SF WordCamp Recap

This past weekend was the annual SF WordCamp which I had the pleasure to attend. It’s always a great event and the energy was especially high this year with the upcoming release of 3.0. The first day consisted of general sessions and a “State of the Word” keynote from Matt Mullenweg (WordPress founder). There was a nice bbq outdoor lunch and even live Jazz.

I also had the pleasure to meet Matt Mullenweg and Brian Gardner (who are both great guys, btw) to discuss WordPress 3.0 and Premium WordPress Themes. Lots of good stuff which has helped me strategize and better plan the direction of ClassiPress and the upcoming launch of our new theme business. It’s a very competitive environment and the sad part is lots of theme developers just aren’t doing a good job. It’s still the wild west when it comes to theming standards and guidelines. Hopefully that’s something WordPress will change in the future.

What I was surprised to see was the number of people who had iPads. It’s apparent that a majority of the attendees are early adopters and big fans of Apple. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised and in fact, I am one of those people as well sporting my new 3G iPad. 😉

Overall this year was a great conference and if you’ve never been to a WordCamp before, I highly recommend going. Look for a WordCamp coming to a city near you.

Here are a couple pictures I took during day two at the “Unconference” for developers.



It’s a great experience so if you are able to ever attend a WordCamp, I highly recommend it!

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 Comments (12)

  • bellboy

    Great stuff David. Does this mean we will be seeing iPad and iPhone compatibility introduced with a near future release of ClassiPress or perhaps an addon theme as part of your theming business?

    Also, will there be an updated release of Classipress to coincide with the WordPress 3.0 release hopefully later this month? Keep up the great work!

  • David

    ClassiPress already works fine on both the iPhone and iPad. 😉

    There will be no update until after WP 3.0 comes out. We’ve already tested CP in WP 3.0 and there aren’t any issues which was good to see.

  • bellboy

    Thanks for your reply David. With regards to iPhone display I should have been more specific as I meant something along the lines of wptouch (http://www.bravenewcode.com/products/wptouch/) which makes the site appear like a native iPhone site.

    Looking forward to the post WordPress 3.0 release. Is this already in development using the 3.0 beta of WordPress or will there be more of a delay until it is released?

  • David

    That’s an interesting plugin. Thanks for sharing. At this point I’d rather focus on getting more features released than worrying about iPhone optimization. Smart phones are gaining popularity but it’s still a very small percentage of web traffic.

    Regarding the next release, it won’t coincide with WP 3.0. This month and next will be launching the new site and making sure all customers have a smooth transition.

  • bellboy

    Understood. A 2.0 version of wptouch (wptouch.com) is slated to be released very soon that may make for easier integration with existing Classipress sites so I am looking forward to it.

    I want to purchase ClassiPress to use with a planned new site but as we are at the cusp of a major WP release I would like to wait until it is out so I don’t have to do a full site upgrade right away. Roughly how long after the WP 3.0 release do you expect to release a fully compatible ClassiPress update (note: http://wpclassipress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=3499)?

    “This month and next will be launching the new site and making sure all customers have a smooth transition.” – can you elaborate on this? A wpclassipress.com is getting a design refresh and you want to ensure customer accounts transition smoothly?

  • Ray Gulick

    It seems to me that WP3.0 has the potential to significantly change (for the better) the way ClassiPress operates, especially with custom post types. Though I am in the middle of setting up a ClassiPress site on 2.9.2, I’m wondering if I should wait until launch of WP3.0 and a version of ClassiPress that takes advantage of its features (obviously, I don’t have a hard launch date).

    • David

      @Ray, I recommend installing CP 3.0.2 instead of 2.9.2 since it’s a completely new version. There’s no reason to wait since 3.0.2 to 3.0.3 will be more of a bug release vs a new feature release.

  • bellboy

    This is what I am doing….patiently waiting for WP 3.0 to release and for David to spice up the already spicy ClassiPress to take advantage of the new custom post types and taxonomies.

    Any word on what’s going on behind the scenes David? 🙂

    • David

      @bellboy, we’re at the mercy of WP and can’t release any new features to take advantage of WP 3.0 until it’s been released. Also not everyone updates to the latest version of WP right away so we won’t have a new version of CP at the same time as WP 3.0.

      • bellboy

        @David, of course I understand that you are limited until the final release of WP 3.0 but I was wondering if any ground work has been laid with the WP betas or RC version so you might have a head start once the final is released? Is it too soon to ask if you have any idea how long after 3.0 final is released that you will have an updated version of Classipress? Thanks again!

  • Ray Gulick

    David – I’m talking about WP versions, rather than Classipress versions. What I’m interested in is when Classipress might upgrade to take advantage of WP3.0 features like custom post types (no more using blog posts for listings?).

    When do you plan to upgrade Classipress to take advantage of custom posts and other WP3.0 features?

  • Tony Locke

    I am developing a site that needs certain functionality. It is like a craigslist in that people can post for free. Someone browsing or searching the listings needs to be able to sort according to proximity from their inputed zip code, and I need to keep the contact information permanently confidential. Sending e-mails needs to work like Ebay. They go through the website. Once contacted both persons have each others e-mails and I have provided the connecting service. End of service.
    Here’s my BIG question. What plugin would allow me to charge a fee to then enable someone browsing to contact someone who listed and made the post? I want posting to be free, but contacting those who post needs to collect a fee. I could have each registered member load a credit of $20 to their account and then I could debit $1 per click when e-mailing another member. I could also charge a yearly fee and allow unlimited contacting during that time period.
    I know this sounds like a porn site but it is actually a religious networking site.
    Elgg has too much functionality, Buddypress allows too much contacting between members and I don’t want that without a fee. Where do I go? I use WordPress for all my sites. I am hosted on Godaddy. I am not looking for a free site. I can pay a reasonable fee for this functionality. Of course, free is always good. =)
    Blessings. AnthonyRLocke@Gmail.com

Discussion is closed.