Pat Ramsey is Director of Ongoing Client Support at Crowd Favorite and an active member of the Austin WordPress community. His talk will be focused on “Leveling Up with Documentation.”

WHY DO YOU USE WORDPRESS?

I started using WordPress in 2004 because it was the best tool for creating an easy-to-use and scalable website. I use it today because it’s still that, but with a decade of maturity, making it even more powerful.

WHEN AND HOW DID YOU GET STARTED USING WORDPRESS?

2004, working in Higher Ed. We needed something to build our online IT helpdesk, which was basically a blog.

WHAT TIPS OR RESOURCES WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO A NEW WORDPRESS USER?

If you’ve never used it, try a free WordPress.com account. It’s a free way to learn how to move around the Dashboard, familiarizing yourself to some degree of how it works. If it turns out to not be your thing, you’re not out anything. If you stay with it, and you’re using WordPress for your business, well now you’ve got a better sense of things.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE WHO’S BUILDING A BUSINESS AROUND WORDPRESS DESIGN OR DEVELOPMENT?

If you’re great at the technical side, learn the business side. Find peers you can learn from, join a mastermind group, find a lawyer or CPA. It’s business. Respect that and be serious about it.

HOW DO YOU STAY INFORMED ABOUT WORDPRESS (NEWS, TIPS, ETC.)?

Twitter, Slack channels, Facebook.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT WORDCAMPS?

New faces. Every WordCamp I meet new faces and am reminded, in person, of how the community is growing.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO AT WORDCAMP DFW?

Beyond meeting all the new faces, Several of us at Crowd Favorite will be there and we’ll get some time in-person together. For a distributed company, this is always a great thing.

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE?

Website: http://crowdfavorite.com
Twitter: @pat_ramsey