I was at WordCamp Gdynia 2024

Some time ago I took part in WordCamp Gdynia. A lot happened and it's time to sum up this amazing event.

WordCamp Gdynia remains my favorite WordCamp in Poland. Why? You have to visit it to feel its unique atmosphere. There is something really magical about it and every year, I'm in Gdynia at least once (either for WordCamp or WordUp).

This year wasn't any different - the event was amazing. Apart from amazing talks, it was a great opportunity to talk with many of my friends. There was a lot of discussion about what is currently happening in the ecosystem.

I was speaking there

I wasn't speaking about headless or Astro this time but about security. I decided to explain the state of security in WordPress, what we are doing well, where we are failing, and what we can do better as developers and users.

I already wrote an article based on this presentation, so if you want to learn more, just check it out.

I won't lie - I was a bit nervous because this was my first time speaking about security, but based on reviews people enjoyed it (4.59/5).

I was listening to others

This year's agenda was filled with amazing talks. What were my favorites?

Tomek Dziuda - Traps hidden in plugins

His talk listed many cases where plugins behaved in a way they shouldn't. I liked the case when one version of the plugin introduced a vulnerability.

Krzysztof Dróżdż - Is it true magic or just fake spells

Krzysiek did a great job explaining that in most cases, all the services that promise a one-click solution are just a lie. Very often they require a lot more than just this one click. Especially I like the Accessibility widget example - the "high contrast mode" led to yellow text on a yellow background.

Przemek Hernik - MVC Model

Przemek is doing a lot to show less trivial approaches to WordPress. This time he tried to explain how MVC works and if is it a good idea to use it together with WP.

Adam Zieliński - WordPress Playground

I have seen so many of Adam's talks already, but I am always happy to see how he extends it and shows new features in WordPress Playground.

We were sponsors

This time, I managed to bring the Patchstack team with me. Together with Mart and Darius, we spent a lot of time explaining what Patchstack is and how it works.

We also convinced a few developers to join our mVDP program, which I consider a great success.

I have a feeling that next time we'll also visit Gdynia together.

I was drinking a lot of coffee

Do you know there are a lot of great specialty cafes in Gdynia? I'm always a bit surprised by the amount of it. This year I tried:

• Hygge Cafe

• Może Kawy?

• Kofeina

• Coffee Sens

All of them were amazing, but Może Kawy? remains my favorite for its great location and amazing coffee.

Time to sum up

I already said it a few times, but let me repeat myself once again - it was amazing. Mariusz, you and all the co-organizers did an amazing job. I know how difficult it is to organize such a big event, but you did it.

Can't wait to visit Gdynia again.