***** POSTPONED *****

Due to the recent cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa we are postponing this months meetup. We will be evaluating the situation month by month for the remaining meetups until such time as we can return to holding regular meetups. We hope that we will be able to see you back at regular meetups soon.

We will be rescheduling Joel’s talk as soon as possible once we return to regular meetups.

***** POSTPONED *****
 

Containerization (Docker) for Software Developers
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The end is nigh. Your application is almost ready, and you will need to deploy it. And with the deployment, the endless tweaking to get everything running in a production environment. If only there were a way to test everything in that environment first. This is where containers will come in to save the day. With a container, you not only run your code in an environment similar to the production server, but it is also the production environment. In this talk, the attendees will learn about how to create container friendly applications, how to use containers to share their code with their team, and finally, how to use those same containers to deploy to a production server with minimal effort.

Presented by: Joel Lord. Joel is passionate about web and technology in general. He likes to learn new things, but most of all, he likes to share his discoveries. He does so by travelling to various conferences all around the globe.

He graduated with a college degree in computer programming back in the last millennium. Apart from a little break to get his BSc in computational astrophysics, he has always been in the industry. As a developer advocate with Red Hat OpenShift, he meets with developers to help them make the web a better place.

During his free time, he is usually found stargazing in a campsite somewhere or brewing a fresh batch of beer in his garage.

Meeting Details:
—
This is a meetup in our “Not Beginner” series. This series is all the talks that cover anything that is “not beginner”. Talks in this series will range from not very advanced at all – just barely above beginner – to deep dive dev talks.

Anyone at any experience level is welcome to attend, but for “not beginner” talks there will be an assumption in the presentations and discussion that attendees have some knowledge of WordPress, and/or the presented topic.

Location Details:
—
This meeting is at Ottawa Public Library – Main Branch, in room B125.

If you want to connect to WiFi, you will need your library card. (unless indicated otherwise above, laptops and connection to the internet are not required during the presentation)

Free parking is available on the neighbouring streets after 5:30pm. Check the signs, a couple of the closest streets are limited to 1hr before 7pm.

The room is in the basement (B125). Enter the main doors, head left, and down the stairs. (Do not enter into the actual library) Turn right at the bottom of the stairs and follow the halls to the room. The entrance is the second door to the room. (the first door is always locked)

Agenda
—
6:00 – General announcements

6:10 – Presentation

7:00 – Q&A

7:25 – Wrap-up

 
***** POSTPONED *****

Due to the recent cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa we are postponing this months meetup. We will be evaluating the situation month by month for the remaining meetups until such time as we can return to holding regular meetups. We hope that we will be able to see you back at regular meetups soon.

We will be rescheduling Meagan’s talk as soon as possible once we return to regular meetups.

***** POSTPONED *****

 
Responsive First: Why Designing for Small Screens Makes Big Sense – Presented by Meagan Hanes
—
It’s 2020 and people still design websites for laptops first – websites are generally built on a computer, after all. However, this does a disservice to actual internet users who access your site on a variety of devices, sizes and capabilities. A key principle of design is: less is more. Designing your website using a phone-first approach ensures a strong alignment to data hierarchy, information conveyance, and high performance – while ignoring common modern theme pitfalls such as over-inflated images and needless accessibility-failing animations. In this talk I’ll show key differences in my responsive-first design approach, with attention paid in particular to the new Block Editor in WordPress.
—

PLEASE NOTE THE VENUE CHANGE!

Location Details:
—
This months meeting is at Ottawa Public Library – Main Branch, in room B125.

If you want to connect to WiFi, you will need your library card. (unless indicated otherwise above, laptops and connection to the internet are not required during the presentation)

Free parking is available on the neighbouring streets after 5:30pm. Check the signs, a couple of the closest streets are limited to 1hr before 7pm.

The room is in the basement (B125). Enter the main doors, head left, and down the stairs. (Do not enter into the actual library) Turn right at the bottom of the stairs and follow the halls to the room. The entrance is the second door to the room. (the first door is always locked)

Agenda
—
6:00 – General announcements

6:10 – Presentation

7:00 – Q&A

7:25 – Wrap-up

Don’t get left behind: Keeping your site up-to-date
—
In my years of developing and managing WordPress sites I’ve discovered that many end users don’t keep their sites as updated as they should. This usually stems from not being sure how things work and/or the fear of breaking things. My talk will focus on the real-world management task of plugin and WP core updates: what WP does automatically and what you have to do yourself; how the update system notifies you; deciphering update version numbers and descriptions; how to do the actual updates for plugins, theme and WordPress itself.

Presented by: Mike Dickson

PLEASE NOTE THE VENUE CHANGE!

Location Details:
—
This months meeting is at Ottawa Public Library – Main Branch, in room B125.

If you want to connect to WiFi, you will need your library card. (unless indicated otherwise above, laptops and connection to the internet are not required during the presentation)

Free parking is available on the neighbouring streets after 5:30pm. Check the signs, a couple of the closest streets are limited to 1hr before 7pm.

The room is in the basement (B125). Enter the main doors, head left, and down the stairs. (Do not enter into the actual library) Turn right at the bottom of the stairs and follow the halls to the room. The entrance is the second door to the room. (the first door is always locked)

Agenda
—
6:00 – General announcements

6:10 – Presentation

7:00 – Q&A

7:25 – Wrap-up

Back to Basics: WordPress 101
—
Are you brand new to WordPress? Have no clue what the posts and pages are, and everything else in between? We will give you a quick introduction to all things WordPress, so you can get started using it ASAP.

Location Details:
—
This months meeting is at Ottawa Public Library – Main Branch, in room B125.

If you want to connect to WiFi, you will need your library card. (unless indicated otherwise above, laptops and connection to the internet are not required during the presentation)

Free parking is available on the neighbouring streets after 5:30pm. Check the signs, a couple of the closest streets are limited to 1hr before 7pm.

The room is in the basement (B125). Enter the main doors, head left, and down the stairs. (Do not enter into the actual library) Turn right at the bottom of the stairs and follow the halls to the room.

Presented by: Miriam Goldman

Agenda
———–
6:00 – General announcements

6:10 – Presentation

7:00 – Q&A

7:30 – Wrap-up

WordPress Page Builders
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Looking for an easier way to build and customize your WordPress site? WordPress page builders add a drag and drop style interface to WordPress that allows you to more easily create, edit, and customize your page layout. Several of the builders even offer ways to customize theme headers/footers, 404 and search pages, as well as archive pages (blog post listing).

This month we’ll look at a few of the more popular page builders available for WordPress, and demonstrate some of the cool things they can do. Come out and see Cornerstone, Elementor, Divi and Beaver Builder in action.

Presented By: Rick Radko and Miriam Goldman

PLEASE NOTE THE VENUE CHANGE!

Location Details:
—
This months meeting is at Ottawa Public Library – Main Branch, in room B125.

If you want to connect to WiFi, you will need your library card. (unless indicated otherwise above, laptops and connection to the internet are not required during the presentation)

Free parking is available on the neighbouring streets after 5:30pm. Check the signs, a couple of the closest streets are limited to 1hr before 7pm.

The room is in the basement (B125). Enter the main doors, head left, and down the stairs. (Do not enter into the actual library) Turn right at the bottom of the stairs and follow the halls to the room.

Agenda
—
6:00 – General announcements

6:10 – Presentation

7:00 – Q&A

7:25 – Wrap-up