WordCamp Saturday Morning Session

Yours truly started the first session with a talk on essential WordPress plugins. We covered Askismet, WordPress Automatic Upgrade, backupwordpress, all-in-one-seo-pack, maxblog ping optimizer and Cforms.

Quite a number of attendees were already using some of these plugins or suggested alternatives. Good discussions ensued.

More plugins used included role manager, a plugin which gives more control over what users can do.

Another plugin, bad behaviour, sits on top of Akismet to provide enhanced anti-spam protection.

Next up to the podium was Nick Garner of Betfair to talk about SEO in WordPress. Points he made were expect results in 6 months, no sooner. It’s hard work. Enlist services of journalists to write copy and carry out online PR. Most small businesses don’t have the budget, and don’t want to spend the necessary time to master SEO themselves.

The last session sported a number of panelists including Rich Boakes, Tony Scott, Sam Bauers, Ben and Mike Smith. Many and varied questions both broad brushed and in more detailed.