Get To Know Suzette Franck
Suzette Franck has been in web development for over twenty years; she started making hand-coded HTML websites on geocities with font tags and tables back in 1995. Since then, she has taught herself CSS, Sass, PHP, MySQL, and became a WordPress expert; evangelizing and presenting at over twenty-seven WordCamps across the US and Canada.
We’re thrilled Suzette will be speaking at WordCamp Sacramento 2015 on Using CSS3 in WordPress.
Speaker Q&A With Suzette
Why do you think Using CSS3 in WordPress is important?
Using CSS3 in WordPress is a very important topic for anyone that wants to customize the look and feel of their WordPress website. CSS is the language of design for the web and the latest iteration of CSS has brought us many awesome features that can be used in your WordPress theme by either creating a child theme or adding CSS to your theme with a plugin such as Simple Custom CSS, or Jetpack’s “Custom CSS” module. This talk is designed for CSS novices or anyone that would like to know how they can further customize the look of their theme, and the only prerequisite is to have some basic knowledge of HTML.
What is your history or experience with CSS3 and WordPress?
I first started to learn CSS when it was introduced in 1996, but support for it was poor and limited to Internet Explorer at the time. I decided to shelve it until there was better browser support for it. Around 2002, I started using CSS to add style to my flat HTML pages, and when I discovered WordPress years later, my method for customizing themes was to fork the default Kubrick or 2011 theme and replace the style.css with my own CSS code, which allowed me to make sites look just how I wanted them to look. Today, I usually start with a starter or basic skeleton theme, and adding my own CSS to it.
How did you get started with WordPress? Why WordPress?
I got started with WordPress in 2008, when I transferred an existing art gallery blog to WordPress. I had another client that needed some changes to his site’s WordPress theme around the same time. Through these first two initial projects, I learned a lot about WordPress and I could see how powerful and easy to use it was, and it quickly became the number one choice for all of my websites going forward.
Since that time, I have used WordPress to develop over 300 custom websites of varying design and functionality and I have been able to find a way to do everything I needed it to do with WordPress, CSS, and plugins.
What is your favorite thing about WordPress?
My favorite thing about WordPress is that you can use it to make so many types of websites, and because it is WordPress, it can grow and change with you. I had been developing custom sites since 1996 with HTML and even the basic sites would take me 40 hours to create. With WordPress, I can create the same simple HTML site and have it up and running in about two hours. Simply put, WordPress makes you look like a genius because it is very easy to add advanced functionality with very little coding knowledge.
Can you share a couple WordPress plugins that you love or recommend?
My first favorite plugin that I recommend for all of my sites is Admin Columns by CodePress. It allows you to add columns to the WordPress admin screens for all of your pages, posts, custom post types, users, and media that are not normally visible, which helps you to better manage your content.
My second favorite plugin that I love to install on all client websites is WP Help by Mark Jaquith. This plugin allows you to create custom documentation for your website and have it available to the users under the admin menu, “Publishing Help”, which is also customizable. It also allows you to copy sets of your standard documentation from older installations to newer installation as a base and then you are able to customize for that specific site.
Resources or recommendations?
The best way to learn about WordPress is to install and configure new plugins and themes on a local development site to see what they do. I recommend using Desktop Server by ServerPress to host your local WordPress site on your PC, Mac, or Linux machine. Once you have your site exactly how you’d like it, it is easy to transfer your local site to your live web hosting with the help of the Desktop Server Pro and their migration plugin.
One of my favorite resources for WordPress and CSS is Chris Coyier’s CSS-Tricks blog, which has many useful tutorials and ideas for using CSS, as well as the original CSS Zen Garden website, which takes the same sample content and styles it many different ways using only CSS, which demonstrates the flexibility and power of CSS.
Check Out The Speakers
WordCamp Sacramento 2015 is bringing you an awesome line up of speakers from not only our greater Sacramento region, but throughout California and beyond. Check out our speakers page to see the 2015 WordCamp Sacramento Speakers, and be sure to follow them on Twitter.