Author: Jonathan Bossenger

I like to get stuff done. Husband and father of two energetic boys. Brazilian jiu-jitsu for fun and stress release.

Thank you to our Bronze Level Sponsors

Posted on by Jonathan Bossenger

A huge thank you to all of our Bronze level sponsors for helping to make this event possible!

YOAST

Yoast

As the well-known saying goes; “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” That’s exactly what Yoast Academy is all about. Instead of fixing the SEO of your website for you once, we’ll teach you how to do it yourself forever. If you’re new to SEO, the best start is our Basic SEO course, followed by the Yoast SEO for WordPress plugin training with personal configuration review which teaches you how to configure our popular Yoast SEO plugin on your website. After mastering these basics, you can take the deep dive with Technical SEO, SEO copywriting, multilingual SEO and many other courses.

And the more knowledge you have, the better we can work together on making the web a better place for everyone!

MSHINI

MshiniMshini is a managed WordPress hosting company based in Cape Town.  Founded in 2016, Mshini strives to provide the fastest managed WordPress hosting in South Africa, amazing support from WordPress experts, the tools you need to maintain a successful website and more!

Mshini’s product offering includes a Single Site Hosting plan, bulk hosting plans, a dedicated server hosting plan and a Free Dev Site plan which allows WordPress site builders and developers to create sites on Mshini’s infrastructure for free.  More information on Mshini’s WordPress hosting plans here.

All Mshini customers have access to an array of WordPress specific tools, including free WordPress site migrations, staging environments, automatic updates, automatic SSL setup, 1-click backups and restores, and the ability to manage their own SSH keys, all from within a custom built and lightweight customer control panel.

UAFRICA

uAfrica

uAfrica offers online eCommerce tools to help streamline your business processes when it comes to fulfilling and shipping orders to customers.

With integrations into WooCommerce, Shopify, bidorbuy and PriceCheck, uAfrica is unrivalled in their ability to increase your online brand visibility with their outstanding Multichannel offering and uAfrica’s Shipping is second to none with their automated processes, discounted shipping rates and innovative features to help companies, large and small, to manage fulfillments on a daily basis.To find out more, email support@uafrica.com or call us in the office on 012 940 1060.

PAYFLEX

Payflex

Payflex is an innovative new payment solution that allows online customers to buy-now and pay-later over 6-weeks at no additional cost, no interest, hassle-free. The benefit to the merchant is an increase in sales through an increase in basket size and frequency, merchants get paid the next day and the customer has a customer friendly user experience. Integration is simple with a specially developed WooCommerce plugin. Contact us for a free demo or more information. Contact: Wendy Dent – wendy.dent@payflex.co.za; www.payflex.co.za

WEGLOT

Weglot

Weglot is a WordPress multilingual plugin to translate and display websites in different languages.

Trusted by 30,000+ websites, Weglot is used by freelancers, agencies and companies in more than 100+ countries. With 650+ 5-star reviews, it’s the most and best rated translation plugin on the official WordPress Directory.

Key benefits include:

– Turnkey and easy setup and maintenance: 3m to install, no tech skills required, users focus on translated content only

– Compatible with any Theme and Plugin (inc. WooCommerce): Weglot code is happening at the end of the server code, so it does not care where the content is coming from. All content in the source code will be translated. No add-on needed or anything else

– SEO optimized for translations: following Google 3 key best practices for multilingual SEO. Unique URL, hreflang tags and translated content in the source code otherwise Google could not see it

– Manage translations: with 3 source of translations available via their Weglot account, human, professional and machine translations

– Powerful: no websites  slow down, no database overload

– Expert team of support: dedicated team of experts helping users within a day max (business days on CET timezone)

SHOPPINGFEEDER

ShoppingFeederShoppingFeeder makes it easy for merchants to market their products on comparison shopping engines including PriceCheck, Google Shopping, Facebook, TakeALot and a lot more. Merchants often see up to 20% of their online traffic coming from these comparison engines, so it’s important to include them us as part of your strategy. But, manually handling all of it can be time-consuming and leaves a lot of room for error.

With ShoppingFeeder however, the process is simplified, since we provide a single point of integration to push out your product catalog and automates daily feed submissions to more than 200 shopping channels. Built-in analytics allows you to measure clicks, conversions, and revenue across channels or by SKU.

SERVEBOLT

Servebolt

Servebolt provides high performance Managed hosting for WordPress and WooCommerce that is known to be lightning fast and scalable. Servebolt’s speed applies to both the front-end, the backend and the databases. We opened region South Africa data center in October 2018!

Any Servebolt Plan will automatically scale to more than 500 simultaneous visitors, which is ideal for e-commerce, viral blogs and other high traffic sites. For normal business sites, prices can start as low as 8 euros per site per month, with the same performance and scalability as our high performance plans.

Do you run an Agency? Get a 20% recurring revenue stream on all hosting by joining the Servebolt Partner Program.

Thank you to our Silver Level Sponsors

Posted on by Jonathan Bossenger

A huge thank you to all of our Silver level sponsors for helping to make this event possible!

PUBLISHER’S TOOLBOX

 

The Publisher’s Toolbox comprises of a suite of digital products for digital publishers or brand agencies seeking to streamline and secure content distribution and centralise their digital assets.The Publisher’s Toolbox team have benefited from and therefore look forward to ways in which we can contribute back to the WordPress ecosystem.

NONA

NONA is a leading software development studio with a focus on blockchain based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Thank you to our Gold Level Sponsors

Posted on by Jonathan Bossenger

A huge thank you to all of our Gold level sponsors for helping to make this event possible!

PAYFAST

PayFast

PayFast offers an online payment service to merchants of all sizes, providing access to a variety of payment methods, including credit card, Instant EFT, Masterpass, mobicred, debit card, SCode and Bitcoin. A PayFast account can be activated within 24 hours and incurs no monthly or setup fees. PayFast supports both merchants and their customers and is packaged with advanced security layers and fraud detection. Integration with over 80 platforms provides seamless payment access to anything from ecommerce stores to invoicing and event ticketing.

Thank you to our Platinum Level Sponsors

Posted on by Jonathan Bossenger

A huge thank you to all of our Platinum level sponsors for helping to make this event possible!

GODADDY

GoDaddyGoDaddy Pro is a free membership program for web developers, designers & agencies. It offers exclusive tools to help onboard, manage and maintain multiple clients and their sites fast and easy. With GoDaddy Pro tools, you can easily shop for your client, monitor their sites, and manage their products from a single dashboard. Additionally, your membership includes advanced 24/7 technical support and rewards for recommending GoDaddy to your clients.

You can use GoDaddy Pro with all of GoDaddy’s newly refreshed hosting products, including Managed WordPress, cPanel shared hosting, our brand new cloud product, and our virtual and dedicated solutions.

And, always get the best price on GoDaddy products with your “30% off list price” member benefit.

Learn more about GoDaddy Pro.

BLUEHOST

BluehostBluehost has been a WordPress partner since 2005 and powers over 1 million WordPress sites worldwide. Their objective is to help customers, whether novice or pro, create a thriving online presence at an affordable price. With a team of in-house tech experts available 24/7, Bluehost dedicates time and resources to providing the best support and services in the industry. Join millions of other site owners and see what Bluehost can do for you and your online presence.

HETZNER

Hetzner

Inspired by its brand promise ‘Trusted in Hosting’, Hetzner focuses on delivering a web hosting service that is reliable and consistent, focusing on infrastructure stability, performance value and good service delivery. Services include shared web hosting, managed & self-managed dedicated servers, colocation rack hosting and custom hosting solutions.

Thank you to our Diamond Level Sponsors

Posted on by Jonathan Bossenger

A huge thank you to all of our Diamond level sponsors for helping to make this event possible!

WOOCOMMERCE

WooCommerce28% of all online stores are powered by WooCommerce. Built on WordPress, WooCommerce is a fully customizable, open source eCommerce solution.

Whether you’re selling a few handcrafted items to a niche market, taking an existing business online, or going global with an enterprise level eCommerce business – WooCommerce will get you set up and selling fast and scale securely as you grow. Plus your content will be forever yours and customizable down to the finest button color.

Developed and supported by a distributed team, WooCommerce is powered by Automattic, the creators of WordPress.com.

JETPACK

JetpackTransform how you work with your WordPress sites and rest easy knowing they’re always firing on all cylinders. Jetpack connects your site to the global services, community, and support provided by WordPress.com so you can focus on the stuff that matters.

Jetpack automatically shields your site from the unwanted attention of spammers, hackers, and malware, while real-time sync and backup means you don’t have to worry about data loss. Straightforward traffic-building tools help you attract the attention of readers and search engines. Pages and videos are delivered at high speed from a global, ad-free content delivery network.

Jetpack sends new content directly to your subscribers’ inboxes and shows readers related content, helping you increase page views per visitor and boost ad revenue. Whenever you need it, you can rely on priority support from our global team of WordPress experts to ensure a friction-free experience for your visitors — and for you.

Make your site work for you. Get your Jetpack today at Jetpack.com

WordCamp Cape Town is SOLD OUT! Fear not, we have you covered.

Posted on by Jonathan Bossenger

We have sold out our standard tickets, so thank you to all 200 of you who will be coming.

Fortunately we have 20 extra last minute tickets available, so grab them quickly. Unfortunately these tickets will not get you the official WordCamp swag, but it will get you access to the two full days, food, and sponsor swag.

Grab em now before it’s too late, once these are gone there are no more tickets available.

Welcome to WordCamp, here’s what to expect.

Posted on by Jonathan Bossenger

Hey there! So you’ve purchased your ticket, and now you want to know where it is, what to bring and how to get your lunch. Well fear not, I plan to lay it all down here.

1. A little prep goes a long way

If you are attending the workshops on day 1, there is some homework to complete before the Workshops. Make sure you have prepared to get the most out of your workshop experience.

This year we are having a contributor day on the Saturday after WordCamp. This is a great opportunity to contribute (or learn to contribute) back to WordPress. If you want to learn more about the the Contributor day, please read this article.

2. Socially Trending

The official hashtag for WordCamp Cape Town 2018 is #wcct2018, so make sure you tag up your social media posts. Every year we manage to get the hashtag trending on Twitter, lets try again shall we?

3. Location

This years event will be taking place at the White Space venue, which is situated on the 2nd floor of 97 Durham Avenue, Salt River in Cape Town.

You can read more about this amazing new venue in this blog post.

4. Parking

If you know the Woodstock/Salt River area you know parking is a mission, fortunately the venue has secured parking for us at the Shelley Street Sports Field, which is a mere 2 minute stroll through a lovely park to the venue. There will be someone on duty to help with parking and keep an eye on your cars. We will also be posting volunteers at the parking to assist you with where to go.

5. Entrance

The easiest entrance to the venue is on the Durham Road side, under the 97 Durham road sign, next to Explosive Functional Fitness. (if you are early enough you might even be able to squeeze in a gym session). If you are walking from the parking and you don’t feel like walking around Ecco Cafe to the front entrance, there is a rear entrance on Cecil Road, which is to the right of the Devil’s Peak taproom. Once you are at security, let them know you are going to the White Space for WordCamp and they will direct you to the elevator. Travel to the 2nd floor and the venue reception will direct you from there.

6. Registration

On entering the venue please proceed to the registration area, where our volunteers will mark you as attended. Your next stop will be the attendee badges area, where you can collect and customise your attendee badge. We’re keeping things interesting this year in that you will be able to customise your badge with stickers and markers, which can be used to indicate such important information as your name, what you’re here to learn about, your chosen pronoun, anything you feel like putting on the badge. The last stop after registration will be to collect your official WordCamp Cape Town swag. This year we’ve made it really interesting, so make sure your laptop bag has enough free space 😉

7. Where to next

Once you are inside you will be able to grab a freshly brewed coffee from the Hetzner coffee stand, or help yourself to the morning coffee/tea and snacks in either the auditorium or cafe areas. You will also be able to meet and chat with our amazing sponsors in the auditorium. If you need some fresh air, you can also go up stairs and enjoy the amazing views from the rooftop area.

8. Lunch

Unlike previous years, we will not be serving lunch buffet style. To help save costs and wastage, we are going with a packed lunch route. There will be two food stations, one each at the back of the two conference rooms, so you can just swing by and pick up your lunch from any of these locations.

If you purchased your ticket before 29 October and included your special dietary requirements, please look out for Tammi, who will have a clipboard with a list of your names. She will assist you with getting your lunch.

9. After Party

The official WordCamp after party will take place in the upstairs bar area of the venue on Friday after the last talk. We will be serving light finger snacks and, in keeping with our alcohol free plans, soft drinks and mock-tails, professional prepared by our bar-tending service.

If you really crave something stronger after the conference, there is a Devil’s Peak Taproom just downstairs, where you can buy and enjoy whatever they have on offer.

10. Useful links

To make the most of your WordCamp Event, here are a few useful links

The schedule – please try and be seated promptly before each workshop talk. If we hit capacity for the workshops (100 seats per workshop) we will be closing the doors.

Homework to complete before the Workshops – make sure you are ready to get the most of it.

The organising team — if you have any issues, simply find one of us and we’ll help.

Our amazing sponsors – the folks who make this all possible.

Read all about Contributor day.

Convince your boss to let you attend WordCamp Cape Town.

Posted on by Jonathan Bossenger

With WordCamp Cape Town being run over two days, there can be some consternation from members of upper-management that their employees will be spending two full working days at a conference. If you’re in this position then we’ve got your back – simply present this letter to your manager and they will be utterly convinced that allowing you to attend WordCamp is the best decision that they will ever make. Guaranteed.

To [MANAGER’S NAME],

RE: Attending WordCamp Cape Town 2018

In the interest of employee education, networking and increasing my skill set, I would like to attend WordCamp Cape Town on 1 & 2 November 2018.

WordCamps are conferences that focus on everything WordPress – there are over 150 held all over the world throughout the year, and they are informal, community-organised events that are put together by average WordPress users. Everyone from casual users to core WordPress developers participate in them to share ideas and get to know each other.

Cape Town’s WordCamp has been an annual event on the local community’s calendar for the past eight years, making this the ninth in a string of incredibly successful events that offer immeasurable benefits to those who attend.

The conference itself will run over two days, with the first day being a series of practical workshops that will teach essential skills such as working with Gutenberg, maintaining a successful WooCommerce store, creating an effective website experience, and more

And that’s just day one…

The second day will include sessions covering broader, industry-focused matters such as being amazing at customer service, creating a welcoming environment in your tech space, contributing to WordPress, and a host of other fascinating and inspiring topics.

During all of this I will have the chance to get to know a huge amount of individuals from both the local and international WordPress communities. With an expected attendance of around 200 people there will be plenty of opportunity to connect with influential people with whom we can collaborate and leverage our skill sets to mutually benefit each other.

The incredible thing is that all of this costs a mere R450 for both days! At that price I can guarantee you that the things I learn and the connections I make at WordCamp will more than pay for themselves as our business continues to expand.

If we send 5 or more of our staff, then we can get a R100 discount on each ticket – you just need to contact the conference organisers on capetown@wordcamp.org to get the coupon code.

You can read more about the conference at capetown.wordcamp.org and I’d be happy to answer any further questions you may have.

Looking forward to your response.

Regards,
[YOUR NAME]

DERICK WATTS & THE SUNDAY BLUES at WordCamp Cape Town 2018

Posted on by Jonathan Bossenger

Oh, hello there. How’re things with you? Really? Nice. Hectic, hey. Shame. Us? No, can’t complain. Busy. Christmas is around the corner, crazy hey. Otherwise, you well?

Enough with the pleasantries: It’s our absolute flippin’ pleasure to announce that we’ll be hosting WordCamp Cape Town yet again this year.

We’ll have a few new surprises up our sleeve for this edition of THE WORLD’S BEST WORDCAMP (we can say that, right?) and we can’t wait to hang out with all of you. The speaker line-up just seems to get better and better each year – there are some great talks lined up from people at various stages of their WordPress journey.

Hopefully, Nic will finally learn something about WordPress this year (although, let’s be honest: probably not).

We’ll see you just now, AKA Friday.

Still deciding whether to come to WordCamp this year? Here’s 45 more reasons!

Posted on by Jonathan Bossenger

That’s right, from now until the 31st of October you can save 10% on your WordCamp ticket.

That’s R45 back in your pocket for food (oh no wait, we have that) a couple of nice coffees (we have that too) or a cool beach towel or travel mug (umm you do realise you get all this from WordCamp already right?).

Simply use the coupon code 10percent during the checkout process when buying your tickets to claim your 10% discount.