Web design takes a different approach when creating websites for nonprofit organizations rather than a brick and mortar or eCommerce business. It is more than just driving traffic to a site but getting the visitor to buy into the story that the nonprofit is telling. Picture the ASPCA commercials we all have seen on TV, then convert that into pictures and words. Stories that pull at the heartstrings open the wallets for donations. Providing secure portals to accept not only one-time donations but also subscription based, monthly reoccurring is key. By designing a website that creates emotion and engagement as well as a place to share the stories of the nonprofit. In turn, donations and exposure will increase for the organization as well as their digital reputation.
In this presentation, I will discuss layout, buttons and plugins that I have found that work well for donation-based model websites. I will also share ways to create a user experience that increased donations and awareness. Proper theme selection, SEO, plugins all enhance the way we not only tell the nonprofit’s story but also build brand awareness and in turn a sense of comfort with the donor that they are supporting a cause whose story resonates with them. Whether it be animal welfare, orphans, trafficking, no matter the cause a properly designed site can provide donor dollars and exposure that the organization would likely not have otherwise.
Learn how to take better photos with your smartphone and stand out on social media. With a little knowledge and practice, you’ll be taking photos that nobody will even believe were shot on your phone.
Join us as professional photographer Maryann Davidson shows us the Rules, Tools, Tips, & Tricks to level-up your PHOneTOGRAPHY.
Requirements:
- A smartphone with a camera.
- Able to find & operate the camera on your phone and download/open apps.
P.S. Last time, 3 people arrived with dead phones. Hey it happens. So don’t forget to juice up your battery. 😉
P.S.S. If there’s something specifically you’ve struggled with or want to improve, bring your questions with you. Maryann will be available afterwards for Q&As.
Accessibility is essential for developers and organizations that want to create high-quality websites and web tools, and not exclude people from using their products and services.
According to the CDC, 26 % of the US population has difficulty accessing digital information due to living with a disability. Depending on the website and user’s needs, that could mean that some sites are leaving 1 in 4 people behind due to frustrating, inconsistent, or inaccessible user experiences.
In this presentation, we will walk through some of the different components of a website and discuss how we as users, designers, content creators, and developers can bring our websites up to 508/WCAG AA compliance. We will also review some automated testing tools and demonstrate how to use them to manually assess our sites.
Smart Phones and Smart Speakers are changing how people search. Voice Searches are more like questions instead of just keywords. Voice Technology is changing how we access information. The Search Engines (Google, Bing, Yelp, etc.) are all preparing for changes caused by Voice Technology. Voice Search Optimization and Voice SEO are the latest buzzwords. Let’s demystify these terms and talk about how to optimize for Voice.
SVGs (Scalable Vector Graphics) don’t need to be scary. Anyone can quickly take your WordPress product #beyondpretty to start using SVGs the right way providing better performance and viewability, enhancing microinteractions for frictionless UI, improving accessibility and just plain WOWing your viewers. Get ready to quickly and safely implement SVGs throughout your WordPress workflow by learning:
- What is SVG and how well is it supported.
- The benefits of using SVG.
- The best and safest ways of using SVG on your WordPress site.
- How to use SVGs in theme and plugin development.
- How to use SVGs in WordPress Blocks.
- Animating SVGs: the down and dirty and best practices.
Elementor is one the the most popular Visual page builders for WordPress with over 4 million active downloads! And it’s popular for a reason. It’s intuitive drag and drop editor will have you designing your site just like a pro in no time flat.
And today, we’ll learn how to streamline our design process even MORE by using two features inside Elementor Pro called Theme builder and (the brand new) Global Theme Styling. This powerhouse combo will allow you to launch your new website lightning fast.
Divi, a popular visual WordPress page and theme builder, is a website designer’s answer to building custom WordPress themes for clients without any coding experience. In this session you will learn how easy it is to use Divi to design a WordPress theme from scratch. You will see how quickly you can build a unique WordPress theme branded and tailored for your client’s specific needs. As an added bonus you’ll also learn how to use Divi to package themes for resale. You will finally be able to add WordPress theme builder to your website design business with zero coding experience needed.
There are many calendar and event plugins out there but which one to use? Let’s compare the top contenders with the pros and cons of each one and the questions to ask (your client or yourself) to help you narrow it down to the best choice.
When designing WordPress themes, one of the biggest challenges stems from a core component of WordPress itself: the ability for site owners to change, modify, and build new content themselves. After all, modern web content needs to be flexible and evolving, but not everyone is a developer who can build custom layouts to fit each use case.
As content and functionality become even more modular thanks to advances like the Gutenberg editor, theme designers will have to accommodate even more flexible ways of visualizing and presenting information. How do we anticipate and accommodate the needs of a constantly evolving website while providing visual solutions that are clean, thoughtful, and consistent?
In this talk, we’ll discuss the principles of Atomic Design, how to stop thinking of your content as “pages” and “posts” in favor of the concept of “building blocks,” and how to extend this mindset to utilize the potential of Gutenberg as it is now, and where it might be going in the future.
More recently the freelance landscape has become crowded, but there’s still a chance to be successful if you know how to stand out from the rest. If you are going to survive as a freelancer in today’s climate, you have to combine your creative skill with a business skill.
What’s the difference between a freelancer, agency and consultant? The answer to this question is the key to increasing your value as a freelancer.
In this session, we will uncover the 4 parts of the creative process and discuss the best elements of freelancing to increase the pricing on your unique value proposition.
