Jennifer Swisher will be speaking on Creating Websites for Everyone. Jennifer is from St. Louis, and a Web Specialist at Centene Corporation. P.S – She’s this year’s lead organizer for WordCamp St. Louis. 😉

Here’s Jennifer’s interview.

NILE FLORES: What was it about WordPress that got you to start using it?

JENNIFER SWISHER: I actually started out on the .com platform. I really loved how easy it was to customize without knowing anything about HTML/CSS. Now that I have those skills, I still use it because of how easy it is to add custom CSS to a theme.

NILE FLORES: What motivates you to give back to WordPress and its community?

JENNIFER SWISHER: Without WordPress, I wouldn’t be where I am now. Because of my experience using WordPress, I was able to work my way up and get a position with a Fortune 200 company. It definitely helps that I genuinely enjoy being a part of my local community. I’ve met a lot of really great humans through the St. Louis WP community.

NILE FLORES: How many WordCamps have you been to, and what was your best 1 or 2 experiences that you had when attending WordCamp?

JENNIFER SWISHER: I’ve been to 4 or 5 camps now (how ever many St. Louis has had is how many I’ve been too 🙂 ). My favorite memory is getting to hear Matt answer questions about WP at the very first WCSTL. I also really enjoyed working with the kids from Hands Up United to design WordPress sites for Ferguson area businesses (WCSTL 2015).

NILE FLORES: What is your number 1 tip for WordPress users?

JENNIFER SWISHER: DON’T EDIT USING THE CODE EDITOR! You will be very upset with yourself when that theme gets updated. Create a child theme instead.

NILE FLORES:What is your favorite feature in WordPress?

JENNIFER SWISHER: The version control for post/page edits. I can easily go back in time very easily.

NILE FLORES: What are your 3 most favorite WordPress plugins?

JENNIFER SWISHER: Jetpack – The custom CSS feature and the contact forms are something I put on all of my websites.

Gravity Forms – I use this plugin when more complex forms are needed.

WP Content Calendar – I love this because it gives you a calendar view of when planned posts will be published. It hasn’t been updated in 4 months though :'(

NILE FLORES: What is your favorite WordPress theme?

JENNIFER SWISHER: I don’t have any one theme that I prefer, but I tend use Twenty Fourteen a lot.

If you’d like to meet Jennifer and hear her presentation, please consider purchasing a ticket today, and then joining us at Washington University, on March 18th.