Statement of Accounts for WordCamp Mumbai 2014

WordCamps are volunteer driven non-profit events for the local WordPress Community

Keeping that in mind and a little coaxing from WordCamp Central, we felt that the community ought to know where the money came from and where it went.

So here is the spreadsheet used by me to track incoming funds against expenses.

Do feel free to review the details and if you could suggest cheaper alternatives for future such WordCamps feel free to ping us.

And That’s a Wrap up for WordCamp Mumbai 2014

WCMUMBAI_MUGS

WordCamp Mumbai 2014 is finally over. The excitement and the memories we collected over the weekend (15-16 March) will last for a long time. Let us get down to a recapping the event.

The first day (15th March) started a bit behind schedule around 10.00 am when the registration desks opened. Our attendees patiently made proper queues to get their ID cards and kit. With a few more cups of tea we started the day. Over the next two days – many of the sessions took us to WordPress nirvana.

Our speakers were awesome, helping out with questions, trying to engage and we as organizers feel very proud of all of them. Our attendees put with some patchy WIFI on the first day but were nice enough not to complain too much. 🙂

We added the local flavor of Mumbai by serving Vada Pav on both days.

As an organizer we got a lot of positive feedback and you can give us a more exhaustive feedback by filling out our post event survey.

Let me start by thanking our sponsors. We also had a wonderfully maintained and spacious venue. The organizers and volunteers were thrilled to work with over 300 attendees who finally ended up visiting WordCamp Mumbai.

Recamp of some blogposts about WordCamp Mumbai

Also checkout this entire blog series by Saurabh Shukla – http://yapapaya.com/?post_series=wordcamps-in-india

(Will keep updating this list with more blogposts as they happen)

Thank your for all your support and good wishes. Hope to see you at another WordCamp sometime soon.

Give us Feedback

And we come to the end of WordCamp Mumbai 2014, but we aren’t done yet!

We wanna come back next year with another WordCamp and would love to hear from you on how we could make this a better event. Please spare sometime to give us feedback here: http://wordcampmumbai.polldaddy.com/s/feedback-wcmumbai2014

If you haven’t yet nominated someone for Happy Camper, please do so here: https://2014.mumbai.wordcamp.org/happy-camper/

Karthik Magapu on GPL – What is this license ? Myths around it!

I am Co-Founder and Chief Explorer of Hummingbird Web Solutions, which builds and supports products for web developers and web designers. WordPress is a big part of what I do – WPeka

Open Source has changed the way software gets created in the world over the last few decades. No longer is creating great software that millions will use only the privilege of the few lucky programmers working at Microsoft, Infosys or IBM! If you have internet access and can write code in a simple editor, you could influence the world with your software.

My talk will be around the GNU General Public License (GPL) – one of the world’s most popular and adopted license for open source projects.

My Session will cover

  • Introduction to GPL, history of GPL and the way ahead.
  • How does GPL foster faster innovation?
  • What about security and privacy concerns in GPL software such as WP?
  • GPL and WordPress – what does it mean for WP Theme and WP Plugin developers?
  • GPL and the content you create – how does GPL affect bloggers?
  • Common Myths about GPL
  • Question & Answer Session

Conclusion

You will come away from my talk with a good understanding of GPL and be able to debate and share your opinion on some the the myths around GPL!

You can read the full GPL text here… or read a simpler version here…

GPL is not as complicated as it sounds or looks. Once you understand the basic philosophy behind Open Source and more specifically the GPL, the text will be as clear as day to you.

Do let me know if you have specific questions or doubts about GPL that you are expecting me to cover, I will try to weave them into my talk.

Looking forward to seeing you on the 15th and 16th March at Mumbai!

Siddharth Ashok on “Customizing the WordPress Dashboard/Login for Clients”

Hey this is Siddharth Ashok, I work with a Swedish Web agency Webbdesigner.se, aka Next Big Thing as a Front End and WordPress Developer.

Entrepreneur by heart, am also part of Companies like App La Carte Indy & Mungozone.

Have been working with WordPress for more then 8 years now. Mostly as a freelance WordPress Consultant and theme developer, and now at my agency where we use WordPress as CMS for most of our clients.

Love Open Source and try to contribute as much as I can back to the community.

What My Session would cover:

  • Discuss on the the way we deal with different contents when making CMS for clients on WordPress
  • Develop easy interface to manage the contents, with plugins as “Advanced Custom Fields” and “Custom Post Type UI”.
  • Branding the whole admin interface with custom logo’s, custom login pages, restrict access or hide the tabs which client doesn’t need to see in his login. Doing this with plugins as “white-label-cms” & “adminimize”.
  • I plan to give a demo. I would take WordCamp Mumbai 2014 site as test scenario and would explain my points in this context. Would code and demonstrate wherever necessary.

This talk would help the attendees the way they approach to use WordPress as CMS. Also making the Content Management Interface more branded, structural and clutter free for clients or end users.

Feel free to get in touch at  @siddharthashok

Amit Singh on WordPress as Rapid Prototyping Tool

I am partner at WPoets, a WordPress based website design and development company. I am working with WordPress since 2007 and created few plugins over time. I also help organize various tech events in Pune, including WordCamp Pune.

I would be talking about how we can use WordPress as prototyping tool and why it is much better option then using tools like powerpoint, balasmiq and other wireframing software’s people use.

What I will be covering in this session

WordPress is powerful enough CMS that is used in multiple ways, and developers are already creating web application with it. One aspect of WordPress has got less attention then it deserves, when few plugins and themes are combined it becomes a very powerful wire framing and prototyping tool.

  • What is prototyping, why prototyping is done
  • How it is usually done, talking about tools like powerpoint, pencil, balasmiq
  • Introducing WordPress as an Alternative
  • Showing how can we create wireframes using following plugins
    • Page builder by site origins
    • Aqua page builder
    • WYSIWYG 3D Visual HTML Editor & Drag And Drop Web Page Editor
    • ACF
    • Custom post type ui
    • Easy form builder
    • S2Member
    • Profile Builder
    • Ultimate shortcodes
    • WordPress canvas shortcodes
    • An example of using these tools to create a quick prototype

    This session would be useful to early startup founders, designers or any one who considers themselves as ideas person and need others to help create it. After this session they should be able to bring their ideas to a prototype stage and get early feedback’s.

Bigul Malayi on Setting up and running WordPress Multi-lingual sites

My name is Bigul Malayi. I come from Kozhikode, Kerala. For the last eight years I have been a open source enthusiast, specially in PHP & WordPress field. Earlier I worked for a few small startup companies. Since 2011 I have been working for OnTheGoSystems (the makers of WPML, Views, Types and CRED plugins) as a Quality Assurance Analyst.

In my daily work I’m up to date with various multilingual issues WordPress developers and users deal with. I would like to share my experiences about WordPress Multilingual here.

My topic will be Setting up and running WordPress Multilingual site. During my session I will share with you overview global practices, advantages and easy methods to create and running WordPress Multilingual Sites.

What I will be covering in the session

  • Part 1. Multilingual website – why it is worth investing

    • Languages on the Internet – statistics

    • The benefits of having a multilingual site

    • For the site owner

    • – For the WP developer

  • Part 2. Understanding the bases – what is a multilingual site and what it is not

    • Examples of multilingual sites done not right

    • Examples of multilingual sites done not right

    • How to do it right and why

  • Part 3. Making your WP site a multilingual site

    • Choosing the solution (different possibilities and plugins)

    • Installation and configuration – what to handle

    • Language switcher – good practices

    • Translating the contents (various WP elements to translate)

    • Keeping updated (different user roles, different needs)

  • Part 4. Tips and hints

    • Why making it comfortable for non-technical users is important

    • What can you do to simplify their lives

    • Themes and plugins compatibility

    • The importance of good technical support

    • eCommerce support and compatibility

Conclusion

Being a part of Multilingual plugin makers team I know the mistakes users usually make, can understand user needs, and know good practices to do it right. Moreover I think it would be a good opportunity to share my knowledge with others because our great nation is a land of many languages too.

#WCMumbai – WordCamp Mumbai Official Hashtag

With only six more days for WordCamp Mumbai to kick-off, we surely expect a lot of you will be sharing your questions, plans and expectations on social media. At the event too I am sure you will be posting photos from your phones, tablets and cameras on social media.

The best way to bring to event photos, tweets, comments in a single place is to use hashtags. Twitter and Facebook both support hashtags. We have decided to use #WCMumbai as the official hashtag for WordCamp Mumbai 2014. We shall use this on our Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram updates.

So make sure you too, use the #WCMumbai hashtag on your Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram posts.

Few things about #WCMumbai

  • Be respectful. We are introducing a Code of Conduct to WordCamp Mumbai. This is to keep the engagement interesting and informal but not disrespectful, discriminatory or hateful.
  • Keep clam and don’t spam. We do not want #WCMumbai trending on social media for the wrong reasons. Hence we will not be having any Twitter contests giveaways. I am sure we do not need to bribe our fellow WordCampers to share their interesting updates and photos on social media.
  • Do not forget the real world. Broadcasting your tweets and FB posts about the event but do not forget that sitting with you in person are some awesome members of the WordPress community. Do not forget to engage with them. 🙂

Last few days of Tickets Registration: imojo.in/wordcampmum

Puneet Sahalot on “WordPress Troubleshooting for Beginners”

I am a WordPress theme developer and coach. I run a WP design and development agency and apart from that I conduct 1-on-1 and group sessions for WP training.

While offering my development and training services, I often come across some common questions and WP errors that trouble the users. Many times, they get horrified seeing some PHP error message.

So, you must be wondering how I am going to help you solve these problems? 

Fixing common WP errors:

  1. Help Yourself:
    I will be talking about fixing these common errors and how WP users can maintain their sites with ease. I relate it to a real life example of riding a scooter or bike. Whatever we own, we should know  the basic troubleshooting as you won’t always find a mechanic come to our rescue at the earliest.
  2. Patience and Google are your friends: 
    The key to fixing or troubleshooting a WP site is “patience”. Instead of being horrified or worried about  losing your site and data, it’s time to keep calm and look for the solution. A lot of common errors and their solutions can be found online on WP.org support forums and popular WP websites like WP Beginner, ManageWP Blog, Tutsplus etc.
  3. Breaking the myth, “I am not a developer, I can’t fix it”
    Most WP users think that they need to be a developer to fix common issues or make minor changes to their site’s styling. But, that’s wrong. Most PHP errors are presented in plain english, clearly mentioning the cause of error, the filename and line number which needs to be fixed. A close look at the error will guide you in the right direction and you will be able to fix it. It’s no rocket science! Trust me.
  4. Get control of your site’s styling – Understanding CSS
    A site’s styling is controlled by CSS and if you understand English, it’s quite easy to understand CSS. Most CSS properties relate with basic technical terms of website design.
  5. Some productivity tips:
    There are times when you have tried to add a nice looking “About me” section to your site’s sidebar and you wondered you can’t do that because you don’t know how to write HTML? I have got a trick, you can use WP post editor. The post editor will write the HTML and CSS for you and you can simply copy-paste the code instead of looking for a plugin or some tutorial online.

I will be presenting a demo for editing CSS, understanding and fixing PHP errors. This session will be helpful for beginner and intermediate WP users. If you are attending WordCamp Mumbai and have any requests for topics that I should cover during my session then please feel free to drop a comment. Please make sure that your questions are related to my session and I will try my best to answer them.

Rahul Bansal on EasyEngine – Easily Manage WordPress Sites on Nginx

I am Rahul Bansal, blogging & developing on WordPress from 2007.  I am working as Founder & CEO at rtCamp, a WordPress products & services company.

I will be speaking on EasyEngine at WordCamp Mumbai 2014. EasyEngine is a command-line tool developed in bash (shell) scripting language.

EasyEngineEasyEngine was developed by me and my colleague, Mitesh Shah, to manage large number of WordPress sites on nginx server easily.

It was started as internal project to automate larger part of our managed wordpress-nginx hosting service.

After using it for a while, it felt like a nice tool which anybody can use . So we released it in open-source, with GPL license, on GitHub. 🙂

In my session, I will explain how EasyEngine makes it easy to manage WordPress sites on Nginx.

My goal is to save your hosting bill so that you will be happy to buy me a beer after WordCamp! 😉

Agenda for Session

I plan to cover following points in my session. As time progresses, there might be slight changes to the following list.

  1. Introduction: This will cover what is EasyEngine. This is important for folks who are not familiar with command-line tools.
  2. Motivation: Why we started this project. This is a long story but I will try to keep it as short as possible.
  3. Installation: The famous quick install which delivers most of easiness. It is so quick and small that it can be summed up in a tweet as well.
  4. Features: Apart from setup, EasyEngine bundles way too lengthy tasks in one-line commands. I will try to explain few important features here.
  5. Inside EasyEngine: For curious minds, I will explain how EasyEngine operates under the hood.
  6. Roadmap: Future of EasyEngine and some details about upcoming  releases.
  7. Getting Involved: How you can contribute to the project to make things easier for all.
  8. Credits: EasyEngine would not have been possible without many libraries and folks.
  9. Live Demo: As they say actions speaks louder than words, I would like to show you a live demo of how quick and easy it is to start using EasyEngine.
  10. Q&A/Discussion: The last part of session where I will attempt to answer your questions and discuss how we can make EasyEngine easier going ahead.

If you would like to add/remove anything to above list, feel free to suggest.

You can send suggestions via comment-form below or tweet @easyengine.

Giving EasyEngine a try!

To try EasyEngine, you will need a Ubuntu 12.04 or Debian 6/7 setup. You can try this in a virtual machine, on a dedicated server or inside Raspberry Pi.

A quick way to get going is to start a new 512MB droplet on DigitalOcean or micro instance on Amazon AWS .

You will be done with testing in less than one hour, which will cost you only $0.007 (i.e. less than 50 paisa in INR) on DigitalOcean.

Quick Install

Once you log into shell, just run following commands:

curl -sL rt.cx/ee | sudo bash           
ee system install                       
ee site create example.com --wp

Please make sure you change example.com with your domain/IP/hostname which is pointing to your server.

By the end of Step-3, you will have a working WordPress site at example.com.

You can explore more about EasyEnigne through its documentation or following cheatsheet.

Cheatsheet

You can also refer to following cheat-sheet to create 12-different types of sites:

Single Site Multisite w/ Subdir Multisite w/ Subdom
NO Cache --wp --wpsubdir --wpsubdom
WP Super Cache --wpsc --wpsc --wpsubdir --wpsc --wpsubdom
W3 Total Cache --w3tc --w3tc --wpsubdir --w3tc --wpsubdom
Nginx cache --wpfc --wpfc --wpsubdir --wpfc --wpsubdom

Summary

If you are running self-hosted sites, for yourself, for friends and/or for clients, EasyEngine is definitely worth checking out.

Sometimes EasyEngine is compared to great projects like docker and vagrants. We have some features on mind to make development and deployment easy on roadmap. But main goal of EasyEngine project is to give superadmin powers in the hand of end-users.

Many EasyEngine users never logged into SSH terminal before. Some of them are still using shell login to run EasyEngine commands mostly. But they are easily managing hubderds of WordPress sites on nginx.

It can reduce your hosting bill and improve performance. And everybody, including Google, loves sites which loads faster! 🙂

Links: EasyEngine Home | Documentation | Github Repo | Support Forum