


<p><em>Testing, 1, 2, 3</em><br /><em>It’s almost April fifteenth</em><br /><em>Squashing all the bugs</em></p>



<p><em>Thank you to the following contributors for collaborating on this post: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/michelleames/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>michelleames</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/tacoverdo/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>tacoverdo</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jopdop30/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>jopdop30</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/vgnavada/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>vgnavada</a>, <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeffpaul/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>jeffpaul</a>.</em></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:53:20 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:19:"Jonathan Desrosiers";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:35;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:59:"Do The Woo Community: Host Adam Weeks Covers CloudFest 2025";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:43:"https://dothewoo.io/?post_type=blog&p=93611";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:63:"https://dothewoo.io/blog/host-adam-weeks-covers-cloudfest-2025/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:321:"Our host Adam Weeks was busy during CloudFest and the Hackathon. And on top of that he was making sure we had content to share while he enjoyed the event. So kudos to Adam and here are recaps of his episodes. Episode 621: Inspiring Innovation through Hackathons A peek into the CloudFest Hackathon with insights [&#8230;]";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 01 Apr 2025 10:30:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:36;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:70:"Do The Woo Community: Engaging Young People in the WordPress Community";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:43:"https://dothewoo.io/?post_type=blog&p=88452";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:74:"https://dothewoo.io/blog/engaging-young-people-in-the-wordpress-community/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:248:"The WordPress community must engage younger generations by simplifying onboarding, providing education, promoting career opportunities, and fostering connections, ensuring sustainable contributions to the platform’s future development and growth.";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Mon, 31 Mar 2025 09:10:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:37;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:123:"Gutenberg Times: Field Guide, No-Code Theme, Pattern Library, why you might not need a Custom Block — Weekend Edition 323";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/?p=38176";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:127:"https://gutenbergtimes.com/field-guide-no-code-theme-pattern-library-why-you-might-not-need-a-custom-block-weekend-edition-323/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:18889:"<p>Hi,</p>



<p>Spring is here. On the weekend I saw Forsythia bushes in full bloom all over the city. Yesterday, I passed the National Museum and saw their Magnolia trees blooming as well. The temperatures are still too low for my taste, but not for long. 🌤️</p>



<img width="652" height="367" src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Forsythia-2025-Nationalmuseum-web.jpg?resize=652%2C367&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-38245" />



<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t this a WordPress newsletter&#8221;, you might think. I know, I know. Let&#8217;s get on with it, then. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpe_diem">Carpe diem!</a> 🤗</p>



<p>Have a fabulous weekend! </p>



<p>Yours, 💕<br /><em>Birgit</em></p>



<p>PS: The links for mentioned people are now going to their Blue Sky profile, and if I couldn&#8217;t find them, it&#8217;s till their X (formerly known as Twitter) profile.</p>



<p>Follow us on Bluesky  <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/bph.social">@bph.social</a> and <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/gutenbergtimes.com">@gutenbergtimes.com</a><br /></p>



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<p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p>



<ol><li><a class="wp-block-table-of-contents__entry" href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/field-guide-no-code-theme-pattern-library-why-you-might-not-need-a-custom-block-weekend-edition-323/#0-word-press-release-information">Developing Gutenberg and WordPress</a><ol><li><a class="wp-block-table-of-contents__entry" href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/field-guide-no-code-theme-pattern-library-why-you-might-not-need-a-custom-block-weekend-edition-323/#the-latest-dev-notes-for-wordpress-6-8">The latest Dev Notes for WordPress 6.8</a></li><li><a class="wp-block-table-of-contents__entry" href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/field-guide-no-code-theme-pattern-library-why-you-might-not-need-a-custom-block-weekend-edition-323/#gutenberg-20-6">Gutenberg 20.6 </a></li></ol></li><li><a class="wp-block-table-of-contents__entry" href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/field-guide-no-code-theme-pattern-library-why-you-might-not-need-a-custom-block-weekend-edition-323/#0-p">Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners</a></li><li><a class="wp-block-table-of-contents__entry" href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/field-guide-no-code-theme-pattern-library-why-you-might-not-need-a-custom-block-weekend-edition-323/#2-word-press-6-0-1-and-6-1-scheduled">Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks</a></li><li><a class="wp-block-table-of-contents__entry" href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/field-guide-no-code-theme-pattern-library-why-you-might-not-need-a-custom-block-weekend-edition-323/#3-building-themes-for-fse-and-word-press">Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.</a></li></ol>
</div></div>



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<p>The <a href="https://pagebuildersummit.com/"><strong>Page Builder summit 2025</strong></a> is on the calendar now: <strong><a href="https://x.com/anchenlr">Anchen le Roux</a></strong> and <strong><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/nathanwrigley.com">Nathan Wrigley</a></strong> announced the eighth edition of the virtual conference will take place from <strong>12th to 16th of May 2025</strong>. Save the date, and add your name to the Waitlist, to receive info, when registration opens. &#8220;The summit is a 5-day event that will help WordPress developers, designers, freelancers, and agencies to build better websites faster and more efficient. As well as learn more about the page builders and the awesome things you can do with them. &#8220;, they wrote.</p>



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<p><strong><a href="https://atarim.io/summit/">Web Agency Summit</a></strong> 2025 will happen <strong>April 7-11, 2025.</strong> &#8220;Learn proven strategies top agencies are using today to scale sustainably, streamline operations, attract high-value clients, and stay ahead of the curve.&#8221;</p>



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<p><strong><a href="https://wordsesh.com/">WordSesh</a></strong> returns <strong>May 13–15, 2025</strong>. It is a virtual conference for WordPress professionals. Its host, <strong><a href="http://indieweb.social/@rzen">Brian Richards</a></strong>, is a seasoned virtual conference producer and WordPress educator. His speaker and session curation is top-notch. Sign up to receive updates on the next event.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="0-word-press-release-information">Developing Gutenberg and WordPress</h2>



<p><a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2025/03/wordpress-6-8-release-candidate-1/"><strong>WordPress 6.8 Release Candidate </strong></a>1 is now available for testing. Final release is scheduled for April 15, 2025</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>You can check out the post <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2025/03/04/help-test-wordpress-6-8/"><strong>Help Test WordPress 6.8</strong></a> with detailed instructions and videos on selected features. </li>



<li>The <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/28/wordpress-6-8-field-guide/"><strong>Field Guide</strong></a> holds relevant information for developers about the new version.</li>



<li>The <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/source-of-truth-wordpress-6-8/"><strong>Source of Truth</strong></a> compliments with detailed information on block editor features for end users, plugin, and theme developers.</li>
</ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="the-latest-dev-notes-for-wordpress-6-8">The latest Dev Notes for WordPress 6.8</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/27/new-rest-api-filter-for-exposing-menus-publicly-in-wordpress-6-8/">New REST API Filter for Exposing Menus Publicly in WordPress 6.8</a></li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/25/accessibility-improvements-in-wordpress-6-8/">Accessibility Improvements in WordPress 6.8</a>. </li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/25/miscellaneous-developer-changes-in-wordpress-6-8/">Miscellaneous developer changes in WordPress 6.8</a>&nbsp;</li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/25/updates-to-user-interface-components-in-wordpress-6-8/">Updates to user-interface components in WordPress 6.8</a>&nbsp;</li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/25/miscellaneous-block-editor-changes-in-wordpress-6-8/">Miscellaneous Block Editor Changes in WordPress 6.8</a>&nbsp;</li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/24/interactivity-api-best-practices-in-6-8/">Interactivity API best practices in 6.8</a> </li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/24/new-filter-should_load_block_assets_on_demand-in-6-8/">New filter&nbsp;<code>should_load_block_assets_on_demand</code>&nbsp;in 6.8</a>&nbsp;</li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/20/changes-to-the-screen-reader-text-class-in-wordpress-6-8/">Changes to the .screen-reader-text class in WordPress 6.8</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="gutenberg-20-6">Gutenberg 20.6 </h3>



<p><strong>George Mamadashvili</strong> released Gutenberg 20.6 RC 1 version, and it&#8217;s ready for testing. What to expect in this version? </p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>The Table of contents block received a new option to control the level of heading included. <strong>(</strong><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/69063">69063</a><strong>)</strong></li>



<li>The Navigation block now sports a slider to control the transparency for submenu background. <strong>(</strong><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/69063">69063</a><strong>)</strong></li>



<li>The RSS block now has an option to allow opening the links in a new tab and set the <code>rel</code> attribute. (<a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/69641">69641</a>) </li>
</ul>


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<p>🎙️ Latest episode: <a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-116-wordpress-6-8-field-guide/">Gutenberg Changelog 116 – WordPress 6.8, Source of Truth, Field Guide, Gutenberg 20.5 and 20.6</a> with special guest JC Palmes, WebDev Studios</p>



<img width="652" height="184" src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-05-at-12.27.14.png?resize=652%2C184&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-39894" />
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="0-p">Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners</h2>



<p><strong>Wes Theron</strong> created a video tutorial to teach you <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOXDUp7NBIM"><strong>How to Build a WordPress Theme the No-Code Way</strong></a>. He shows you where to update your colors, choose your fonts, modify the Single page template and then use the Create block Theme plugin to save all the settings into a new theme&#8217;s file structure. </p>


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<p>In this short video on X (former Twitter), <strong>Jamie Marsland</strong> shows us <a href="https://x.com/pootlepress/status/1905537846922113289"><strong>How to create a One-Pager website with WordPress</strong></a>, using the site editor,  core blocks and some custom CSS. </p>



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<p><a href="https://x.com/mahdiali_"></a><strong><a href="https://x.com/mahdiali_">MahdiAli Khanusiya</a>,</strong> is the designer behind the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/patternswp/"><strong>PatternWP</strong></a> plugin that offers a big library of WordPress block patterns and full-page templates. Using it will instantly increase the range of designs and layout you can offer your customers, and streamline your production process. There is also a pro version available. </p>



<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/patternswp/"><img width="652" height="358" src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/PatternWP.jpg?resize=652%2C358&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-38280" /></a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="2-word-press-6-0-1-and-6-1-scheduled">Theme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks</h2>



<p>Latest six block themes in the WordPress repository: </p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/digital-marketing-freelancer/">Digital Marketing Freelancer</a> by Themes Cart, their <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/author/themescart/">seventh block theme</a></li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/the-food-reviewer/">The Food Reviewer</a> by Superb Addons, a child theme to another theme</li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/ecommerce-gadget-store/">Ecommerce Gadget Store</a> by WP Radiant, the latest of <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/author/wpradiant/page/2/?tag_slug__and%5B0%5D=full-site-editing">49 block themes</a></li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/fire-fighter/">Fire Fighter</a> by Peter Williams of  Ovation Themes, the newest theme out of <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/author/pewilliams/?tag_slug__and%5B%5D=full-site-editing">48 block themes</a></li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/biz-flick/">Biz Flick</a> by Themegrove, the latest of <a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/author/themegrove/?tag_slug__and%5B%5D=full-site-editing">39 block themes</a></li>



<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/digital-creator/">Digital Creator</a> by wpOpus Dev, their fourth block theme in the repository. </li>
</ul>



<a href="https://wordpress.org/themes/tags/full-site-editing/"><img width="652" height="389" src="https://i0.wp.com/gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-26-at-12.35.25.png?resize=652%2C389&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-38239" /></a>



<p><strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;Keeping up with Gutenberg &#8211; Index 2025&#8221;</a>&nbsp;</strong><br />A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test, and Meta team from Jan. 2024 on. Updated by yours truly. The previous years are also available: <strong><strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2020/">2020</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2021/">2021</a></strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index-2022/">2022</a></strong></strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/gutenberg-index-2023">2023</a></strong> | <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/references/keeping-up-with-gutenberg-index/gutenberg-index-2024/"><strong>2024</strong></a></p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="3-building-themes-for-fse-and-word-press">Building Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.</h2>



<p>In his post <a href="https://kinsta.com/blog/extending-wp-core-blocks/"><strong>How to extend core WordPress blocks with Blocks API</strong></a>, <strong>Joel Olawanle</strong>, technical editor at Kinsta, introduced you to the basic extension methods like Block Styles and Block Variations with code examples and multiple ways to accomplish the tasks. </p>



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<p><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/elpuas.bsky.social"><strong>Alfredo Navas</strong></a>, web developer at WebDev Studios, wrote a tutorial on <a href="https://elpuas.com/blog/you-might-not-need-a-custom-block-the-block-bindings-api/"><strong>how to use the Block Bindings API and why you might not need a Custom Block</strong></a>. Navas walks you through registering a Custom Source, how to create a Block Variation with custom data and making it all work in the editor and on the front end. <br /></p>



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<p>In last week&#8217;s livestream, <strong><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/ryanwelcher.com">Ryan Welcher</a></strong> created <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xoi4HAiOOQ"><strong>a new WordPress block theme for the Block Developer Cookbook</strong></a> and gave it a new look. You can watch him turning change his color scheme and turn his existing theme into a style variation. </p>


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<p><strong>Brian Coords</strong> found a way to create <strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAbcmjhw64s">Dynamic WordPress Playground Blueprints with Cloudflare Workers</a></strong> and shared in his video how he built a system to spin up demo WooCommerce stores. <a href="https://github.com/bacoords/woocommerce-worker">The code lives on GitHub</a></p>


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<p><strong><a href="https://gutenbergtimes.com/need-a-zip-from-master/">Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg&#8217;s master branch?</a></strong><br />Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review. </p>



<p>Now also available via <a href="https://playground.wordpress.net/?blueprint-url=https://gutenbergtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/playnightly.json">WordPress Playground</a>. There is no need for a test site locally or on a server. Have you been using it? <a href="mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com">Email me </a>with your experience</p>



<p><img alt="GitHub all releases" src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/bph/gutenberg/total?style=for-the-badge" /></p>



<p class="has-text-align-center has-small-font-size"><em>Questions? Suggestions? Ideas? </em><br /><em>Don&#8217;t hesitate to send <a href="mailto:pauli@gutenbergtimes.com">them via email</a> or</em><br /><em> send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph</em>.</p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />



<p class="has-text-align-center has-small-font-size">For questions to be answered on the <a href="http://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast">Gutenberg Changelog</a>, <br />send them to <a href="mailto:changelog@gutenbergtimes.com">changelog@gutenbergtimes.com</a></p>



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<p>Featured Image:</p>



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";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:83:"Do The Woo Community: Christian Taylor Joins as Co-Host of the Creative Sparks Show";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"https://dothewoo.io/?p=93581";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:82:"https://dothewoo.io/christian-taylor-joins-as-co-host-of-the-creative-sparks-show/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:96:"BobWP announces new co-hosts for the Content Sparks show, video content expert Christian Taylor.";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 28 Mar 2025 11:40:15 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:39;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:66:"Do The Woo Community: Do the Woo Friday Shares, March 28, 2025 v12";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:43:"https://dothewoo.io/?post_type=blog&p=93556";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:64:"https://dothewoo.io/blog/do-the-woo-friday-shares-march-28-2025/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:206:"This content highlights our carefully selected information and resources from the Woo and WordPress community, aiming to provide valuable insights and updates for users and enthusiasts in the digital space.";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Fri, 28 Mar 2025 08:42:11 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:40;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:94:"Do The Woo Community: WordPress Flexibility and Simplicity: Building for Users with Ben Ritner";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"https://dothewoo.io/?p=93525";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:92:"https://dothewoo.io/wordpress-flexibility-and-simplicity-building-for-users-with-ben-ritner/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:384:"In today&#8217;s Woo ProductChat, co-hosts Katie Keith, founder and CEO at Barn2, and James Kemp, the core product manager at WooCommerce, sit down with Ben Ritner, the Senior Director of Product at StellarWP. They dive into the intricate balance between customizability and simplicity in WordPress products, particularly focusing on Ben&#8217;s work with the Cadence suite. [&#8230;]";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 27 Mar 2025 16:39:33 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:41;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:78:"Do The Woo Community: Leveling Out the Audio on a Podcast with Multiple Guests";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:43:"https://dothewoo.io/?post_type=blog&p=93358";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:82:"https://dothewoo.io/blog/leveling-out-the-audio-on-a-podcast-with-multiple-guests/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:252:"Podcasting requires managing sound levels effectively, especially during livestreams. Auphonic, with its Loudness Normalization feature, simplifies post-production, ensuring balanced audio quality and saving valuable time for creators, plus a lot more.";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 27 Mar 2025 12:26:21 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:42;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:68:"BuddyPress: BuddyPress 14.3.4, 12.5.3 &amp; 11.4.4 Security Releases";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:32:"https://buddypress.org/?p=336835";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:81:"https://buddypress.org/2025/03/buddypress-14-3-4-12-5-3-11-4-4-security-releases/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:2347:"<p id="block-35e8c6a5-dc8c-4b4a-b459-aa739313f8ca"><a href="https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.14.3.4.zip">BuddyPress 14.3.4</a>, <a href="https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.12.5.3.zip">BuddyPress 12.5.3</a>, and <a href="https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.11.4.4.zip">BuddyPress 11.4.4</a> are all now available. This is a security release. Please update as soon as possible.</p>



<p id="block-80a9aeaa-f502-4d3b-972e-0f6995994f31">14.3.4, 12.5.3 &amp; 11.4.4 fixed two bugs:</p>



<ul id="block-bb57f61f-d125-49f4-9fa1-955d2dab822f" class="wp-block-list">
<li>Restrict bulk notification management to owner. Many thanks to Brian Mungah for responsibly reporting the problem.</li>



<li>Improve security of status update messages. Many thanks to mikemyers for responsibly reporting the issue.</li>
</ul>



<p id="block-d8121097-c1de-4e92-9710-1673a94d4c59">For complete details, visit the&nbsp;<a href="https://codex.buddypress.org/releases/version-14-3-4/">14.3.4 changelog</a>.</p>



<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<div class="wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-499968f5 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex">
<div class="wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--1"><a class="wp-block-button__link has-white-background-color has-text-color has-background no-border-radius wp-element-button" href="https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/buddypress.14.3.4.zip">Get BuddyPress 14.3.4</a></div>
</div>



<div class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<p id="block-aa9a1610-e591-4dea-966f-0de3f7ded87c">You can get the latest version by clicking on the above button, downloading it from the&nbsp;<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddypress/">WordPress.org plugin directory</a>&nbsp;or checking it out from our&nbsp;<a href="https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/browser/branches/14.0">Subversion repository.</a></p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="block-8935e1e5-ef63-42ee-8c08-67fad827159a">Many thanks to our 14.3.4 contributors&nbsp;</h2>



<p id="block-a8b36bfc-7855-4e99-ba54-508a3776b715"><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/emaralive">emaralive</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/jjj/">jjj</a>, and <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/dcavins/">dcavins</a>.</p>



<p></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Thu, 27 Mar 2025 02:22:26 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"David Cavins";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:43;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:80:"WPTavern: #162 – Jo Minney on Website Usability Testing for WordPress Projects";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:48:"https://wptavern.com/?post_type=podcast&p=193251";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:94:"https://wptavern.com/podcast/162-jo-minney-on-website-usability-testing-for-wordpress-projects";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:54757:"Transcript<div>
<p>[00:00:00] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Welcome to the Jukebox Podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley.</p>



<p>Jukebox is a podcast which is dedicated to all things WordPress, the people, the events, the plugins, the blocks, the themes, and in this case, the efficacy of website usability testing for WordPress projects.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;d like to subscribe to the podcast, you can do that by searching for WP Tavern in your podcast player of choice. Or by going to wptavern.com/feed/podcast, and you can copy that URL into most podcast players.</p>



<p>If you have a topic that you&#8217;d like us to feature on the podcast, I&#8217;m keen to hear from you and hopefully get you, or your idea, featured on the show. Head to wptavern.com/contact/jukebox, and use the form there.</p>



<p>Today I bring you the first in a mini series of podcasts I recorded in person at WordCamp Asia in Manila. This flagship WordPress event brought together hundreds of WordPress professionals, enthusiasts, and all manner of interested parties under one roof for a three day event. One contributor day, and two days of presentations.</p>



<p>I tracked down several of the speakers and workshop organizers and recorded them speaking about the subject they were presenting upon. I hope that you enjoy what they had to say.</p>



<p>So on the podcast today, we have the first of those conversations, and it&#8217;s with Jo Minney.</p>



<p>Jo based in Perth, Australia, is passionate about user experience, data-driven decision making, cats, pockets, and travel. She&#8217;s a small business founder, and works with organizations creating digital platforms with WordPress. She also freelances as a UX consultant. She volunteers with Mission Digital to address social issues using technology, and is an ambassador for She Codes Australia, promoting tech accessibility for women. Recognized as a 2023 Shining Star by Women in Technology, Western Australia, Jo is an international speaker on topics like user experience, accessibility, and gender equality. She&#8217;s committed to ensuring a seamless user experience, and today shares her insights from practical, everyday usability testing.</p>



<p>Joe&#8217;s presentation entitled, Budget Friendly Usability Testing for WordPress, helped attendees understand what usability testing is, and clarified why it differs from other testing methods. She shares examples from her work showing how small changes can significantly impact user experience, which is better for you, the website builder, and your client, the website owner.</p>



<p>We also discuss how usability testing can transform a website&#8217;s effectiveness by improving conversions. Joe explains the importance of recruiting novice users for testing, and highlights how usability testing pushes for real, user-centered, improvements.</p>



<p>Towards the end, Jo share&#8217;s practical advice on when and how to integrate usability testing into your process. Advocating for early and iterative testing to preemptively address potential issues.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;re looking to gain a deeper understanding of usability testing and its benefits, this episode is for you.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;re interested in finding out more, you can find all of the links in the show notes by heading to wptavern.com/podcast where you&#8217;ll find all the other episodes as well.</p>



<p>And so without further delay, I bring you Jo Minney.</p>



<p>I am joined on the podcast by Jo Minney. Hello, Jo.</p>



<p>[00:04:06] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Hi. It&#8217;s good to be back again Nathan.</p>



<p>[00:04:08] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, you&#8217;ve been on the podcast before. But this time it&#8217;s different because this time we&#8217;re actually facing each other. Last time we were doing it on, you know, something like Zoom or something like that, but here we are staring at each other because we&#8217;re at WordCamp Asia. We&#8217;re in the Philippines, Manila. It is the second day of the event, kind of. We had Contributor Day yesterday. Today is presentation day. It&#8217;s the first day of the presentations, and you are doing one.</p>



<p>[00:04:29] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> I&#8217;ve done one actually. I did it at 11 o&#8217;clock this morning.</p>



<p>[00:04:33] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> How did it go?</p>



<p>[00:04:34] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> It went really well, I think. I had very good feedback from it. Half of the things on my slides didn&#8217;t work. I think that&#8217;s normal for a conference though, and I&#8217;m pretty experienced now at just winging it, and rolling with it anyway, so. It was really exciting because it&#8217;s a topic that I&#8217;m super passionate about and I haven&#8217;t had a chance to speak about it at a conference before. So, yeah, it was really nice to be able to share something that I do on a day-to-day basis and can stand up there and really confidently talk about.</p>



<p>[00:04:58] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve ever spoken about this subject before in any of the podcasts that I&#8217;ve done. That is quite nice, and it&#8217;s novel. I&#8217;ll just introduce the topic. The presentation that you gave was called Budget-Friendly Usability Testing for WordPress. And obviously that sort of sums it up. We&#8217;re going to talk about usability testing.</p>



<p>But before we do that, Jo, just to nail your colours to the mast a bit, tell us about you. Where you&#8217;re from. What you do for a job, and anything that you think is relevant to this podcast.</p>



<p>[00:05:22] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Okay, I really like cats and pockets.</p>



<p>[00:05:25] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I saw that in your show notes. Why pockets?</p>



<p>[00:05:27] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Okay. So I think pockets are a great example of something that can be both a fantastic and a terrible user experience. You are like, oh yeah, maybe I know what you&#8217;re talking about. But, let me ask, do you live with a woman?</p>



<p>[00:05:39] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I do.</p>



<p>[00:05:39] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> I know that&#8217;s a very personal question, sorry Nathan. But, how many times on average a month does she complain about not having pockets in her clothing?</p>



<p>[00:05:48] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Never, she carries a bag.</p>



<p>[00:05:50] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Yeah, but why do we have to carry a bag, right? She has to carry a bag because her clothing doesn&#8217;t have pockets. So I spoke at a conference late last year, and I asked this question. This has been a life goal of mine, was to speak about pockets at a conference. And I managed to do it. I asked all of the women in the audience, hands up if you&#8217;ve ever thrown out clothes or gotten rid of them because they didn&#8217;t have pockets in? And every single woman stood up and was like, yes, I&#8217;ve gotten rid of clothes because they didn&#8217;t have pockets in.</p>



<p>Most of the people that were there were men. And I said, stand up if you don&#8217;t have pockets in your clothes right now. And 400 men stayed seated. But this is an example of something where, yes, there&#8217;s a subsection of the population that&#8217;s experiencing this problem, but it&#8217;s a big problem for us. It&#8217;s very frustrating. You&#8217;re at a conference, you don&#8217;t want to have to carry around a handbag. So, pockets. They&#8217;re a great example of user experience.</p>



<p>[00:06:45] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Okay, I get it. I understand now. Tell us a little bit about your sort of day-to-day work, though. You work with WordPress, I guess.</p>



<p>[00:06:51] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> I do. So I run a small agency. We&#8217;re what I usually call a micro agency, and we have only three of us that are working on the WordPress team. We do website development, but specifically for charities, nonprofits, cause-based organisations, so a lot of social enterprises and that sort of thing.</p>



<p>On top of that, I also do consulting for user experience research. I&#8217;m not a designer. UX and UI often get lumped together. They&#8217;re very different. UI is about the interface and what people see, and UX is about user experience and how people use things. And they can&#8217;t be completely separated, but they&#8217;re also very different.</p>



<p>So I am lucky because I work in the niche that I work in, that I&#8217;m able to do a lot of usability testing and it&#8217;s something that a lot of people don&#8217;t get the experience to do. And so I thought I would share what I&#8217;ve been able to learn over having this sort of unique opportunity to do so much usability testing, and share with people how they can do it more cost effectively, but also the benefit that it can have for a project.</p>



<p>[00:07:54] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Let&#8217;s dig into it and I&#8217;m going to actually crib the questions which you posed to the audience today. You put four questions surrounding your subject. And the first one is this. And I&#8217;m sure that the listeners to this podcast, if they&#8217;re anything like me, they&#8217;ll probably have some impression that usability testing is a thing that you could do. And I think the word there is could, as opposed to do, do.</p>



<p>I imagine most people have an impression of what it is, but whether or not they do it is another thing altogether. But that would then lead to this. What even is it? So what is usability testing, and what are you actually testing for? So that was a question you posed to the audience and now I&#8217;m throwing it right back at you.</p>



<p>[00:08:34] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Yeah, it&#8217;s a good question. It&#8217;s probably the sensible place to start. So usability testing is not the same as user testing, or user acceptance testing. And it&#8217;s focusing on, how do we identify what the problems are with something that we have created?</p>



<p>So a lot of UX research is focused on what we call quantitative testing. So, meaning we&#8217;re looking for quantities of something. It could be the amount of time it takes someone to do an action. It could be using heat maps. So we have a thousand users, let&#8217;s see where their cursors most often are going. Let&#8217;s see how often they scroll down the page. And quantitative testing is really good at showing you comparisons of whether one thing or another thing works better, but it&#8217;s not actually good at identifying what the problem is, only that there is a problem.</p>



<p>So you can do a lot of testing and still not know what the problem is. Usability testing is different because it&#8217;s what we call qualitative testing. So it means that we&#8217;re not looking for big numbers, we&#8217;re not looking for lots of data. We are looking for really deep user experience examples. And in a nutshell, the way that that works is you recruit some participants, usually five people per round is ideal. And often I get asked, well, how can you have statistically significant data with only five people? That&#8217;s not the point of qualitative testing. The point of qualitative testing is not to have statistically relevant data, it&#8217;s to have the actual user experiences.</p>



<p>So you recruit your people, you come up with your research questions and that&#8217;s the problem that you&#8217;re trying to solve or the question you&#8217;re trying to get an answer to. So, an example might be, are users going to recognise this label that I&#8217;ve used in my navigation? Is this button going to get clicked if I put it in this location? It&#8217;s often a thing that, if you&#8217;re working with a customer to develop a website for them, what we find is that often the things that we are testing for in usability testing are things that the customer and I disagree on, or things where they weren&#8217;t sure when they made the decision in the first place. And they&#8217;re a great example of things that you want to test for.</p>



<p>But the research questions are only the first part because if I say, the example I used in my talk today is that we had a support service directory. And this was for people who are experiencing family domestic violence. And they didn&#8217;t want to use the term directory because it&#8217;s a very harsh term. So they had called it support services, which sounds, on the surface like a good idea, but a lot of the people that are using their platform are not English first language. And they also tend to be in a really stressed out state as you can imagine.</p>



<p>And so what we actually found is that when we said to them, can you imagine you&#8217;re helping someone, can you help them find a legal service that will enable them to get a restraining order or something like this? What we found is that repeatedly they didn&#8217;t go to support services to start with. The minute we changed that to service directory, they started to find the thing that we wanted them to click on.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s such a small change, but it made a huge impact, the usability. Now, we found that out after the second test, which meant that we were able to change it after the second test, and then we had three more tests where we could show that every time they were able to find the thing that we wanted them to be looking for.</p>



<p>So this is an example where the research question and the research task or the activity that we&#8217;re giving to the user, they&#8217;re not the same thing. If we said to them, find support services, find the service directory, if we use that language, obviously they&#8217;re going to look for that label. But instead we asked them to do an activity that would hopefully take them to the place we wanted them to go to.</p>



<p>And then finally the last step is to iterate that and to actually take that data and make decisions, and make improvements to the project iteratively to try and make it better. That&#8217;s the goal, right? Is to find what the problems are and fix them. So we still have to work out how to fix them, but at least we know what the problems are and not just that people were not clicking on the button and we don&#8217;t know why.</p>



<p>[00:12:27] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I have a couple of follow up questions. First thing isn&#8217;t the question, it&#8217;s an observation. So that&#8217;s really cleared up in my head what it is, so that&#8217;s amazing. But one of the things that I want to know from that is, do you filter out people who, let&#8217;s say for example, you&#8217;ve got a website, the kind that you just described. Do you filter out people who are not the target audience? So in other words, I don&#8217;t know, maybe that&#8217;s not a perfect example. But let&#8217;s say, on some websites, would it be better to have really inexperienced users of the internet as your five candidates?</p>



<p>[00:12:59] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> That is exactly the ideal person.</p>



<p>[00:13:02] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So people who are just, I&#8217;ve never come across this before. You want people who are potentially bound to be confused. If somebody&#8217;s going to be confused, it&#8217;s you five.</p>



<p>[00:13:10] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> That is the ideal participant for a usability study. And often people say, I want to start learning how to do usability testing. Where should I start? And my advice to them is always the same, with your mum.</p>



<p>Recruit a person that&#8217;s a generation older than you, because I can guarantee that in most cases, sorry to generalise, but they tend to be less efficient and less used to technology because they haven&#8217;t grown up with it. So for millennials and younger, we have had technology for all of our adult lives and most of our childhood.</p>



<p>For my parents&#8217; generation, they have had to learn that technology as an adult, and so their brains have a different mental model, and they don&#8217;t take for granted things that we take for granted. Like, when I click the logo, it will take me back to the homepage. I know that, you know that, your mum might not know that.</p>



<p>And I think that is something that is really valuable is to understand the benefit of testing with people who aren&#8217;t as experienced with technology. Who don&#8217;t speak English as a first language. Who are experiencing some kind of accessibility challenge. Whether that&#8217;s using assistive technology, being colorblind. Things like that are really good things to try and get some cross-sectional representation in your testing participant pool.</p>



<p>[00:14:25] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> So the idea then is that you&#8217;ve got these novice users who hopefully will immediately illustrate the point. And it&#8217;s driven by questions. So it&#8217;s not just, we are just going to stand over your shoulder and watch you browse the internet, and when you do something and describe, you&#8217;re looking for something and you can&#8217;t find it, that&#8217;s not how it&#8217;s done.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s more, okay, here&#8217;s a defined task, do this thing and we&#8217;re going to ask you to do five things today, we want you to achieve them all and describe what you&#8217;re doing, but it&#8217;s more of that process.</p>



<p>And then the idea is that you go from an imperfect website, slowly over time, iterating one problem after another towards a better website. The goal is never reached. It&#8217;s just an iterative process.</p>



<p>[00:15:01] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> That&#8217;s it. Perfection does not exist.</p>



<p>[00:15:03] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Okay, so that&#8217;s interesting. So we start with the novice. We&#8217;ve got a small cohort of people. We ask them specific questions, and we get feedback about those specific questions.</p>



<p>So the other thing that I wanted to ask then is, when do you do it? Because it feels like you need to build the website first, then show it to people. So there&#8217;s got to be something. This isn&#8217;t process of discovery prior to the website. You need pixels on pages. Buttons that are potentially mislabeled or what have you. Is that the case? Build first, then usability test afterwards. There&#8217;s no usability testing prior to the initial build.</p>



<p>[00:15:37] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> It&#8217;s kind of a trick question because you can usability test at most stages. Probably the only stage you can&#8217;t usability test at is when you don&#8217;t yet have a site map. Having said that, my recommendation is, assuming you had unlimited budget and unlimited time, I would do at minimum two rounds of usability testing, and I would do one before you have any design, and I would do it just using wire frames.</p>



<p>So we build interactive wire frames using WordPress. So for the demo that I did today, I spun one up. I used InstaWP. You can get like a seven day website or something through there. It took me 42 minutes to build out the website in just the block editor, with no design or anything, just the layout of it. And I was eating a loaded potato at the time. So if I can do that in 42 minutes, eating a loaded potato, and that&#8217;s not my job, I think it&#8217;s a pretty efficient and cost effective way of being able to do early usability testing.</p>



<p>And often the thing that we&#8217;re testing for there is like, have I got the right navigation structure and hierarchy? Are the labels that I&#8217;m using sensible for people? Do they fit with the mental models of what our users are actually expecting? And the benefit of doing it that early is that when you don&#8217;t have a design applied, it&#8217;s a lot easier to identify problems.</p>



<p>Because there is a thing that happens in human psychology, and there&#8217;s a lot of psychology in user experience. And there&#8217;s a thing that happens where if something&#8217;s pretty, we will say that it is easier to use. Our experience is that it&#8217;s easier to use because it&#8217;s nice to look at. And that&#8217;s great. That means that UI is really important, but it also means that, if you have a really nice UI, it can mask problems that you have in the background. It is great that things can be easier if they&#8217;re pretty, but imagine how much easier they would be if they worked well and were pretty, that&#8217;s what we should be aiming for.</p>



<p>So typically we would do one round of usability testing when we just have a framework and just have the navigation. When someone lands on a page, sometimes we&#8217;ll just write a message on there and say, congratulations, you found the service directory where you can find this thing, this thing, this thing, this thing, and then we put a little button there. When they click it, it releases confetti on the page. So they get a dopamine hit and it&#8217;s like, yay, I completed the activity. You don&#8217;t have to have all of your content in place to be able to do testing, and identify early that you&#8217;ve got problems that you need to fix.</p>



<p>[00:18:02] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> It sounds almost like an overly complicated design is the enemy of usability. We are drawn towards beautiful, but sometimes maybe beautiful just is overwhelming. You know, there&#8217;s lots of colors on the page, the buttons get hidden, there&#8217;s just too much text on there. Looks great, but it might be sort of masking the thing that you&#8217;re really trying to show. And it feels like there&#8217;s this tight rope act of trying to balance one thing against the other. Yeah, that&#8217;s really interesting.</p>



<p>So, with the wire frame thing, in that case, you are really just testing, can the person find the thing? But I&#8217;m guessing once you&#8217;ve move beyond the wire frame stage and you&#8217;ve got a website, it&#8217;s literally out on the internet, it&#8217;s functional. It&#8217;s exactly what we hope would be the perfect version, then you&#8217;re drilling into more detail. You know, can a person find this resource? Do they know that this button is what we are intending them to click? Those kind of things.</p>



<p>[00:18:49] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Yeah. So I think things like searchability and discoverability are much easier to test for in the early stages when you&#8217;re just doing, say, using like a wire frame or a prototype. And things like usability, you really do need to have the complete designed product to be able to test for them well. And I say that, there&#8217;s actually kind of four categories of the different types of tasks that we can do. I&#8217;ll give you the link to the blog post that I wrote that has all of this in detail because we do not have time to go deep into that today.</p>



<p>But things like, does my search form work the way that I want it to? They&#8217;re the sorts of things that you do have to do some development to be able to get them working. So it&#8217;s not always practical to do that at the very early stages when you do want to start testing your navigation and stuff like that.</p>



<p>Something that you can do is if you&#8217;ve only got enough budget, or enough time, to be able to do, say, five usability tests total, you could do two of them early, and then you could do three of them towards the end, after you have the majority of the design and the development work in place. Users are pretty forgiving when they&#8217;re doing a usability test. If you say, this is still a work in progress, there might be a couple of pages that look odd and aren&#8217;t quite ready to go live yet. If you get somewhere and you&#8217;re not sure, you can just go back, it&#8217;s okay.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s not meant to be a perfect experience. The point is that you are getting their real time thoughts and feedback as they&#8217;re doing it. So it&#8217;s really important that you try and encourage them to follow the think aloud protocol, which is really outlining every single thing that goes through they&#8217;re head, just brain dump on me please. Like, I just want to hear all of your thoughts and thought processes.</p>



<p>And the only thing as the facilitator that I will say during a usability test is, tell me what you&#8217;re thinking. And other than that, I am completely silent. So even when it comes to giving them the activity, so if I&#8217;m asking you to do an activity like help somebody find a legal service that they can use in this particular state. I would actually send that task to you via the chat or something like that.</p>



<p>I would send the task to you via the chat, and then I would get you to read that task back to me, because I don&#8217;t want you to be thinking about how I&#8217;m saying it. I want you to be able to go back to that task and look at it, and think about it, and process everything inside your own head. But I want you to be telling me all of that.</p>



<p>So often we&#8217;ll find people ask questions during that, like, what should I do next? And the answer to that is really hard to train yourself out of replying to them with anything other than, what would you do if I wasn&#8217;t here? And I think that&#8217;s the hardest thing about learning to facilitate a usability test.</p>



<p>[00:21:24] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, and in a sort of an ideal scenario, you wouldn&#8217;t even be in the room. But in some strange way, you&#8217;d be able to just get into their head and say, okay, now I want you to do this, but every time you&#8217;ve got problem, just figure figure it out, and we&#8217;ll watch. But you have to be there because you have to be able to listen to what they&#8217;re saying and what have you. Yeah, that&#8217;s curious.</p>



<p>[00:21:40] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Yeah, and we do, at the end of each activity, we&#8217;ll then ask them for feedback on how they found it. If they had any suggestions or things that they didn&#8217;t say out loud while they were doing it that they wanted to share with us. How confident were they with the activity, and did they think that they were successful in it, which is a really good way of telling, I wasn&#8217;t really sure what the activity was meant to do. Or I wasn&#8217;t really sure if what I found really met the needs that I was looking for.</p>



<p>Then we ask them, how certain are you with the answer that you just gave? And if they&#8217;re like, three out of five, you&#8217;re like, alright, this person didn&#8217;t understand what it was that I was asking them to do in the first place. Maybe the problem is actually with my question and not with the website.</p>



<p>[00:22:18] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Okay, so the whole process is, you&#8217;re not just asking for feedback about the website, there&#8217;s a whole process of asking for feedback about the process as well which is, that&#8217;s kind of curious. Meta, meta processing.</p>



<p>[00:22:27] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Very meta, for sure.</p>



<p>[00:22:29] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> We&#8217;re in an industry where at the moment everything is trying to be automated.</p>



<p>[00:22:32] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Is this the AI question?</p>



<p>[00:22:34] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Well, no, this feels like it&#8217;s a very human thing. You need actual bodies on the ground. So it&#8217;s really a question of economics. Because I&#8217;m wondering if this often turns out to be a fairly expensive process. And because of that, I wonder if people push against it, because the budgets may not be there. If this is something that clients typically would say, well, okay, tell me how much that&#8217;s going to cost. It&#8217;s a nice idea but, okay, it&#8217;s going to cost us X thousand dollars because we&#8217;ve got to put five people in a room and we&#8217;ve got to pay for your time to moderate the event, and come up with the questions and so on.</p>



<p>How do we manage that in an era of automation where everything is, the dollar cost of everything has got to be driven down. This feels like the dollar cost is going up because there&#8217;s humans involved.</p>



<p>[00:23:14] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Yeah, it&#8217;s a great question. Have you ever run a Google ad before?</p>



<p>[00:23:17] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> It&#8217;s expensive.</p>



<p>[00:23:18] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> It&#8217;s very expensive. It&#8217;s very expensive to get a new lead. It&#8217;s a lot more cost effective to convert a lead than it is to get a new one. And the point of usability testing is to improve conversion of people being able to do the thing that you want them to do on the website.</p>



<p>So my first answer to that would be, look at the cost benefit analysis. It&#8217;s worth it in most cases to do usability testing. Something that we&#8217;ve found with positioning of usability testing is that if we offer it as an add-on, then people don&#8217;t want to do it because they don&#8217;t want to pay for it. They see the value in it necessarily. However, we don&#8217;t offer it as an add-on.</p>



<p>We actually have it just as part of our proposal right from the start where we&#8217;re like, this is part of the point of difference between what you get when you build with us versus when you build with someone else. They&#8217;ll tell you what they think is the best way to do something. If we are unsure about the best way to do something or we disagree on it, it&#8217;s not going to ultimately be me making a decision or you making a decision. We&#8217;re going to test and we&#8217;re going to get real evidence from customers.</p>



<p>And they&#8217;re the ones that are going to be developing it so you know that the final result that you get is going to be the best possible version of the website. And often we might be more expensive than our competitors, but people will go with us because we are not competing on price. We&#8217;re competing on offering a service that nobody else is offering. I asked today in the presentation who has done usability testing before and not a single person put their hand up.</p>



<p>[00:24:42] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> That would&#8217;ve been my assumption actually.</p>



<p>[00:24:44] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Yeah. And honestly, I don&#8217;t think any of the people that we&#8217;re competing against in the industry that I&#8217;m in are doing the same thing as what we&#8217;re doing. And so it is very much a point of difference. I think it&#8217;s not a well understood technique, but it&#8217;s so valuable that it is a really easy way to position yourself as being different, and really actually do a better job for your customers, for the people that you&#8217;re building websites for. Because ultimately you are going to have a better result at the end of it.</p>



<p>[00:25:12] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> The interesting thing there is, when I say usability testing, somehow in my head there is a connection between that and accessibility. And that&#8217;s not where I&#8217;m going with this question, but there&#8217;s just something about it being unnecessary. And I&#8217;m not binding that to the word accessibility. What I&#8217;m saying is clients often think, I don&#8217;t need to do that. Obviously, we&#8217;re moving into an era where legislation says otherwise. But I can just leave it over there. I don&#8217;t need to worry about that, usability testing, not for me.</p>



<p>However, the lever that you&#8217;ve just pulled, it completely changes the dynamic because you&#8217;ve pulled an economic lever, which is that if we can get everybody to follow this action, I don&#8217;t know, fill up the cart with widgets and then press the buy now button, and go through the checkout process. If that&#8217;s the thing that you&#8217;re usability testing, you&#8217;ve made direct line. You&#8217;ve joined up the dots of, okay, user, money.</p>



<p>So it&#8217;s not just about it being a better website so that people can browse around it all day. It&#8217;s also about connecting the economics of it. So the usability is about people buying, converting, getting the resource. And so there might not be an economic transfer there, but it will be some benefit to your business. There might be downloading that valuable PDF that you want everybody to see or whatever.</p>



<p>So that&#8217;s kind of interesting. That&#8217;s changed my thoughts about it a little bit. And it is more about that. It&#8217;s getting an understanding of what you want out the website, getting an understanding of what you think should be happening is actually possible and happening. Have I sort of summed that up about right?</p>



<p>[00:26:40] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Yeah, I think that&#8217;s a really good summary it. I think the only thing I would add there is that a lot of the times the conversation around accessibility and the conversation around usability do have a lot of crossover. They are fundamentally different, but one of my favorite examples is actually something that I think applies to both.</p>



<p>So two of the common problems that we find very early on in design is often to do with colour. And so one of them is colour contrast and the other one is colourblind accessibility. And I think it&#8217;s a great way to get people to change their thinking, and their perception of the way we have these conversations is, if you have an e-commerce website, Nathan, what would you say if I said to you, I can instantly get you 8% more customers?</p>



<p>[00:27:23] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Yeah, I&#8217;d say that&#8217;s great.</p>



<p>[00:27:24] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> And I&#8217;d be like, cool, change your buttons so that colourblind people can read them, because 8% of men are colourblind. So actually it&#8217;s only 4% of people because assuming half of them are men, then you&#8217;ve actually only got 4%. But still 8% of men are colourblind, that&#8217;s a big percentage of the population. So if your button is red and green, then you&#8217;re going to have a problem. People are not going to be able to find the thing that you want them to click to give you their money.</p>



<p>Likewise, if you want people to be able to use your website when they&#8217;re outside and using their phone in sunlight, then you need to have good colour contrast on your website. So often this conversation is around, well, I don&#8217;t have people who are disabled, I&#8217;m not trying to cater to people that are using screen readers. It doesn&#8217;t matter because not very many people that are using my website are blind. And I&#8217;m like, well, I&#8217;m not blind but I still struggle when I&#8217;m looking at something where the text is too faint, and I&#8217;m looking at it on my phone, and I&#8217;m standing outside in the sun because we naturally don&#8217;t visualise as much contrast there.</p>



<p>So I think being able to position it in a way where people can see the value to themselves. I want to use a website that has better contrast, and so it makes that conversation easier with a customer.</p>



<p>[00:28:32] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I hadn&#8217;t really drawn the line between accessibility and usability, but it seems like they&#8217;re partner topics, basically. There&#8217;s like a Venn diagram, accessibility over here, usability over here, with a massive overlap somewhere in the middle.</p>



<p>[00:28:43] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> A hundred percent. That&#8217;s why we always encourage having that sort of intersection between accessibility and usability in our testing pool. So we always try and have one person who experiences some kind of accessibility challenge, whether that&#8217;s being colourblind, hearing impaired, if we&#8217;ve got a lot of video on the site, for example. And I think that it can be a really valuable way of collecting multiple data points at one time.</p>



<p>[00:29:04] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> When you have a client that comes to you and they&#8217;ve obviously, by the time that they&#8217;ve signed the contract with you, usability is already part of the deal it sounds like. How do you decide, what&#8217;s the thing in round one that we&#8217;re going to pick up on? Is there sort of like a copy book that you go through? Is it like, I don&#8217;t know, buttons or the checkout or colour or? Where do you go first? And sort of attached to that question a little bit, this process never ends, right? In theory, you could do usability testing each month. But I was wondering if you did it like on an annual cycle or something, yeah.</p>



<p>[00:29:34] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> If you&#8217;re not changing stuff super often, I would say, there&#8217;s probably more cost effective ways that you can collect information about it. Typically we encourage, long-term, have things like heat maps and stuff like that. They will help you identify if there is a problem. If you know that there is a problem, let&#8217;s say you&#8217;ve got a heat map and you&#8217;re like, why is nobody clicking on our buy now link? That is a good instance of where you would do some usability testing to figure out what the problem is.</p>



<p>But if everything&#8217;s working and you&#8217;re getting conversions, then probably doing usability testing isn&#8217;t the most valuable thing that you can do. If you&#8217;re looking at making significant changes to the way that your website works, that&#8217;s another good time to introduce a round of usability testing. So we don&#8217;t do it just for the sake of doing it. We do it because we need to do it, and because there&#8217;s value in it for our customers.</p>



<p>[00:30:18] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Do you keep an eye on your customer&#8217;s websites so that you can sort of get ahead of that, if you know what I mean? So let&#8217;s say that you put heat maps in, very often that would then get handed over to the client and it&#8217;s somebody in the client&#8217;s company&#8217;s job is to check the heat maps. Or do you keep an eye on that and, oh look, curiously, we&#8217;ve seen over the last 12 months, yeah, look at that. There&#8217;s not much going on over at that very important button over there. Let&#8217;s go back to the client and discuss that. That could be another round of usability testing.</p>



<p>[00:30:44] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Yeah, so I think we&#8217;re not uncommonly, a lot of agencies now do have some kind of retainer program where they will maintain communication and assistance for their clients. So we call them care plans. I know everyone has a different name for it. I think it&#8217;s pretty standard now in the WordPress ecosystem. It&#8217;s a very common thing to do.</p>



<p>As part of our care plans we have scheduled meeting with our clients once every three months or six months or 12 months, depending on how big the site is. And one of the things that we&#8217;ll do at that time is review their analytics, review the heat maps, that sort of thing.</p>



<p>Ask them, have they experienced any problems? Have they noticed a downturn in the people signing up for the memberships? Or have they noticed, have they had any complaints from people about something? Is there anything that they&#8217;re not sure about? Are they going to be changing the way that they operate soon, and introducing something new into their navigation that we need to consider where does that fit in the grand scheme of things?</p>



<p>I find if we&#8217;re having those conversations early and we are the ones starting those conversations, then often we are coming to them with solutions instead of them coming to us with problems.</p>



<p>[00:31:46] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I think that&#8217;s the key bit, isn&#8217;t it? If you can prove to be the partner that comes with, we&#8217;ve got this intuition that there&#8217;s something that we can explore here. You are proactive, you&#8217;re going to them not, okay, anything you want? Is there anything we can help you with, you know? And the answer to that is always, not really.</p>



<p>Whereas if you go and say, look, we&#8217;ve got this idea, based upon some data that we&#8217;ve seen, we&#8217;ve got heat maps and what have you, shall we explore that further? That seems much more credible. You are far likely, I think to have an economic wheel which keeps spinning if you adopt that approach, as opposed to the is there anything you want doing, kind of approach?</p>



<p>[00:32:18] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Absolutely. I think every developer&#8217;s worst nightmare is having a customer come back to them and say, I&#8217;ve just noticed that I haven&#8217;t had anyone send through anything in my contact form for the last three weeks. And I&#8217;ve just noticed, when I went and tested it, that the contact form&#8217;s not working anymore.</p>



<p>I&#8217;m sure I&#8217;ve had that nightmare at least once. And I think if you can avoid being in that situation where they&#8217;re coming to you with something like, oh my God, it&#8217;s broken, how do I fix it? If instead you can go to them and be proactive about it and just kind of keep your finger on the pulse.</p>



<p>Yes, there&#8217;s a little bit of ongoing work, but like honestly, I jump on, I check all of the analytics maybe once every three months for my clients. I set aside one day to do it. Go and have a look through that. If I notice anything, I can usually fix it, make sure that we&#8217;re collecting the data again before it becomes a problem.</p>



<p>And then that way when there is an issue, we&#8217;ve got data that we can back up and we can start from there and go, okay, yes, we&#8217;ve identified, here&#8217;s where we need to do more research. And then we can apply something like usability testing to that.</p>



<p>[00:33:16] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> How much of your time on a monthly basis, let&#8217;s say as a percentage, do you spend on usability of existing clients? Is this something that is a lot of the work that you do? What I&#8217;m trying to figure out here is, for people listening, is this something that they can turn into a real engine of their business?</p>



<p>Because you might get two days, three days work a week just on the usability of pre-existing clients. So in a sense, you&#8217;ve created interest and work out of thin air, because these clients already exist, they&#8217;re in your roster, but there&#8217;s a whole new thing that we can offer to them. So, how much do you spend doing it?</p>



<p>[00:33:50] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Yeah, so it&#8217;s a great question. I would say it&#8217;s cyclical. I couldn&#8217;t really say like, I always spend this much amount of time. There might be entire weeks that go by where my whole life is usability testing, and there might be a month that goes by where I don&#8217;t do any. And it really does often depend on where our projects are in the life cycle at any particular time.</p>



<p>So we&#8217;re often working on projects that will span over years. And because of that, they might introduce a completely new part of their project. And that&#8217;s a good time to reintroduce that usability testing. As I said, like you don&#8217;t really want to do it just for the sake of doing it, but at the same time, if you can show that there will be value in making a change, if you can show that there is a lost opportunity somewhere, then a hundred percent you can sell that, the value to them of, hey, you could spend $1,000 now, but you could be earning $5,000 more every month for the next several years. That&#8217;s a no-brainer, right?</p>



<p>People are happy to make investment if they can see that there&#8217;s going to be a cost benefit for them in the future. Or if the thing that they&#8217;re trying to do is maybe their government website or something, and they&#8217;ve got a particular thing that they need to meet, they&#8217;ve got KPIs. If you can show that you are able to help them meet those KPIs, then they are going to invest in doing that thing that you&#8217;re trying to offer them.</p>



<p>[00:35:02] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> We talked about the Venn diagram of accessibility and usability, and the fact that there&#8217;s a lot of an overlap. In the year 2025, this is a year where, in Europe at least anyway, accessibility, the legal cogs are turning and the screw is getting tighter. So accessibility is becoming mandated in many respects.</p>



<p>And I was wondering about that, whether there was any kind of overlap in legislation on the usability side. The accessibility piece is obviously easier to sort of define in many ways, and it&#8217;s going to become less optional. But I was wondering if there was any usability legal requirements. I don&#8217;t know quite how that would be encapsulated.</p>



<p>[00:35:41] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Sort of. An example that comes to mind is that there are a lot of practices that historically have been really prevalent on the internet, and they&#8217;ve been identified as being really bad for usability. And they&#8217;ve actually now been identified as being so bad that they&#8217;re almost evil. And they&#8217;ve started to crack down on those.</p>



<p>And an example of that is, have you ever tried to unsubscribe from a gym? It&#8217;s basically impossible. And so now if you, at least in Australia, I know if you have a subscription on your site, you legally have to have a way of people being able to unsubscribe without having to call someone or send an email somewhere.</p>



<p>And that is an example where that is actually usability. And I think there are definitely things where we are picking up on stuff that is maybe a shady way of working, and a shady way of developing websites. And those things are starting, we&#8217;re starting to cut down on them.</p>



<p>I&#8217;m not sure if that is purely usability, or just like not being being a bad person. But I think that there is definitely, the only reason that we know that those things are a problem is because we have all had those bad experiences. And ultimately that&#8217;s all user experience is, it&#8217;s just how good or bad is experience of using a platform.</p>



<p>[00:36:49] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I share your frustration with those kind of things because I&#8217;ve been through that process. Not just canceling a subscription but, I don&#8217;t know, something that you&#8217;ve got yourself accidentally into and you don&#8217;t want to be on that email list anymore. Seemingly no way to get off it.</p>



<p>[00:37:01] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> They&#8217;ve changed the unsubscribe link so it doesn&#8217;t have the word unsubscribe in it. And now you just have to look for the word that&#8217;s not underlined, or highlighted in a different colour. That when you hover over it, something pops up and you&#8217;re like, oh, that&#8217;s the link. That thing that says manage preferences down the bottom, hidden in the wall of text. That is a shady practice. That is a poor user experience just as much as it&#8217;s just a bad thing to do.</p>



<p>[00:37:23] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> I think it&#8217;s got the label of deceptive design now. It used to be called dark patterns, didn&#8217;t it? But deceptive design. This notion of doing things in such a way to just deliberately confuse the user so that the green big button, which is the exact opposite of what you want to click, is the one which is visible. And then there&#8217;s this tiny little bit of greyed out text, which is the one which, clearly, you&#8217;ve ended up at this page, that&#8217;s the one you want. That&#8217;s the enemy of usability in a way. But for the business, it may be exactly what they want because it keeps the economic engine rolling.</p>



<p>Yeah, that&#8217;s interesting. I wonder if there&#8217;ll be more legislation to tighten those things up so that they&#8217;re not allowed. Yeah, that&#8217;s fascinating.</p>



<p>Last question. We&#8217;re running out of time. Last question. And it refers to something that we talked about earlier. I&#8217;m guessing this really never ends. This is a journey which you begin, you tweak it, you do a little bit, you fix, and then you start again a little bit later and what have you. Is there ever a moment though where you go to a client and say, we did it? This site, as far as we&#8217;re concerned, is now perfect. Or is it never a goal? It&#8217;s a journey and never a destination.</p>



<p>[00:38:23] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> I think you&#8217;ll probably agree with me here, Nathan, that it&#8217;s basically impossible to be perfect, because ultimately someone is always going to have a different opinion. Someone&#8217;s always going to think that your shade of purple is too dark. Someone is always going to dislike the font that you chose, because it&#8217;s not loopy enough, or it&#8217;s too loopy, right?</p>



<p>So I don&#8217;t think there is such a thing as perfect. But through doing five usability tests, five people, you can pick up at least 85% of the potential problems with your design. And I&#8217;m not aiming for perfect, but I know that for me, if I can confidently say to my customers that I&#8217;ve been able to identify 85% of the potential problems that they might experience in their project, then they can confidently go away and say, hey, we&#8217;re pretty happy with what we&#8217;ve got.</p>



<p>We can definitely improve on that over time. But that is a huge milestone to be able to hit. And being able to have enough data, and enough research to confidently say that, I think is a really big win both for us and for our customers.</p>



<p>[00:39:26] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Sadly, Jo, time is the enemy, and I feel like we&#8217;ve just pulled back the lid a teeny tiny bit on the big subject of usability. Honestly, I reckon I could talk for another two hours on this at least. You know, because you&#8217;ve got into colours there and all sorts, and there&#8217;s just so many tendrils that we haven&#8217;t been able to explore. But we&#8217;ve prized it open a little bit, and so hopefully the listener to this has become curious. If they have, where would they find you? What&#8217;s a good place to discover you online?</p>



<p>[00:39:53] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> Yeah, so I think the best place is to hit up my personal blog, jominney.com. So it&#8217;s J O M I N N E Y .com. And I have a lot of stuff on there about usability, usability testing. I have a blog post that I wrote specifically for this talk that shares all of the resources that I used to put together the slides and everything. The talk itself will be on WordCamp TV. If you&#8217;re on socials and you want to hit me up, pretty much the only platforms I&#8217;m active on nowadays are LinkedIn and Bluesky, and I&#8217;m Jo Minney on both of them.</p>



<p>[00:40:23] <strong>Nathan Wrigley:</strong> Jo Minney, thank you so much for chatting to me today. I really appreciate it.</p>



<p>[00:40:27] <strong>Jo Minney:</strong> You&#8217;re most welcome, Nathan. Thanks for having me again.</p>
</div>



<p>Today, I bring you the first in a mini series of podcasts I recorded in person at <a href="https://asia.wordcamp.org/2025/">WordCamp Asia in Manila</a>. This flagship WordPress event brought together hundreds of WordPress professionals, enthusiasts and all manner of interested parties under one roof for a three day event &#8211; one contributor day, and two days of presentations.</p>



<p>I tracked down several of the speakers and workshop organisers, and recorded them speaking about the subject they were presenting upon. I hope that you enjoy what they have to say.</p>



<p>So on the podcast today we have the first of those conversations, and it’s with Jo Minney.</p>



<p>Jo, based in Perth, Australia, is passionate about user experience, data-driven decision-making, cats, pockets and travel. She&#8217;s a small business founder, and works with organisations creating digital platforms with WordPress. She also freelances as a UX consultant. She volunteers with Mission Digital to address social issues using technology, and is an ambassador for She Codes Australia, promoting tech accessibility for women. Recognised as a 2023 Shining Star by Women in Technology Western Australia, Jo is an international speaker on topics like user experience, accessibility, and gender equality. She&#8217;s committed to ensuring a seamless user experience, and today shares her insights from practical, everyday usability testing.</p>



<p>Jo’s presentation, entitled <a href="https://asia.wordcamp.org/2025/session/budget-friendly-usability-testing-for-wordpress/">Budget-Friendly Usability Testing for WordPress</a> helped attendees understand what usability testing is, x and clarified why it differs from other testing methods. She shares examples from her work, showing how small changes can significantly impact user experience, which is better for you, the website builder, and your client, the website owner.</p>



<p>We also discuss how usability testing can transform a website&#8217;s effectiveness by improving conversions. Jo explains the importance of recruiting novice users for testing, and highlights how usability testing pushes for real, user-centered improvements.</p>



<p>Towards the end, Jo shares practical advice on when and how to integrate usability testing into your process, advocating for early and iterative testing to preemptively address potential issues.</p>



<p>If you&#8217;re looking to gain a deeper understanding of usability testing and its benefits, this episode is for you.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Useful links</h2>



<p><a href="https://asia.wordcamp.org/2025/">WordCamp Asia in Manila</a></p>



<p>Jo&#8217;s WordCamp Asia 2025 presentation: <a href="https://asia.wordcamp.org/2025/session/budget-friendly-usability-testing-for-wordpress/">Budget-Friendly Usability Testing for WordPress</a></p>



<p><a href="https://instawp.com/">InstaWP</a></p>



<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_aloud_protocol">Think Aloud Protocol</a></p>



<p><a href="https://jominney.com/">Jo Minney&#8217;s website</a></p>



<p><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/jominney.bsky.social">Jo on Bluesky</a></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 26 Mar 2025 18:37:05 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:14:"Nathan Wrigley";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:44;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:102:"Do The Woo Community: Building Trust and Converting Sales with Simple UX Decisions with Marc McDougall";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"https://dothewoo.io/?p=93465";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:101:"https://dothewoo.io/building-trust-and-converting-sales-with-simple-ux-decisions-with-marc-mcdougall/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:198:"In this episode of Woo DevChat, hosts discuss UX design and CRO with Marc McDougall, who shares insights on common misconceptions, mistakes, and the evolving role of AI in enhancing user experience.";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 26 Mar 2025 15:58:22 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:45;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"Do The Woo Community: Get Ready for the Atarim Web Agency Summit 2025";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:43:"https://dothewoo.io/?post_type=blog&p=93450";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:73:"https://dothewoo.io/blog/get-ready-for-the-atarim-web-agency-summit-2025/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:359:"The Atarim Web Agency Summit 2025, scheduled for April 7-11, is a free virtual event for web professionals. Featuring over 40 expert-led sessions, it offers actionable insights for agency growth, networking opportunities, and access to industry leaders. Registration is free, with replay options available, making it essential for anyone in the digital space.";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 26 Mar 2025 15:08:27 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:46;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:135:"HeroPress: With open arms – friendships in the WordPress community – Su atviromis rankomis – draugystės WordPress bendruomenėje";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:56:"https://heropress.com/?post_type=heropress-essays&p=7820";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:180:"https://heropress.com/essays/with-open-arms-friendships-in-the-wordpress-community/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=with-open-arms-friendships-in-the-wordpress-community";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:19273:"<img width="1024" height="512" src="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/3025/03/032525-min.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="Pull Quote: I am truly thankful that the WordPress community has welcomed me with open arms." /><p><a href="https://heropress.com/feed/#lithuanian">Šį rašinį galima rasti ir lietuvių kalba.</a></p>



<p>Truth be told, unlike my husband, I have never been the most social person. At a party, you’ll usually find me talking to the dog (or cat). Throughout my life, I’ve only had a few close friends, and I’d rather be reading a book than going to a concert. While WordPress has been a huge part of the growth of my business, I’d like to take this opportunity to discuss something much more important &#8211; the friendships that I have formed through this wonderful community. </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Due to WordPress, I have some truly spectacular friends in my life. </p>
</blockquote>



<p>While we may have started as strangers, we moved into attending each other’s weddings, laughing until we’re crying while packing hundreds of swag orders, holding hands in a hospital bed and being there for each other through thick and thin. Being a privacy lawyer, I won’t name any names here but you’ll probably be able to tell pretty quickly if I’m writing this about you.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="kt-adv-heading7820_98f5b2-d1 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>A little backstory&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>When I was finishing up law school, I worked at a small web design agency in Chicago as their COO. I met my husband, Hans, who was the owner of a different agency when he came to buy us out. It was love at first sight (yes, really) and we have been inseparable ever since. We shared our struggles and annoyances over dinner one night &#8211; writing Privacy Policies for clients was monotonous for me and he had no idea what to do when a client asked him about website policies. So we created Termageddon &#8211; an auto-updating website policies solution for agencies and their clients. Since we started an agency partner program, we knew that we had to find agencies who would be willing to try our new product and that’s when we came across WordCamps and the WordPress community.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="kt-adv-heading7820_4b5f95-0c wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>Our first WordCamp&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>WordPress has a huge community and going to a large WordCamp such as WordCamp US when you don’t know anyone can be really scary (especially for an introvert like me) so we thought that we’d get our feet wet with a smaller WordCamp nearby. Enter WordCamp Jackson, Michigan. </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Driving into the most adorable small city that we have ever visited, we were very nervous &#8211; what if no one wanted to talk to us?&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>



<p>These fears were quickly dispelled when we walked into a room with about 30 friendly faces. Even the mayor was in attendance! During a break, we all sat on couches and our new friends helped us come up with the design for our very first swag item: a t-shirt with a pirate asking “Arrrr you compliant?”. I still smile every time I put it on. The next thing we know, the informative presentations are over and we’re all piling into cars and going to an escape room. The friendships formed during that event have lasted many years. In fact, one of our friends from that very first WordCamp helped us build our chicken coop.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="kt-adv-heading7820_9ad00d-0c wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>Come on over!&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>A while later, my husband went to London and met a friend through a non-WordPress event and they truly hit it off (seriously, they have a standing call twice per month for five years now). A few months later, it was time for our first WordCamp US and our friend flew from the UK to Chicago to stay with us and our plan was to take a road trip and drive from our home to the WordCamp. Well, it just so happened that his other friend who was also going to WordCamp (someone we haven’t met before), missed his flight. Our friend called us to explain the situation and asked whether he could change his flight to Chicago, stay with us and join our road trip. We said “come on over!” Well, that missed flight led to the best trip of all time and a lifelong friendship.</p>



<p>I’ll always remember him walking me to the store to buy some tea on a cold evening, all of us posing for a picture next to the St. Louis arch, hanging out in various hotels and Airbnb’s throughout the years, sharing stories from our youth, marveling at the excitement and joy of growing families, and supporting each other’s business ventures. We’ve seen each other many times throughout the years on various trips and WordCamps and I think of us as our core group at these events &#8211; a safe space amidst all of the chaos.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="kt-adv-heading7820_fed9f2-cd wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>Better together&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>When you start establishing yourself in an industry or a community, you may think of other people in the space as competitors. While it’s certainly not the best trait that humanity has to offer, I think that this happens more frequently than we would like to admit. When I was new in the WordPress community, there was an established privacy attorney who had been a part of that community for much longer than I have. Going to WordCamp US, I knew that she was going to be giving a speech on the California Consumer Privacy Act and how to comply with this privacy law. To be honest with myself and you, I was extremely nervous about meeting her. What if she thought that I was a competitor? What if she disliked me? What if there’s not enough room for two privacy lawyers at this event? Should I just hide throughout the entire event to make sure that she doesn’t see me?&nbsp;</p>



<p>It’s true that we create these extreme scenarios in our minds but reality is usually much different (and less scary). We quickly bonded over the fact that we were the only two people there who knew what CCPA even is and, by the end of the night, we were jammed together in an Uber going to a bar. Throughout the years, we have supported each other’s projects, participated in long evenings of conversations, shared our struggles and wins. Due to her kindness and welcoming nature, we did not head towards competition but are able to enjoy the benefits of a wonderful symbiosis and a true friendship.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="kt-adv-heading7820_3b4a8f-db wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>Family for life&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>Hanging out with your friends at WordCamps is fun but it’s even more fun when your friendship progresses to the point where your friends fly over to hang out at your home. Well, in this case, we only got to hang out for one day before my friend got very sick. Not the “I have the flu” kind of sick, the over a week in the ICU and months in the hospital kind of sick.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Throughout that time, we met her family, who stayed with us for a while as we live very close to the hospital. While this time was certainly grueling for everyone involved, it also shed a new perspective on how friends get through tough times. Whether it was rides to the hospital, sitting together, crying together, making home cooked meals, celebrating every win, no matter how small, the friendship, the community, and the knowledge that we were there for each other let us make it through this difficult time. The day that she got out of the hospital was truly miraculous. </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>And now, we are most certainly not just WordCamp friends, we’re family &#8211; for life.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>



<h2 class="kt-adv-heading7820_9ed1fb-ed wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>The little things&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>Up to this point in my life, I have been a part of many communities &#8211; from school, to dance groups, to attorney associations, to my local neighborhood, each community has had something special to offer. However, I have never been involved with another community that is as welcoming or that has led to the formation of so many wonderful friendships as WordPress. From sharing a beer (or a boot of beer), to attending our wedding through Zoom (2020), to making a flower crown, to eating so much sushi that I could barely walk back to the Airbnb, to corn mazes and petting zoos, and touring a submarine together, I am truly thankful that the WordPress community has welcomed me with open arms and I hope that I can do the same for others!&nbsp;</p>


<div class="kb-row-layout-wrap kb-row-layout-id7820_98ca3a-9c alignnone kt-row-has-bg wp-block-kadence-rowlayout" id="desktop"><div class="kt-row-column-wrap kt-has-1-columns kt-row-layout-equal kt-tab-layout-inherit kt-mobile-layout-row kt-row-valign-top">

<div class="wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column7820_0ce1fa-54"><div class="kt-inside-inner-col">
<h2 id="work-environment" class="kt-adv-heading7820_ee2be6-f0 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading">Donata&#8217;s Work Environment</h2>



<p>We asked Donata for a view of her office this is what she sent!</p>


	<div class="hotspots-image-container">
		<img width="1512" height="2016" src="https://heropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/donata-desktop.webp" alt="Donata Stroink-Skillrud&#8217;s Desk" class="hotspots-image skip-lazy" />
	</div>




<p class="kt-adv-heading7820_c82817-0e wp-block-kadence-advancedheading has-theme-palette-9-background-color has-background">HeroPress would like to thank <a href="https://wpdrawattention.com/">Draw Attention</a> for their donation of the plugin to make this interactive image!</p>
</div></div>

</div></div>




<h1 id="lithuanian" class="kt-adv-heading7820_8d3626-a3 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>Su atviromis rankomis – draugystės WordPress bendruomenėje</strong></h1>



<p>Tiesą sakant, kitaip nei mano vyras, niekada nebuvau pati socialiausia asmenybė. Vakarėlyje mane dažniausiai rastumėte kalbančią su šunimi (ar kate). Visą savo gyvenimą turėjau tik keletą artimų draugų, o knygos skaitymas man visada buvo malonesnis nei koncerto lankymas. Nors WordPress atliko didžiulį vaidmenį plėtojant mano verslą, norėčiau pasinaudoti šia proga ir pakalbėti apie kai ką daug svarbesnio – draugystes, kurias užmezgiau šioje nuostabioje bendruomenėje. </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Dėl WordPress turiu iš tiesų nuostabių draugų savo gyvenime.</p>
</blockquote>



<p>Nors pradėjome kaip svetimi, mes tapome tais, kurie dalyvauja vienas kito vestuvėse, juokiasi iki ašarų pakuodami šimtus reklaminių dovanų, laiko vienas kitam ranką ligonines lovoje ir būna kartu per storą ir ploną. Kadangi esu privatumo teisininkė, nemininesiu vardų, tačiau tikriausiai greitai suprasite, jei rašau apie jus.</p>



<h2 class="kt-adv-heading7820_2b2aa1-eb wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>Trumpa istorija</strong></h2>



<p>Kai baiginėjau teisės studijas, dirbau mažoje interneto dizaino agentūroje Čikagoje kaip COO. Ten sutikau savo vyrą Hansą, kuris buvo kitos agentūros savininkas, kai jis atvyko mus nupirkti. Tai buvo meilė iš pirmo žvilgsnio (taip, tikrai), ir nuo to laiko mes esame neatskiriami. Vieną vakarą dalinomės savo sunkumais ir nepasitenkinimais – man buvo nuobodu rašyti privatumo politikos dokumentus klientams, o jis net nežinojo, ką daryti, kai klientas paprašydavo interneto svetainės politikos. Taip gimė Termageddon – automatiškai atnaujinamas interneto svetainių politikos sprendimas agentūroms ir jų klientams. Kadangi pradėjome agentūrų partnerių programą, turėjome rasti agentūras, kurios būtų pasiruošusios išbandyti mūsų naują produktą, ir tada mes atradome WordCamps ir WordPress bendruomenę.</p>



<h2 class="kt-adv-heading7820_b441b2-d1 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>Mūsų pirmasis WordCamp</strong></h2>



<p>WordPress turi didžiulę bendruomenę, o vykstant į didelį WordCamp renginį, pavyzdžiui, WordCamp US, kai nieko nepažįsti, gali būti labai baisu (ypač tokiai intravertei kaip aš), todėl nusprendėme pradėti nuo mažesnio WordCamp netoli mūsų. Taip mes atsidūrėme WordCamp Jackson, Mičiganas. </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Važiuodami į vieną mieliausių mažų miestelių, kokius tik esame matę, labai nervinomės – o kas bus jei niekas nenorės su mumis kalbėtis?</p>
</blockquote>



<p>Šios baimės greitai išnyko, kai įėjome į kambarį su maždaug 30 draugiškų veidų. Netgi miesto meras dalyvavo! Per pertrauką visi susėdome ant sofų, o naujieji draugai padėjo mums sukurti mūsų pirmojo reklaminių dovanų daikto dizainą: marškinėlius su piratu, klausiančiu &#8220;Arrrr you compliant?&#8221; (Ar esate atitinkantys?). Vis dar šypsausi, kai juos apsivelku. Nespėjome apsidairyti, o jau po naudingų pranešimų visi susėdome į automobilius ir vykome į pabėgimo kambarį. Draugystės, užmezgtos šio renginio metu, tęsiasi jau daugelį metų. Tiesą sakant, vienas iš mūsų draugų iš to pirmojo WordCamp padėjo mums pastatyti vištų tvartą.</p>



<h2 class="kt-adv-heading7820_e8e690-2e wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>Užeikit!</strong></h2>



<p>Kiek vėliau mano vyras išvyko į Londoną ir susipažino su draugu per ne-WordPress renginį, ir jie tikrai susidraugavo (rimtai, jie kalbasi kas dvi savaites jau penkerius metus). Po kelių mėnesių atėjo metas mūsų pirmajam WordCamp US, ir mūsų draugas nuskrido iš JK į Čikagą, kad apsistotų pas mus, o mūsų planas buvo keliauti automobiliu nuo namų iki WordCamp. Tačiau nutiko taip, kad jo kitas draugas, kuris taip pat vyko į WordCamp (mes jo dar nebuvome sutikę), praleido savo skrydį. Mūsų draugas paskambino mums, paaiškino situaciją ir paklausė, ar jo draugas gali pakeisti skrydį į Čikagą, apsistoti pas mus ir prisijungti prie mūsų kelionės. Mes pasakėme: &#8220;Užeikit!&#8221; Tas praleistas skrydis privedė prie geriausios kelionės gyvenime ir viso gyvenimo draugystės.</p>



<p>Aš visada prisiminsiu, kaip jis lydėjo mane į parduotuvę nusipirkti arbatos šaltą vakarą, kaip visi kartu pozavome nuotraukai prie Saint Louis arkinio paminklo, kaip per daugelį metų leisdavome laiką įvairiuose viešbučiuose ir Airbnb, dalijomės jaunystės istorijomis, stebėjomės augančių šeimų džiaugsmu ir jauduliu bei palaikėme vieni kitų verslo sumanymus. Per daugelį metų matėmės daugybę kartų įvairių kelionių ir WordCamp renginių metu, ir aš mus laikau pagrindine grupe šiuose renginiuose – saugia vieta viso šurmulio apsuptyje.</p>



<h2 class="kt-adv-heading7820_e1e042-43 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>Geriau kartu</strong></h2>



<p>Kai pradedate įsitvirtinti tam tikroje pramonėje ar bendruomenėje, galite pagalvoti, kad kiti žmonės šioje srityje yra konkurentai. Nors tai tikrai nėra geriausia žmonijos savybė, manau, kad taip nutinka dažniau, nei norėtume pripažinti. Kai buvau naujokė WordPress bendruomenėje, buvo viena pripažinta privatumo teisininkė, kuri buvo šios bendruomenės dalis daug ilgiau nei aš. Važiuodama į WordCamp US,&nbsp; žinojau kad ji ketina skaityti pranešimą apie Kalifornijos vartotojų privatumo įstatymą (CCPA) ir kaip laikytis šio privatumo įstatymo. Būsiu atvira – man buvo labai neramu ją sutikti. O kas, jei ji manytų, kad esu konkurentė? O jei jai nepatikčiau? O jei šiame renginyje nepakaktų vietos dviem privatumo teisininkėms? Gal man geriau viso renginio metu slėptis, kad tik ji manęs nepastebėtų?</p>



<p>Tiesa ta, kad dažnai kuriame kraštutinius scenarijus savo galvose, bet realybė dažniausiai būna visai kitokia (ir mažiau bauginanti). Greitai susidraugavome, nes supratome, kad esame vienintelės dvi moterys renginyje, kurios iš viso žinojo kas yra CCPA. Vakaro pabaigoje jau spraudėmės kartu į Uber važiuodamos į barą. Per tuos metus palaikėme viena kitos projektus, dalijomės ilgais pokalbiais vakarais, kartu išgyvenome sunkumus ir džiaugėmės pasiekimais. Dėl jos geranoriškumo ir svetingumo nepasukome konkurencijos keliu, o galėjome džiaugtis nuostabia simbioze ir tikra draugyste.</p>



<h2 class="kt-adv-heading7820_545e9b-43 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>Šeima visam gyvenimui</strong></h2>



<p>Leisti laiką su draugais „WordCamp“ renginiuose yra smagu, bet dar smagiau, kai draugystė tampa tokia stipri, kad draugai atskrenda pas jus tiesiog pabūti kartu. Na, šiuo atveju, mes spėjome pabūti tik vieną dieną, kol mano draugė labai susirgo. Ne „turiu gripą“ lygio susirgo, o taip, kad teko praleisti daugiau nei savaitę reanimacijoje ir kelis mėnesius ligoninėje.</p>



<p>Tuo sunkiu metu susipažinome su jos šeima, kuri kurį laiką gyveno pas mus, nes gyvename labai arti ligoninės. Nors šis laikotarpis tikrai buvo alinantis visiems, jis taip pat suteikė naują perspektyvą, kaip draugai išgyvena sunkius laikus kartu. Nesvarbu, ar tai buvo kelionės į ligoninę, sėdėjimas kartu, verksmas kartu, naminiai patiekalai ar kiekvienos, net ir mažiausios pergalės šventimas – draugystė, bendruomenė ir žinojimas, kad esame vieni kitiems, padėjo mums išgyventi šį sunkų laikotarpį. Diena, kai ji išėjo iš ligoninės, buvo tikras stebuklas. </p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Dabar mes tikrai ne tik WordCamp draugės – mes šeima visam gyvenimui.</p>
</blockquote>



<h2 class="kt-adv-heading7820_9faddf-98 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading"><strong>Mažos smulkmenos</strong>&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Iki šiol mano gyvenime buvo daugybė bendruomenių – nuo mokyklos, šokių grupių, teisininkų asociacijų iki mano vietinės kaimynystės – kiekviena bendruomenė turėjo ką nors ypatingo. Tačiau niekada nebuvau dalis kitos bendruomenės, kuri būtų tokia svetinga ir kuri būtų padovanojusi tiek daug nuostabių draugysčių kaip WordPress. Nuo alaus bokalo (arba alaus bato) dalijimosi, iki mūsų vestuvių stebėjimo per Zoom (2020 m.), iki gėlių vainikų pynimo, iki tiek daug sušio valgymo, kad vos galėjau pareiti atgal į „Airbnb“, iki kukurūzų labirintų ir gyvūnų ūkių lankymo, ir net povandeninio laivo ekskursijos – esu nuoširdžiai dėkinga, kad WordPress bendruomenė mane priėmė atviromis rankomis, ir tikiuosi, kad galėsiu padaryti tą patį kitiems!</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://heropress.com/essays/with-open-arms-friendships-in-the-wordpress-community/">With open arms &#8211; friendships in the WordPress community &#8211; Su atviromis rankomis – draugystės WordPress bendruomenėje</a> appeared first on <a href="https://heropress.com">HeroPress</a>.</p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Wed, 26 Mar 2025 01:00:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:23:"Donata Stroink-Skillrud";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:47;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:53:"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 6.8 Release Candidate 1";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:35:"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=18639";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:69:"https://wordpress.org/news/2025/03/wordpress-6-8-release-candidate-1/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:9164:"<p>The first Release Candidate (“RC1”) for WordPress 6.8 is ready for download and testing!</p>



<p><strong>This version of the WordPress software is under development</strong>.<strong>&nbsp; Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites.</strong>&nbsp; Instead, it’s recommended that you evaluate RC1 on a test server and site.</p>



<p>Reaching this phase of the release cycle is an important milestone.&nbsp; While release candidates are considered ready for release, testing remains crucial to ensure that everything in WordPress 6.8 is the best it can be.</p>



<p>You can test WordPress 6.8 RC1 in four ways:</p>



<table class="has-fixed-layout"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Plugin</strong></td><td>Install and activate the<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/"> WordPress Beta Tester</a> plugin on a WordPress install.&nbsp; (Select the “Bleeding edge” channel and “Beta/RC Only” stream).</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Direct Download</strong></td><td>Download the <a href="https://wordpress.org/wordpress-6.8-RC1.zip">RC1 version (zip)</a> and install it on a WordPress website.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Command Line</strong></td><td>Use the following<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/cli/"> WP-CLI</a> command: <code>wp core update --version=6.8-RC1</code></td></tr><tr><td><strong>WordPress Playground</strong></td><td>Use the <a href="https://playground.wordpress.net/?php=8.0&wp=beta&networking=no&language=&multisite=no&random=y4q1rn88xn">6.8 RC1 WordPress Playground instance</a> (available within 35 minutes after the release is ready) to test the software directly in your browser without the need for a separate site or setup.</td></tr></tbody></table>



<p>The current target for the WordPress 6.8 release is <strong>April 15, 2025</strong>.&nbsp; Get an overview of the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/6-8/">6.8 release cycle</a>, and check the<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/"> Make WordPress Core blog</a> for <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/6-8/">6.8-related posts</a> in the coming weeks for further details.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What’s in WordPress 6.8 RC1?</h2>



<p>Get a recap of WordPress 6.8’s highlighted features in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/news/2025/03/wordpress-6-8-beta-1/">Beta 1 announcement</a>.&nbsp; For more technical information related to issues addressed since Beta 3, you can browse the following links:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/commits/wp/6.8?since=2025-03-18&until=2025-03-25">GitHub commits for 6.8</a> since March 18</li>



<li><a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?status=closed&changetime=03%2F18%2F2025..03%2F25%2F2025&milestone=6.8&col=id&col=milestone&col=owner&col=type&col=priority&order=id">Closed Trac tickets</a> since March 18</li>
</ul>



<p>Want to look deeper into the details and technical notes for this release? These recent posts cover some of the latest updates:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/06/speculative-loading-in-6-8/">Speculative Loading in 6.8</a></li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/02/17/wordpress-6-8-will-use-bcrypt-for-password-hashing/">WordPress 6.8 will use bcrypt for password hashing</a></li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/12/roster-of-design-tools-per-block-wordpress-6-8-edition/">Roster of design tools per block (WordPress 6.8 edition)</a></li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/13/more-efficient-block-type-registration-in-6-8/">More efficient block type registration in 6.8</a></li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/25/updates-to-user-interface-components-in-wordpress-6-8/">Updates to user-interface components in WordPress 6.8</a></li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/24/interactivity-api-best-practices-in-6-8/">Interactivity API best practices in 6.8</a></li>



<li><a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/2025/03/12/i18n-improvements-6-8/">Internationalization improvements in 6.8</a></li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How you can contribute</h2>



<p>WordPress is open source software made possible by a passionate community of people collaborating on and contributing to its development.&nbsp; The resources below outline various ways you can help the world’s most popular open source web platform, regardless of your technical expertise.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Get involved in testing</h3>



<p>Testing for issues is critical to ensuring WordPress is performant and stable.&nbsp; It’s also a meaningful way for anyone to contribute.&nbsp; <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/2025/03/04/help-test-wordpress-6-8/">This detailed guide</a> will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.8.&nbsp; For those new to testing, follow <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/handbook/get-setup-for-testing/">this general testing guide</a> for more details on getting set up.</p>



<p>If you encounter an issue, please report it to the<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/"> Alpha/Beta area</a> of the support forums or directly to<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/newticket"> WordPress Trac</a> if you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report.&nbsp; You can also check your issue against a list of<a href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/tickets/major"> known bugs</a>.</p>



<p>Curious about testing releases in general?&nbsp; Follow along with the<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/test/"> testing initiatives in Make Core</a> and join the<a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/messages/core-test/"> #core-test channel</a> on<a href="https://wordpress.slack.com/"> Making WordPress Slack</a>.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Search for vulnerabilities</h3>



<p>From now until the final release of WordPress 6.8 (scheduled for April 15, 2025), the <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/testing/reporting-security-vulnerabilities/#enhanced-bounty-rewards-during-beta-and-release-candidate-phases">monetary reward for reporting new, unreleased security vulnerabilities</a> is doubled.&nbsp; Please follow responsible disclosure practices as detailed in the project’s security practices and policies outlined on the<a href="https://hackerone.com/wordpress"> HackerOne page</a> and in the<a href="https://wordpress.org/about/security/"> security white paper</a>.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Update your theme or plugin</h3>



<p>For plugin and theme authors, your products play an integral role in extending the functionality and value of WordPress for all users.</p>



<p>Thanks for continuing to test your themes and plugins with the WordPress 6.8 beta releases.&nbsp; With RC1, you’ll want to conclude your testing and update the <em>“Tested up to”</em> version in your<a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-org/how-your-readme-txt-works/"> plugin’s readme file</a> to 6.8.</p>



<p>If you find compatibility issues, please post detailed information to the<a href="https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta/"> support forum</a>.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Help translate WordPress</h3>



<p>Do you speak a language other than English?  ¿Español?  Français?  Русский?  日本語? हिन्दी?  বাংলা?  मराठी?  You can<a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp/dev/"> help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages</a>.  This release milestone (RC1) also marks the<a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/glossary/#hard-freeze"> hard string freeze</a> point of the 6.8 release cycle.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">An RC1 haiku</h2>



<p>March fades, nearly there,<br />Six-eight hums—a steady beat,<br />RC greets the world.</p>



<p class="has-text-align-right"><em>Thank you to the following contributors for collaborating on this post: <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/joemcgill/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>joemcgill</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/benjamin_zekavica/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>benjamin_zekavica</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/courane01/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>courane01</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/mkrndmane/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>mkrndmane</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>audrasjb</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/areziaal/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>areziaal</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/ankit-k-gupta/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>ankit-k-gupta</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/krupajnanda/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>krupajnanda</a> <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/bph/" class="mention"><span class="mentions-prefix">@</span>bph</a>.</em></p>";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 25 Mar 2025 16:19:41 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:12:"Jeffrey Paul";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:48;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:67:"Do The Woo Community: A Continued Saga About the Life of Blog Posts";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:43:"https://dothewoo.io/?post_type=blog&p=93306";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:71:"https://dothewoo.io/blog/a-continued-saga-about-the-life-of-blog-posts/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:225:"BobWP chats about the importance of adding content instead of removing it, expressing commitment to producing more podcasts, videos, and blog posts despite claims of blog irrelevance, valuing audience engagement over metrics.";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 25 Mar 2025 13:01:00 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}i:49;a:6:{s:4:"data";s:13:"
	
	
	
	
	
	
";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";s:5:"child";a:2:{s:0:"";a:5:{s:5:"title";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:89:"Do The Woo Community: On the Floor at CloudFest 2025 with Adam Weeks and Christian Taylor";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"guid";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:28:"https://dothewoo.io/?p=93275";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:4:"link";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:88:"https://dothewoo.io/on-the-floor-at-cloudfest-2025-with-adam-weeks-and-christian-taylor/";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:11:"description";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:226:"Adam Weeks and Christian Taylor explore CloudFest, assessing booth designs and marketing strategies. They discuss visual engagement, effective messaging, and the significance of interactive experiences in attracting attendees.";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}s:7:"pubDate";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:31:"Tue, 25 Mar 2025 07:46:41 +0000";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}s:32:"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/";a:1:{s:7:"creator";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:"data";s:5:"BobWP";s:7:"attribs";a:0:{}s:8:"xml_base";s:0:"";s:17:"xml_base_explicit";b:0;s:8:"xml_lang";s:0:"";}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}s:4:"type";i:128;s:7:"headers";O:48:"WpOrg\Requests\Utility\CaseInsensitiveDictionary":1:{s:7:"*data";a:9:{s:6:"server";s:5:"nginx";s:4:"date";s:29:"Wed, 16 Apr 2025 06:50:46 GMT";s:12:"content-type";s:8:"text/xml";s:13:"last-modified";s:29:"Wed, 16 Apr 2025 06:30:30 GMT";s:4:"vary";s:15:"Accept-Encoding";s:15:"x-frame-options";s:10:"SAMEORIGIN";s:16:"content-encoding";s:2:"br";s:7:"alt-svc";s:19:"h3=":443"; ma=86400";s:4:"x-nc";s:9:"HIT ord 2";}}s:5:"build";s:14:"20240718001836";}