Converting WordCamp Shortcodes to Gutenberg Blocks

With the imminent release of Gutenberg, the MetaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. team is planning to convert the WordCamp shortcodes into blocks, starting with:

  • Speakers
  • Organizers
  • Sponsors
  • Sessions
  • Schedule

The remaining shortcodes (CampTix Tickets, CampTix Attendees, Tagregator, and WordPress.tv Videos) can be converted in a second round some time in the future.

This is a good opportunity to review how the community is currently using the shortcodes, and explore ways to improve the lives of WordCamp organizers.

I have a couple questions for any organizers who have worked on building out their Camp sites with this shortcodes:

  • I want your immediate, gut reaction: what do you hate about setting up these shortcodes? Is there something that always trips you up?
  • Do you do anything to customize the shortcodeShortcode A shortcode is a placeholder used within a WordPress post, page, or widget to insert a form or function generated by a plugin in a specific location on your site. output, like wrapping it in your own HTMLHTML HTML is an acronym for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is a markup language that is used in the development of web pages and websites. or restyling elements on the front-end?
  • Are there any “hacks” you always do, like using :before or :after to add styles or content to something (for example, adding track labels to your schedule, or adding the time a session slot ends)?
  • Do you use the shortcodes outside of their intended pages (for example, listing your speakers on a “Speakers” page and sessions on a “Sessions” page)? How do you use them?
  • Has your WordCamp site done anything you’d consider unique with the shortcodes?
  • Is there something you expect some of these shortcodes to support, that they currently do not?
  • Anything else we should consider?

Note: the current plan is that shortcodes will still be available for use after GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ is released, though they won’t be updated with new features.