events
“Agents of Tomorrow” 2013 Interactive Design Grad Show
Meet the graduating ”Agents of Tomorrow“ for the Vancouver digital industry at the 2013 Interactive Design graduation show
(hors d’oeuvre’s, cracking code, espionage & digital industry networking)
Thursday, April 11th
4:30 – 7:00 pm
Vancouver Public Library, Alice McKay Room
350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver
WordCamp Vancouver 2012
I went to the annual WordCamp gathering of WordPress aficionados a couple of weeks ago where a variety of talented and smart people delivered several very good sessions. I thought I’d pass along my notes from the ones I attended.
Calm & Simple Code With Purpose
Jeremy Felt
- “Read code” —try to become the other person reading your code. Also have others read it!
- core.trac.wordpress.org: discussion of the evolution of Wp core
- Use the is() methods (is_home(), is_single() etc.) to restrict things to appropriate pages
- increase speed with set_transient() and get_transient()
Building an Open Course/Community with WordPress, Syndication, and Duct Tape
Alan Levine
- Teaches a Digital Storytelling course at ds106.us
- FeedWordPress plugin: to subscribe to other blogs
- Gravity Forms plugin
- WPViews plugin (couldn’t find this—maybe WP-PostViews?)
- Parallelus Salutation theme
- “We’re not preparing students for the messy hashtag world that’s out there”
Build a Membership Website with WordPress
Rayhan Abdulmughnee
- s2member plugin (free)—must create a member signup page, which becomes the membership options page); must create a member login/welcome page
- Up to 5 levels of membership in basic version
- Can customize the registration page
- Supports member profile editing on welcome page, using shortcode
- Content can be restricted—must be a member to view. Can restrict by page, category or tag
- Can also hide or restrict content blocks anywhere using shortcode
- Can limit logins, and limit IP addresses per member (so logins can’t be passed along)
- Has PayPal integration
- Can configure automatic end-of-membership-term behaviour
Mistakes I Made Using jQuery, and How to Avoid Them
Andy Peatling (works for Automattic)
- JavaScript Enlightenment (was a free e-book, maybe not any more? Site is down)
- Use the version of jQ that is bundled with WordPress!
- Don’t assume you can use
$() - Namespace your events:
click.myplugininstead ofclick - Cache selectors in a variable to get a speed increase: run selector once rather than over and over
- Use chaining
- Be aware of the jQ stack: use
.end() - Use context in your selectors:
$('.widget', '#sidebar')– or even faster,$('#sidebar').find('.widget') - Use
.on()to get better speed, also make sure you’re delegating events - You can use custom events with
.trigger() - Use HTML5 data-attributes for buttons that use AJAX
- Use
$.deferred()when state gets more complex – read documentation
Demystifying SEO
Erica Hargreave
- Words you choose as tags must also appear in post content and title—also put same keywords from title into meta description
- Use Sociable plugin, CommentLuv plugin
- Create cross links between content in your site
- Use keyword targeting tools like Google Keyword to choose best keywords
- Scribe plugin tells stats etc. for search terms
- Use multi-word tags
- Do regular maintenance: use Broken Link Checker plugin, Exploit Scanner plugin
How to Make Your WordPress Site Mobile Friendly
Dave Zille
- Make it fast to load!
- Prioritize content and features for mobile
- Optimize images
- High contrast, avoid need for pinch/zoom, ensure one-direction scrolling
- Make it simple to navigate
- Support vertical AND horizontal orientation
- Three options:
- use a 3rd-party mobile service (mobify, bMobilized)
- use a responsive theme
- have a separate mobile theme: plugin detects device, switches theme (WordPress Mobile Pack, WP Mobile Detector)
Interacting With External APIs
Ben Lobaugh
- Use WP Core first—the function you need may already be implemented
- Codex: search for http_api — has helper functions
- github.com/blobaugh — WordCamp Vancouver API demo
Johan Bos Interning @ Ballistic Arts
On March 19th, I got in my car and drove away from the downtown core where most of my peers are doing their internships at companies located in the area. That morning we had snow and I had to get my truck into 4 wheel drive to get to Ballistic Arts safely in Burnaby.
Ballistic Arts is a full-service creative agency with departments in graphic design, website development, video production and photography. They are different in the way they refer to their studio
Loading ...INTE2012 Street Hockey
In celebration of the end of the program the INTE2012 gang got together yesterday afternoon for some good old-fashioned street hockey. I run a street hockey league in the West End so have all the equipment at my disposal. The weather was great and we even had a few flakes of snow to really solidify the hockey magic.
Here’s how the games broke down:
› Continue reading
Are Console Games Really Dinosaurs?
- Gaming Extinction Explored and Explained
It’s a battle of the gaming boneyard with the console giants being nipped at by the more nimble social gaming start-ups. A meteor strike just might occur when industry heavyweights Ayogo, DES Games, Compass Engine, dimeRocker, and A Thinking Ape take up the challenge of explaining how the technology, culture and business of gaming is evolving at breakneck speeds. Think gaming extinction – explored and explained. If you are a game designer, game programmer or a business mind looking to harness a piece of a breakout industry make sure you attend. There will even be some pale”ale”eontology included with your ticket!
It’s all taking place Thursday May 12th at 7 pm
Mozilla Vancouver
200- 163 West Hastings st
Buzz 200
Vancouver, British Columbia v6b 1h5
Canada
Conference in May 2011
Hi
I wanted to share these to conference happening in Vancouver in May
Make Web Not War (MWNW) is coming Vancouver on May 7th, 2011, MWNW is one of Canada’s first cross-platform conference showcasing the latest techniques and technologies available to the ever-evolving web community, jointly sponsored by Microsoft and Open Source communities across Canada. Here we will explore the power and flexibility of new web paradigms, technologies and applications – including the Microsoft web platform, Open Source applications, cloud computing and mobile – to help you develop the ultimate web experience for your clients.
The wars of “platform religions” are over. Embrace the reality of today: mixed environments, interoperable applications, Open Source in harmony with commercial software, PHP on Windows and Azure cloud.The new technology era of pragmatism is here, and MWNW is about bridging the gap between different platforms, communities and developers of all trades and backgrounds.
WordCamp:Developers
May 5, 2011
SFU Harbour Centre
Vancouver, BC
WordCamp: Developers is an one-day technology conference by developers for developers. Held in Vancouver, BC, WordCamp: Developers is slated to take place as part of the Vancouver Open Source Week on May 5, 2011.
The conference will feature 2 tracks, one targeting WordPress UX topics and issues, and the other targeting strictly development issues. The day will also be host to a WordPress Un-Conference where participants are encouraged to pitch talks and join in discussion.
The conference is open to all WordPress Developers and Designers interested in learning about practical, applied WordPress development by industry thought leaders and local WordPress practitioners.
WordCamp:Developers is part of the Vancouver Open Source Week.
We hope to see you there!
2011 Interactive Design Graduation Show
2011 Interactive Design Graduation Show Site
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
4:00 pm–7:00 pm
Vancouver Public Library (Alice MacKay Room)
350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver
Come meet the grads and review their interactive portfolios that demonstrate their creativity and knowledge in their areas of specialization: web design and development, interactive multimedia, information architecture and eLearning.
This is the sixth class to graduate from Capilano University’s innovative Interactive Design program. These students have developed an impressive range of skills that fit closely with the needs of today’s digital media industry.
Get Ready for the Great Canadian Appathon
The Great Canadian Appathon is a chance for post-secondary students across Canada to showcase their skills in developing great games. Students can get together in teams of up to 4 people to hack their game together for 48 hours. The event is presented by XMG Studio and the National post. The Prizes are being sponsored by TELUS and the finale event is being sponsored by KPMG.
There are over $45,000 in prizes, so get your teams together to KICK SOME CANADIAN APPS!
Interactive Design Video Elves Are Back!
They’re back for their one year anniversary to celebrate the Christmas holidays once again. Season’s Greetings from a couple of video elves named Johan and Logan!
Zeldman Speaks at the AIGA
Jeffrey Zeldman’s talk to the AIGA, “Understanding Web Design,” is available as a video presentation from the AIGA site. Can’t get enough of that Zeldman!
design
media
code
strategy
writingour groups
resources
SitePoint
- How to Use Your Own Web Statistics at caniuse.com
- Test Your Web Copy: the Why, When and How
- A Checklist for Embracing BYOD in IT Policy
Six Revisions
- Giveaway: Free Subscriptions to Depositphotos
- Winners of Interactive HTML5 World Maps from Simplemaps.com
- The Winners of Premium WordPress Themes from TemplateMonster