Introducing WPCampus Speaker: Shawn Hooper

Shawn Hooper will be joining us at WPCampus 2017 to share on Automated browser testing using Selenium. You can see him in action on Saturday, July 15 at 2:30 p.m.

Tell us about your first website or digital project. What was the spark for you?
I was a high school student, and our town’s council approached the school about partnering on a project to create the town’s first website. I was part of a group of 4 of 5 students that took on that project. Right away, I knew I was hooked! Aside: Back then, the town didn’t even have it’s own domain name yet, it was just a folder on the ISP’s web server.

Why higher education?
I don’t work in, or with, higher education, but am intrigued with the unique challenges that this space has in managing their web presence. Attending an event aimed specifically at this market gives a fantastic insight into the challenges of creating web applications and websites for this industry.

Tell us about the topic of your session. Why is it important to you?
I’ll be showing the attendees how to test their website’s interface using the Selenium testing framework. Let’s make something clear – I don’t enjoy writing tests, I just don’t find the process enjoyable. However, there’s something I dislike even more, and that’s shipping a product with bugs that could have been found through proper testing! So that’s why this topic is important to me, I want to do whatever I can to create bug free experiences for my users.

Who do you follow on Twitter and why?
For WordPress, I follow a lot of fellow WordCamp speaker and organizers, core contributors, plugin authors and agency heads. These are all people who I feel are paying attention to what’s happening in our community.

Outside of the WordPress space, I like to follow a variety of people in the tech space, including the heads of IT for various companies, people who specialize in security, accessibility, and influencers in areas that are not my core competency (design, marketing, content, etc.).

But since this is a WordPress event, here’s a few accounts I like to keep an eye on: @tommcfarlin, @twigpress, @yoast, @sucurisecurity.

Why do you ♥️ WPCampus?
What stood out to me at WPCampus last year was the level of discussion that was happening in the hallways. The attendees at this conference are for the most part fairly experienced WordPress practitioners – be it as users, designers, or developers. They deal with the challenges of running more complex WordPress sites. There’s more complex deployment processes, more frequent use of Multisite, trickier permissions, better attention paid to accessibility, etc etc. I think WPCampus helps us push the boundaries of how WordPress is used.

If someone designed a wapuu for you, what would it look like?
These days, my Wapuu would definitely be bald and sporting a large goatee. Given peak WordCamp season is upon us, my Wapuu would probably be pulling a carry-on suitcase behind it with two stickers on it: the WordPress logo and a Canadian flag. It would also have a coffee in one hand.

What WordPress, or other, tool can you not live without?
Does my espresso maker count as a tool? I think it does.