Kathryn Presner
Kathryn Presner of Zoonini Web Services takes a holistic approach to web design and development, building unique sites that work well, look great, and are easily found in search-engine results by the target market. She is passionate about helping people avoid common website pitfalls and enjoys speaking to entrepreneurs on the topic. A moderator in the WordPress support forums, Kathryn has given talks on WordPress at events including Girl Geek Dinners and WordCamps in Toronto and Montreal. Follow @zoonini on Twitter.
Why WordPress?
As a professional web designer, I value WordPress’s flexibility – in terms of both design and functionality. WordPress lets me custom-design my clients’ sites so they look unique and are consistent with their brand – and provide great functionality, thanks to a huge range of plug-ins and the ease with which you can tie in custom PHP code.
On the user side, even my less tech-savvy clients find WordPress intuitive and they all appreciate being able to update their own sites so simply.
What are you most looking forward to at WordCamp Toronto?
WordCamps are a fabulous place to make new connections and build on existing ones, so as an out-of-towner I’m really looking forward to seeing members of the Toronto WordPress community that I chat with on Twitter, and I’m excited to catch up with Multisite gurus Andrea & Ron Rennick, coming in from New Brunswick. I’m also looking forward to meeting new WordPress enthusiasts of all stripes!
Why did you decide to speak at WordCamp Toronto?
I’m passionate about WordPress and it gives me great pleasure to share what I know and maybe even inspire others.
What is your talk going to be about?
Our session aims to demystify the basics of WordPress for those new to the platform – from how it works on the technical side, to what the key lingo means, like widgets, plug-ins and themes. We’ll explain how the self-hosted version of WordPress differs from WordPress.com and log into the administration area and have a brief look around.
What is one thing you want people to walk away with from your talk?
I hope people see that WordPress is not as intimidating as it might seem at first. The ideal result is if people come out of the talk super excited to jump in and get started with WordPress as soon as possible!
What is your favourite WordPress plugin or theme? Why?
I have a roster of go-to plug-ins that I love and use on virtually all client sites, so it’s very hard to pick just one, but a security-related plug-ins that I always install is Secure WordPress.
