10 More Things I Learned at WCF

WordCamp Fayetteville 2014 was fun, and I learned some new things:

1. From Eric Huber I learned that some 1960s ads can quickly be transformed into modern web page mockups, and I was totally surprised by that. It just goes to show that good design lasts. Eric also made a great point: most people might not scroll to the bottom of your home page, but you’d better have a good call to action there to reward those who do.
2. From James Lane I learned that web design contracts should include additional fees for excessive client delays, and a force majeur clause, too. Also a clause making the agreement binding on successors. All these things, he says, not only protect both parties to the contract, but also cause clients to respect you more.
3. I also learned about some handy plugins from James, including one that will calculate the amount of time your content will probably take to read. He says that this addition keeps people on site longer, since they know what they’re in for before they start reading.
4. From Sky Shabatura I learned that — since we’re using responsive design — we should be specifying image sizes in ems, not in pixels. If you use ems, your images will resize in proportion to your fonts.
5. In the same session I learned the very sensible idea that all your elements should be sized as a multiple of your line height, to avoid unsightly line breaks on all devices. This totally makes sense once it’s pointed out, but it hadn’t occurred to me before.
6. From Tate Barber I learned the word “instantiating.” That was a new word for me and for Josepha, and I promise you that doesn’t happen often.
7. I also learned from Tate that metadata in things like an ecommerce plugin can be very expensive in load time.
8. From Rosie I learned that, just as people meet with glad cries at WordCamp and catch up on what they’ve been doing since last year, people meet in MMORPGs saying things like, “Hey, it’s me, Belorian! I was a dwarven cleric last time we met!”
9. From Josepha I learned that the basic Google Analytics metrics come in pairs. I had never noticed that.
10. At the after-after party I learned that if you’re not embarrassed by your first release of something, you waited too long. I don’t remember who said it. If you do, leave credit in the comments.

For our friends from WordCamp Fayetteville: our custom reports for Google Analytics. Also my slides to download: WordPress when You Mean Business. Finally, don’t miss the video we made after the after party a couple of years ago: Update Your Browser.