:50] So my advice to everyone in this room [32:52] today is simple. Stop selling WordPress. [32:56] Now before the security kicks me out of [32:58] this word cam stage, I don't mean stop [33:01] using WordPress. I mean stop selling [33:04] WordPress as a technology. [33:07] The next time you have a client [33:09] wondering about micros service [33:10] architecture and unified code bases, I [33:14] want you to pause the technical [33:15] conversation entirely. [33:17] I want you to look at them and ask who [33:21] is actually going to publish on this [33:23] site. [33:25] Just ask them who does the SEO, who sets [33:29] up the content, how does a piece of [33:32] content go from a draft to a live page, [33:36] who is building the landing pages for [33:38] your marketing campaigns? Are these [33:41] people software engineers or are they [33:43] non-technical marketers, editors, and [33:46] creators? [33:48] If the answer is yes, our daily [33:51] publishers are all engineers. Sure, let [33:54] them choose whatever stack they like. [33:56] Let them build a Jamstack site. Let them [33:59] push markdown files through Git [34:01] repositories. Let them have their fun. [34:05] However, 99% of the time that is not the [34:09] answer. The site is going to be managed [34:13] by a marketing team, usually a [34:16] non-technical marketing team. [34:20] So you ask the client, [34:22] do you want your marketing team to be [34:24] able to publish blogs on their own? Do [34:27] you want to do you want them to spin up [34:29] landing pages on their own without [34:32] creating a ticket? Do you want them to [34:34] manage their own SEO metadata, update [34:37] the brand messaging and move quickly? [34:42] Because if the answer is yes, then we [34:44] need to talk about their daily reality. [34:48] How important is a unified codebase for [34:51] a marketing director who just needs to [34:53] fix a typo on the homepage before a [34:56] campaign goes live? [34:59] How important is a decoupled [35:01] architecture to an SEO specialist who [35:04] just needs to optimize headers and [35:06] schema markup? [35:08] It is not. It doesn't matter to them. [35:11] And yet even when these technical [35:14] considerations are completely irrelevant [35:17] to the actual human beings who will live [35:20] in the site day in and day out, these [35:23] are the parameters on which [35:24] organizations are being asked to choose [35:27] their platforms. [35:30] They are being asked to choose a CMS [35:33] based on how fun it is for developers to [35:36] build rather than how easy it is for the [35:40] marketing folks to run campaigns. [35:44] I'm asking you to lean heavily into [35:47] WordPress's time-tested unique [35:50] advantages. [35:51] There is a reason this platform [35:54] dominates more than 40% of the web and [35:57] it's not because people were forced into [35:59] using it. It is because the user [36:02] experience it is because of the user [36:05] experience of the non-technical [36:07] operators. [36:08] The real advantage of WordPress even [36:11] with the advent of all these modern [36:13] frameworks, architectures and super [36:16] expensive DXPs is autonomy. [36:21] It is a fact that a marketing [36:24] coordinator can log into a familiar [36:26] dashboard on a busy day, set up a draft [36:30] intuitively, drag in an image, add a [36:33] block, check their SEO score, and just [36:36] hit publish. [36:38] And when they hit publish, they don't [36:41] feel like they just initiated a [36:43] initiated a rocket launch sequence. They [36:45] don't have to wait 15 minutes for a site [36:48] rebuild to trigger on a server somewhere [36:52] just to see if their image align [36:54] correctly. [36:55] They just do their job. When you sell [36:58] WordPress, you are not selling PHP or [37:01] MySQL. You are selling speed to market. [37:05] You are selling marketing autonomy. You [37:07] are selling peace of mind. [37:11] I want to close with a concept from one [37:14] of my favorite marketers, Rory [37:16] Sutherland. [37:18] He talks about the doman policy. [37:22] Imagine a high-end hotel with a human [37:25] doorman. [37:26] A highly logical agency or engineer [37:29] comes in and says, "This is incredibly [37:32] inefficient. [37:33] We can replace this doorman with an [37:36] automatic sliding door. It is cheaper. [37:39] It uses modern technology. [37:42] It opens faster and it has fewer moving [37:45] parts. [37:47] So they fire the doorman and install the [37:50] automatic door. Technically the engineer [37:54] optimized the door. But they completely [37:57] reduced the function of a human doorman [37:59] to just opening the door. They [38:02] misunderstood what the doorman did. The [38:05] doorman was not just a manual door [38:07] opening mechanism. The doorman welcomed [38:10] guests, recognized the regulars, [38:14] provided a sense of security, [38:17] hailed cabs, and set the entire warmos [38:20] hospitalitable tone for the hotel [38:22] experience. [38:24] By overoptimizing for a specific [38:26] technical function, they gave up the [38:29] absolute basics of hospitality. [38:33] This is exactly what is happening in web [38:36] development right now. We are letting [38:38] vendors and tech platforms over optimize [38:41] for united front end and backend [38:44] developer experience and headless [38:47] buzzwords [38:48] and in the process they are giving up [38:51] the absolute basics of what publishing [38:53] should look like for the people who [38:56] actually do the work. [39:00] So let the other agencies and platforms [39:03] sell the automatic doors. Let them sell [39:06] the friction, the Jira tickets and the [39:09] rocket launches. You you sell the [39:12] doorman. You sell the hospitality of the [39:15] world's best publishing experience. [39:19] Remember who you are building for and [39:22] then sell WordPress. [39:24] Thank you. [39:35] Thank you Abel for the speech. So he has [39:39] a small token of appreciation. [39:44] Thank you. Thank you. Go from [39:49] this side. [39:54] You can do it. [40:04] Okay. Uh [40:07] so now while [40:10] um we will be having speakers on stage [40:14] but we have to prepare it. So we do have [40:17] some times now for I think we'll have [40:21] four to five minutes free time. So uh we [40:24] will not waste time but [40:28] we are here in World Camp Asia 2026 and [40:33] one of the thing that we do is to [40:35] connect and network with people right [40:39] and [40:41] especially [40:43] we connect with people that we haven't [40:45] known before. So I will take this time. [40:49] Let us all take this time. Stand up and [40:52] go to your left and to your right. [40:54] Connect. Go to the people that you have [40:56] not known before and say hi and get them [41:01] get yourself known to them and get to [41:04] know each other. So we'll take this [41:06] time. We'll not we'll take this time [41:08] four to five minutes. Come on. Come on. [41:10] Let's all take the time to connect with [41:13] each other, especially to the one that [41:16] we [41:18] are not known yet. [41:55] Hey. Hey. Hey. [42:13] Hello. [42:16] So, we'll be starting soon. So, use this [42:19] opportunity to connect with each other [42:21] and we will have our speaker on stage [42:24] shortly. [42:45] Heat. Heat. [44:10] Heat. Heat. [44:20] Heat. Heat. N. [44:30] Hey, hey, hey. [45:24] feel [45:47] feeling. [45:49] Feel [46:05] me. [46:13] Hey. Hey. [46:42] Heat. [46:58] Heat. [47:05] Heat. Heat. [48:11] Hello. [48:19] Hello. [49:48] me. Everybody Hey, hey, hey. [50:18] I want you. [50:22] I want you. [53:03] Heat. Heat. [56:06] Good afternoon everyone. I hope you all [56:09] are doing great and having an amazing [56:12] experience here. Also to all the [56:14] participants, all the attendees, [56:16] everyone, I request you to please come [56:18] forward because we have the seat here. [56:20] Please come to the front. Don't shy. And [56:23] we will begin our next session. [56:27] I am Yuriki a developer and creator from [56:31] Nepal and I will be your MC for the next [56:34] few session of the day. [56:38] Also a few reminder to you. Close [56:41] captioning is available on your personal [56:43] device for all the session. Scan the QR [56:46] code of this room and follow the [56:48] onscreen prompts to begin receiving [56:51] captions. [56:52] Ladies and gentlemen, as WordPress [56:55] continues to empower people across the [56:57] globe, education plays a vital role in [57:00] making the platform more accessible, [57:02] inclusive, and impactful for the [57:05] communities everywhere. In the next [57:07] session, we will be hearing a lot about [57:10] how WordPress bridges the gap between [57:13] classroom and the real world [57:15] contribution. To dive deeper into the [57:18] conversation, we have an incredible [57:20] lineup of panelists with diverse [57:23] experience and insight. Ladies and [57:26] gentlemen, we now move into the panel [57:28] discussion on the topic education [57:31] initiative in the WordPress ecosystem. [57:34] Guiding the discussion we have our [57:36] moderator writes seales. Talking about [57:40] our moderator, he is a product leader [57:43] with 10 years of experience in WordPress [57:46] focused on B2B and B2C solution [57:49] including WP bakery. Please allow me to [57:52] welcome our moderator writer Savalis [57:55] along with the panelist Anand Upadaya [57:58] and Machi Pilarski. Let's welcome them [58:02] with a big round of applause. [58:05] All the best. [58:06] >> All the best. [58:14] Okay. [58:16] So, hi everyone. Uh for the next 40 [58:19] minutes, you will be hearing a lot about [58:22] uh education. Yes. And uh yes, first [58:27] let's talk about our panelists. Maybe [58:30] you can introduce yourself and uh tell [58:34] audience how you got into WordPress. I [58:37] I'm sure there is a beautiful story [58:39] behind it. You can also touch a bit of [58:41] an education side. Uh Anand. [58:44] >> Yeah. [58:45] >> So hello everyone. So thanks for like [58:48] moderating this panel that is and I'm [58:50] very glad to be here. My name is Anand [58:53] Padhya and I am a founder of WP wipes a [58:56] plug-in development company and apart [58:59] from them I'm very much passionate about [59:01] the community and the education as well [59:03] and that's how I got into like um [59:07] WordPress campus connect credits and all [59:09] these education initiative program I'm [59:10] very passionate about this and I started [59:13] the first ever WordPress campus connect [59:15] 24 and since then I'm contributing a lot [59:18] towards the community building um I [59:21] started WordPress using using WordPress [59:23] in 2010 and it's simple. I joined the [59:26] company after completing my education [59:27] and I was introduced to WordPress. So [59:29] that's how I got into it and after that [59:33] I started my own plug-in development [59:35] company in 2017 and that's like a [59:38] amazing story I can share some sometime [59:40] else how I got into in plug-in from [59:42] agencies. So yeah that's about me. Okay, [59:48] >> thanks for having me. Um my name is [59:50] Mache. Um, I currently work for [59:54] Automatic on the WordPress.org site [59:57] where I'm responsible for uh growing the [60:00] WordPress educational initiatives in [60:03] particular WordPress credits. So my [60:06] story with WordPress started [60:10] around 2007. [60:12] That's been a while. I I forgot the name [60:14] of the version of WordPress, but it's [60:17] uh it's been a while. But for many years [60:20] I've been just a user. When I needed [60:23] resources, I went to the support forums [60:26] um to get the knowledge answers that I [60:28] needed. Everything changed around 2014 [60:31] when I applied as a volunteer for uh [60:34] World Camp Europe in Sophia, one of the [60:36] first uh World Camps European the [60:39] flagships. Um it was out of the blue. I [60:42] went there just out of curiosity. So [60:45] when I arrived there, my mind was blown [60:47] by by the whole community, the whole [60:49] ecosystem [60:51] um by everyone being so engaged in that. [60:55] And it was funny when I also met some of [60:58] the Polish community members who were [61:00] like who are you? Why we don't know you? [61:03] Like how did you appear? So I had felt [61:05] very welcome and since that moment I [61:08] started being active in the Polish [61:09] WordPress community organizing events uh [61:13] meetups [61:14] and uh at some point I started working [61:17] at automatic and this year will be 10 [61:19] years since I'm been with automatic. So [61:22] it's been quite a journey and I look [61:25] forward for what future brings. [61:27] >> It's uh actually pretty interesting. We [61:30] met with Mache thanks to the Polish [61:33] community [61:34] >> and uh Mache said like okay if it feels [61:37] that it's hard to pronounce my name [61:39] Mache you can always call me Matt and [61:42] from that moment I'm I'm telling [61:44] everyone yeah yeah I'm having a call [61:46] with Matt from Automatic. Yes. [61:50] >> Yes. [61:51] >> Uh so uh let's uh set the stage. Uh [61:56] there are several uh initiatives [61:58] educational initiatives in uh WordPress. [62:02] So maybe maybe you can explain briefly [62:05] like name them and then we will dive [62:07] deeper. [62:09] >> Yeah. [62:11] >> So like there are multiple initiatives [62:12] going on. So one of couple of them I [62:15] will explain and then I will pass mic to [62:17] uh Matt. So first one is the WordPress [62:20] campus connect. So this started in 204 [62:24] when I particularly with my local [62:26] community member from Ajmir that's India [62:28] we started a event that was not uh at [62:30] the time official event format but it [62:33] was like a what is a option for like [62:35] apply for events where you can [62:37] experiment with different initiatives [62:38] different ideas so we applied for WP [62:41] campus connect and we connected in that [62:43] format we connect with multiple campuses [62:45] it's educational campuses like in [62:47] colleges universities and then we go to [62:49] their campus when we introduce WordPress [62:51] to their students. So it's not like a [62:53] word camp kind of format where we are [62:55] asking students to come to a place and [62:58] learn about WordPress. So instead of [63:00] that we are going to their campus and [63:02] telling them about like what is [63:03] WordPress, what are the career [63:04] opportunities. The whole goal is to like [63:07] bridge the gap between the WordPress [63:09] community and academics. So sometime I [63:12] personally feel that what would I have [63:14] got into WordPress when I was in student [63:16] life. So similarly I want to like figure [63:19] out like how we can introduce WordPress [63:21] to the early stage in their life. So [63:22] they can understand the career [63:23] opportunities that comes in the [63:25] WordPress ecos because WordPress is not [63:27] just like a developer kind of thing. We [63:29] have vast career opportunity whether [63:30] you're a coder, non-coder, creative [63:32] person like design person, content [63:34] creator. So there are vast opportunity. [63:35] So that's how we started WordPress [63:37] campus connect and after that we like [63:40] this initial edition of this response of [63:42] initial edition was amazing and this [63:44] idea was pitched to the higher [63:45] leadership and they like if you have [63:48] attended the morning session of Mary [63:49] like she mentioned a lot about the [63:51] WordPress campus connect credits and [63:52] student program so that's how like it's [63:56] almost an year all this conversation [63:58] started in the April last year when we I [64:01] work working with Destiny and we [64:03] introduced you as a official event [64:05] format. So now just like we have work [64:07] camp and do action, we have another [64:09] event format WordPress campus connect. [64:11] So you can apply to that event and [64:13] organize in a campus and connect that [64:15] campus to a uh WordPress community and [64:18] after that after this initiative another [64:21] idea came is student clubs because like [64:23] we are going to a university or a campus [64:25] once in a year and organizing a campus [64:27] connect event. So it sparks a ray of [64:32] like hope for students like this is [64:33] something amazing that is coming but how [64:35] to continue that momentum. So from that [64:37] the idea came about the student club and [64:40] so it's like a if you have been to the [64:42] WordPress meetup it's like a meetup [64:43] meetup group within the campus and it it [64:46] is run by students they are leading the [64:48] student club and they are running the [64:50] student club students are joining and [64:51] they are like it's kind of a group study [64:54] can you can say so they are they are own [64:56] they are learning from the other [64:57] different resources and they are sharing [64:58] their learning to their their other [65:00] students. So that's another initiative [65:02] student club. So uh apart from that [65:05] there is another amazing initiative. So [65:07] Matt will explain more about it. [65:09] >> Yes. So the final initiative is [65:11] WordPress credits which is the [65:13] contribution based uh program by the [65:17] WordPress foundation for higher [65:20] education students. So uh the program [65:23] started in 2005 at the University of [65:26] Pisa where ISO PA uh introduced it. Uh [65:31] what is interesting it started with a [65:33] university that was focused on humanity [65:36] studies. So it wasn't it which just [65:39] proves that uh pretty much anyone can [65:42] get involved into that uh the WordPress [65:44] ecosystem not only IT people developers. [65:48] So at uh this point the program grew to [65:52] 18 universities globally. Uh it [65:56] basically allows students to have an [65:58] internship in the WordPress foundation. [66:01] Um we have two versions of of the [66:05] program. One is 150 hours and the second [66:08] one we've recently introduced is 50 [66:10] hours. The program is um split into [66:14] three phases where the students on uh [66:17] phase one are getting on boarded into [66:20] our whole ecosystem. [66:23] um how uh the concepts of open source uh [66:28] what are the values how basically our [66:30] community functions. [66:33] Then on the second stage uh they work on [66:36] a contribution project. They pick any [66:38] field that they feel comfortable with. [66:41] Pretty much all those area of [66:42] contributions are the ones that are [66:44] listed at make atwordpress.org. [66:47] Um so during the project phase the [66:51] students are connected with mentors from [66:53] the WordPress community. The mentors are [66:55] vetted by us the WordPress credit [66:57] program. So we are sure that the that [67:00] those are actual uh people with [67:03] community background who will teach the [67:05] students the best practices around the [67:07] community. And at the end the final [67:10] phase three is wrapping up the project [67:13] where students uh create a presentation [67:16] of the achievement what what what they [67:19] do to share the the the the the goals [67:22] and successes. They receive a [67:25] certificate from the WordPress [67:27] foundation signed by Matt himself and [67:30] they are ready to to contribute to our [67:33] uh ecosystem. The goal of the program is [67:36] not to just part complete the program [67:39] and leave the community. We would love [67:41] those those students to remain uh in the [67:44] community and be the future of the [67:46] project shaped the future of the project [67:49] because it's all about like bringing new [67:51] people to our ecosystem. [67:53] >> Yeah. Uh I actually yeah I like uh how [67:56] Anan said it's uh instead of asking [68:00] students to come we are going to [68:03] students [68:04] >> and uh I have plenty questions already [68:07] from what I heard guys but uh stepping a [68:09] bit aside it's uh WordPress is powering [68:14] around 42% of the web so [68:17] >> almost like my cat knows what is [68:19] WordPress. Yeah. So why in your opinion [68:23] why do you really why do we really need [68:26] those students to to join us as a [68:29] community is huge. What brought us here [68:33] might not move us forward more. Uh we [68:36] need to adapt to the current environment [68:39] the changes the approaches that are [68:40] happening. [68:42] um [68:45] we are not the the the percentage that [68:47] we reach right now might go both ways up [68:51] or down. Our goal of course is to grow [68:54] grow the the uh strength of WordPress [68:57] but um we also need to be proactive and [69:00] adapt to the uh the changes the AI [69:05] everything happening uh pretty much glo [69:07] globally. So, it's important to never [69:09] stop working and continue to to to get [69:12] new contributors. And finally, we're [69:15] getting older. It's time to [69:17] >> That's exactly that's exactly I I don't [69:19] remember the author, but I have read a [69:21] blog post a couple of years back and it [69:22] was from about the European community [69:24] and there a statement the European [69:26] WordPress community is aging. [69:27] >> Yeah. [69:28] >> So, it is it is everywhere not just [69:30] company everybody everywhere. So, we [69:32] need like fresh people and al it's also [69:34] not just about contribution. [69:36] We have keep we are keeping contributing [69:39] contributing building WordPress but we [69:40] also incre need to increase the user [69:43] base as well. So like all these three [69:45] programs are creating kind of ecosystem [69:47] so that can engage people in using [69:49] WordPress using WordPress as a personal [69:52] use using WordPress as a professionally [69:54] for building their businesses and [69:56] startup or freelancing whatever this and [69:58] also the contributing because as I said [70:00] WP credits is fully wholly focused on [70:03] the contribution part. So it's a kind of [70:04] a chain the campus canet can bring bring [70:07] the spark about WordPress introduce them [70:09] to work WordPress then the student club [70:12] can keep the momentum going on with the [70:14] on-ampus activity and once the students [70:17] are more aware about WordPress then we [70:18] can introduce okay now let's jump into [70:20] it and start contributing. So that's the [70:23] whole beauty of all these initiatives is [70:24] not only focused on one thing it's [70:26] because if you if you focus on creating [70:29] more users and less contributors it's a [70:32] problem. If you are keeping on focusing [70:34] on the contribution and not working on [70:37] the increasing the user base again a [70:38] problem. So it's a kind of a balance we [70:40] are focusing on both the parts so so [70:42] that we can bring more new new energy [70:45] new people and new perspective to the [70:47] WordPress [70:48] >> and what is great is that each of those [70:50] initiatives they don't compete each with [70:52] each other they uh [70:54] >> it's kind of chain [70:55] >> uh exactly they support each other [70:57] because once one university starts with [71:00] the credits program then we also [71:02] incorporate uh the campus connect event [71:06] to add additional connection with the [71:08] local uh community from from that area [71:10] and in some areas the um it starts with [71:14] the campus connect event it gets [71:16] students attention into WordPress then [71:19] we introduce a full-on uh credits [71:21] program to that team. Yeah, we have we [71:23] have a very good examples of like when [71:24] when we started as a campus minute [71:26] program like that person sitting on the [71:27] front line he's like a dean of [71:29] agriculture and technical university of [71:31] Kapur and in their campus we started the [71:34] as a just a it was just started as a [71:36] campus connect event then the student [71:38] started diving in and then student also [71:41] getting involved in the word camp as on [71:43] a volunteer and then we started pitching [71:46] into about the credits program and they [71:48] were happily we don't have to pitch more [71:49] because they already know everything [71:51] about the community [71:53] I I wanted to ask about the sequence. [71:54] Yeah. But it seems like as as you said [71:57] uh you can start uh maybe with campus [72:00] connect maybe before [72:01] >> it's not yet it's not a defined sequence [72:02] but yeah [72:03] >> but uh maybe can I say that campus [72:07] connect and student club is like you [72:09] start with campus connect and maybe then [72:11] form the student club or [72:14] how which should be the first [72:18] uh it's depend on the approach but I [72:19] feel like that the campus connect should [72:21] be the first so because especially if [72:24] the student in the campus are not aware [72:26] about WordPress. The most important [72:27] thing is what is the current uh literacy [72:30] status of of students about the [72:31] WordPress. If they are completely [72:33] unaware about it and we are going to [72:35] tell them okay just contribute in the [72:36] WordPress or just form a student club [72:38] they will say why. So if you are [72:41] introducing WordPress as a through a [72:43] campus connect event we are just [72:44] introducing about them about the vast [72:45] career opportunities that it can bring [72:47] because everybody will do something if [72:50] they know that they are also getting [72:51] something in return. It's kind of a [72:53] rewards reward system if they are [72:54] getting something in reward maybe as a [72:56] exposure as a networking opportunity as [72:58] a career options whatever it is it can [73:00] be anything but if if we can explain [73:03] them that what they will get in return [73:04] and that can be done through the like [73:06] campus connect event we are telling them [73:07] about what most of the most of the [73:09] campus connect event are focusing on [73:10] hands-on experience we tell student we [73:13] don't go to their campus to make them [73:15] expert about WordPress it's not possible [73:16] in one day we are still learning so so [73:20] we what we do we just give them exposure [73:22] to WordPress So give them a sense of [73:24] accomplishment that yeah this is a tool [73:26] amazing tool that we can use some and [73:27] build something big. So in one day we [73:30] just give them that kind of sense and [73:32] after that and we all don't expect like [73:35] we have 100 students sitting on the [73:36] campus and workshop we don't expect all [73:38] the hundred to be like joining the [73:40] WordPress WordPress community but even [73:43] if 10 or 20 are converting into joining [73:45] the WordPress community and then a big [73:47] big big opport big accomplishment for us [73:50] >> and and I would also add to that that [73:54] it's not only about WordPress because [73:56] the amount of skills that students [73:58] students learn as part of those [74:00] programs. Uh growing global communities, [74:04] working in a multicultural environment, [74:07] working remotely. Those are those [74:09] additional benefits that are part of of [74:13] uh the program and it's also very [74:15] valuable for the institution itself [74:19] because it allows uh them to teach the [74:22] students actual skills that they will be [74:24] pretty much able to use immediately on [74:26] the market. and with uh the credits [74:31] program or their progress is stored in [74:34] the WordPress.org profile. So if in the [74:38] future they would like to for example [74:40] apply to any WordPress ecosystem company [74:44] that company the the future employer [74:47] will be able to check the track of the [74:49] contributions. So this works it secures [74:53] basically the future for for the [74:56] students. [74:57] >> You actually you touched an important [74:59] part. So the question is of course from [75:01] the student perspective why should I [75:04] join you know campus connect or [75:08] WordPress credits or form the student [75:10] club. Yes. So uh as we already heard so [75:14] that's a bit of networking experience [75:18] actually acquiring skills. [75:20] >> Yes. So yeah uh what what else what's uh [75:23] what are the more benefits for the [75:25] students? [75:27] So it's not only about like when we are [75:29] talking about WordPress campus connect [75:31] or what WP credits and everything it's [75:33] not only about learning WordPress [75:35] because we all know like when we are [75:37] double building a website using [75:38] WordPress a lot of components are [75:40] involved so so they get so through this [75:43] internal activities they get to learn a [75:44] lot more about other other things as [75:46] well like from if you are working on [75:48] WordPress you are learning building a [75:50] website using WordPress you will touch [75:51] the SEO as well you will touch the UIUX [75:53] as well you will if you working on the [75:55] programming you will learn the skills of [75:57] GitHub. Even by contributing you learn a [75:59] lot of things how a big project is [76:01] managed. I started contributing to [76:04] documentation couple of years ago and I [76:06] I realized that GitHub can be used as [76:09] for managing the project as well. I have [76:10] always used as like a version control [76:12] system. So, so you know you never know [76:15] what kind of knowledge you will get from [76:17] when you are interacting with any team [76:18] any community and the most important [76:21] thing like from the WB credit the [76:24] initial phase was just kind of [76:25] self-arning system where they are given [76:27] some kind of courses on the learn [76:28] WordPress and they are learning from [76:29] them but after that we introduced them [76:31] to the multi multiple there are multiple [76:33] teams based on their skill their [76:35] interest as a mentors guide them to [76:38] select a team and after that when they [76:40] are started contributing to a particular [76:42] team they they interact with a lot of [76:44] people from the global community. So [76:46] that is also a big opportunity that you [76:48] cannot get if you are just sitting in [76:50] your classroom or university and just [76:52] surrounding by your friends and [76:54] faculties. So sometime you have to like [76:57] look at the broad horizon to gain some [77:00] bigger perspective [77:01] >> and there there are many companies [77:04] involved in in building WordPress. So as [77:07] a student you actually gain the [77:09] knowledge like you you see how things [77:11] work within the community and how they [77:14] work within certain companies. So that's [77:16] that's an amazing experience that [77:18] probably none of the uh alternative [77:22] internships can offer. [77:23] >> Yeah. Plus there are companies who [77:26] actually support the the credits [77:28] project. um we got like WP bakery uh who [77:33] offer services or or tools for the [77:36] students as part of the internship. So [77:39] it's not only like you've mentioned [77:41] WordPress but also the students have an [77:44] uh opportunity to learn uh about uh [77:49] additional tools that they can use in [77:50] the future uh that are part of this this [77:54] setup that we provide them to get [77:55] started. [77:57] Um you touched uh the business point of [78:01] view uh the all the educational programs [78:04] are relatively new. So [78:08] what businesses what businesses within [78:10] WordPress can do for you? How how [78:13] businesses can get involved actually [78:16] what support do you need? So uh you can [78:20] provide us with tools plugins or [78:23] hosting. Those are two two uh the two [78:26] options that uh the students will as [78:29] part of the contribution they are going [78:31] to build a website where they document [78:33] the the whole progress. So uh for that [78:36] they can use the hosting infrastructure [78:39] provided by the sponsors of the plug-in [78:42] like I mentioned they can use specific [78:44] plugins to build that website which will [78:47] be provided by uh those companies. Uh [78:50] the companies can also sponsor mentors [78:52] because uh majority of the mentors is [78:55] volunteers but uh there are two options. [78:59] A company when we sign agreement [79:02] for for supporting the program they can [79:06] um provide us with a mentor from the [79:08] inside of the company or decide to uh [79:11] sponsor a mentor from the community. So [79:13] that's another way. um you can also as a [79:17] company um sponsor a particular students [79:20] to attend them for for events. So there [79:22] are multiple ways how the program can be [79:26] supported. Another option is uh support [79:29] for the tools uh subscription uh costs [79:32] for the tools that we use to run the [79:34] program. So it's a matter of uh [79:38] discussing with the company uh what they [79:41] can do, what do we need, align those [79:43] those needs and then we figure out a [79:46] way. [79:47] >> What about uh campus connect student [79:49] clubs? [79:50] >> Yeah. So campus connect is like uh for [79:52] the campus connect we get some kind of a [79:54] financial support for the WordPress [79:56] foundation as well but uh that's a fixed [79:58] amount for per campus. So in case some [80:01] some event is like getting gathering a [80:02] large number of audience a large number [80:04] of students they are capturing so they [80:06] might need some kind of support. So that [80:08] is one of the area where they can [80:09] support and another part is like that's [80:12] something that we are right now in [80:14] discussing stage in multiple people and [80:16] I was discussing with some companies and [80:17] we have a small discussion with you as [80:19] well where the student clubs are already [80:22] engaging and they are like doing a some [80:24] kind of self-study and self-arning [80:26] system and at some stage that now they [80:28] have understanding about okay this is [80:30] something that we want to learn further [80:31] there's something they want to learn [80:32] further and deep dive into this. So, so [80:35] companies what companies can do is they [80:37] they have like a amazing professionals [80:38] in their team and they can kind of [80:40] subject matter expert for them maybe [80:43] student wants to a particular student [80:45] wants to learn about SEO. So any company [80:47] who have like a amazing SEO professional [80:50] they can tell them okay if you are a [80:52] nearby city can you go for one day and [80:54] take a workshop and if you're not if if [80:56] it's not nearby maybe from the other [80:58] country as well you can just take a [81:00] webinar and tell them about whatever the [81:03] topic it can be about SEO it can be [81:05] about plugins it can be about deep [81:06] diving into WordPress contribution [81:08] whatever it is so this is another way [81:10] where companies can like sponsor their [81:12] team members to guide it's not a kind of [81:14] a continuous lecture session like you [81:16] are not committing like we are taking at [81:18] a weekly classes. It's like just about [81:20] okay today we are going to learn about [81:22] this thing and we can and as a community [81:25] member what we can do is we can connect [81:27] because the student doesn't know about [81:29] who can be the best person. So as a [81:31] community member uh if you have a campus [81:32] connect your student club in your city [81:34] and you can as a local community member [81:36] you can just connect the dots. So you [81:38] are connecting with the professionals [81:39] with or the companies with the students [81:42] and then they can start planning. So [81:44] another aspect that we that we have seen [81:46] in the student club is it is also [81:47] helping to develop the leadership skills [81:50] because in student club we have a kind [81:52] of a student club leaders organizers. So [81:54] they are acting kind of as a they are [81:56] growing growing as a leaders. So that is [81:58] another plus point that we are getting [82:00] we have seen noticing that this is not [82:02] something that we have envisioned when [82:03] we started this plan but this is kind of [82:05] a we can say a byproducts that are [82:07] coming out of that program [82:09] >> and uh if you check on wordpress.org org [82:12] the schedule of work camps you will also [82:15] see campus connect there and and and [82:17] there are that's a huge list now so it's [82:20] it's actually for the businesses you can [82:22] also check for example the local campus [82:25] connect events reach out [82:28] >> find out if there is anything like [82:30] support needed [82:32] yeah simple things and I know that uh [82:35] the foundation provides uh some [82:37] financial support [82:38] >> $300 per campus max [82:40] >> yeah so But any addition [82:42] >> that that is that is already a good [82:44] support but yeah if if a particular [82:46] campus and depend upon the which cities [82:47] is happening there are some cities have [82:50] like some people things are very costly [82:52] and maybe they are attracting a [82:54] particular campus we are like there are [82:56] more students if they need need kind of [82:58] a support they can and especially that [83:00] for the campus connect event the sponsor [83:01] package is not that big just like word [83:03] camps it's a lowc cost event we don't [83:05] have that much expenses we are not [83:07] setting up the booths or creating that [83:09] kind of a stage we are In that case we [83:11] are just going to their campus and they [83:13] are like welcoming us as like a guest [83:15] and we are utilizing their facilities. [83:18] So so we don't have to pay a lot of [83:20] things. So so that's easy way for [83:23] companies to come forward and support [83:25] such events. And uh for for businesses [83:28] it's uh actually uh there's an [83:30] interesting perspective we were [83:32] discussing uh weeks back that uh any [83:37] business within the WordPress what it's [83:40] like why do businesses care uh about [83:43] those educational initiatives if you [83:45] have WordPress product WordPress [83:47] service. So making sure that people [83:50] learn WordPress like the basis is the [83:54] very very first step of the of the [83:56] onboarding process like how can you [83:59] expect people to use your WordPress [84:02] product your WordPress service if they [84:04] don't know how to use WordPress. So [84:06] those educational initiatives basically [84:08] address uh that specific problem [84:10] >> to increase the WordPress user base is a [84:12] collective effort. It it cannot be done [84:14] by some someone sing someone some single [84:15] person or single company. It's a [84:17] collective effort that we are all [84:18] gaining from this WordPress project. So [84:21] it's our responsibility as well to [84:22] increase the WordPress user base. Apart [84:24] from contributing, we should also focus [84:26] on increasing the user base because and [84:28] also these are the today they are [84:30] students but tomorrow they are going to [84:31] be the professionals. [84:32] >> So so they are your target customers for [84:35] the businesses also. They are your [84:37] target customers in the next two or [84:39] three or five years. So if if they know [84:42] your brand right now, they have some [84:44] picture about your brand, most probably [84:46] when they will get the that kind of [84:47] requirement, they are going to jump into [84:48] it and [84:50] >> think about in in general the companies [84:53] supporting the educational initiatives [84:56] secure the future also of the ecosystem [84:59] because uh they allow us to to to [85:01] continue and adjust the the the project [85:05] into the current uh environment and [85:08] reality that there is. So we are talking [85:11] about our next clients, our next uh [85:14] teammates, our next competitors. You [85:16] know we are in WordPress community [85:18] >> maybe next founders. [85:20] >> Yes, exactly. Um [85:23] let's talk a bit about WordPress [85:25] credits. So uh how can uh students join [85:30] WordPress credits? What [85:32] >> so um the students themselves cannot uh [85:36] join. what they can do is they can apply [85:39] the institution uh if they are [85:43] interested in getting the the university [85:46] on the program at the [85:48] wordpress.org/education /education there [85:50] are all the educational initiatives [85:53] listed. There's a form for specifically [85:56] applying your uh institution for the [85:59] program. Another way is to uh reach out [86:03] one of the program admins like me for [86:05] example. feel free to um get in touch [86:07] with me after this this panel and I will [86:10] be happy to uh explain all your details [86:13] where we will contact that particular [86:16] institution in the name of of the [86:19] students and share with them that the [86:21] students are interested in those those [86:23] programs. We also proactively reaching [86:26] out to institution. But what works most [86:29] is if the community members are for [86:32] example on uh the uh working for a [86:36] particular educational institutions like [86:38] for example in case of writes whose [86:42] works at the university of RIA who's [86:44] also uh part of the credits program they [86:48] can introduce uh the the the university [86:51] into those initiatives and then we sign [86:54] an agreement and collaborate uh and [86:57] introduce um the credit program into the [87:00] university curriculum. [87:02] >> How many universities? [87:04] >> 18. [87:04] >> 18 and that number is growing. So we [87:07] started in 2015 with just pizza and [87:10] after a year and a half we're at 18 [87:12] universities globally. [87:15] Okay, that's impressive numbers I would [87:17] say. Um so as for the campus connect, [87:21] how how can I organize? Can I organize? [87:25] Can students organize? What's the [87:26] process? Yes. [87:27] >> Yeah. So it's open for anyone to come [87:30] forward and organize. So so if you have [87:32] a local community and that region so [87:34] that local if if the community [87:35] initiative is taken by local community [87:37] so you don't have to worry about like [87:38] who is going to take care of all those [87:40] things. So community members can form a [87:42] team and it's not there is no defined [87:44] number of how number of team members [87:46] that you should have and the local [87:48] community member they can just come [87:49] forward and plan that and most important [87:51] thing you should have a campus that is [87:53] willing to host you. So said that is one [87:56] of the biggest challenge. So you have to [87:57] go to a campus and figure out like how [87:59] you if they are interested in that thing [88:01] and then you can apply. So just matt [88:03] said the birdpress.org/education [88:05] there are all the init initiatives [88:07] listed and you can choose a campus [88:08] connect. There is a complete handbook as [88:10] well and there is a simple application [88:13] form. You can just fill it and then [88:14] apply. After that it's simple. There [88:17] will be orientation call and it will be [88:19] discuss about what's your vision, what's [88:21] your plan and that's it. That's the [88:23] process. But then it's the the person [88:27] who is applying like in case you are [88:28] applying that's that all game is yours [88:32] >> of course it's uh [88:34] something like word cam yes [88:36] >> yeah something like word cam all the [88:37] processes like webcam you will getting a [88:39] website you will getting an email [88:40] address for official communication you [88:43] will have to submit a budget so all the [88:45] things that we but yeah things are like [88:48] webcam but things are simpler uh we have [88:51] like complete branding system is already [88:53] on on set you don't have to worry about [88:55] like every word cam we we first figure [88:57] out like okay what should be the logo of [88:59] my wordcam what should be the wo of my [89:01] wordcam so all the things are already [89:04] sorted out we have a like centralized [89:06] branding so we have a WordPress.com [89:08] WordPress WordPress wordpress cam can [89:12] logo there is a wapu official wapu there [89:15] is a website design available and there [89:17] are like even also a trendy designs and [89:19] whatever you need and if you need like a [89:22] slide deck that is already sort sorted [89:23] out a completely well-designed slide [89:25] deck by the community members. Either [89:28] you are whether you are want to a slide [89:30] for pitching to the camp idea to the [89:32] campus or you want a slide deck to [89:34] introducing WordPress to the students. [89:35] Both of these are already set. You just [89:37] copy it and make a changes and you are [89:40] set. So the goal is to provide like all [89:42] the repetitive things that every campus [89:44] connect organizer is going to do. So try [89:47] we are trying to minimize those things. [89:48] So you can focus on delivering the [89:51] educational content to the students and [89:53] not worry about all the different [89:55] things. [89:56] >> Okay. Um so we have uh several [90:00] stakeholders. So we have WordPress. Uh [90:03] we also talked about business, we talked [90:05] about uh students. So there is another [90:08] one like educators. It's also me at some [90:11] point. Yeah. Like one day a week. Uh [90:15] I heard there is there is something new. [90:17] It's currently in the works but [90:19] something it's it was uh [90:21] >> let me check the correct name was uh [90:24] facilit WordPress facilitator training [90:27] program. Is it something related to to [90:30] the educators? [90:31] >> Yeah that's right. That's right. Uh [90:33] there we started working on it we were [90:35] we were using the term training train [90:37] the trainers. [90:38] >> Yeah. So later on we came to there this [90:41] this is already still it's still in the [90:43] formulation part we are working on it [90:45] and especially the destiny we are [90:46] missing her today but she's working on [90:49] it and so it's all on because as you [90:51] said like we are there's a in the whole [90:53] chain there's a missing spot right now [90:56] we have touched the student we have [90:57] touched the community members businesses [90:58] everything but we have not touched the [91:00] campus so uh we have a specialized [91:03] program where they can also learn about [91:05] how they can get involved in this as an [91:07] educator [91:08] Because if we if you follow the same [91:10] curriculum for the for them that that [91:12] you have planned for the student and [91:14] same for the educators it's it's not [91:16] it's not fair. So we have a completely [91:18] working on a completely separate program [91:20] where we will providing a learning [91:21] material learning resources for the uh [91:25] faculties [91:27] of the educ education institutes. So [91:29] they can learn about WordPress. What is [91:31] community? What is contribution? Apart [91:33] from learning the WordPress, it is also [91:35] important to learn the community apart [91:36] the contribution and the whole system [91:38] around the WordPress ecosystem. So they [91:40] can learn about it and and when they are [91:43] already aware about it, they will be a [91:45] major push for the students to deep get [91:48] deep dive into it. They will get a lot [91:50] of motivation. They can give a lot of [91:52] motivation to students as well. [91:54] >> And I heard that uh you know those uh [91:57] learning materials they are of course [91:59] GPL open source. [92:00] >> Yeah. Every every learning material that [92:02] WordPress is providing right now is [92:03] available completely for free on the [92:05] learn.wordpress.org. So you can just use [92:08] it and explore it and then learn from it [92:12] and then deliver your learnings to the [92:14] others. [92:15] uh mache mentioned that uh you don't [92:18] have to be you know like uh engineer [92:22] like student uh it can be like different [92:25] backgrounds and uh there are students in [92:28] audience and uh after after hearing yeah [92:32] >> the that many initiatives all the [92:34] benefits uh what would be the first step [92:38] the next step for them to take how to [92:41] how to start where to look for [92:43] information how to reach out to you [92:45] guys. [92:47] >> You mean uh when they would like to get [92:49] introduced in the [92:50] >> uh for example you know get involved [92:53] into credits, learn more about credits, [92:56] learn more about campus connect, learn [92:58] more about student clubs. [93:01] So the first uh main resource will be [93:04] the education uh um section at [93:08] wordpress.org. So [93:09] WordPress.org/education /education. It [93:11] describes in details all those [93:13] initiatives. Uh there are multiple forms [93:16] for application for campus connects [93:18] credits where um they can get more [93:22] details and also apply themselves for [93:24] the institution or they interest in in [93:27] in various of of those areas. Um [93:33] >> they can probably invite them to join [93:35] Slack as well. Yeah, we can write them [93:38] slack and if the students are here, so [93:40] we are here for tomorrow as well and [93:43] today as well. So you can connect with [93:44] any of us and yeah so most amazing [93:47] sources WordPress.org/education you can [93:49] get a lot more about it and you can join [93:51] make WordPress Slack there separate [93:53] channels for campus connect and credits [93:56] program WP credits. So you can just join [93:58] the channel. Any queries just drop a [94:01] message and the WordPress community is [94:03] very welcoming. Just drop a message and [94:05] someone will surely reply you and we'll [94:07] be will may go forward with to any [94:09] extent to support you in starting these [94:12] initiatives. [94:13] >> And I will be also later today on the [94:16] community booth that is around the uh [94:19] sponsors uh area. So feel free to drop [94:22] by and um ask any questions if you're [94:25] interested in that. Um maybe to wrap up, [94:30] you've been with educational initiatives [94:33] from the very beginning. You help you [94:35] you help to develop them, introduce [94:37] them. Yes. [94:38] Uh [94:40] maybe there is like a 2 minutes each uh [94:43] some moment that was like aha moment, [94:46] wow moment, the satisfying moment that [94:48] you faced uh during working with to move [94:53] those initiatives forward. [94:56] >> Yeah. So the most aha moment is I would [94:58] say like in the first edition of the WP [95:00] campus connect we that was named WP [95:03] campus connect not WordPress campus [95:04] connect because we named it from [95:06] ourselves. So after that the event was [95:09] happened and we were like I have like a [95:11] amazing is getting amazing response for [95:13] new initiative from around the world [95:14] people are appreciating and so then I [95:17] decided like let's pitch it this idea to [95:19] further and ask the people like can we [95:23] can ask the leadership can we make it an [95:24] official format so the all other [95:26] communities can also enjoy this we can [95:28] have a formalized structure and [95:30] everybody for formal say follow the same [95:32] structure and do this thing so I was [95:35] thinking how to meet out reach out to [95:36] Mary in Vham Asia and last year Manila [95:39] somehow she couldn't she couldn't make [95:41] it there and then I schedu her it was a [95:45] very late night for me because [95:48] availability of the slot in the calendar [95:50] and then she took just 10 minutes and I [95:53] explained the idea about the campus [95:54] connect and student club and then that's [95:56] all uh the call was went away and after [96:00] this there are like I think three or [96:02] four weeks of silent and I was thinking [96:04] okay I just I just shared my thoughts [96:07] and now it's gone and then one day I got [96:10] a message and she connected with my [96:11] destiny. Okay, let's take it for further [96:14] and that's the one kind of kind of aha [96:16] moment from this initiative that [96:19] actually set the mile milestone for [96:22] making it a global and when it was [96:24] expanded as a global program that was [96:26] the most aha moment for me in this [96:28] initiative. [96:29] >> Okay. Amazing. in in in uh general from [96:32] like a bigger perspective it was [96:35] mentioned today during Mary's panel when [96:38] she mentioned a student that actually [96:40] became a contributor they've translated [96:42] over 4,000 strings so that's like from a [96:46] bigger perspective it's amazing for me [96:48] personally I not only promote those [96:51] educational initiatives but I am a [96:53] mentor myself and I currently mentor uh [96:57] one of students from the Kraov [97:00] University of Economics where she [97:02] decided to to to pick as her [97:05] contribution the uh community team. Um [97:09] so uh I'm really happy to see how she's [97:14] figuring out those things because I I [97:16] don't give her like straight answers to [97:18] what she would like to achieve. I teach [97:20] her more how to fish those things. And [97:24] um one recent thing that that was pretty [97:26] amazing that like she figured that we're [97:29] lacking some sort of communication for [97:31] the rest of the student from that [97:33] university. So as a community I after [97:36] that moment I knew that like community [97:39] team is her team that's that's her [97:40] future. She figured out that like hey we [97:43] need to create that channel for [97:45] communication to reach out to the rest [97:47] organize ourselves. So [97:50] I explained her work how to do that [97:53] basically but it's very satisi [97:55] satisfying to to to see the the the [97:58] students motivation and like the [98:00] excitement about uh doing those things [98:03] and I personally feel very fulfilled [98:07] with with uh that and see that they will [98:11] be the future of our ecosystem. I think [98:14] this is one of the reasons why we are [98:16] actually all into education and uh yes [98:20] by the way as much mentioned he's mentor [98:23] himself so if you're lucky you can get [98:25] him as a mentor and my wife she's [98:28] getting another education and she's part [98:30] of the WordPress credits program and uh [98:32] her mentor is basically Mley by the way [98:36] and she's telling how amazing he is. [98:38] >> Thank you. Uh and uh yeah I want to [98:41] thank uh our panelists but uh that's not [98:45] all. You know there is a saying a [98:47] picture is worth a thousand words and uh [98:50] we don't just talk about education. We [98:55] want to actually ask uh two of the [98:58] students who are present here today to [99:01] basically share a bit of uh their [99:03] experience. And I want to ask uh Rima [99:09] and Kenny James Kurilla to come to the [99:14] stage and yes [99:25] uh yes thank you thank you for joining. [99:28] It's it's a pleasure. So uh rich maybe [99:33] let's start with you can you share uh a [99:35] bit of your experience with uh WordPress [99:39] educational initiatives you are uh [99:42] organizing the student club right so [99:45] >> okay [99:46] >> how it all started yes [99:48] >> yeah hello everyone so my name is [99:51] Riddhma and I am computer science in [99:54] student I'm also leading the WordPress [99:57] student club at my college campus So [100:00] firstly it is a privilege to be here at [100:02] word camp Asia and share my experience [100:05] with you all. So uh I'm starting with my [100:07] journey with WordPress begin with like [100:10] when a two-day workshop was conducted in [100:13] our college by Anamanser and his team. [100:15] So focusing on WordPress and how to [100:17] build websites using it. So during this [100:21] workshop I developed a strong interest [100:23] in WordPress. The way it simplifies [100:26] website creation and make it accessible [100:28] to beginners really inspired me. So [100:31] later when the opportunity came up in a [100:33] college to become a student club lead [100:36] for WordPress, I took the initiative and [100:38] like stepped forward for this. And the [100:41] primary reason behind this decision was [100:43] my genuine interest in like learning and [100:46] exploring WordPress further and also my [100:49] desire to share this knowledge with [100:51] others. So uh during this time I like [100:54] conducted uh some activities. So my [100:57] first activity is like a basic [100:58] introductory session uh like how [101:00] WordPress WordPress works and for my [101:03] juniors and my peers members. So the [101:06] like I to make the sessions more [101:08] engaging and like I organized [101:10] interactive activities such as quizzes [101:13] and games. So it helped create a more [101:16] comfortable learning environment [101:18] comfortable uh yeah learning environment [101:20] and increased student participation. [101:23] So moving ahead, I also conducted a [101:26] hands-on session uh where I guided [101:30] students uh in building a basic website [101:32] using WordPress. So this gave them [101:34] practical exposure and boosted their [101:37] confidence. So yeah and gradually I [101:40] observed that uh like more students [101:42] started showing interest and actively [101:44] engaging in these sessions. So for me [101:47] this journey has been extremely [101:49] rewarding. as a student club lead, I [101:51] have not only improved my technical [101:53] understanding and such as like [101:56] leadership, communication and team [101:57] coordination also. So although I'm still [102:00] at uh the beginner stage of the [102:02] WordPress journey, I'm highly motivated [102:05] and like to explore it further and [102:07] continue improving my skills and I'm [102:10] also building a strong community in my [102:12] college where more students can learn, [102:15] grow together in this community. So [102:17] yeah, that's [102:18] >> Thank you. [102:19] Thank you. [102:21] >> Don't don't run away. I I I have a quick [102:25] question. Uh what would you recommend to [102:28] the students that are maybe you know [102:30] they're a bit afraid uh to to start the [102:34] student club or like try to organize [102:36] campus connect? It's what would be the [102:39] first step like maybe they can reach out [102:41] to you for advice. Sir [102:44] >> yeah they can also reach out to me for [102:46] advice and like um there is our mentor [102:50] Mr. Anan sir and his team also in a [102:53] Rajasthan. So they can also reach out to [102:55] us. [102:56] >> Okay. Hey thank you. [102:58] >> Thank you so much. [103:00] >> So and Kenny uh yes you are also [103:03] involved in in uh WordPress educational [103:06] initiatives a bit different perma so [103:09] maybe you can share more information. [103:12] >> So hello good afternoon. Uh so my name [103:15] is Kenny James. I'm studying in Riotic [103:17] University in Latia and uh I'm studying [103:21] for business administration. [103:23] So uh I came to the WordPress credit [103:26] program which is much different from the [103:28] campus connect uh unexpectedly uh few [103:31] months ago. Uh last semester uh we had a [103:35] subject called uh e-commerce. uh he was [103:38] my professor. uh and and the main task [103:42] for that subject was to develop a [103:44] website and uh WB bakery provided uh us [103:48] the free page builder and we could [103:51] utilize it and we could develop the uh [103:54] website and that's how I started [103:56] inquiring about uh WordPress and how [104:00] does it work and uh he introduced me [104:02] actually about the WordPress and later [104:05] uh to our university Matt came uh to [104:07] introduce uh about the WordPress credit [104:09] program and that's how I applied for [104:12] this uh initiative and uh once I applied [104:16] in the later stage I was introduced to [104:19] my mentor Anadu and was very supportive [104:23] uh to uh make the process much more [104:26] easier and smoother. Uh he guided me [104:29] very well how to start how can I start [104:32] contributing to the uh WordPress [104:33] ecosystem. uh and uh to get started uh I [104:38] had to go through some courses. So in [104:42] the WordPress credit program we have [104:44] three uh course I mean three level of [104:46] courses that is uh beginner level, [104:49] intermediate level and advanced level. [104:52] So as I was from non-technical [104:54] background I chose uh beginner level. So [104:58] once you complete the uh course uh you I [105:02] have to select the uh team where you can [105:04] contribute. So uh I choose I chose my uh [105:09] team to which I will contribute was uh [105:11] the support team uh because my area of [105:14] interest was in the support team and uh [105:16] my my uh I mean uh my background also [105:20] lies into uh that and I started I [105:24] started contributing in the support team [105:26] also. So I want to say uh I'm also doing [105:28] my uh thesis project uh related to [105:31] webpress. So my aim of research is to u [105:35] to increase the participants in uh web [105:38] camp Europe 2026 which is going to [105:40] conduct in uh Krakco Poland and to how [105:43] to increase the um I mean the [105:45] participants uh by developing a [105:47] stakeholder uh strategic stakeholder [105:49] development and again uh professor Ratis [105:51] is my supervisor of my thesis. I'm very [105:54] glad for that and yeah and it was really [105:58] amazing journey. I could meet uh great [106:01] great people. I could build good [106:03] connections and friendships and more [106:06] importantly uh I get to understand the [106:09] importance of uh uh uh importance of [106:12] contribution towards the opensource uh [106:14] projects. So that was uh about my [106:17] experience and thank you very much for [106:19] giving this opportunity. Thank you. [106:22] So um yes um it's pretty probably unique [106:26] we will have first uh te thesis related [106:29] to WordPress actually. Yes. So uh thank [106:32] you Kenny, thank you Rishma. Thank you [106:35] for the experience you shared and uh [106:37] thank you for you know being part of [106:40] that amazing journey related to [106:43] education. Yes. And WordPress. And uh [106:46] once again thank you to our amazing [106:48] panelists Anand and Mache. Um thank you [106:51] for the amazing audience and uh please [106:55] come over to our amazing students to our [106:59] amazing panelists to learn more about [107:01] education. Thank you. [107:03] >> Thank you. [107:10] Heat. Heat. [107:41] All right. [107:44] Thank you to our amazing panelists for [107:46] such a wonderful discussion and to our [107:48] moderator for guiding the session so [107:50] beautifully. Let's give them one more [107:52] round of applause. Everyone [107:57] also we have a small token of gratitude [107:59] to our panelists and the moderators. I'd [108:01] like to hand over this token of [108:03] gratitude to our panelist. [108:07] This one's for you. [108:09] Okay, let me take [108:16] there. We give it to our moderator [108:25] and to our panelist. [108:34] All right. Thank you so much to our [108:36] panelist and moderator. Also a quick uh [108:40] notice to you all that we will begin the [108:42] next session sharp at 2:55. So until [108:45] then see you there. [109:14] Heat. Heat. [109:41] me. [109:45] Hey. Hey. [110:15] Hey. Hey. Hey. [111:09] Feel [111:31] you feel [111:33] I need [111:36] You are [111:52] feeling [111:56] feel. [112:29] You're so cute. [112:45] Sh. [112:53] Hey. Hey. [113:13] Heat. [113:17] Heat. [113:28] feel. [113:43] Hey [113:47] Heat. Heat. N. [114:48] is a [115:46] All right, welcome Welcome everyone and [115:49] I hope you are having an amazing time [115:52] over here. Also a quick reminder to [115:54] everyone present in the hall. Close [115:57] captioning is available on your personal [115:59] device for all the session. Scan the QR [116:02] code for this room and follow on the [116:04] onscreen prompts to begin receiving the [116:06] captions. [116:08] We now move into the lightning talks. [116:10] Our next speaker will be explaining how [116:13] developer can truly elevate the career [116:16] beyond just writing code and I guess it [116:19] is a topic that resonate with many of [116:21] the people in our community. talking [116:24] about our next speaker. He is a founder [116:27] and CEO of Eliup and creator of Metabox [116:31] and Slim SEO with nearly two decades of [116:36] experience in building powerful [116:38] developer focused WordPress tools. [116:41] Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in [116:43] welcoming our next speaker Einstein as [116:47] he will be speaking on the topic beyond [116:50] code how developer can truly grow. Let's [116:53] give the him a big round of applause. [117:05] Oh, [117:07] hi everyone. Um, my name is Ang Chan and [117:12] uh I've been working with WordPress [117:15] since 2006. So 20 years of experience as [117:19] a developer and I also have uh around 12 [117:23] years as an entrepreneur on running my [117:26] own business with WordPress. So I've [117:28] been developing the metab box and Selim [117:31] SEO plugins. Um [117:35] before I begin may I ask a questions? Is [117:38] there anyone in this room that not a [117:40] developer? Please raise your hand. [117:44] Okay great. So most of you are [117:47] developers and I hope that my talk is [117:50] very is useful for you. So um uh as a [117:56] developer there is one question that's [117:59] I've been asking myself for for a long [118:01] time that's uh how I want myself to be [118:06] in the next five years or 10 years. Will [118:09] I just coding or doing something else? [118:12] Or is there any way that I can do or to [118:16] provide more value to our company or to [118:18] our users? Uh or is there any way that I [118:23] can learn to grow beyond just coding? [118:26] And you know that we are as developers, [118:29] we we sit behind the computer all the [118:31] days. We fix bugs. We develop more [118:34] features for our products. Maybe it's a [118:37] theme or a plugin. Um, and sometimes we [118:43] support users and we spend a lot of time [118:47] thinking to build what's to build next [118:51] and we keep thinking of building thing [118:53] building things. But uh let's pause for [118:55] a second. Is that enough for us? Like [119:00] building things is is is that the best [119:03] way to provide uh value to users? Is [119:06] that uh exactly that users need or is [119:10] there something else that we can do for [119:12] users uh to help them solve their [119:15] problems? [119:17] And [119:18] I found that the answer is yes. And we [119:22] actually have two way to like a lot of [119:26] ways to grows but um in my experience [119:28] there are two main directions that we [119:30] can grow. The one direction is the [119:33] vertical direction that comes naturally [119:36] to developers like we started as a [119:40] junior developers and we gain a higher [119:42] position in our organizations. We become [119:45] a senior developer and maybe a team [119:48] lead, maybe a product manager and maybe [119:51] scrum master, product owner or even uh a [119:56] CTO of our company. [119:59] uh we work on the product, work on the [120:01] technical things, we master our skills, [120:05] uh we focus on the technical things [120:09] and sometimes we we learn more about uh [120:13] management skills to organize team uh [120:16] managing projects uh assigning tasks [120:18] something like that and it's all about [120:22] focus and mastery but that's only one [120:25] way to grow for developers. [120:28] The other way is where you expand the [120:32] scope of your ability and expertise. [120:34] It's not only about code but something [120:37] else like designing or marketing or [120:41] business, finance [120:44] or human resource. Uh, and I see that a [120:47] lot in not a lot but very common in the [120:51] WordPress ecosystem like someone release [120:55] a free theme or free plug-in on [120:57] WordPress.org [120:59] And after a few months, people come in [121:01] and ask for more features and they [121:04] develop more features and start selling [121:06] the premium version of the theme of [121:08] plug-in. And from the moment that [121:10] someone sell a premium thing, he becomes [121:16] a business owner and he does a lot of [121:18] thing uh besides just coding like he has [121:22] to uh to find a way to market uh his [121:26] product uh to do SEO to write blogs uh [121:30] to set up the help desk to support users [121:34] uh working with the payments [121:37] uh even hiring more people to join the [121:39] team to help the products grow and the [121:41] business grow and working with finance [121:44] pricing what it should be something like [121:47] that and that's all these things are not [121:51] code anymore and he has to learn a lot [121:56] uh it's not about the product side but [121:59] it's about the business side and when we [122:03] work on the business side it can give us [122:06] a little bit more freedom we can do [122:08] whatever ever we want with the products [122:10] uh to serve users. Uh sometimes it can [122:15] give us more income probably not always [122:19] but probably and sometimes it take us a [122:23] lot of time and give us nothing because [122:26] the risk of running a business is really [122:28] high. Um but on the other side if we [122:32] stay on the product side uh we are kind [122:37] of safer. Our position in the [122:39] organization is comes is uh some kind of [122:43] secured uh we focus on on the technical [122:47] thing. Uh we have improving the [122:50] collaboration between the people in the [122:52] team or between teams. uh we improve our [122:56] management skills and it's worked best [122:59] for a large organizations [123:02] and from my experience I started as a [123:05] developer and then I transform myself [123:08] from a developer pure developer to a [123:11] business owner. So uh I'm kind of lucky [123:14] lucky man to experience both directions. [123:18] Uh, and I've learned a lot of lessons [123:22] the hard way that I wish someone told me [123:24] at the beginning. Um, [123:27] so, uh, and I think, um, there are [123:30] lessons that we can, uh, we can learn or [123:34] we can know from the start to avoid some [123:37] mistakes. Um and the first thing as a [123:41] developer that you can try is to to step [123:46] out of the comfort zone to shifting the [123:50] mindset from just coding to something [123:53] else something related uh to coding but [123:57] is not coding. For example, the [123:59] documentation and process something like [124:02] you document or write everything you [124:05] know into a file or a wiki or a team [124:10] notes. Uh and also write all the the [124:13] process that you know you learned so [124:16] other people in the team can learn what [124:19] you already know or understand what you [124:22] what you do. So they can repeat that. [124:25] And it's very important uh because you [124:29] um you uh you can help other people to [124:33] do the things that you do and together [124:36] you grow not just yourself but the whole [124:40] team to push forward [124:42] and that leads to another lesson uh that [124:45] is very important that try to delegate. [124:49] Uh [124:52] there are a lot of times in my career [124:53] that uh there are fix uh there are bugs [124:57] in in in my products that takes me just [124:59] five minutes to fix but I I didn't do [125:02] that. Uh instead of that I I helped my [125:05] my colleague my my teammate to [125:08] understand the bug uh supported them to [125:11] to fix the bug themselves and also uh [125:14] review their code after the fixing. [125:18] Uh so it took me like half an hour or [125:21] even an hour to do all these things. Um [125:24] but I [125:27] I changed myself from a pure developer [125:30] to [125:32] uh someone else like a trainer, a [125:35] supporter and a reviewer and my role [125:38] shift from developer to some kind of the [125:43] coll collaborator [125:45] uh between the people in my team uh and [125:49] contribute to the operation of the team [125:52] and the company. Uh so we can grow, we [125:55] can uh improve uh together. Um [126:01] and uh that is very important to to your [126:05] company because we can not grow alone. [126:09] we have to grow uh with our team with [126:12] our uh like even with between teams and [126:18] uh that leads to another lesson that I [126:20] want to share is [126:23] uh when you have uh delegated your task [126:26] to other people you have time to think [126:29] more about what you have to do next. uh [126:32] and when you reach to the management uh [126:35] position in your organization, even if [126:39] you reach to the sea level of your [126:41] organizations, you will realize that [126:43] there are things you need to do beyond [126:45] just coding. uh something that you need [126:48] to learn like designing to have to uh [126:52] presenting uh your products to users and [126:55] help them to use your products better or [126:58] even further uh like uh transforming the [127:03] idea to a products and how to bring that [127:06] product to the real world to the real [127:08] users and even more like strategies to [127:13] your business. [127:15] uh like how to compete in this uh [127:19] competition in this ecosystem [127:22] uh or how to compete with giants things [127:26] like that. [127:28] And uh from that moment um your role is [127:32] not developer anymore is something else [127:35] is uh even if you still building the [127:38] products but you build the products in a [127:42] comprehensive business ecosystem and [127:45] that's the way we grow the business. [127:48] That's the way we as developer grow [127:51] ourselves beyond just coding. So uh I [127:55] think that's very important for [127:57] developer like us. Uh thank you for [128:00] listening. This is my talk. My name is [128:03] an uh my name is Anan from Metabox and [128:06] Slim SEO. You can connect with me on [128:09] ICE, Twitter or LinkedIn. Thank you very [128:12] much. Thank you. [128:22] Thank you so much to our speaker for the [128:25] wonderful session. I guess many of us [128:27] who are not developer could easily [128:28] relate to your session and we have a [128:31] small token of gratitude to you. So we [128:34] like to present it to you. Thank you so [128:37] much. [128:44] Okay. Thank you. [128:48] >> Thank you. Moving up, we have our next [128:51] lightning talk. This lightning talk will [128:55] delve us into the critical aspect of any [128:58] successful project. Our next speaker [129:01] will guide us through the best practice [129:03] for developing robust, bug-free and user [129:07] centric WordPress project. talking about [129:10] our next speaker. She is experienced [129:13] WordPress project lead focused on [129:15] delivering scalable user first solution [129:18] and guiding team towards clean and [129:21] reliable code. Ladies and gentlemen, [129:24] allow me to welcome Siza Vizian as she [129:27] will be presenting on the topic code [129:29] quality how to build bug-free and user [129:32] first WordPress project. Let's welcome [129:34] her with a big round of applause. [129:49] Uh yeah, give me my seconds. Let me get [129:53] my slides ready. [130:11] Yes. Uh hello everyone. Am I audible? [130:15] Good afternoon all and uh nice to meet [130:18] you all. First of all, thank you so much [130:20] all for joining my session. Uh I'm Sria [130:24] Vijan, technical project lead at faces [130:26] technology and solutions India. [130:29] uh I have been delivering WordPress [130:31] solutions for about 10 years and I have [130:34] been working with faces technology for [130:36] more than six years. [130:39] I'm really proud to be here today [130:41] because this is first time webcamia is [130:44] happening in India and being part of it [130:47] and sharing something with the community [130:49] is very special for me. [130:54] Uh I want to take a very short lightning [130:56] talk but I think uh the topic is [131:00] relevant. Uh let me start with a quick [131:02] question. Have you ever built a website [131:06] that felt perfect? But the moment real [131:09] users started using it, bugs starts [131:12] appearing. Right? [131:14] Today I'm not going to talk something [131:17] deeply technical. Instead, I want to [131:20] talk something simple but important for [131:23] developers. Code quality from a user [131:27] perspective. Because users never see our [131:31] code. They only experience what we [131:34] build. Remember, users never see our [131:37] code. They only experience what we [131:40] build. [131:44] What we call quality. Uh we have all [131:48] know about quality, right? [131:50] When developers talk about quality, we [131:53] usually mean clean code, coding [131:55] standards, [131:57] uh clear structure, reusable components. [132:00] And yes, all of these are important. If [132:02] you write any code, it should be [132:04] manageable, it should be maintainable, [132:07] it should be understandable by any other [132:10] developer. So all of these points are [132:12] important. But from my experience, [132:15] quality is a bit different. [132:20] Uh so from my experience quality really [132:23] means clear requirements, thoughtful [132:26] implementation, stable user experience. [132:29] So from from now on remember quality [132:32] really means clear requirements, [132:34] thoughtful implementation, stable user [132:37] experience and most importantly quality [132:40] is not something happening during QA or [132:43] at the end. It starts from the very [132:45] beginning. [132:48] Uh then where does the most bugs [132:51] actually comes from? We have all seen [132:53] this. Uh sometimes the requirements are [132:56] clear. We build this perfectly. [132:59] Everything looks perfect. Uh testing is [133:02] done. We deliver it on time. But once [133:05] the real user started using it, the [133:08] issue starts coming in. that uh does [133:11] this because of any bad code or any lack [133:14] of experience or knowledge with the [133:16] developer? No, it's not because of any [133:19] bad code. It's because this is the real [133:22] world usage begins. [133:26] And most importantly, it's happening [133:28] mainly on CMS platforms like WordPress [133:32] because the reason why people chooses [133:34] CMS or WordPress is for their easy [133:38] content management. But in most cases [133:41] the people handling CMS are marketing [133:44] teams, marketing managers, content [133:46] editors, non-technical people are [133:49] handling the system and they don't need [133:52] to think about the performance, [133:54] technical limitations, designs, layouts [133:57] or anything. They only need to upload [133:59] their content and finish their job. So [134:02] the so the way a developer build the [134:06] system and the way nontechnical people [134:09] handling the system are completely [134:11] different. [134:14] Uh we have lots of real world scenarios. [134:17] Uh we have all seen this. Sometimes the [134:19] users will paste content from Word, PDF, [134:22] documents or any other tools and it has [134:25] some preformatted [134:27] uh text and it will break the CSS styles [134:30] formats of the website. Sometimes uh the [134:34] client or the user will upload larger [134:36] size media files, images, videos even [134:39] from the hero section to footer and it [134:42] will affect the performance and loading [134:45] time and sometimes they will uh enter [134:50] unexpected inputs. [134:52] Uh they don't need to bother about the [134:54] character limits or anything and it will [134:57] break the layout. And recently I had a [134:59] situation like I had delivered one [135:01] website to the client and they just [135:03] swapped open it on an ultra wide screen. [135:07] Uh and there are some animations some uh [135:11] kind of things suddenly few of the [135:14] section started not functioning. Uh it [135:17] is because they will open the system on [135:20] any devices we didn't consider. So the [135:24] real question is are we building for [135:27] ideal scenarios? Are we building for [135:30] real users? [135:34] Uh let's take an example a form. The [135:37] requirement is simple just build a form. [135:40] But the real world thinking means we [135:42] should ask questions like do we need a [135:45] spam protection? What valations are [135:48] needed? What happens if someone enters [135:51] wrong data? how we handle the data [135:54] submissions because we are the one we [135:56] are the technical people need to think [135:58] beyond just writing a code. [136:03] Yeah. Have you seen a website that looks [136:07] beautiful, nice designs, [136:10] uh latest design, smooth animation, but [136:14] what happened if something went wrong? [136:16] If the search doesn't work, links are [136:19] broken, the users never remember the [136:23] design, but they will definitely [136:26] remember the defect or the frustration. [136:29] So before building anything, we should [136:31] always ask who will use it, how will [136:35] they use it, what can go wrong, if users [136:39] can break it, they will. [136:43] So let me conclude. Bug free development [136:46] don't come from clean code alone. It [136:48] come from thinking like users especially [136:51] non-technical uses because at end of the [136:54] day no one sees the code and everyone [136:58] experience it. So thank you so much and [137:01] let's build for real uses. [137:12] Thank you so much Shrieza for the [137:14] wonderful session. I hope and I'm sure [137:17] after a session many of us will create a [137:20] user friendly we'll be able to create a [137:22] user friendly WordPress solution. Thank [137:24] you so much. We have a token of [137:26] gratitude to you. [137:29] Please accept our token of gratitude. [137:32] Thank you so much. [137:40] Thank you so much. [137:48] To continue and move forward, we are now [137:50] going to explore the art of creating [137:53] WordPress experience that stand the test [137:56] of time. The talk focuses on design [137:59] principle that ensure longitivity which [138:02] is vital in ever ever evolving digital [138:05] landscape. Our next speaker is Craig [138:09] Gomes. Talking about him, he is the CEO [138:12] and founder of Pixel Wise, a programmer [138:15] and a designer who has worked with more [138:18] than 500 brands including Dropbox, [138:21] Amazon, Google, and Marriott. Ladies and [138:25] gentlemen, please allow me to welcome [138:27] our next speaker Craig Gomes as he will [138:30] be talking on the topic outlife the [138:33] build creating futurep proof of [138:35] WordPress experience. Please welcome him [138:37] with a big round of applause. [138:49] Good afternoon everyone. uh thank you [138:51] for coming to my uh lecture. So [138:54] basically my topic covers something [138:56] really uh simple but very uh important [139:00] when you are building websites. The [139:01] topic is design that outlives the build. [139:03] So I'll start with the first slide and [139:05] I'll start with a small introduction [139:06] about myself. My name is Craig Gomes and [139:08] I run an agency called Pixel Wise for [139:10] the past uh 14 years and we've worked [139:13] with several big brands and the most [139:16] important uh thing while developing a [139:18] website for us is that the website needs [139:19] to stand the test of time and it needs [139:22] to survive and not just survive it needs [139:24] to also be uh developed in such a way [139:27] that the entire website can evolve with [139:30] time because a client will have changes [139:32] on their website. client will have [139:34] updates that need to be pushed on the [139:36] website. If we build a website like 6 [139:38] years back, that particular client would [139:41] have evolved their business. They would [139:42] have new services. They would have new [139:44] offerings that need to go on the [139:46] website. So I'll start off with the [139:48] first slide. [139:53] Okay. So the first slide is basically [139:57] the reality that most websites don't age [139:59] well. Okay. So content that becomes [140:02] inconsistent, layouts that start [140:03] breaking and new pages that don't fit [140:05] the design. This is one of the most [140:08] important problems that people face on a [140:10] regular basis. So I'll start with like [140:12] what exactly happens. Like if you [140:14] building a website for a client, they [140:16] launch the website, everything goes well [140:18] and they have built a perfect website at [140:20] launch time. But as time passes by, the [140:23] website becomes obsolete. Their services [140:25] change, content on the website becomes [140:27] irrelevant. Let's say for example if I [140:29] have a service section which which [140:32] supports three different services but [140:34] after a while the client has to edit the [140:36] title of the service or they have to [140:38] edit like the description of the service [140:40] and maybe like uh if it's built to [140:43] support two lines and if I add three [140:45] lines the entire layout breaks okay so [140:47] that is content inconsistency the layout [140:49] start breaking and new pages do not fit [140:51] the design okay when I say like new [140:54] pages do not fit the design every [140:56] website follows a brand guideline every [140:57] website follows particular layouts and [140:59] particular templates. All right? And if [141:02] you're not using templates, if you're [141:03] not using a proper structure for the [141:05] website going forward, none of your [141:07] pages are going to look consistent. So [141:09] that is a very important uh aspect while [141:12] developing websites. Okay, redesign [141:14] becomes a default option. Like majority [141:16] of people who come to us after a few [141:18] years, they have built a website which [141:20] lasted for 6 months, 7 months, maybe a [141:22] year or two. But when they add new [141:24] services, when they add new content, [141:25] they just cannot do it. So websites [141:27] starts breaking and things just don't [141:29] fit in properly. So the only option is [141:31] that they invest more money and build [141:33] another website. [141:35] So like I said, we design for launch not [141:38] for good. Websites are treated as static [141:40] outputs. WordPress by default is not a [141:43] static platform. We can use it to build [141:45] landing pages. We can use it to build [141:47] blogs. We can use it to build e-commerce [141:48] websites. And most importantly, every [141:51] component of WordPress is dynamic. So we [141:54] need to develop websites in such a way [141:55] that when a user when the end user a [141:58] non-developer is updating their own [142:00] website. Okay. It is a seamless process. [142:03] It is uh designed in a way where we look [142:06] at the future. What how could the entire [142:09] company grow in the future? What [142:11] services could be integrated? What [142:13] features could be integrated in the [142:14] future? If a website is launching as a [142:16] non-ecommerce platform, how can [142:18] e-commerce be integrated into the entire [142:20] website without changing the theme, [142:22] without changing multiple plugins, [142:24] without making huge changes to layout [142:27] which might break the entire website. [142:29] Okay. So the aspect is basically to [142:32] think from a system perspective rather [142:34] than just a design perspective or like a [142:36] functionality perspective. systems that [142:39] are scalable. Systems that evolve over [142:41] time. Systems that can be reused, [142:44] components that can be reused and uh a [142:47] token system that can be edited very [142:49] easily where clients find it convenient [142:51] to just make changes and their changes [142:53] do not break the website. [142:56] Why sites break? Four most important uh [142:59] factors for sites breaking is your [143:01] hard-coded layouts, theme files that are [143:03] edited. A lot of people like a lot of us [143:06] uh developers we have a habit of [143:07] modifying the theme functions.php. Okay. [143:10] And that is a big mistake because uh [143:13] themes do update. So if auto updates are [143:15] enabled for themes or auto updates are [143:17] enabled for plugins once the update [143:19] rolls in your entire site breaks. Okay. [143:22] So that is a really bad practice. Page [143:24] by page design approach. design one uh [143:27] particular design for the homepage but [143:28] then you don't focus a lot on the about [143:30] us page or the service page and every [143:32] page looks a little bit different. The [143:34] hero might have like a different height [143:37] on the homepage. The hero might have a [143:39] shorter height on the about us page. So [143:41] the design is not consistent and the [143:42] most important reason why designs are [143:44] not consistent is because uh developers [143:47] do not use templates. uh when you're [143:49] handing over a website to a client, your [143:51] site should look uh seamless as possible [143:54] and they should be able to reuse [143:55] templates and reuse components that are [143:58] available. No content structure or [144:00] schema. Uh one important factor that [144:02] affects SEO and schema is the most [144:05] important for that. Okay. So if you do [144:07] not have a content structure planned out [144:09] in advance like how would your headings [144:10] fit in, how would your titles fit in, [144:12] how would your content about us fit in [144:14] on the website, you're already failing. [144:16] Okay? And if you're like just installing [144:18] a theme on the website and then [144:20] designing and adding content as per the [144:22] theme, the website is already a big [144:24] failure because website must be planned [144:26] according to the future not as per the [144:29] theme and not per uh the launch. [144:34] Okay. So stop designing pages, start [144:36] designing system, things in terms of uh [144:39] structure instead of visuals. Uh the [144:42] most uh the biggest mistake people make [144:44] is that they think about the design. [144:46] While design is important, functionality [144:49] is important, there must be a balance [144:51] between design, there must be a balance [144:53] between functionality and most [144:54] importantly there must be a structure on [144:57] how you approach the entire problem. [144:59] Structure as in you have your [145:01] components, you have your color tokens [145:03] and WordPress already provides patterns [145:05] to you right now. They provide [145:07] components, reusable blocks. So all of [145:09] these things can be very useful when [145:12] building a website and handing it over [145:13] to a client or even if you are [145:15] maintaining multiple websites, this [145:17] becomes easy for you to design multiple [145:20] things and scale it up in the long run. [145:25] Content first. So content is the only [145:28] thing that grows on a website. uh [145:30] whether you are building a regular [145:32] website or whether you're building a [145:34] headless WordPress website or whether [145:36] you're building a blog, the only thing [145:38] that must change on the website in the [145:40] long run is content. You should be able [145:42] to update your pages. You should be able [145:44] to update uh the content on the pages [145:47] that are relevant to your SEO, to your [145:49] keywords. Uh the service pages are [145:51] expandable because businesses do not [145:53] just provide one service. If you are [145:55] launching your business today, uh you [145:57] may be launching it with two services, [145:59] but in the long run, you may be scaling [146:01] up to another three to four services. As [146:03] businesses evolve, the requirement will [146:05] evolve. Products uh change [146:07] specifications as well. So, if you are [146:08] selling digital products on your [146:10] website, you would basically want to [146:12] have it integrated from the get- go. [146:15] Okay? So even if you're not launching [146:17] with the particular e-commerce system, [146:18] payment gateways, digital product [146:20] integrations in the for for launch, but [146:24] it should have the ability to extend [146:27] those features in the future. So the [146:29] design must adapt to the content. [146:31] Content must not adapt to the design. [146:33] All right. [146:35] Modularity. So like I uh when I begin my [146:38] entire lecture, I was discussing about [146:40] modularity. Design must be done in a [146:42] sense that blocks are reusable, sections [146:45] are reusable. Uh whatever components [146:47] you're building, whether it's the hero [146:49] section, whether it's the service [146:50] section or feature section or [146:51] testimonial section, everything must be [146:53] reusable blocks, components and patterns [146:56] must have consistency across all pages. [146:59] And the only way to do that is by [147:00] designing a particular template. So if I [147:03] go in and I need to make one particular [147:05] change to a button on the website, I [147:06] don't have to go to every page and make [147:08] a change on the button. I will just edit [147:10] the button component and it will update [147:11] on all pages. Similar uh happens for [147:14] sections and all of the to all of the [147:16] other components that you're building [147:17] for the website. Shared tokens. [147:19] WordPress currently supports shared [147:21] tokens. So if it's colors, if it's [147:23] typography, anything like let's say for [147:25] example, I hand over the website to a [147:27] client and the site is made primarily [147:29] using a blue accent color, I should be [147:31] able to just edit the token on the [147:32] website, change the color from blue to [147:35] green or any other color that is [147:36] supported and then the entire website [147:39] changes color. So share tokens is [147:41] important because the person should not [147:43] go into every page and make changes. [147:47] All right. So now I'm going to discuss [147:50] about balance flexibility with control. [147:52] Okay. So too rigid like if you are [147:54] making a website is too rigid is not [147:56] really flexible like the client cannot [147:58] do much on the website. Too flexible is [148:00] chaotic. So freedom comes with a cost. [148:02] If you give someone too much of freedom [148:04] they will eventually break the website. [148:06] So when clients ask you can I like [148:08] customize like everything on the website [148:10] there must be certain restrictions. They [148:11] must follow uh the system guidelines. [148:13] They must follow the design guidelines [148:15] the entire design system that you've [148:17] built for the website. So finding the [148:19] sweet spot is very important. You must [148:21] find the balance the goldilocks area of [148:24] the entire design. Okay, which is not [148:26] too complex where people cannot update [148:28] and don't give them too much freedom [148:30] where update becomes like a mess which [148:33] you have to fix later on. [148:36] CMS longevity. So the CMS is part of the [148:39] product. If editing becomes confusing, [148:41] the site will degrade. And what makes [148:43] this uh very heavy like as a blogger I [148:47] would not want to particularly write [148:48] articles on a on a WordPress website [148:51] that is bloated with plugins or has a [148:53] lot of features and this happens through [148:55] overgineering and right now with [148:57] everyone uh having access to AI people [149:00] could just like make random plugins [149:02] which even are not in the WordPress [149:04] store. They can make internal plugins or [149:05] they can make uh plugins for their [149:07] clients and they just do not make sense. [149:09] It's just a lot of overengineering where [149:11] things could have just been done in a [149:13] much more simpler way. So always before [149:15] overengineering and making like cool [149:17] systems that are like overly [149:19] complicated, find out simpler ways of [149:21] doing the same thing. And if it can be [149:23] achieved with less plugins with less [149:25] custom code that is what you want to [149:27] look at. You don't want to make your [149:28] website too plug-in heavy because that [149:30] affects the content that is going on the [149:32] website. Forget about trends. Do what [149:35] works for you. Okay? Every website is [149:37] different. So if one particular trend [149:38] works for one agency and one website, it [149:40] might not work for the other. Okay. So [149:42] simple systems last longer. System [149:44] simple systems are very scalable, very [149:46] extendable. So focus on uh simple uh [149:49] systems that can be reused every time. [149:52] Okay. So this is the final slide. So [149:55] like I said, a website shouldn't need a [149:57] redesign to grow. If your design cannot [149:59] handle change, it's already broken. So a [150:02] very the most important factor is right [150:04] now uh design your website using [150:07] systems. Think more from a systems [150:09] approach. Do not think from a design [150:11] first approach. Do not think from a [150:13] functionality approach. Design and [150:15] functionality must have a really good [150:17] balance for a website to succeed. So if [150:19] you are making a website, think in terms [150:22] of components that can be reused, [150:23] template headers that can be reused, [150:26] footers that can be reused, patterns [150:27] that can have multiple variations. If [150:30] you are making a testimonial section, [150:32] have different versions of the entire [150:34] testimonial sections. Have various [150:35] colors. Uh if you're using the FSE [150:38] editor, then definitely make use of the [150:41] shared token system. Make use of the [150:42] reusable components system. Uh use the [150:46] pattern tool uh to create multiple [150:48] patterns. Uh user like if you're handing [150:50] over like your own template library for [150:52] customuilt websites, your end user [150:55] should find it really seamless to make [150:56] pages. They should not contact you for [150:58] the smallest of change. Like if I want a [151:00] change on my website, I should not go [151:02] and ask a developer, can you add a new [151:04] page. You should give them the tools. [151:06] You should give them the patterns that [151:07] help them just add multiple layers that [151:10] are required. Like if I want to make a [151:12] new about us page, maybe there are a [151:14] couple of hero components that I've [151:15] already shipped. I just add a hero [151:17] component. I add a section, couple of [151:19] testimonials, a team uh layout, and then [151:22] I just edit and swap the content that [151:24] makes the most sense. And while doing [151:26] so, the entire section should not be [151:29] designed in a way where the components [151:31] feel where the components feel [151:32] restricted, where text doesn't fit, [151:34] where adding more text would most likely [151:37] break the entire layout. So these are [151:39] things that you must take into [151:40] consideration. Uh do not overengineer, [151:44] do not make the build too overly [151:46] complicated. Don't reuse and uh use AI [151:50] and multiple plugins that do not make [151:52] sense. there are a lot of people who use [151:54] like multiple caching plugins that [151:57] conflict. So these things need to be uh [152:00] thought about these things need to be [152:02] kept in consideration when building a [152:04] website. And if you've already done this [152:05] then your website is going to be a [152:07] success for sure. While doing this [152:10] particular method you would have already [152:11] solved the longevity plan of the [152:14] website. It would last a longer period [152:16] of time. It would have great SEO. It [152:18] would have great page speed. And that's [152:20] mostly about it. So keep that in mind. [152:23] I'm Craig Goo, CEO and founder of Pixel [152:25] Wise. And that's my talk for today. [152:27] Thank you very much. [152:29] I will just take a really small uh [152:33] selfie with everyone if that's all [152:35] right. Okay. [152:37] So just a minute. [152:44] Thank you. [152:47] Thank you so much Chris G for the [152:49] amazing session. I'm sure your session [152:52] will help the developers present in this [152:54] hall to build a futurep proof WordPress [152:56] that will pass the test of time. Thank [152:58] you so much. We have a small token of [153:00] gratitude to you. [153:04] >> Please accept this. Thank you so much. [153:21] Thank you and we will begin our next [153:24] session at sharply at 3:55. Until then, [153:28] enjoy and we'll see you there. Thank [153:32] you. [155:43] Everything. [156:00] Heat. Heat. [156:34] Hey, [157:24] Yeah. [157:32] Yeah. [157:36] Yeah. [157:56] Yeah. [158:00] Yeah. [158:04] Yeah. [158:08] Yeah. [158:12] Yeah. [158:48] Heat. Heat. [159:07] again. [159:16] Yeah. [159:21] Heat. Heat. [162:07] Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. [163:21] Heat. [163:36] Hey, Heat. [164:43] Heat. Hey, Heat. [165:53] feeling. [166:00] Ning [166:01] Heat. Heat. [166:11] Heat. Heat. N. [166:41] Hey. [166:47] Hey. Hey. [167:28] feeling. [167:38] Feeling feel [169:33] I got [169:46] my [169:59] Hello. [170:07] Hello. [171:36] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [175:59] Hello everyone. [176:01] I hope you had your lunch or snacks or [176:04] your food and preserved your energy for [176:06] the rest of the session. For those of [176:08] you who are new to this room, I am Mina [176:11] Tamang and I'm from Nepal. I will be [176:14] hosting the last two session of the day. [176:18] And before I start the session, let me [176:20] share a quick note that for the [176:22] captioning, there is a QR code that you [176:25] need to scan and follow the instructions [176:28] that has been that you will be prompting [176:30] in your mobile for the receiving [176:32] caption. [176:34] Now to introduce our next speaker [176:38] is Luke Carvis. And now to introduce him [176:42] he have given me his introduction. So he [176:45] is the [176:51] so he's a he's a vigilante opensource [176:54] imaginary and [176:56] palent for I'm so sorry this is very [176:58] hard to pronounce plentary for WP [177:03] prolitary affairs I'm so sorry it's so [177:06] hard to pronounce but he's a very core [177:09] contributor for the WordPress community [177:11] and today he is here to talk on beyond [177:15] the guidelines and it's time to evolve [177:18] our standard for safer plug-in [177:21] ecosystem. Let's give him a big round of [177:24] applause. [177:28] That was [177:32] no you did a great job. You did you did [177:34] a really good job. It's a challenging [177:37] title. I know [177:39] vigilante open source and misery [177:43] and [177:45] self-deputed planet potentiary for [177:48] WordPress proletariat affairs. It's a [177:52] job I take very seriously. [177:54] Uh today I am speaking about the [177:57] WordPress plug-in directory. [178:00] Normally when I give a talk at a word [178:02] camp, [178:04] I try and do something where you're [178:07] going to have a takeaway at the end of [178:08] it. You know, I try and do something [178:09] really practical for you. And today I'm [178:11] not doing that. [178:14] Today I'm just going to be suggesting [178:18] a few changes that I think we could be [178:20] making as a community to the WordPress [178:23] plug-in directory. [178:26] not given this sort of talk before, so [178:28] I'm a little bit uh uncertain how it'll [178:30] go. Tell me afterwards if you think I've [178:33] uh done a good job. My name is Luke [178:48] and I'm a contributor on the plug-in [178:50] team. [178:52] So that means I'm one of the people who [178:55] reviews and rejects and approves your [178:59] submissions to the plug-in directory. [179:02] I'm a plug-in author myself. That's part [179:04] of why I joined the plug-in team is to [179:06] help plugin authors uh get their plugins [179:09] out there and and also to make a living [179:12] from having plugins. [179:16] I've uh so I've been a big proponent of [179:20] maybe like get in the plug-in directory. [179:21] Wouldn't it be cool if there was premium [179:23] plugins on the plug-in directory? Not [179:25] talking about that today. [179:28] Maybe that's a big long-term thing. [179:31] Maybe it's unlikely to happen. We'll [179:33] see. I'm also the co-host of a podcast [179:36] called Crossword. Uh any listeners? Any [179:39] crossword listeners? We've got at least [179:41] one. Uh and I want to also say thank you [179:44] to Kinster for supporting me to be here [179:46] today. Every crossword season. Oh, hold [179:51] on. It's working now. Every crossword [179:53] season [179:58] we have different artwork. This one was [180:02] based on this is in San Francisco [180:04] because we started season 10 with Word [180:07] Camp US which was in San Francisco and [180:10] season 11 we're going to have different [180:11] artwork which will be Mumbai. [180:15] And I always put in a little secret [180:17] hidden Easter egg and I don't normally [180:20] show people but since this is India I [180:21] thought you would appreciate see if you [180:23] can see we got a little bit of cricket [180:25] happening in the background of uh San [180:28] Francisco. [180:30] All right. [180:34] No, my clicker is not playing. There we [180:38] go. [180:40] Three proposals for the plug-in [180:42] directory. That's what we're talking [180:43] about today. And these proposals, [180:45] they're all going to be real, practical, [180:47] possible things that I think that we [180:51] could implement in the short term [180:53] because we're seeing a lot of [180:55] submissions to the plug-in directory. [180:58] And with AI, lots of things are [181:00] changing. We're going to talk about [181:01] that. Uh the three proposals are going [181:04] to be [181:06] to do with generative AI disclosure, [181:09] something I think is really important. [181:11] We're going to address I want I'd really [181:13] love to address dark patterns that we [181:15] see a lot in the plug-in directory and [181:17] we're going to talk about an idea I've [181:19] got around unknown sources. [181:25] You might know that the queue if you [181:29] want your plug-in reviewed for the [181:31] WordPress plug-in directory at the [181:32] moment it's quite long. [181:36] This is why [181:38] we're are currently experiencing between [181:40] five and 600 submissions to the plug-in [181:44] directory every day. Uh every week, [181:47] sorry. And if you have a look in this [181:49] chart, you can see blue, red, green, [181:52] that's 2022 to 2024. We're getting 100 [181:55] to 200 new submissions a week. [181:59] Doubles or up to 300 [182:03] in 2025. And look what we've been seeing [182:06] this year in purple. We're getting [182:09] between five and 600 submissions every [182:11] week. [182:13] And you know, in 2025 when we started to [182:17] see this big rise, we created a lot of [182:19] automation tools to be able to deal with [182:21] that and we able to stay on top of it. [182:23] Now we're bringing on additional team [182:25] members. I think we're going to also [182:27] have another call soon uh for volunteers [182:30] to join the plug-in team if that's [182:32] something you're interested in. Uh, look [182:34] out for that post on Make WordPress. But [182:36] you can see we've got a lot of plugins [182:39] and what changed was AI. I'm reviewing a [182:43] lot of AI generated plugins. [182:47] Now, that in and of itself isn't really [182:49] a problem, [182:52] but [182:56] I'm hearing from a lot of people that [182:57] they don't like to use AI plugins. [183:01] And I know that when I'm creating a pull [183:05] request for WordPress core or if I'm [183:08] creating creating a pull request for [183:10] Gutenberg [183:11] in GitHub, I'm asked was AI used in the [183:15] creation of this pull request. That's a [183:17] good little bit of information, but I [183:20] don't think it goes far enough when it [183:22] comes to plugins. [183:24] I think we need a little bit more [183:27] of a definition here. we need a little [183:30] bit more things stepped out. So in a [183:33] university context, if you're creating a [183:37] an assignment [183:39] in a university, it's not just did you [183:42] use AI or not. There's actually a system [183:45] uh and there's a few different a variety [183:47] of systems and I adapted this one that [183:50] I've sort of invented from [183:54] uh a UK based [183:57] uh disclosure system. [184:00] Now this is meant for academic articles [184:02] and I've adapted it to what I think we [184:05] could use on the plug-in directory. [184:08] We've got I didn't use any AI. I used a [184:12] little bit of AI just to give me some [184:13] ideas. Now, for me, I don't mind using [184:16] plugins that just used AI for ideas, [184:19] maybe discovering bugs, that sort of [184:21] thing. And then you have progressively [184:24] more uh this was assisted. I had code [184:28] assistance, maybe auto completions [184:31] or AI basically wrote this and then I [184:34] looked at and made sure it was okay. And [184:35] then that last one, this was vibe coded [184:38] entirely. I didn't even look at the code [184:40] and I'm sure we get a quite a number of [184:43] submissions like that. Now, I'm not [184:45] suggesting that we kick those [184:47] submissions out. Actually, I think we [184:50] should let them in into the plug-in [184:52] directory. I just think it needs to be [184:53] labeled. [184:56] And so, I'm suggesting these labels. And [184:58] if you if you look in the left hand side [185:00] here, [185:02] you'll see Git has this thing called Git [185:05] tags, and they're attached to commit [185:07] messages. So I've used that as like the [185:10] inspiration here where we can actually [185:13] in our commits even go to that level of [185:17] saying how much AI was used. But really [185:20] what I mean here is I want to attach [185:23] this to each plugin in the directory so [185:25] we have a bit more information about [185:27] what we use. So this is my idea. We [185:30] could have our plug-in page. We're [185:32] adding this new plugin. And have a look [185:35] here in the sidebar. You can see, oh, [185:38] this one uses generative AI because, you [185:41] know, when you're adding a new plugin to [185:43] your project, [185:45] what do you do? You look at the reviews. [185:47] Yeah. You look at the star rating. I [185:49] look at when it was last updated. [185:52] And maybe this little bit of generative [185:54] AI is also helpful. We try to be as [185:58] inclusive as we can as a community. And [186:01] I've met people who don't want to use [186:04] products that were produced with Gen AI [186:07] for ethical reasons. They have concerns [186:09] around environment, concerns around [186:12] other things. So I think it might be a [186:14] good idea to just make this visible to [186:17] the community. [186:20] So, that is Gen AI disclosure, which I [186:24] think would be really good on the [186:25] plug-in directory. Really helpful to [186:28] help us choose which plugins we're going [186:30] to use. And maybe it might just [186:34] discourage, we might, this little data [186:37] point, it might cause people to go, oh, [186:41] I'm going to use plugins now that I [186:44] know. I'm going to choose plugins that [186:46] are not [186:48] level five, you know, not not fully vibe [186:51] coded. I'm going to choose plugins maybe [186:52] that are on the less AI involved side of [186:55] things. And then maybe that might [186:58] discourage people from submitting Genai [187:01] plugins into the directory as well [187:02] because they might not be as well [187:04] received. Maybe that might even bring [187:07] back some of that poetry that we love in [187:10] WordPress into the plug-in directory. [187:13] All right. Oh, wrong direction. [187:17] All right, the next one is about dark [187:20] patterns. We've had dark patterns emerge [187:24] all over the web. [187:26] What do I mean by a dark pattern? Dark [187:29] pattern [187:30] is when software tries to manipulate a [187:33] user into doing something they didn't [187:34] mean to do. And we see this in [187:37] WordPress. Okay, we see this actually [187:39] quite a lot. And because the WordPress [187:43] plug-in guidelines are really that [187:46] they're guidelines, by the way, not [187:47] rules. And that's important because if [187:50] it's rules, you can find loopholes. But [187:53] when it's guidelines, then we can [187:55] enforce them as with a little bit of [187:58] flexibility. Yeah. And so when it comes [188:01] to dark patterns, we haven't got [188:06] the right frameworks in place with the [188:09] WordPress plug-in guidelines to be able [188:11] to properly address them. And one of the [188:13] frameworks that we do have [188:16] is an example of a dark pattern, by the [188:18] way, that I made with Genai. [188:22] Uh, and one of the things that we do [188:25] have in the WordPress plug-in directory [188:28] in our guidelines is the concept of [188:30] opting in. [188:33] We require that if you're going to take [188:36] any of the users's data, if you're going [188:38] to do any sort of analytics, that sort [188:40] of thing, you need to get the user to [188:42] opt in. [188:43] So, we start to see this, we started to [188:46] to notice this trend on the plug-in [188:49] directory. [188:50] Does anybody see it? [188:54] Maybe I need to zoom in a little bit [188:56] further. [189:02] Now, notice it's pre-checked. It's gray. [189:06] And some of the biggest plugins do this. [189:10] I'm not joking. [189:12] I think I don't think that's okay. I [189:14] think this is a dark pattern. think you [189:16] don't realize that you're letting some [189:19] plugins harvest your data or learn about [189:24] your WordPress site in ways you didn't [189:26] expect to share. And so, one thing that [189:31] I'd really like to see in the WordPress [189:32] plug-in directory is that we should [189:35] define exactly what we mean by optin. [189:40] You can play the music if you want. [189:45] Uh I think opting in is really it's [189:48] really important that we understand what [189:50] that looks like. [189:53] Another thing [189:56] that I want to see on the WordPress uh [189:59] in the in the guidelines is specifically [190:03] around [190:05] taking over parts of the WordPress admin [190:07] dashboard that don't belong to your [190:09] plug-in. Okay, this is the WordPress [190:11] news and events widget in your [190:14] dashboard. And do you know some plugins [190:16] they'll do that? They'll Oh, sorry. I'll [190:18] skip back to that. I [190:21] some plugins will [190:23] Sorry, there we go. [190:28] Add their own little [190:31] sales message into the WordPress events [190:33] and news section. [190:37] Technically, that's allowed. [190:40] I don't think it should be. [190:43] Uh, another example, site health. I've [190:46] seen a plugin insert themselves in here [190:49] saying, "Oh, there's a problem with your [190:51] website. You're not using the premium [190:53] version of our plugin." [190:55] Okay, so it's simple. I'm just going to [190:58] suggest that we disallow what I would [191:02] call feature hijacking. You know, [191:05] another one is people will take the [191:08] plugin add new plugin screen where [191:11] there's the featured plugins and they'll [191:14] switch out the featured plugins for [191:15] their own plugins. [191:17] Right? That's hijacking. Now, of course, [191:20] your plugin, you do what you want on [191:22] your screens. You can [191:24] mess around with your own features, but [191:27] hijacking core features, I think that [191:29] should be that's a dark pattern. And we [191:31] should address that in the plug-in [191:34] guidelines. [191:37] All right. Another one that really [191:40] bothers me. Have you seen this before? [191:42] Try to deactivate a plugin. [191:47] Oh, I tried to, but no, hold on. It uh [191:50] I'm going to get there. Which one do I [191:52] press? Uh, finally. And this whole time [191:55] I've been discouraged and you know, are [191:58] you sure? Are you really sure? you know [192:01] that sort of thing. No, I think in the [192:03] WordPress plug-in directory, you should [192:06] be able to deactivate a plugin with a [192:08] single click. Okay. Uh so the these are [192:11] some changes. These are some dark [192:12] patterns that we see in the WordPress [192:14] plug-in directory. Actually, the [192:16] internal plugins team, we've talked [192:18] about addressing some of these uh [192:22] because of this huge review queue that [192:24] we've had. It's all of our it's taken [192:27] all of our attention. And so I'm, you [192:29] know, trying to use this talk to maybe [192:31] resurface some of that. Let's address [192:34] some of these and update our plug-in [192:36] guidelines. [192:38] Okay, so that's that one. [192:45] The last thing that I want to talk about [192:48] is this concept that I've got around [192:50] unknown sources. [192:54] Now the reason why this is important [192:58] is actually due to the queue. I've [193:00] spoken to plug-in authors [193:03] and a lot of people submitting their [193:06] vibe coded plugins or their AI plugins [193:10] uh to the directory. A lot of them [193:11] they're submitting it. Why? Because they [193:14] kind of just want access on all of their [193:17] WordPress sites to be able to install [193:19] their their own plugin. Maybe they're [193:22] not so concerned about giving everybody [193:24] else access. They just want it there so [193:26] they can easily access it. And it's [193:31] the problem is it takes up time of the [193:33] reviewers, presents new security risks [193:36] into the directory. And at the end of [193:39] the day, when you're trying to choose [193:41] what plug-in do I use, you don't want to [193:44] have a thousand options, right? Did you [193:46] know we're not accepting image [193:48] optimization plugins into the WordPress [193:50] directory anymore? [193:53] And the reason why is we've just got so [193:56] many of them. And it was actually [193:58] strange. I I never really got an [194:00] explanation, but for about two months, [194:03] we saw new image optimization plugins [194:06] being submitted every day. And so we [194:08] said, "Okay, we've got enough image [194:10] optimization plugins now. We need to [194:12] slow that down." So this is happening [194:16] because people kind of they just want [194:18] their plugins on the directory so that [194:21] they can access them later. [194:24] Okay. So [194:27] what if [194:30] we open up the plug-in directory in a [194:33] way that lets you install plugins from [194:35] other places? Okay, other app stores [194:38] have this. By the way, [194:41] the iOS app store in Europe, they have [194:45] like alt stores now and you can install [194:48] third party applications on Android. Uh [194:52] on MetaQuest, there's a whole like [194:55] third-party library where you can go and [194:57] install from other places. And you might [194:59] have seen this in other other app [195:02] stores. It's an adapted idea. So, first [195:04] of all, [195:07] we've got this new thing that we do in [195:08] WordPress. Now, by the way, it seems, [195:11] have you seen in WordPress 7, there's a [195:14] optin checkbox to say, "Ah, yeah, I'll [195:18] check it into the experimental mode of [195:22] uh collaborative editing." All right. [195:23] So, I think for something like this, [195:25] unknown sources could be risky. Maybe [195:27] it's an advanced user sort of thing. So, [195:30] I say let's let's put an option for it [195:32] in our settings. [195:36] And then on our add plugins screen, [195:42] we've got this area where we can already [195:46] we've got featured, popular, [195:48] recommended, and we've got also a new [195:51] tab. This is this is my mockup, right? [195:54] This is what I'd like to see, an unknown [195:56] sources sort of area. [195:59] And you can put in your GitHub URL. [196:03] A lot of work has already been done by [196:06] other parties. Um, [196:10] I'm not sure whether it would be okay to [196:13] adapt that work. I know it's GPL, but I [196:16] also know that it's uh, you know, [196:19] premium plug-in territory. So, I'm not [196:21] sure exactly, but we should be able to [196:23] put in any git URL, GitHub, GitLab, [196:26] anything, and then be able to pull it in [196:29] to our WordPress install. [196:34] And once we've done that, it should [196:36] always show up in our WordPress install [196:38] in this area. And we can add it now. [196:42] Now, more long-term speaking, we've got [196:45] this new connectors in WordPress 7. [196:50] And wouldn't it be cool if we could [196:53] connect our WordPress.org [196:57] profile with our user account on any [197:01] WordPress installs that we have. Now, if [197:04] we did that [197:06] now, then when we go to our favorites [197:08] tab, that's one of those other tabs [197:10] that's up there at the moment. Who knows [197:13] what happens when you put it when you [197:14] press favorites. Do you see a list of [197:16] your favorites? [197:18] No, you don't. You have to type in your [197:20] WordPress.org username. [197:23] Okay, it's not the greatest user [197:26] experience. [197:27] If we could connect our account, our [197:31] WordPress.org account with our various [197:34] different sites with our user accounts [197:36] there through through our connectors [197:38] screen. Then our favorites could be [197:40] automatically populated, which would be [197:42] nice. And if we did that, then we could [197:45] also [197:46] allow this unknown sources, this list. [197:49] It's just a list of GitHub URLs [197:52] to be attached to our WordPress.org [197:54] account, maybe privately, [197:57] so that they can then show up in any [198:00] WordPress install. I don't think that [198:02] this is too much of a a pull [198:04] technically. I think we can we're [198:06] capable of making this work. So this is [198:08] my proposal. I think that that we could [198:10] make make this happen. All right. [198:15] So those are my three proposals for the [198:20] plug-in directory. We should have [198:23] generative AI disclosure [198:26] where we're saying, "Yeah, I used a [198:29] little bit or I used a lot of AI and [198:31] that that should be shown on your [198:33] plug-in page, which would allow people [198:36] to make choices about what plugins they [198:39] choose to use. And it would also be [198:41] great because it would also give us a [198:42] little bit more data. See, when I'm [198:45] reviewing a plugin, I can tell whether [198:47] it's AI or not, but it's a gut feeling. [198:50] it would give us some real data to be [198:52] able to know how much of the WordPress [198:54] plug-in directory is AI and I I don't [198:58] feel like binary is a good solution [199:00] here. Yeah, because the way that I use [199:03] AI might be a little bit the way that [199:05] you use AI might be everything. And so [199:09] I'm suggesting a range. Also, I think we [199:12] should address dark patterns. [199:14] We're seeing lots of plugins, including [199:17] very popular plugins, tricking user [199:19] users into various different behaviors [199:22] or just being a little what I would say [199:25] is impolite. [199:27] By the way, did you know we've we've now [199:30] disallowed plugins from putting [199:32] themselves right at the very top of the [199:34] menu? [199:36] That's not we're not we're not letting [199:37] that through anymore. All right. So, [199:40] that's another thing addressing these [199:41] dark patterns. We should update the [199:43] guidelines to do that. And then also, I [199:47] think it would be really cool if we had [199:49] an unknown sources section that as a [199:53] first step could be built into our [199:55] WordPress [199:57] install on a perinstall basis, but [200:00] long-term would be great if it were able [200:03] to connect to our WordPress.org account [200:06] so that it could follow us around to our [200:10] various WordPress installs. [200:14] That was my three proposals for today. [200:18] Uh are there any questions about either [200:21] any of this or also anything about [200:25] plug-in review or the plug-in directory? [200:27] Happy to help. Yeah, [200:31] >> I think you might need a microphone. [200:43] Hi Alex. Uh thanks for sharing uh the [200:45] details. Uh what I wanted to ask is [200:48] currently in the plug-in review uh you [200:51] read it code by code uh or line by line [200:54] code or is there any automated process [200:58] is there for code reviewing in terms of [201:00] security or other things? [201:02] >> That's a good question. We have as you [201:05] probably know uh a plugin called the [201:08] plug-in check plugin which is a really [201:10] good first step. In fact, it's a [201:12] required first step for anyone [201:14] submitting a plugin into the plug-in [201:16] repo. And that highlights [201:19] a whole bunch of issues that might be [201:22] present in the code of your plug-in. So [201:25] that's a first step for us. Also, we run [201:29] it through something very similar to [201:30] that. And then we also have our own [201:33] automated checks on top of that. [201:36] And that's looking for it's a it's an [201:40] internal tool and it's using like code [201:42] sniffer rules. Uh but also there's some [201:47] private things in there. There are some [201:49] bad actors as you might imagine. So we [201:51] do some like IP lookups. We can't make [201:53] that public. There's we look to make [201:55] sure that nothing's trying to upsell or [201:58] do premium things and we have special [202:00] checks for that that we don't want [202:01] people to be able to work around. So [202:03] those those are like extra sniffs we do [202:05] in addition to the plug-in check stuff [202:09] uh to make sure [202:12] >> uh also [202:13] >> oh sorry and then [202:17] >> and and then that generates a report and [202:19] then in addition to that we will spot [202:23] check a few areas where we think oh that [202:26] could be and we'll look at generally at [202:28] the code that we we get a little notice [202:32] in our tooling says, "Oh, maybe check [202:34] this bit out." Oh, maybe that doesn't [202:36] look maybe quite so straightforward. [202:38] It'll be things like adding a new user, [202:41] right? Oh, got to be careful about that. [202:44] And afterwards, we'll go back and forth [202:47] with the plug-in author. Then when it's [202:50] ready from our perspective, when the [202:53] code is looking good, then I'll also [202:55] just have a [202:58] whole code sort of quick look through, [203:01] make sure there's nothing that's really [203:03] standing out as trying to be sneaky and [203:07] we'll use the plugin. Maybe people don't [203:10] realize, but we actually we spin up a [203:12] playground. [203:13] we've got a button and we press it and [203:15] it opens a new playground with that [203:17] plug-in submission ready to go and we [203:20] mess around with it and I'd say like one [203:22] in five times the plugin doesn't [203:24] actually work as well right so then we [203:27] can go back to the plug-in author and [203:28] say yeah the code looks like there's [203:31] nothing bad happening but also it [203:33] doesn't work so we have that process as [203:35] well so it's a mixture of our automated [203:38] tools and our review now I know that [203:42] maybe behind And questions like that [203:44] that I get asked often there's are you [203:47] using AI and I just do want to address [203:50] that right now we use AI for naming [203:54] purposes when you submit a plugin AI [203:57] checks the name it's going to look for [204:00] is it similar to other plugins in the [204:02] repo is it similar to other brands is it [204:04] just very generic we don't let very [204:08] generic names through uh does it seem [204:11] like it's trying to be something it's [204:13] Not having said that [204:16] there are at the moment [204:19] there is some work being done to do some [204:22] checks with AI beyond what we currently [204:25] do. So as an example we can sniff [204:29] reliably whether you're escaping [204:32] uh your output at late as late as [204:35] possible and we always want that to be [204:37] as late as possible. Now, sometimes [204:40] someone will use like a a custom [204:42] sanitization function or a custom [204:44] escaping function, and that's kind of [204:47] okay if it's actually doing what it [204:50] says. And that means I have to go in and [204:51] check, does your custom sanitization [204:54] function actually sanitize? And so, [204:56] we're using AI to maybe do some of that [204:59] work. We're not doing it yet, but we're [205:02] actively pursuing that sort of thing. [205:04] Maybe we'll be doing it soon. [205:07] >> Thank you. [205:15] Hi Luke, I'm Sachin. [205:17] >> Hi. [205:17] >> Okay. So I have one question that once [205:20] our plug-in is approved. Okay. So that [205:22] is our first release and [205:25] say for example I made some changes and [205:27] I I go for the second second version. So [205:30] is that time any checkpoints are there? [205:34] >> Is it checked? So is the the question if [205:36] I could repeat it is do we review [205:39] plug-in updates? Yeah. [205:42] >> Yes. [205:43] >> So [205:46] the answer is not really right now. [205:49] We've got a huge queue of plugins that [205:53] are new and that's where our focus is. [205:55] Having said that, I don't know how [205:58] closely you follow the news, but maybe [206:01] sometimes a plug-in might be updated [206:03] with security vulnerability and that's [206:06] not caught. So we do have tools. We have [206:10] AI that looks at the changes the change [206:15] set of of an update and it will surface [206:18] things that it thinks are dangerous. And [206:21] that goes to the security team who sort [206:23] of uh look at that and they go, "Oh, not [206:26] sure about that." And they'll they will [206:27] review updates that AI has said, "This [206:31] might be worth looking at." But the the [206:33] honest truth is right now that's very [206:35] noisy. AI gets heaps of false positives [206:39] and it's very hard to be in that we have [206:42] this private channel that's going, "Oh, [206:44] maybe this, maybe this, maybe this." And [206:46] there's so many every day that are false [206:48] positives that it's it's easy to just [206:51] not check sometimes and sometimes a a [206:54] bad update might sneak through and [206:56] that's happened recently actually. uh [206:59] when it does happen once as soon as we [207:02] know about it and usually that's very [207:04] very early on uh because security [207:07] reporters will tell us the plug-in team [207:10] has the ability to force push an update. [207:15] So if there is a security vulnerability, [207:17] sometimes even the WordPress security [207:19] team, you know, volunteer team will fix [207:23] the vulnerability before the author does [207:26] and push that update to WordPress sites [207:29] if it's a particularly egregious t uh [207:33] problem. More often the author's fixed [207:35] it straight away and we force that [207:37] update out uh if it's a security [207:39] vulnerability and so that minimizes the [207:41] damage. But it is possible uh that an [207:45] update can get through that isn't [207:46] reviewed. And yeah, [207:49] does that answer your question? [207:51] >> Yes. [207:55] >> Behind the scenes [207:57] of WordPress plug-in review. [208:02] >> I'd love to take your question. [208:13] Hello Luke. [208:14] >> Hi. [208:15] >> Yeah. I have a question about uh what [208:19] the first proposal that is the [208:21] generating the high disclosure. No, I uh [208:25] you you mentioned that uh for now it's [208:29] more of gut feeling [208:31] and in this case it means that the [208:34] plug-in developer would have to disclose [208:37] that they used AI to co-author the [208:40] plug-in or they totally used AI to to uh [208:44] to make the plugin. So do you have plans [208:47] of coming up with a system that will be [208:49] able to to solve this issue without [208:53] having the developer lie that you see I [208:56] didn't use AI [208:58] >> to author this plug? [208:59] >> No. No. I my proposal around generative [209:03] AI disclosure is completely [209:07] honesty system 100%. If you're going to [209:11] lie about it, you're going to lie about [209:12] it. [209:16] I I think in that case [209:19] you'll see what we already see on [209:21] WordPress.org which is people will go uh [209:24] I've looked at the code of this and I'm [209:26] not so sure and they'll start to leave [209:28] reviews and say uh they said they didn't [209:30] use AI but it feels kind of sloppy you [209:33] know that sort of thing. I don't know. I [209:34] kind of hope that maybe I'm an optimist. [209:38] I kind of hope the community would would [209:39] sort of provide the checks and balances [209:42] behind that. [209:45] All right. Thank you. [209:51] Hi. Look. Um, Yogesh from Bangalore. [209:54] >> Hi. Nice to meet you, Yogesh. [209:56] >> Uh, I have a couple of questions, but [209:58] I'll ask uh one. Uh so is is there uh if [210:04] a plug-in is not updated for [210:08] long time for two years, three years, is [210:11] there a graveyard where you bury these [210:14] plugins? [210:15] >> Yeah. Uh [210:18] it's not an active burial, but we do [210:22] allow plugins to decompose on their own. [210:26] Um, I think it's if a plug-in hasn't [210:30] been updated in two years, I think is [210:32] the time limit. I'd have to fact check [210:34] that, but I think it it's some amount of [210:36] time around two years, maybe three. If [210:39] there's been no updates, then what [210:41] happens is it stops appearing in search [210:44] results. You can't find it via search in [210:47] the plug-in directory anymore. And so [210:50] that's to stop people from installing [210:52] old plugins that maybe don't work [210:54] anymore, haven't been tested, haven't [210:56] been updated. But you got a problem [210:58] which is WordPress. We're it's backwards [211:02] compatible to forever, right? So you [211:06] can't just get rid of a plugin and it [211:08] actually causes lots of problems with in [211:12] terms of slugs and reuse of slugs and [211:15] transferring plugins and things like [211:17] this. Changing the name of a plugin is [211:19] really tough. Just ask Yoast. [211:23] The the slug has got to remain the same. [211:26] Why? Because if some if somebody [211:28] installed that plugin in the early days, [211:32] their WordPress install is going to be [211:34] checking that slug for updates always. [211:37] And if the slug disappears or changes [211:41] or the worst case, imagine I install a [211:45] plugin and it doesn't get updated. Maybe [211:47] the slug is fooarbaz [211:50] doesn't get updated. Then another plugin [211:52] comes along that's different that's [211:53] called fubarbaz and has that slug now. [211:55] And now I'm going to get that plugin [211:57] installed on my old site. It could wreck [211:59] things. So all the plugins they we they [212:02] stick around forever, right? They they [212:05] never truly die, but we do hide them [212:08] once they start to decompose and start [212:10] to go smelly. We get rid of them. [212:13] >> Thank you. [212:14] >> No worries. [212:17] All right. [212:22] Well, thank you everybody. Um, if you [212:25] like some of these ideas, then let me [212:28] know and we'll start to talk about it. [212:30] we'll start to maybe try to push it a [212:32] little bit uh on on WordPress.org and [212:35] I'll I'll raise it with keep raising it [212:37] with the team. Thanks very much. [212:46] Oh, [212:55] >> okay. There's no mic. [212:58] >> Yeah, you got a mic. Oh yeah. So, thank [213:00] you so much. That was wonderful session. [213:02] Though I messed your intro, what you did [213:05] was bang on. [213:07] >> Oh well, the intro is designed to mess [213:09] you up. [213:10] >> Oh, yes. Thank you. [213:12] >> You're welcome. [213:15] >> All right, everyone. We will be having [213:18] short break and starting our next [213:20] session at 4:45. [213:23] But during that time I would suggest you [213:25] to please sit down network with other [213:28] fellow to fellow attendee have a [213:31] conversations on the things that you [213:33] learned today or that you want to share [213:36] and we will see you exactly at 4:45. [213:40] Five. [215:29] Heat [215:48] up [215:50] here. [222:37] That's why I wanted [224:25] Heat. Heat. [225:53] Hey, [226:00] hey, hey. [226:06] Hey, [226:25] hey, hey. [228:58] Hey. Hey. Hey. [229:28] Hey, hey, hey. [230:21] Hello everyone. I would like to request [230:23] all the attendee to please come forward [230:26] and please be seated in the the front [230:28] rows or second rows rather than in the [230:30] back. And we will be beginning our [230:33] session exactly after 2 minutes. [230:56] that [231:02] heat. [232:01] Hello again. Welcome back to this room. [232:05] Today we are ending this day with the [232:08] last speaker and I would like to start [232:11] with few notes that lot of the MC's are [232:14] might be saying to in each and every [232:16] room that is for the captioning you can [232:19] scan the QR code for the captions. Now [232:23] to introduce our last speaker who is [232:27] Aniran Mukherzi. He is the founder of C [232:32] founder and CEO of mini orange with over [232:35] 20 years of experience in cyber security [232:39] identity and SS management and a [232:42] background at IBM and RSS security. He [232:45] knows what it takes to go from idea to [232:48] global scale. And today he is here to [232:51] share why WordPress gives startup [232:55] founders a very real and very powerful [232:58] advantage and we cannot wait to hear it. [233:02] At the end of the session we have a Q&A [233:04] round. So if you have any questions you [233:07] can ask but please as you can see there [233:10] are two mics in the right and left. So [233:12] if you have any questions, you can stand [233:14] there and wait for your turn and ask [233:17] your questions. So let me invite our [233:21] speaker to the stage with a big round of [233:24] applause, of course. [233:30] Thank you. Thank you for the [233:32] introduction. [233:34] Well, first of all, I'd like to say what [233:36] a wonderful uh organization, [233:39] world-class organization, world-class [233:40] choice of venues, and I saw a production [233:43] team back there. Super high quality. So, [233:45] thank you so much for doing all that. [233:47] And a very warm welcome to anybody who [233:49] has come in from different parts of the [233:52] country. If there's anybody from uh New [233:54] York, give a very warm welcome. [233:56] Namaskar. uh and I hope uh there is [233:59] something that uh uh I'm able to give [234:02] you guys as uh a learning from this uh [234:05] from this talk. Um I have been doing um [234:09] uh cyber security for a long time and uh [234:13] it all started with a small plug-in that [234:16] we started we wrote in 20145 time frame. [234:20] Uh so I'm the founder and CEO of mini [234:21] orange and before that I worked in a [234:24] company called IBM security. If you've [234:26] not heard of that before that RSA [234:28] security so a long time for a long time [234:29] I've been doing this and uh when I got [234:32] this chance of uh speaking at word camp [234:35] uh I was thrilled about it especially it [234:38] is uh because it's uh it's in India it's [234:40] in Mumbai this is the first time word [234:42] camp is happening in in India and I can [234:45] see from the organization the enthusiasm [234:47] that they have done a great job great [234:50] ending to the first day and looking [234:51] forward to the second day as well. So um [234:56] there are some wannabe founders I hope [234:58] in the crowd and uh there are some [235:00] people who have already founded their [235:02] own companies. There are some people who [235:03] are my colleagues and co-workers are [235:05] sitting here and people from mad web I [235:07] can see um [235:10] I have some tips for all of all of us [235:12] and uh I'd like it to be interactive as [235:15] if uh as as interactive as possible but [235:17] like she said hold your questions for [235:20] the end. We can do that now. The first [235:23] slide I thought I'd put in is uh [235:25] starting is important and I was having a [235:28] little chat with uh my friend in sitting [235:30] in front and he was saying yesterday how [235:33] to start I don't know how to start [235:36] starting is important but how to start [235:38] and this is uh the session that we're [235:40] going to I I think I I hope I'll uh I'll [235:42] be able to answer some of that. Um [235:47] why talk about startups in a WordPress [235:50] word camp uh word camp conference [235:53] WordPress uh related conference? Um you [235:57] know when you when you do something um [236:00] when you add value as a service or as a [236:02] product you want people to know about it [236:06] and you want uh them to use your [236:08] services and use your product. But how [236:10] do they find you? [236:14] So the answer is the WordPress search [236:16] algorithm, the WordPress plug-in uh [236:18] marketplace. What a powerful tool. Um if [236:22] 43% of the internet finds you right away [236:26] as soon as you write something and you [236:27] publish on the public on the on the [236:30] WordPress marketplace, [236:32] you've uh won a huge battle there. [236:35] you're not uh you're not having to pay [236:38] Google or Facebook or LinkedIn a lot of [236:40] money to market your stuff. You put it [236:44] on your uh on the WordPress marketplace. [236:48] Even if you're competing with others who [236:50] are who have put plugins which are much [236:52] more powerful which have been done uh [236:54] long time ago, there is still uh there [236:57] are still some uh benefits because it [237:00] lists the way it lists. I'm sure all of [237:02] you have seen the marketplace. It lists [237:05] uh all the older vendors which have been [237:08] reviewed uh given great reviews and then [237:12] it shows the the the startups right at [237:15] the bottom and somebody who's sitting at [237:17] a at a different place will find you [237:21] and it's all meritocratic. So I feel [237:24] that that's a huge huge benefit uh that [237:26] you get uh from writing something on [237:29] WordPress. [237:32] The other thing is uh you can get I mean [237:34] the kind 43% of the internet is using [237:37] WordPress uh as a CMS and uh I know for [237:40] a fact because I'm doing this for 14 [237:42] years now that uh it's not only the mom [237:45] and pop shops who are setting up uh [237:47] sites who are using WordPress. [237:50] There are some businesses that that use [237:52] it. And [237:55] what WordPress does, there's a there's a [237:57] whole host of people who are uh who want [238:00] your product, but they want it for free. [238:04] And I feel that that's a huge advantage [238:07] if you look at it that way. As soon as [238:10] you start charging people for any of [238:12] your services or products, the data set [238:16] becomes much smaller. And as the data [238:19] set becomes smaller, you are you don't [238:21] understand what is the latest and [238:22] greatest uh use case that is out there. [238:25] And if you provide it to all the [238:27] WordPress community, they will use it [238:30] for free. But but they will find so many [238:31] faults in your product service, you will [238:34] be able to understand whether you've [238:35] built something valuable or not right [238:36] away. There are so many apps that we [238:39] have on our phones and we don't use it. [238:41] So how does the app developer know how [238:44] to improve it? You he can't. So [238:48] one of the main topics uh I wanted to [238:50] highlight is product or service. So we [238:54] have a nice uh expo area here. A lot of [238:57] people are uh uh hosting providers. Uh [239:00] great uh great hosting providers are [239:02] there. Hostinger is there. Automatic uh [239:04] and WP uh there are some others even [239:07] mini orange one. But uh whe when you [239:10] when you build something do you build a [239:11] product or a service? [239:14] So I what I what I think is uh let's [239:16] talk about services first. Services is a [239:19] different business model. It's uh uh [239:22] time in material how much time you spend [239:23] on it you can charge according to that. [239:26] And uh uh but what happens is if you're [239:30] providing service to somebody say [239:31] somebody in New York sitting in New York [239:33] you'll charge a lot somebody else in [239:35] different part of the world maybe in [239:36] India they'll say oh I'll provide the [239:38] same service at half the cost. [239:41] Then somebody will say, "Oh, I'm going [239:42] to sit in Jaipur and I I'll do even less [239:46] than that." So there's always a there's [239:48] always a competition going on and it's [239:50] all price. [239:52] But the good thing is we all have done [239:55] services. Mini Orange has done services. [239:56] That's how we started and it's a great [239:58] way to start up uh start up from zero. [240:01] And uh but but scaling is tough. Compare [240:05] that to a product. Um if you create a [240:08] product, creating a product is hard. [240:11] and uh scaling it is even harder. But [240:15] the advantage is if you're able to [240:17] successfully create a product, the [240:19] advantage is that if it is if it has [240:21] some barrier to entry then you know uh [240:26] there are the competition is going to be [240:27] less and you'll be able to have some [240:29] time to scale it. So if I'm given a [240:32] choice, I was given a choice and luckily [240:35] I chanced upon creating a product and I [240:37] will choose product over service. [240:39] Nothing wrong with a service based [240:41] startup or a product based startup but [240:42] there are pros and cons that I think you [240:44] should be aware of. [240:46] All right. So there are some [240:48] opportunities that I would like to talk [240:49] about when there are there's WordPress [240:51] as a CMS and Drupal as a CMS and uh [240:56] WordPress is worldwide wellnown everyone [240:59] who wants to try something out we start [241:01] off with WordPress. [241:03] Be a mom and pop shop, be a freelancer, [241:07] even in organizations, [241:09] and I'm not talking about small and [241:10] medium businesses, even in enterprises, [241:13] the first choice has become WordPress to [241:16] create any kind of a site, whether it's [241:18] a blogging site or any different kind of [241:20] site, it's WordPress. But there's a [241:23] perception that uh if you take Drupal, [241:26] then there's more security involved. [241:30] I think it is somewhat it is true [241:33] because uh the entire perception was [241:36] built by a lot of marketing but still [241:38] some some of it is true. Um so there's a [241:40] perception that's why governments [241:42] generally use Drupal and people who are [241:44] uh who who wanting to um [241:48] who security is their primary use case [241:51] they would probably choose Drupal. So [241:55] I think that's an opportunity product [241:57] opportunity. How is it a product [241:58] opportunity? [241:59] Let's look at the design of of Drupal. [242:02] What are they doing differently and do [242:04] the same similar things in in uh [242:06] WordPress? That's a product opportunity. [242:09] Um [242:10] then there is uh product opportunities [242:12] in VUCommerce and Magento and Shopify. [242:15] Now VUCommerce being as old and as [242:19] popular um like we all know already. Why [242:23] did uh Shopify make such a stunning [242:25] entry and it continues to to grow? it [242:28] has probably more than a billion dollars [242:29] in uh ARR maybe if if you're tracking [242:32] Shopify because they they I think they [242:36] went on a simple concept saying they [242:38] said that uh you know if you if you want [242:41] to ready made if you want to quickly get [242:43] your shop online and you don't want to [242:46] deal with production and all of that you [242:48] know Shopify is the way to go and they [242:50] just uh scale from there. So and then [242:53] same thing with Magento. Uh Magento is [242:56] uh again a very popular um sort of a CMS [243:00] where people create uh sites and [243:02] marketplaces and all um I mean sites [243:04] where goods are bought and sold and that [243:07] also has become very popular and I I [243:09] would like to uh I mean I like to draw a [243:12] parallel between what Magentto and uh uh [243:16] Shopify has done to what Apple has and [243:18] Android has done. So there are things to [243:22] learn from there and implement it back [243:24] in WooCommerce. So that's I feel that's [243:26] a huge product opportunity for anybody [243:28] who's wanting to start uh startup in uh [243:31] in using WordPress. So [243:35] the next one is product opportunities in [243:37] AI on WordPress platform. We heard uh [243:39] from the chief AI officer of automatic [243:42] in the morning that they have introduced [243:45] abilities API and whatnot. [243:48] What a great opportunity. I mean I uh I [243:50] don't know whether I'm sure you guys [243:52] read news. There are so many um news on [243:56] AI all the time. How has AI affected us? [244:00] Obviously by search we all all are [244:02] consumers of search. Our search patterns [244:04] have changed. Anything we we we go to AI [244:07] and we ask we I go to Gemini [244:09] particularly some people use uh use chat [244:11] GBT to ask questions that that is that [244:13] has definitely has had an impact. Um [244:16] then there are there's other impact to [244:18] consumers. Job loss is another one. I [244:21] mean I'm I I demand my uh senior leaders [244:24] to deliver 10x productivity uh from [244:26] their teams which means one person does [244:29] 10 times uh the work today. So what [244:32] happens with the remaining nine? So a [244:34] lot of people lot of businesses around [244:36] the world have been cutting cutting [244:37] jobs. But here I'm not talking about the [244:40] consumer uh product opportunities. I'm [244:42] talking about what uh what do we see for [244:44] businesses? I was at RSA two two weeks [244:48] ago in San Francisco and I had a chance [244:50] to speak to uh a very senior leader from [244:53] Salesforce and a senior leader from in [244:56] it uh which does Turboax and they said [244:59] uh they are automating all workflows [245:03] using AI and they are not uh waiting for [245:07] so I mean the same thing so that's the [245:10] reason why I feel when the chief AI [245:13] officer says I'm making Sure all the [245:17] WordPress sites and their plugins [245:20] they are callable by an AI LLM [245:24] they are enabling that is the reason is [245:27] that most of the businesses they want [245:30] they have put in so much content on [245:32] WordPress and they want all of that to [245:35] be uh callable and they want the the [245:38] agents that they're developing in these [245:39] those businesses they want the [245:41] interaction to happen with WordPress [245:42] sites and there's a lot of opportunity [245:44] there. [245:46] Kalpesh helped me with this slide and he [245:48] said you know we can write AI agents and [245:49] all whatnot but basically most of the [245:53] businesses out there are automating all [245:55] sorts of stuff. I run besides a cyber [245:58] security company I run a hospital and [246:00] I've asked my AI team to make sure that [246:04] when my my my doctors in the hospital [246:07] when they see a patient they get an [246:10] option where they get to see the history [246:13] of uh of the patient all the all the [246:16] medical history of the patient and [246:19] there's a there's a there's there's a [246:21] trained LLM there's a model called [246:23] medgamma by Google I want a suggestion [246:27] from Medgama in front of my doctors so [246:30] they can pick and choose whether they're [246:32] missing something and with the help of [246:35] of an AI model they can give better [246:37] treatment options to the patient and [246:40] things like this is happening all across [246:42] all over the world. What all startup [246:45] founders can do is pick an area of their [246:48] interest whatever use case you know and [246:50] create your first agent. Huge [246:53] opportunity I would say. [246:56] Then since I'm a cyber security guy, how [246:58] can I miss the product opportunities on [247:01] uh AI security on a WordPress platform? [247:04] So obviously when if if uh WordPress is [247:08] going to be accessed not only by humans [247:10] but also by by agents then what happens [247:14] to their access control? Should we give [247:16] them everything? No, [247:19] we have to govern their access. We have [247:21] to we have to say this agent gets access [247:24] at this time and then access should be [247:26] should be taken away so that my system [247:28] is safe [247:31] and when I click the button and I go to [247:33] sleep and I wake up I need to observe [247:36] what the agent did at night. So that is [247:39] observability [247:41] but a simpler example is code review. [247:44] there are so many security guidelines uh [247:46] in place and sometimes we miss them and [247:49] then it creates a huge backlog to the [247:52] plug-in uh reviewers. So maybe we should [247:56] write uh a plug-in that is going to do [247:59] automatic code review and there are so [248:00] many guidelines out there. So I have a [248:02] small video where I've captured what it [248:06] would look like. It's a very quick video [248:08] so pay attention to it. What it [248:10] demonstrates is uh [248:13] how a plug-in can be written and uh that [248:16] can do code review of your latest [248:18] plug-in code and it'll save you a lot of [248:21] headache and it'll save the reviewers a [248:22] lot of headache. So, can we have the [248:25] video please [248:30] quick uh quick demo of the dashboard. Um [248:35] there's a lot of models out there. it. [248:37] You can take a choice of which model you [248:40] like, how to connect to it. That's what [248:42] you see happening here. [248:49] Once you connect to the model of your [248:51] choice, [248:55] which repository, what all library, what [248:58] all guidelines you want. You can see the [249:01] guidelines in front of you. You can add [249:04] more guidelines if you want. You can add [249:06] this guideline. You can add more. What [249:08] are the active guidelines? [249:10] Which repository do you want to apply [249:13] this code review to? [249:27] Then [249:30] you have different options. How how [249:32] strict you need to be. [249:35] You save it. [249:49] Then you apply to a a certain pull [249:52] request. [249:55] You run the run the tool. Boom. [249:59] something that took you hours will took [250:02] you will take you minutes at least for a [250:04] base level review and then still a human [250:06] uh involved it's just suggesting you get [250:09] to pick and choose what all to apply [250:12] so with a human in the loop you do a [250:14] code review and you're done [250:18] something like that adds a huge adds [250:20] huge value to the entire plug-in [250:22] ecosystem many plug-in developers would [250:24] love it and you can develop something [250:26] like [250:29] All right. Can we go back to the [250:30] presentation please? So there are many [250:32] such product opportunities in uh on in [250:34] AI. But the main thing is um whether you [250:38] create a service or a product what I've [250:41] learned over my 14 years is creating [250:43] something which is which has high [250:45] barrier to entry. Super important. High [250:48] barrier to entry high value deep tech. [250:50] Why? because [250:53] sometimes uh it may be part of the [250:55] WordPress core in the next release. You [250:57] don't want to develop something which [250:59] comes out in the WordPress core and [251:00] you're you're done. You you don't want [251:02] to do that. You don't want something [251:04] which can be which is location [251:06] dependent. If you're sitting in New York [251:08] versus you're sitting in Japur or you're [251:10] sitting in Mumbai, there's a cost [251:11] difference and your product and service [251:13] has no value. You don't want to do that. [251:15] So huge uh hugely important creating [251:17] something with very high barrier to [251:19] entry. [251:21] And it should not be the focus of of the [251:23] WordPress score. It should not be the [251:24] focus of the next LLM. You know when uh [251:27] when we started using cursor for code [251:29] generation, I was wondering if one of [251:31] the models is going to just build it in [251:33] and Claude just proved proved that [251:35] point. Of course, we have to pick Claude [251:37] as well. Now a lot of small language [251:39] models are coming up with rein [251:41] reinforcement learning and that is going [251:44] to give a lot of competition to even uh [251:47] Claude. So you have to build something [251:50] with with very high barrier to entry and [251:53] you can do that slowly with WordPress. [251:57] I h I did touch upon this slide how why [252:01] um getting people to use your product [252:03] forget about how much they pay you just [252:06] getting people to use your product is [252:07] supremely important. The reason is that [252:10] if you have a big set of people just [252:12] throwing stones at you, then you know [252:15] that uh they're using it and they'll [252:18] give you so much feedback based on that [252:20] you can refine your product and it'll be [252:23] hugely valuable at some point. So, [252:27] so how WordPress helps you scale? [252:30] We started with a small plug-in in 2014 [252:34] and suddenly somebody registered from [252:37] different parts of the world, different [252:39] part of the world. There are there were [252:40] I think eight to 10 of us in 2014 15 and [252:44] we were like wow did this really happen? [252:46] Is it a scam? No, somebody had actually [252:48] downloaded registered and we were [252:50] talking to that person. The entire team [252:52] five 10 people talking to one person [252:53] trying to figure out we get very excited [252:55] somebody downloaded the RAM plug-in. So [252:59] later on I mean in the last 10 years we [253:02] realized WordPress plugins are not only [253:04] used by small shops but actually by [253:07] large corporations as well. [253:11] I come from a big company IBM security. [253:14] So they make big products. They have [253:17] built trust with other companies. So [253:20] when I represented IBM and I went to [253:22] those companies they would buy my [253:24] product because they thought they buying [253:26] from IBM. [253:27] But when I became a startup, [253:31] if I make a huge product and I or any [253:33] product and I take it to a big [253:35] corporation, they don't know me. They [253:37] can't trust me. [253:39] Guess what? They trust WordPress [253:42] because of the history of WordPress. [253:45] And you're sitting on top of WordPress [253:47] and you're you have a huge advantage [253:50] there. So large corporation will buy [253:52] your product. [253:55] They will not only buy your product, [253:58] they will actually ask one of their one [254:01] of their distributors to buy it for [254:03] them. And what does that mean? It means [254:06] that now you not only have a customer [254:08] which is a large corporation, you have a [254:10] distributor and it is the who's who of [254:14] the world. It can be SHI, it can be TD [254:16] Snacks which are the top distributors of [254:18] United States. [254:20] they will be onboarding you because the [254:23] customer asked them to do it. It may be [254:25] a small plug-in costing $99, but you've [254:28] got a large corporation as your customer [254:30] and you have a large distributor who has [254:33] onboarded you. [254:35] All the things that you need other than [254:38] being meritorious in creating the [254:40] product to be to scale, you have all of [254:43] that because you're sitting on top of [254:45] WordPress. [254:48] touched upon the partners and [254:49] distributors. [254:51] There are so many other platforms in the [254:53] world. What makes sense for WordPress [254:57] will make sense for other platforms. [254:59] It may make that's exactly what we have [255:01] done as well. It makes sense for [255:03] Shopify, Drupal, all of these different [255:05] platforms. [255:07] Replicate the functionality where it [255:08] makes sense. Where it doesn't make [255:10] sense, improvise and and replicate. And [255:12] you have an entire suite of products for [255:14] different uh platforms and you can scale [255:16] from there. [255:18] CMS is not the only thing which is which [255:21] large corporations are using. So as and [255:23] when you you get into a large [255:24] corporation you you have somebody [255:26] talking to you they will give you [255:27] another use case. You will understand [255:29] what all they use. What does that mean? [255:32] You get to hop out [255:35] of the cradle of any marketplace and you [255:38] get to create a standalone product. [255:42] Very big deal. And you got you started [255:45] from there. Some companies use Jira for [255:47] ticketing, WordPress for C for CMS [255:49] content management, customer [255:51] relationship management. They use they [255:52] may use Salesforce and whatnot. So you [255:55] get to know all of that and you can get [255:57] you can make uh a standalone product. [256:03] So now I mean there are so many [256:05] opportunities but there are some [256:06] expectations as well. So WordPress is a [256:09] community. Who doesn't have [256:11] expectations? I mean as you're growing [256:12] up you go into uh you go into uh a job [256:17] your your family immediate family has [256:19] expectations from you your kids have [256:21] your neighbors have sometimes if you [256:23] grow a little too too big then the [256:26] district state the nation has [256:28] expectations from you so similarly the [256:30] WordPress community has expectation from [256:31] you and I think uh we we learned it [256:34] along the way there's a license I mean [256:36] if you belong to a community there's no [256:38] harm in going by the rules and just like [256:41] uh this previous presenter was [256:43] presenting he's he's de he's asking he's [256:46] recommending three more rules to be [256:47] added to the list of rules which I like [256:49] actually uh avoiding dark patterns and [256:52] all of that it's fantastic unknown [256:53] sources has been a major problem for for [256:55] my company as well so there's no harm in [256:59] going through the rule to these rules [257:01] but some of these things that I've [257:03] learned GP licensing is important [257:06] um [257:08] u trademark policy following the [257:09] trademark policy is important [257:11] I'll tell you u what are the advantages [257:14] of uh I mean I don't you don't want to [257:16] start up and get in get in conflict with [257:18] somebody you're uh you're dependent on [257:21] but even besides that why following [257:22] rules in general is important. I go to [257:26] worldwide conferences and and it's [257:28] sometimes difficult to sit through the [257:29] presentation because they have sold the [257:32] stage. [257:34] I know for a for a fact that this [257:36] conference has not sold this stage. [257:40] So you're not hearing from me because I [257:42] paid them. So the that's a huge thing to [257:45] to try and follow year after year. So [257:48] community is a good thing. There are [257:50] some rules and if we all abide by the [257:53] rules, we get to a to all of us get to a [257:56] good place. Um so community in general [258:00] have expectations. I I wanted to add [258:03] this slide uh to demonstrate that uh we [258:06] are part of the WordPress community [258:07] that's why we are all here but in when [258:10] you step outside we are part of the [258:11] Mumbai community we are part of the [258:13] Maharashtra India community we are part [258:14] of uh the world as one we are one people [258:18] so there are many ways to give back to [258:20] the community and the this is I mean [258:22] giving back to the WordPress community [258:23] is one thing but making sure that you [258:25] give back to the community as a whole [258:28] has really worked out a lot for me and I [258:31] recommend that as a way of life. [258:35] This is one of the last slides I have [258:37] and uh I can't stress enough how [258:40] important it is uh [258:43] because there's a lot of rhetoric going [258:45] on in the in the social media. Um first [258:48] of all, you have to create your own [258:49] company. [258:51] Secondly, if you want to create your own [258:54] company, the first thing people are [258:55] required to do is go find an investor. [258:58] And that is all wrong. [259:01] If you start small, which is if you're [259:04] if you have to support only yourself, [259:06] you can keep your cost down and you can [259:08] create something valuable. [259:10] WordPress allows you to start small. [259:13] There are not many platforms that can [259:15] boast of this. WordPress does allow you [259:18] to start small. There is no charge. You [259:19] can, anybody can download WordPress, [259:22] start developing uh a plug-in, and [259:24] you're sitting maybe in your parents' [259:26] home. There's no expense and you can [259:28] take it from there. You solve for one [259:30] and you scale to many. So starting small [259:33] one of the huge benefit of uh starting [259:37] from WordPress. [259:40] Again uh do you think these people are [259:42] startup founders? [259:46] It's a point very close to my heart. [259:49] starting up does not mean that uh I feel [259:52] that um [259:55] Sundar Pijay and Satan are are much [259:58] bigger founders than I'll ever be. So I [260:02] feel that the entrepreneur spirit is the [260:05] most important point here. Not like [260:07] create you have to go out and create [260:09] something of your own because a lot of [260:12] people I see I I go around India and I [260:14] see a lot of people having a plan A and [260:17] a plan B. the plan B is to hang on to [260:20] the to the the plan A is the is not [260:23] working out. They're not liking plan A [260:24] which is working for their own company. [260:26] Let's make a plan B and hold on to both [260:28] plans [260:29] and they hope that you know my startup [260:31] will will slowly rise and then when it [260:34] starts generating that kind of money [260:36] that's when I'll jump never happens. [260:42] I think the most important thing is to [260:44] if you are not comfortable doing some [260:47] something of your own be an entrepreneur [260:49] in your own company. If you are [260:52] comfortable you have to [260:55] take the jump jump make your life a [260:58] little tough difficult but starts a [261:01] fresh and take it from there. So [261:05] and if you take small steps every day [261:07] you do have to be on your toes once you [261:09] create a company. I know there are some [261:11] startup founders here and all of us uh [261:14] belong to some companies. We know how [261:16] hard it is every day you have to [261:18] innovate. You have whether it's services [261:20] or is product every day you have to be [261:22] on top of what's happening in the [261:23] industry, what's happening with your [261:26] customers, what happen what's happening [261:27] with your team members, what's happening [261:29] with your family members, all of that. [261:31] if you're on on top of that. But if you [261:33] do be on top of that and you take small [261:36] steps every day over the few years, [261:39] you'll have a huge road map like this [261:41] and you'll look back and see, oh wow, I [261:43] came a long way. [261:45] So that's all I had guys. Um I belong to [261:48] a small company called Mini Orange and [261:51] uh we have been around for 14 years and [261:54] uh I hope you got something out of this [261:56] uh talk. If you have any questions, I'll [261:58] be very happy and honest in answering [262:00] those. [262:03] Thank you. [262:12] Thanks for coming. Oh, you have a [262:13] question. All right, go ahead on the [262:15] mic. [262:16] So the first time when I heard about [262:19] mini orange that one of my client [262:21] requested that they won't perform form [262:23] submissions but they want to make sure [262:26] that people are not spamming the mobile [262:28] number and they are wanted the OTP. So I [262:31] was like okay let me see WordPress has [262:33] so many plugins let me see and then I [262:34] found there is only one plugin developed [262:36] by mini and then I was like [262:42] so my question is like how do you find [262:44] the problems actually that uh that [262:49] actually are there needed to be solved [262:51] and which is required by many people [262:54] like uh let's say if I'm having access [262:56] to any enterprise then I know that these [262:59] enterprise are having so many problems [263:00] But not everyone is having access to big [263:03] enterprises like so that there is one [263:05] thing and on top of that how do you make [263:07] sure that uh there is one saying that if [263:09] you have people if you have asked people [263:12] that what do you want when there is no [263:14] cars uh so people would say we need a [263:17] bigger horse or two horse then car would [263:20] have never been invented. So the how do [263:22] you uh verify this thing? [263:25] >> Very good question. So thanks for asking [263:27] me in sort of Hindi English mix. I also [263:30] like to answer like that. I'm a little [263:31] worried of my our uh uh audience here [263:34] who are not uh very fluent in Hindi. But [263:38] uh there are two type of founders. Some [263:40] who are very smart right out of college. [263:42] They are they just know stuff. I'm not [263:45] one of them. I am a 51-year-old founder [263:49] which means I worked in different [263:51] companies first. I had some knowledge [263:55] but that was not great knowledge. What I [263:58] did was whatever I learned from them and [264:01] adding a little hunch I created [264:02] something big tried to sell it. A lot of [264:06] people took a demo they never bought. [264:09] Then I realized they will never buy from [264:11] me. They were they were never buying [264:12] from me to begin with. they were buying [264:14] from the previous companies [264:18] then but I I still released a some sort [264:22] of a product on a platform like [264:24] WordPress and after that you don't have [264:27] to you're not alone hundreds of people [264:30] will come and say hey you made a mistake [264:33] ODB plug-in that you found I mean we [264:36] have been refining it for ages [264:39] different team members refined it and uh [264:42] left [264:44] hundreds of people they my colleagues [264:46] are laughing they are bearing the front [264:48] they know the code is so convoluted [264:50] right now [264:52] but the point is that uh WordPress users [264:56] will tell you and like I was saying [264:58] WordPress users are not ordinary people [265:00] sometimes they are all in big companies [265:04] they will not really use it they will [265:05] say hey OTP plug-in is good but why is [265:09] it not delivering in a small town in [265:11] Nairobi [265:13] I'm sitting in Charlotte. I didn't get [265:14] the OTP at night. [265:17] By the way, I'm sitting in India and you [265:20] know, can you make it a little cheaper? [265:23] So, they will tell you how to refine and [265:26] you'll think hard. They'll they'll tell [265:28] you can you integrate with WhatsApp? Why [265:31] do we have to pay up front? [265:33] Hundreds of use cases. You'll be [265:35] bombarded with use cases. And you go [265:37] like you you saw this, right? you saw [265:40] this uh it's not working anymore but um [265:44] uh you have to be on your toes and you [265:46] have to listen very hard and then you [265:48] have to apply your own brain to make [265:50] sure that uh you're developing something [265:51] that is uh [265:55] um that's useful. [265:58] So [266:00] no, I think what I wanted was [266:04] this slide. Hold on. [266:10] See 14 years it took us. You have to be [266:14] on your toes. What is this slide [266:16] showing? I started with WordPress. Then [266:19] I thought, oh maybe this needed an [266:21] Atlassian. I try to go and replicate [266:23] there. Then there are other platforms [266:25] that I replicated. And then I realized, [266:28] oh, businesses don't use CMSs only. They [266:32] use a lot of other stuff. How about I [266:34] make a standalone product? [266:36] But when I make a standalone product, [266:38] where do I advertise it? Where do I [266:39] market it? I can't market it on [266:41] WordPress anymore. Then I have to spend [266:43] a lot of sweat and tears and money and [266:45] and market it somewhere else. When you [266:48] do that, then they say, "Hey, you made [266:51] something good, but can you make this as [266:53] well?" So the end users come and tell [266:55] you [266:57] you have to be on your toes regardless [266:59] of this and you have to really like [267:02] product development or value addition in [267:05] general to have a startup. In my [267:07] opinion, there's no difference between a [267:10] a great team member or an employee and a [267:13] startup founder. Not much difference. If [267:16] after being a great employee, you still [267:19] want to make your life worse, then he [267:22] jump on. And if it's not fun enough for [267:24] you, late nights and weekend work is not [267:27] fun enough for you, I said, let's let's [267:29] do a startup, man. Have fun like that. [267:32] So, great question. Thank you. Is there [267:34] anything? Yes, please tell me, ask me. [267:43] myself Harshek Jan from Odaburistan data [267:46] web. So uh in your presentation because [267:50] I'm using mini arrange for my clients [267:53] and uh basically at many points because [267:55] of your premiumness they as us to custom [267:58] development. Okay. But I like me and [268:00] range very much. Okay. Uh but one point [268:04] in your presentation which clicked me it [268:06] at government institutions are trusting [268:08] more towards Drupal as you have already [268:10] mentioned in your presentation. [268:13] So how your product or how we can u make [268:18] a trust in WordPress for clientele [268:22] because I am doing government projects [268:24] also uh where I'm facing this issue uh [268:27] that split because clients are already [268:29] asking directly asking for Drupal. So [268:31] how many mini orange is taking forward [268:34] this to uh in the your product? Can you [268:38] please guide us? There are some [268:39] guidelines here that I I can't use this [268:42] stage for for [268:44] showcasing my my strengths. I mean my [268:46] company's strengths. So I'd like to not [268:49] answer it directly. But in general, we [268:52] have to make sure that WordPress is more [268:54] secure and uh there's a the whole [268:58] perception about Drupal being secure [269:00] that is somewhat true and somewhat I [269:03] mean not not so true. It's very [269:04] complicated as well. uh but it is also [269:07] true that 43% of the sites are on [269:08] WordPress which means what that what [269:11] does that mean to attack surface who's [269:13] getting attacked more is it Drupal or is [269:14] it WordPress obviously WordPress right [269:16] so there's the perception has a there's [269:18] a reason for that and uh for answering [269:21] that the other part what my company does [269:23] I think we you should pick that up in my [269:25] booth this is not the right appropriate [269:26] place for that however uh we have to [269:30] collectively make WordPress more secure [269:33] and it is possible because there are so [269:35] many contributors is if we are really a [269:36] community there was a contributor today [269:38] yesterday you know all of us go [269:40] contribute to WordPress core and make it [269:42] uh more secure then obviously Drupal [269:45] will not be able to match match us so [269:47] >> thank you [269:48] >> yeah cool all right so [269:52] yeah please [270:00] um hi uh I'm Dashant as a AI consultant [270:03] and uh the question would [270:05] related to the startup founders and the [270:08] ecosystems which are currently there in [270:10] the market. Uh I really like your [270:12] presentation to be honest like it gives [270:14] a good amount of information. So the one [270:18] thing which I see in the current indie [270:21] startup line is uh they uh they have [270:25] really motivation towards react and the [270:28] AI building ecosystem like AI will build [270:31] this for me lovable and all those places [270:34] you may be familiar with it and I I [270:36] really feel like uh whenever a [270:39] particular founder tries to convince [270:41] their developers key WordPress is good [270:44] but developers are like sir we can build [270:46] is with AI within one day but in [270:50] WordPress we don't know how to do it. So [270:52] what is the message for those developers [270:54] and the founders how to how to solve [270:56] this issue? [270:59] any new thing uh setting up a new site [271:03] uh any new functionality AI is really [271:04] good at if you're starting from there if [271:07] your business depends on newness [271:09] >> new customers [271:11] >> maybe is the way to go maybe you should [271:13] listen to them [271:15] >> okay [271:15] >> if it is WordPress the advantage you get [271:18] the reason the reason you should give [271:20] them is uh WordPress already exists in [271:24] 43% of the world [271:26] >> and a large part of a large organization [271:29] are already using it. How about making [271:32] an innovation in there [271:34] >> so that we get bigger businesses? [271:36] >> Definitely. [271:37] >> If you go into a new thing and a new [271:40] thing takes off, it'll take years to get [271:44] where we are. [271:45] >> Yeah. [271:46] >> So that's the that's the counter point. [271:48] But I mean if there's new stuff to be [271:50] done, AI is doing it. But most of the [271:53] money that is to be made is uh is [271:55] writing an agent. If you hear the [271:58] Google's exfounder, [272:00] >> write an agent which does stuff for you. [272:02] >> Yeah, more of our skills like just like [272:04] anti-gravity or agent multiple agents [272:06] and they do their work. [272:08] >> So see what agent you can write [272:10] >> creating a site quickly and all those [272:12] are I there are not much like the first [272:14] thing I said like high barrier to entry [272:17] how do you create high barrier to entry [272:19] >> by doing something very valuable. I [272:21] would suggest all of you go and figure [272:23] out how to write an agent and then you [272:26] get across a point get get to a point [272:28] where you say I've written an agent but [272:30] is it secure enough [272:33] >> if you have that if you have a highly [272:36] useful agent [272:37] >> which is solving a which is automating a [272:40] workflow solving a very critical case [272:42] you have you have a business right [272:44] there. [272:45] >> Thank you so much for answer thank you [272:47] >> thank you. [272:48] >> All right I think we have 45 seconds [272:50] left. Thank you so much for staying till [272:52] the end. I know you are knowledge [272:54] hungry. That's why you stayed till the [272:56] end and uh I really I I I um great [273:01] conference again. Um I'm sure you're [273:03] going to be seeing all the all the [273:06] sessions tomorrow. There is a nice expo [273:08] outside. We'll we'll explore that. But [273:10] thank you so much for your attendance [273:11] today. Namaskar. [273:15] >> Few seconds. [273:22] Yeah, thank you so much. So to [273:25] appreciate with your informational [273:26] session, we would like to give you a [273:28] thank you gift on the behalf of Word Cam [273:30] India TV. [273:31] >> Very very well done. Superbly organized. [273:40] Thank you so much. I hope it was useful. [273:42] Yeah, [273:43] >> thank you. All right, everyone. This is [273:46] the wrap- up of the day one of World Cam [273:49] Easia 2026. [273:51] Before you leave, I would like to give [273:53] you some information that tomorrow the [273:56] sponsor hall will open at 8:00 a.m. and [274:00] our session will begin at 9:30 a.m. So, [274:04] see you guys tomorrow. I hope you had a [274:07] wonderful session. Lots of learning and [274:10] connecting with fellow attendee. So, see [274:13] you tomorrow. Bye, guys. [274:29] sound. [274:30] And one more thing, if you are posting [274:33] on social media, please tag WordCam Asia [274:36] and use #WC Assasia. The Word Cam Asia [274:40] team will be reposting your social media [274:43] shares. Thank you. [274:49] >> Thank you. [274:50] >> Thank you. [275:07] Hey, hey, hey. [275:36] everybody. [275:57] Hey [276:16] Heat. Heat. [276:31] Hey, [276:46] hey, hey. [276:49] Heat. Heat.