WordCamp NYC 2009

November 17th, 2009

WordCamp NYC 2009 was a great event. With 8 tracks, over 50 sessions, it was impossible to attend all sessions I wanted to but I did manage to check out quite a few things during these two short days.

WordPress MU

It was a little surprising when Andrea_R said that when approached for a CMS project, instead of asking “Why install WordPress MU”, she would ask “Why not install WordPress MU”. It must be that WordPress MU can offer all WordPress can, plus more scalable and flexible, without much overhead. Andrea R writes about WordPress MU at http://wpmututorials.com.

Interestingly, two case studies I attended were both built upon WordPress MU.

Case Study: WNET.org. Using WPMU, WNET partnered with Tierra to launch 50+ non-blog sites supporting WNET television programming, reducing costs, improving traffic and streamlining their production across multiple Thirteen and PBS teams. This session will cover the business objectives for the project, why WNET selected WP, technical challenges in re-launching dozens of sites using one common platform, custom plugins and templates, and other issues. Speakers: Dan Goldman, Jamie Trowbridge.

Case Study: TrueSlant.com. True/Slant is an original-content news network of more than 200 recruited Contributors. In addition to publishing to their own sites, Contributor content flows to “communal pools” throughout our network. Content moves automatically and via editorial selection: The automations help surface subjects of interest; from there, Editors can drag and drop stories from across the network to promote what warrants it, simply, throughout the day. Building on WordPress gave us simple, powerful tools for Contributors; Extending Mu helped us provide frictionless publishing and promotion across a network of quality content, helps community members find what’s relevant, helps our Contributors build audience, and helps our Network Programmers create a lively site with minimal effort. We’ll cover the workflows that help keep TrueSlant.com a vibrant, growing network with a limited editorial staff. Speaker: Steve McNally.

Best way to learn about WordPress MU is to download a copy and try it out.

To be continued. Next post I will write about the practical WordPress security tips that I’ve learned.

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