{"id":1438,"date":"2018-05-07T20:30:23","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T01:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2018.stlouis.wordcamp.org\/?p=1438"},"modified":"2018-05-05T18:24:33","modified_gmt":"2018-05-05T23:24:33","slug":"interview-with-wcstl-speaker-karissa-skirmont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/interview-with-wcstl-speaker-karissa-skirmont\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with WCSTL Speaker: Karissa Skirmont"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1440\" src=\"https:\/\/2018.stlouis.wordcamp.org\/files\/2018\/05\/wcstl-interview-karissa-skirmont.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/files\/2018\/05\/wcstl-interview-karissa-skirmont.png 800w, https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/files\/2018\/05\/wcstl-interview-karissa-skirmont-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/files\/2018\/05\/wcstl-interview-karissa-skirmont-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/files\/2018\/05\/wcstl-interview-karissa-skirmont-500x281.png 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/h3>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve been wanting to learn about branding, Karissa Skirmont can help with that. Her talk at WordCamp St. Louis is\u00a0How to Brand your WordPress Website. Here&#8217;s a little about her journey with WordPress.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Interview with Karissa Skirmont<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1439\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1439\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1439\" src=\"https:\/\/2018.stlouis.wordcamp.org\/files\/2018\/05\/karissa-colorado-trip-1024x192.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/files\/2018\/05\/karissa-colorado-trip-1024x192.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/files\/2018\/05\/karissa-colorado-trip-300x56.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/files\/2018\/05\/karissa-colorado-trip-768x144.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/files\/2018\/05\/karissa-colorado-trip-500x94.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1439\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Karissa: &#8220;The first thing that comes to mind is the greatest adventure I had last summer in Colorado.&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Karissa shares a video of driving in this area. She says: &#8220;<i>Have you ever been off-roading in a Chrysler 300? I have and it got kinda scary.\u00a0<\/i><em>Was trying to get to Nederland the &#8216;scenic&#8217; way up Four Mile Canyon but the paved road turned in to gravel then dirt, then dead-end into Switzerland Trail. Didn&#8217;t want to turn around for the miles that I had just driven. So I kept going.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>&#8220;<\/em><em>It was rough. I only scrapped bottom twice, as I went so slow and careful. Growing up in Colorado my parents had a Land cruiser so I must have got some skill by osmosis. Finally came out at the top where a bunch of ATVers had gathered. Talk about a shocked group of guys. They asked me if I was lost as they had never seen that nice of a car in the middle of nowhere. Needless to say I&#8217;m not going to try that again.<\/em><i>&#8220;<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wTBpQNiprC8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>NILE FLORES:<\/strong>\u00a0When did you start using WordPress?<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>KARISSA SKIRMONT:<\/strong><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>\u00a0Haa, bet I\u2019m going to have the most detailed answer. Last year I went through my vast email archives to figure out the exact dates when I started using WordPress, but for the most part it was 2010 when I started using it regularly.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>\u00a04\/27\/2007 &#8211; Creation date for my WordPress.com account<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>7\/8\/2007 &#8211; First client WordPress.com site (My mother\u2019s blog)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>1\/28\/2009 &#8211; First WordPress.org site (WP 3.0.3)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>10\/2\/2010 \u2013 Created WordPress.org account<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>3\/7\/2011 &#8211; First email from GoDaddy about Multisite after I asked a question<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>8\/25\/2011 &#8211; First Multisite install created<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>9\/12\/2011 &#8211; First started using Genesis Framework<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>NILE FLORES:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0What are a few takeaways that attendees will get from your talk?<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>KARISSA SKIRMONT:<\/strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>They will have clarity about what areas they can customize to personalize a WordPress theme to better reflect their brand. If they are DIY, little changes can make a big difference to make a premade theme to not seem so generic. Or if they are working with a designer, these are the areas that they will need to figure out to provide them. I also will include lots of links for more resources for each area I cover.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>NILE FLORES:<\/strong>\u00a0WordPress is turning 15 years old. What would you like to see in the future for WordPress?<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>KARISSA SKIRMONT:<\/strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>Better organization for media. I wish the core had the capabilities to file media in folders. Like an image folder for the DESIGN of the site, image folder for BLOG POST images and a folder that automatically hides content from Google.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>NILE FLORES:<\/strong>\u00a0&#8220;And just for funsies&#8221;, over the past few years, the WordPress community has seen the rise of the cute Wapuu character? Heard of it? And if so, what&#8217;s your favorite Wapuu? (Wapuu Reference:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wapu.us\/\">https:\/\/wapu.us\/<\/a>\u00a0)<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>KARISSA SKIRMONT:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>Y<span style=\"color: #800000\">es, I\u2019ve designed a several myself including 5 over the years for WordCampKC.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>My favorite actually hasn\u2019t been published yet. In 2015 I designed a \u201c<strong>Harry Potter Cosplay Wapuu\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>catching the snitch while riding a broom with a scarf, scar and round glasses.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>I\u2019ll be submitting them all soon to\u00a0<a style=\"color: #800000\" href=\"http:\/\/wapu.us\/\">wapu.us<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>NILE FLORES:<\/strong>\u00a0What is your favorite area of the WordPress admin?<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>KARISSA SKIRMONT:<\/strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>The Network Plugin page of a WordPress Multisite network. I love having one place for all my plugins across my own multiple personal\/biz websites. It makes it easy to remember which ones I use for different cases. I also use the plugins \u201c<a style=\"color: #800000\" href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/network-plugin-auditor\/\">Network Plugin Auditor<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a style=\"color: #800000\" href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/plugins-last-updated-column\/\">Plugins Last Updated Column<\/a>\u201d to enhance it even more.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>NILE FLORES:<\/strong>\u00a0What are the top three WordPress plugins that you believe every WordPress user should have installed?<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>KARISSA SKIRMONT:<\/strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>Really, only three?! Beyond the general ones that everyone uses, I really love adding more functionality to the admin area.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>\u00a01.\u00a0<span style=\"color: #800000\">Enable Media Replace\u00a0\u2013<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/enable-media-replace\/\">https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/enable-media-replace\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>Enable replacing media files by uploading a new file in the \u201cEdit Media\u201d section of the WordPress Media Library.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>(A must have so that I don\u2019t have to keep deleting and re-uploading media revisions to keep the same URL path.)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>2.\u00a0<span style=\"color: #800000\">Admin Post Navigation\u00a0\u2013<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/admin-post-navigation\/\">https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/admin-post-navigation\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>Adds links to navigate to the next and previous posts when editing a post in the WordPress admin. (This is very important when I\u2019m doing mass changes to multiple pages\/posts like in online courses.)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em><span style=\"color: #800000\">3.\u00a0Simple Page Ordering<\/span>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/simple-page-ordering\">https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/simple-page-ordering<\/a><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800000\">Order your pages and hierarchical post types using drag and drop on the built in page list.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800000\"><em>(I like to keep my pages in the order that I have them in the menu. I also separate out front end pages from hidden backend pages.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Want to learn more about branding? Come see Karissa&#8217;s talk at WordCamp St. Louis, May 12 and 13, 2018. You can buy a ticket <a href=\"https:\/\/2018.stlouis.wordcamp.org\/tickets\/\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve been wanting to learn about branding, Karissa Skirmont can help with that. Her talk at WordCamp St. Louis is\u00a0How to Brand your WordPress Website. Here&#8217;s a little about her journey with WordPress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1346476,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1239637,465037],"class_list":["post-1438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speakers","tag-karissa-skirmont","tag-speaker-interview-series"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p94UK3-nc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1346476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1438"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1442,"href":"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438\/revisions\/1442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}