Using Gulp to create a front-end build pipeline
Cripple Creek 2
You know you're supposed to compress your JavaScript, optimize your images, and process your CSS before deploying it to production, but it's so much work to keep up with it all and figure it all out again for the next big thing. This presentation will look at using Gulp as a tool to easily automate all of these processes in a centralized way. Gulp is deceptively simple, but full-featured, so adding the next big thing to your workflow takes only a few minutes.
OAuth and OpenID Connect in plain English
Silverton 1
If you're like me, you hear a lot about OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect, but have a lot of unanswered questions. What's the big deal, anyway? Why do we need yet another set of standards for authentication on the web?
In this talk, I'll break down the rationale behind OAuth and OpenID Connect in plain language, and explain when and how you should use these standards in your applications. I'll cover grant types, scopes, tokens, and more. If you've ever felt confused about how these standards work, this talk is for you!
Content Marketing for Tough Industries
Cripple Creek 1
Exciting! You've landed a new client and built them an awesome website using the DNN platform. You've talked about how the website is a living entity and needs to be constantly maintained with new and fresh content. That's what DNN is all about, right? You've convinced the customer and they understand the benefits, but they don't have the time, skills, desire, (insert whatever objection reason here) to do that work and they want you to continue to help them.
Ok great, now what?
Some customers are in product business that almost create content on their own. They are relevant, timely, interesting, and desirable. For example, think of an ice cream shop. You could talk about flavors, combinations of flavors, toppings, add-ons, dietary choices, events, holidays, etc. All while having gorgeous and tantalizing product photos without ever breaking a sweat as if the content almost created itself.
What about service business like, insurance, taxes, automotive, construction, etc. Those types of organizations are much harder to come up with good content ideas, let alone develop some meaningful and interesting content.
We tell these types of customers three basic things. One, you need to be top of mind when a potential customer had a need for your services.Two, you need to be perceived as the expert in your field. Three, you need to be doing something above and beyond what your competition is doing in order to stand out and be noticed.
In this talk, learn the secrets of creating relevant and engaging content for business in tough industries. Find out how you can be the engine that powers your customers' online marketing strategy. Best of all, learn how this can become a new source of reoccurring revenue for your organization.
headacheFree.css
Cripple Creek 2
While it might sound like one of the other million css frameworks out there, headacheFree.css isn't so much a framework but a way of thinking. Writing css that's easily manageable, scalable, and headache free is always an end goal that we start out each project with high hopes for but as the site grows and client changes keep rolling in, what started off clean and pretty is now a huge mess, that even you, the one who wrote it, struggles to maintain efficiently. This headacheFree.css methodology will walk you through naming conventions, syntax, organization, and best practices so you can keep your css headache free.
Building for Alexa with Web API
Silverton 3
Amazon Echo, Amazon Tap and Echo Dot have brought voice interfaces to life for the home. We will discuss ways to integrate your existing software or database into an Alexa Skill, allowing for voice-activated, meaningful interaction with a user. Using this SAAS approach, with Web API hosted on Azure can make this process easy for rapid prototyping. We will build and deploy a skill that you can use immediately with your Alexa enabled device, and discuss the challenges of the publishing journey to get in Alexa's Skill Store.
Website Security for Web Developers an Overview
Silverton 1
We live in a world full of news articles about hacking attempts, successful hacks, and malware spreading like wildfire. It is important to have an understanding of how, as web developers, we can work to ensure our systems are secure. Often times security, and related, concepts are discussed, but never fully implemented. This session will take a deep dive into considerations, tools, and techniques to ensure that your developed applications are secure, and that you have tools necessary to validate the security.\n\n\n\nWe will review various web security techniques including the proper usage of SSL Certificates, additional HTTP Headers for Browser security support, automation methods of validating integrity of your application, and the role of security assertions from third-party vendors. After this sessions, developers will have a toolbox of items to review, and reference materials to further educate themselves on common security pitfalls that impact developers.
Content That Persuades: The Psychology of Message
Cripple Creek 1
Content is King, But Sometimes the King Sucks
Websites exist for one purpose only to deliver content. There are tons of articles online that are filled with advice and tips on creating content. We have learned to fill our websites, apps, and social media feeds with active verbs and calls to action. We have A/B tested layout and UX design and dumped our Google Analytics into Big Data sets. But up until now very few people are talking about how to make the content we create more persuasive.
## What Is PERSUASIVE Content?
Persuasive content nudges the reader over the line from doubt into relative confidence and agreement a kind of belief. If you create content persuasively, the user is more likely to AGREE with you when you're done. They do not feel pressured or concerned about their decision because they not only believe, they WANT to believe, and that belief feels natural to them.
Simply stated, persuasive content performs better, is longer lasting, and is more likely to generate customer satisfaction. **Done well, persuasive writing is like a branding and marketing super-power.** Persuasion eliminates friction, giving your content the best chance to succeed. It puts your meaning and messages behind the wheel of a Ferrari racing to the center of a user's head.
## The Elements of Persuasion
Persuasion starts inside you. If you are not persuaded, then you have little hope of persuading others. Whether you are trying to create a blog, social media post, eCommerce product descriptions, your About Us page, a white paper, or anything else, you have to start with honesty, empathy, and enthusiasm. We'll talk about what these mean and why it matters.
But once you have honesty, empathy, and enthusiasm, all that's left is removing the obstacles and learning the tactics to deliver your message effectively and FAST.
### Removing Obstacles
Removing obstacles means dealing with the realities of creating content in 2018 and unlearning some of the lessons that have been drummed into your head over the years. Things like embracing that we must satisfy the Google Search Engine masters AND the needs of the real-live human you want to reach. And learning that no matter how nice your grade school English teacher was no one was EVER convinced of ANYTHING by a perfectly-written five-paragraph theme. Humans just don't work that way and they never did.
### It's Elementary
Now that you have honesty, empathy, and enthusiasm and you are no longer chained to any rules or regulations that don't enhance persuasion, all that's left is learning the tactics. This is the easiest part. It includes things like word choice, length (don't get me started), and the intersection of style and tone.
Once you have practiced these simple tactics, your content is free to persuade.
A New Paradigm in DNN Theme Development
Cripple Creek 2
In this session, we'll be introducing a powerful theme building framework and developer workflow. This "starter solution" was made with developer efficiency and the ultimate DNN theme performance in mind. Most DNN themes in the marketplace today are loaded with bloat, which can make theming a pain, and for someone new to DNN, almost impossible. We will outline basic usage, modification, and advanced usage of this framework and developer workflow. And don't worry if you are new to DNN theme development. We will introduce foundational theme development in DNN.
Geolocating With DNN? Really?
Silverton 3
Do you thrive on bending DNN to your will? If so then this session is for you!
#BendItLikeBeckham
You've heard of things like IoT (Internet of Things), GeoFencing, GeoRetargeting, iBeacons and such. Now it is time to connect the dots and learn how these things and more can work in the DNN solution space! Join us for this mashup session where we drop hot knowledge on it all!
This session is for all audience levels, but don't think for a minute that the tech savvy will fall asleep! We'll be sure to throw in goodness on Estimote, iBeacon, Eddystone, Ionic, Angular, Sass, Cordova, and plenty of DNN module development!
DNN continues it's trend of flexibility by handling the demands of the market. IoT has been a hot trend and DNN can definitely integrate with it. In this session we'll show you how to ride the wave of DNN's flexibility to achieve awesomeness you might not have otherwise considered!
A First Glance Into Liquid Content - A CMS Game Changer!
Cripple Creek 2
# A First Glance Into Liquid Content
##A Show & Tell on the basics of Liquid Content and its components
During this brief presentation, attendees will learn about the basics of Liquid Content and some of the possibilities that can be achieved with this game-changing feature of Evoq Content and Evoq Engage. Specifically, attendees will be shown how to...
* Create "Content Types" - A drag-and-drop interface for entering different kinds of content (images, rich text, documents and more). The fields you add will generate tokens that you can use with Visualizers.
* Creating "Visualizers" - Defines how content items are formatted and styled. Just as a container is used to format and style a module, the visualizer is used to format and style Content Items.
* Create "Content Items" The individual pieces of content. A content item can be of any defined content type.
Beside the benefits of F# (https://fsharpforfunandprofit.com/why-use-fsharp/) and the fun it makes to develop with, my session covers a lot of nice tools which support and speed up DNN extension development.
Fable (http://fable.io/) transpiles F# code to Javascript; Elmish helps to build Fable applications following the model view update (https://www.elm-tutorial.org/en/02-elm-arch/01-introduction.html) style of architecture, as made famous by Elm. Interop with existing javascript libraries and REACT components is built in. The app communicates to WebApi services, written again in F#, but hosted within DNN. As both client and backend is written in the same language, it is even possible to share code for example for types or validation. Type-providers (https://fsprojects.github.io/SQLProvider/) connects your services to different kind of data-sources including the DNN database.
Paket (https://fsprojects.github.io/Paket/), a F# based dependency manager, gives the control back to the developer (for any .Net language, including also C#), much better as Nuget alone. Fake (F# Make) (https://fake.build/) automates the building and packaging of the extensions.
FSGD and the Art of Delivering Value
Silverton 3
Shipping software. There's the pressure to go fast. There's the battle for quality and craftsmanship. The struggle is real.
At LeanKit, we strive to continuously improve our processes across the entire company. Along the way, we developed FSGD, which we affectionately pronounce "fizz good.\" FSGD is our thinking tool for shipping Frequent, Small, Good, and Decoupled value.
In this talk, I'll share with you the challenges we faced as we scaled, how we struggled, what we learned, and how we're evolving. The goal is for you to walk away with tools and practical processes that will impact your team's success.
How to Communicate When You are from Mars and the Business is from Venus
Cripple Creek 1
Ever struggle getting the other team to understand you? Do you speak techie' while they speak business? Stop the language clash and frustrating misunderstandings with one simple technique. Discover how to communicate with ease, get what you want, and be more productive when working in Technology.
The key is to find common ground with the other person that enables rapport and eliminates confusion. Any lack of understanding stalls progress, leads to re-work, and costs valuable time and money. During this inspiring and interactive session, Nancy will show you step-by-step how to:
Increase your effectiveness by using a proven communication style that is universal
Accelerate the process for obtaining agreement so you can develop faster
Improve your cross functional relationships so it's actually fun to work together
This is a hands-on talk where you take action DURING the session. You will have takeaways that you can implement immediately in your company. When you discover how easy it is to work effectively with other departments in your organization, you'll wish you learned this sooner.
Using .NET Core with DNN/Evoq: Examples and Pathways
Cripple Creek 1
DNN/Evoq has evolved greatly over its almost 15 year history and remains relevant with continued enhancements. However, developers after have trouble thinking outside of the box with regards to how they might be able to use some of the new latest, and greatest, technologies while working inside of DNN/Evoq. This session will explore real-world examples of methods that can be used to work inside of DNN/Evoq yet still be developing using tools such as .NET Core and Entity Framework. A focus will be made on the architecture decisions that lead to technology use, and common pitfalls for integration that could limit future growth.
Attendees to this session will learn how Micro Services, API's and newer extension points within DNN/Evoq make things easy to develop in their technology of choice while still retaining the benefits of DNN.
DNN Versions - What's the Difference? (History of DNN Versions & Features)
Silverton 2
In this session, we'll do a full comparison of older DNN versions (3, 4, 5, 6, 7) newer versions (8, 9, etc) and platforms (evoq, basic, community) while discussing the needs for upgrades, concerns and differences.
1. Brief history of DNN versions
2. Review of the visual styles of versions over time
3. Major feature/breakpoints of versions
4. Upgrading, when necessary? OK to stay?
5. Examples of sites at different versions, quirks and issues to work around
6. Discussion, Q&A with attendees and their versions of DNN
Digital Marketing with the Google PPC Suite
Cripple Creek 1
Many businesses fail to leverage Google’s entire product suite and miss out on the best digital marketing opportunities available. PPC is much more than Google Search. Video, aka YouTube, is one of the most underutilized medias available to marketers. Often video ad views are $.02 -.05$ per view. Did you know you can use Google to send custom Gmail emails to audiences based on websites they have visited, demographics or affinity lists? Don’t forget the power of remarketing? What is remarketing, you say? Your not alone. Most businesses have no idea this amazing tool is available.
In this session, we will cover Google PPC opportunities, best practices and industry trends. And for some icing on the cake: We will discuss landing page optimization to ensure you maximize your ROI by increasing conversions.
PolyDeploy for DNN
Cripple Creek 2
Due to potential security issues, DNN’s automated script feature for deploying multiple extensions has been removed from the product. As a result, the installation of extensions can be cumbersome, error-prone and time-consuming.
To resolve these issues, we have created a bulk deployment tool that
- Implements a custom security model for both local and remote websites
- Can be used either in a headless configuration as part of a continuous deployment process or using a powerful and intuitive GUI within the website
- Automatically organizes extensions as a dependency tree to ensure a specific installation order and the avoidance of circular dependencies
- Reduces potential disruption to live websites by reducing the time to install multiple extensions
- Is fully open source and available for use by the entire DNN community
In this session, we explain and demonstrate how our bulk deployment tool has improved our own development process and has reduced the risk inherent in live deployments of extensions to DNN websites.
How to Tell Your Client's Story using Social Media in 2018
Silverton 3
Your beautiful DNN website is worthless if nobody sees it and worth every penny once they do. So after you have it built, you ask your web developer to increase traffic to your site, but traffic generation is a very different skill set from web development.
Social Media is the preferred medium to use to increase traffic, but only when done right. Surfers need a compelling reason to click on your post, and there better be payoff when they get to the linked content. Surprisingly, ten plus years into modern social media and companies - even web developers - are still using it ineffectively.
So as we start 2018, how can we tell our client's story properly through Social Media so we turn surfers into visitors and visitors into customers? Sprocket has been a website integrator in the DNN Community for years and its principals have been building websites since the early '90's. Five years ago we reluctantly took on social media management but now we fully embrace it and it's become over half our business.
Since the web developer may be the only interface many clients have to Internet Marketing, it's important that they learn how to leverage their web-building skills and grow past websites into telling engaging stories anywhere on the Internet. There are principles that govern Social Media engagement, and we'll be sharing them with you in this session.
If you are a web developer who hasn't increased your portfolio by providing Social Media, you can learn to get it right in the first place. If you are a business owner looking to improve your overall Internet Marketing through a combination of DNN website and Social Media, you can learn the principles yourself so you know your web developer is on the right path.
Using DNN to Create Landing Pages that Convert
Cripple Creek 1
Using DNN to Create Landing Pages that Convert
Have a product or service to sell? Need help creating a sales funnel? Send targeted ad traffic to a landing page!
Lead generation landing pages are used to capture user data, such as a name and email address. The purpose of the page is to collect information that will allow you to market to the prospect at a later time.
For most cases, this is a webpage with some content and a form. Sounds easy, right? Technically it is easy, but will your landing page be effective? Will your form generate leads?
Join us as we go over best practices for design, page layout, messaging, crafting an offer and subsequent email marketing.
Then we'll create an example landing page using DNN.
How To Use DNN As the Foundation for OEM, White Label and Custom Applications
Cripple Creek 2
DNN has been used by many organizations, large and small, as the foundation for some really great products and solutions. However, this can be a very tough road to navigate if you aren’t careful. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you are stuck on a particular version or worse, running a version with known security exploits. In this session you will learn about best practices for using DNN as the foundation for your custom application. You will hear about success stories from the field and lessons learned. If you are building a custom application or thinking about it, you won’t want to miss this session.
SSL Is Not Enough: Understanding Website Security
Silverton 3
Regardless of your skillset if you operate a website you should be concerned about security, and being knowledgeable about what constitutes being secure is imperative for your success. Even if you are not the one to implement security changes, knowing what options are available and what should be considered for your installation will make you a smarter administrator and more effective in working with vendors. This session will discuss a number of high-level security techniques and how they might be used/deployed/validated against an installation. Topic areas include.
* SSL Certificates (Type, Issuer, & Application)
* Cross Site Scripting Prevention - Preventing others from doing malicious things
* HSTS - Forcing Secure Transmissions
* Vulnerability Scanning - Options, goals, and types
* HIPPA/PCI & Other Regulations
In the end, attendees will be able to formulate a listing of techniques that can be researched/implemented on their own websites. The session will round-out with a discussion regarding security response protocols. Methods of managing secondary risk if needing to respond to a security vulnerability.
How to Write a Great Blog Post
Cripple Creek 1
You know it when you see it: a great blog post. What makes a blog post great, and how can you write great posts yourself? Dennis Shiao is somewhat obsessed with blogs. He's published close to 1,000 posts and has read far more than that. While not all of his posts have been great, Dennis understands the elements and methodology behind creating great posts.
In this presentation, Dennis will cover:
- Identifying the business goals for your blog posts
- The writing process, including why great writing comes from a lot of reading
- How to apply investigative journalism principles to your writing
- Blogging mechanics: internal linking, use of images, calls-to-action and more
- Distribution: how to promote your posts and syndicate them for broader reach