WordCamp Philly will again have a Happiness Bar where attendees can seek assistance with troubleshooting and answers to their specific questions.
This year we’ll feature a bonus for WordPressers with a business focus: Kelly Heard will be available at the Happiness Bar starting at 1:30 pm Saturday, October 27, to assist you with your SEO questions.
Kelly speaks at the Philly WordPress Meetup on SEO and related topics, and she is well-versed in Google Analytics and Tag Manager as well.
If you are going to WordCamp Philly to get help with specific question about WordPress or an issue with your WordPress website, here are some things you can do to get the most from your time there.
Things to Do in Advance
- Back up your WordPress website before you arrive. Things can go wrong and the volunteers at the Happiness Bar won’t have time to back up your site before they start helping you.
- Make sure you have your user names and passwords. That means for every part of your website, including WordPress login, hosting login, FTP information and for any plugins you are using that might require a activation code.
- Know your host. Is your website hosted on wordpress.org, or is it self-hosted with a WordPress installation?
- Be specific. Have a complete and specific definition of your problem as possible. For example, “How do I adjust the margins on a post?”
- Bring screenshots. If the problem you are having generates an error message, for example, grab a screen shot of the error message and bring that with you. It is also helpful if you can record what steps you take to generate that message. If you can’t grab a screen shot of the error message, copy it into a text file.
While You Are There
- Relax. Remember that the volunteers at the Happiness Bar are there because they want to help you and everyone else in the WordPress community. So don’t be afraid to ask your questions.
- Be considerate. The Happiness Bar may get business at times. You can help others get the help they need from the Happiness Bar by not taking too much of the volunteer’s time, particularly when there are others waiting for help.