![](\"http:\/\/www.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb9498e9eb88279fdbce175f7e512954?s=128&d=identicon\")
A Quick Guide to Long-form Content on WordPress<\/a><\/p>\n Developing one’s skill as a writing is a lifelong pursuit, and throughout my career I’ve been working on becoming a better writer – and I’m happy to share writing advice when I can. I spend a lot of time thinking about how technology works, and how it changes how we live and work. In the past, I have presented at previous WordCamps on Information Architecture, and blogging like a journalist.<\/p>\n The conventional wisdom around online writing has been that readers have short attention spans and tiny, punchy articles are the best way to get them to read a blog post.<\/p>\n However, it turns out that some of the most popular websites that used to adhere to this old logic (such as Buzzfeed and The Huffington Post) are finding that well-written, long-form content is actually very popular with their audiences.<\/p>\n This presentation is about creating long-form content that is worth reading. It will cover some approaches to long-form writing and the tools available in WordPress to convey your stories compellingly and elegantly.<\/p>\n I’ve previously presented at WordCamp Montreal and WordCamp Ottawa on Information Architecture and the journalistic approach to blogging.<\/p>\n WordCamp Toronto is special to me because it’s the city I live in, and I have tremendous respect for everyone in Toronto’s digital community. I hope I can provide something useful to the community.<\/p>\n It was shortly after finishing journalism school in 2008. I had just finished hand-coding a magazine-style website when I found out that there was something called WordPress that managed content publishing, comments, and all the other things I had struggled with. Since then, I’ve been a huge supporter of WordPress as it’s grown and evolved to become essentially the best platform for content creators.<\/p>\n While the Jetpack multi-plugin is probably my favourite plugin overall, Aesop Story Engine is my favourite for long-form writing in WordPress.<\/p>\n It allows writers to easily add story components such as screen-filling images, jump-out text, and parallax elements to posts without having to code these things from scratch. Of course, it doesn’t always work as intended, but it provides a starting point that you can tweak.<\/p>\n I always look forward to catching up with old friends, meeting new people, and hearing new ideas at presentations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’m a professional writer with a focus on technology and digital life. I am also the editor of LabTO, a site that covers Toronto’s tech culture. My work has appeared in publications such as The WHIR, TechVibes, Betakit, Biometric Update, and The National Post. I’ve also done commercial copywriting for HP and Intel, as well … Continue reading David Hamilton<\/span> Tell us more about yourself<\/h2>\n
Can you shed more light on your presentation topic?<\/h2>\n
What do you want people to learn from your presentation?<\/h2>\n
\n
Why did you decide to speak?<\/h2>\n
What attracted you to WordPress in the first place?<\/h2>\n
What is your favourite plugin or theme, and why?<\/h2>\n
What are you most looking forward to at WordCamp Toronto?<\/h2>\n