WordCamp News

Announcing the Shortlisted Projects for Uganda Website Projects Competition 2024

We are thrilled to announce the shortlisted projects for the Uganda Website Projects Competition 2024, where creativity, innovation, and digital prowess take center stage, under the theme, “Problem Solving With WordPress“. Out of the 16 exceptional submissions received, 10 projects have been selected by our esteemed adjudicators through a rigorous vetting process.

Shortlisted Projects – Rising Stars Category:

  • Provok – St. Mark’s College Namagoma
    Provok is a dynamic platform aiming to democratize IT education globally, offering a variety of courses and hands-on learning experiences.
  • Big Green – St. Edward’s SS Bukuumi
    Big Green is an environmental conservation and awareness website dedicated to educating global audiences on environmental protection and pollution control through informative articles and blogs.
  • STEGS Smart Study – St. Elizabeth Girls’ Secondary School
    STEGS Smart Study Project provides academic resources such as eBooks, educational videos, and links to online courses, aimed at bridging the gap in access to traditional learning materials.
  • Skyray – Iganga Secondary School
    Skyray offers educational resources and support for students, parents, and teachers to navigate Uganda’s new lower secondary curriculum effectively.
  • News Shelf – New Jerusalem Mixed Junior School
    News Shelf features a kids’ news portal, an art gallery, and interactive quizzes, all created by students to enhance learning and engagement.

Shortlisted Projects – Explorers Category:

  • Local Farmers’ Market Website – Kampala International University, KIU
    The Local Farmers’ Market Website promotes local agriculture by connecting consumers with fresh produce and handmade goods through an online marketplace.
  • Afrinova Creations Website – Makerere University Kampala
    Afrinova Creations showcases African culture through a curated collection of clothing, crafts, and foods, supporting African artisans and entrepreneurs.
  • Diving into WebDesign and WordPress in Luweero Diocese – CoU Anglican Luweero Diocese Education ICT
    This project empowers ICT teachers within Luweero Diocese to teach web design and create active websites for schools using WordPress.
  • Innovative Tune and Watch Pitch Awareness Wave – Makerere University Jinja Campus
    Innovative Tune and Watch Pitch Awareness Wave aims to provide entertaining media resources and informative community connections through an intuitive user interface.
  • Edutech Blog – Kyambogo University / EduTech Club
    The Edutech Blog addresses the challenge of accessing educational technology awareness, offering valuable insights and resources through WordPress.

For those who did not make it to the finals:

To all participants whose projects did not advance to the finals, we extend our sincere appreciation for responding to our call for projects. Your have showcased remarkable commitment to leveraging WordPress for positive change. We encourage you to view this as a stepping stone in your journey of innovation. Register to attend via bit.ly/websitecompetitionug and join us at the Uganda Website Projects Competition 2024 to learn from presentations, gain valuable insights, and network with fellow enthusiasts. Let this experience fuel your determination to excel, and we look forward to seeing your continued growth and success in future competitions. Be sure to try again at the Uganda Website Projects Competition 2025!

Event Overview:

The Uganda Website Projects Competition 2024 is a next gen WordCamp that challenges students to solve real-world problems using WordPress, fostering innovative thinking and essential skills in web development and design. Participants will present their projects to a panel of judges, honing their communication and presentation skills.

Date and Venue:

  • Date: Friday, July 5th, 2024
  • Venue: National ICT Innovation Hub, Uganda Institute of ICT (UICT), Nakawa, Kampala

Join us as we celebrate the ingenuity and dedication of these young minds at the Awards Ceremony, where outstanding projects will be recognized and awarded prizes in each category. Tickets can be purchased online using PayPal or bank cards. Alternatively, you can reserve tickets via the Google form to pay in Ugandan Shillings using Mobile Money. Here are the ticket categories:

  • Discounted Attendee Ticket: $5 or UGX 20,000. Includes access to all activities, attendee tag, swag, workshop resources, internet access, breakfast, and lunch coupons.
  • Actual Cost (Microsponsor) Ticket: $26 or UGX 100,000. Includes all benefits of the discounted ticket, plus a VIP treat, an event-branded T-shirt, and publicity.
  • Community Sponsorship Ticket: $130 or UGX 500,000. Helps to discount tickets for more students to learn, innovate, and collaborate with WordPress! Includes two attendee tickets, two event T-shirts, a dedicated sponsor table, and logo publicity.

Get your ticket today!

NB: 3 free tickets will be given to each of the shortlisted project representatives!

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From WordCamps to NextGen Events: Uganda’s Turn to Pilot Innovative WordPress Events is Here!

Iganga (Girls) Secondary School  Students present a WordPress project during WordCamp Jinja - Uganda 5th Sept 2023

Iganga (Girls) Secondary School Students present a WordPress project during WordCamp Jinja – Uganda 5th Sept 2023

In May 2023, the global WordPress community embarked on an exciting new venture called the “Next Generation WordPress Events” pilot project. This initiative was designed to break the mold of traditional WordCamps and meetups, introducing innovative event formats that cater to a wider audience and foster a fresh engagement within the community. As the year unfolded, various countries trialed these novel events, each contributing uniquely to the vibrant tapestry of the WordPress ecosystem.

Now, WordPress Meetup Chapters in Uganda are stepping into the spotlight to pilot the NextGen WordPress events formats, marking a significant milestone in the country’s tech community. These upcoming events, including the WordPress in Education Showcase 2024 and the Uganda Website Projects Competition 2024, are not just gatherings but a celebration of innovation, creativity, and the future of web development in Uganda.

The WordPress in Education Showcase 2024, set to take place at the Masaka Social Center on April 6th, is dedicated to uncovering the potential of WordPress in education. This event will shine a light on the extraordinary projects developed by secondary school students, ranging from dynamic websites to interactive educational tools, showcasing the immense talent and creativity of Uganda’s youth.

Following this will be the Uganda Website Projects Competition 2024 on July 5th, 2024 at the National ICT Innovation Hub in Nakawa, Kampala. Under the theme, Problem Solving with WordPress, high school & university students will pitch website projects, addressing real-world challenges, to a panel of adjudicators who will provide feedback and select winners for in-kind awards and cash prizes.

These pioneering events represent more than just the evolution of WordPress gatherings in Uganda; they signify a commitment to advancing the digital landscape and fostering a new generation of WordPress users and developers. By embracing innovative formats and focusing on content that resonates with specific audiences, Uganda is setting a new standard for WordPress events globally.

As Uganda takes this bold step with the WordPress in Education Technology Showcase and the Uganda Website Projects Competition, an invitation is extended to all students, educators, tech enthusiasts, and professionals to join in this transformative journey. These events are catalysts for change, providing a platform for innovation, learning, and community building.

For those keen to explore more about these and other upcoming NextGen events and WordCamps in Uganda, including the Online Payments and Delivery Summit, WordCamp Jinja and WordCamp Lira, be sure to check out the WordCamp Central schedule at WordCamp Central.

Join us as we embark on this exciting new chapter in the WordPress community. The future is here, and it’s brimming with possibilities.

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Thanks for sponsoring global WordPress community events across the globe, Bluehost!

We can’t thank Bluehost enough for renewing their support as a global sponsor for the global WordPress community in 2024! Their support of WordPress community events at our Gold level worldwide goes a really long way. They support WordPress communities all over the world!

Bluehost logo
Bluehost logo

Bluehost has been a WordPress partner since 2005 and powers over 1 million WordPress sites worldwide. Their objective is to help customers, whether novice or pro, create a thriving online presence at an affordable price. With a team of in-house tech experts available 24/7, Bluehost dedicates time and resources to providing the best support and services in the industry. Join millions of other site owners and see what Bluehost can do for you and your online presence.

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Thanks to Woo for sponsoring community events worldwide

We couldn’t be happier to welcome Woo to the WordPress global community sponsorship program in 2024! This year, they’re sponsoring at the Gold level in all regions, supporting official WordPress community events across the globe.

Woo logo 2024
WooCommerce logo

Woo is the leading open-source ecommerce platform, powering 31.4% of the top million online stores.* Built on WordPress, Woo empowers anyone, anywhere, to sell anything with truly unlimited extensibility, flexibility, and control over how they build and evolve their business.

* StoreLeads, StoreLeads.app, January 2024.

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Automattic sponsors WordPress community events across the globe

We’d like to welcome Automattic to the 2024 Global Sponsorship program! By sponsoring at the Gold level across the globe, Automattic helps make local community events better for WordPress enthusiasts and easier to organize for our wonderful group of hardworking volunteers.

Automattic logo
Automattic logo

At Automattic, we are passionate about making the web a better place.

We are the people behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, WordPress VIP, Simplenote, Longreads, WPScan, Akismet, Gravatar, Crowdsignal, Cloudup, Tumblr, Day One, Pocket Casts, and more. We believe in making the web a better place.

We’re a distributed company with 2,007 Automatticians in 97 countries speaking 123 different languages. We’re committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and our common goal is to democratize publishing and commerce so that anyone with a story can tell it, and anyone with a product can sell it, regardless of income, gender, politics, language, or where they live in the world.

We believe in Open Source and the vast majority of our work is available under the GPL.

We strive to live by the Automattic Creed.

Automattic is a Most Loved Company and Disability Confident Committed. (Here’s what that might mean for you.) Come work with us.

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WPBeginner joins the WordPress global community sponsorship program in 2024

Please join us in welcoming WPBeginner to the 2024 WordPress global community sponsorship program! WPBeginner’s pledge to sponsor all official WordPress community events (WordCamps, Meetups, and more) all around the world provides support and stability to our hardworking crew of volunteer event organizers. Thanks for everything, WPBeginner!

WPBeginner logo

At WPBeginner, we provide cutting-edge, helpful WordPress tutorials that are easy to understand for small businesses, bloggers, and non-techy WordPress website owners. Since 2009, our free WordPress video courses and tutorials are watched by over 56 millions WordPress users worldwide.

Whether you’re looking to learn how to build a WordPress website, decide which WordPress plugins to pick, or just learn the WordPress best practices to grow your website, WPBeginner’s free resources can help:

Over the last 14 years working closely with WordPress users and listening to their feedback, we have also created some of the most popular WordPress plugins including WPForms, AIOSEO (All in One SEO for WordPress), OptinMonster, MonsterInsights, and dozens more. Collectively over 25 million websites are using our free and premium WordPress plugins.

WPBeginner is part of the Awesome Motive family, and we’re on a mission to help small businesses grow & compete with the big guys using the power of open source. 

If you’re a WordPress professional looking for a remote role, we’re hiring. Come join our team.

If you’re a WordPress product owner looking for an investment or selling your WordPress business, check out the WPBeginner Growth Fund.

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GoDaddy sponsors WordPress community events worldwide

What would we do without our sponsors? We’re so grateful to GoDaddy for sponsoring WordPress community events all around the globe at the Gold level in 2024! GoDaddy’s support enhances local community events, such as WordPress meetup and WordCamps, improving the experience for WordPress enthusiasts and simplifying the organization process for our dedicated team of volunteers.

GoDaddy logo global sponsorship
GoDaddy logo

At GoDaddy, our mission is to empower a worldwide community of entrepreneurs by giving them all the help and tools they need to grow online — including a simpler, safer WordPress experience. 

We champion our Makers of the Web by delivering a suite of WordPress solutions that enable fast and easy setup and then enables users to harness all the power of the world’s most popular CMS. 

The GoDaddy Pro Community was built by and for website designers and developers. Whether you’re new to web design or growing your existing business, you’ll find free tools, products, education, and expert support to help you more efficiently create and maintain beautiful sites — and wow clients.

We provide a Managed WordPress experience that is as easy as it is effective. The latest version of WordPress comes pre-installed with exclusive themes, plugins, and tools to get you up and running quickly, with automated backups, updates, and malware removal so our Pros can spend less time on monotonous maintenance, and more time building their businesses.GoDaddy Pro works tirelessly to foster an active, nurturing community, with initiatives including the sponsorship of WordCamps globally, weekly GoDaddy Pro Meetups, our free GoDaddy Pro Academy courses, and our GoDaddy Pro Discussions Group. We’re proud to be a partner of the WordPress community and look forward to witnessing all the individual greatness that our efforts help support.

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2023 Annual Meetup Survey

In November, we launched the Annual Meetup Survey. This year, we propose a unified survey for all Meetup members and organizers. Because of lack of time, we were not able to coordinate the translation to other languages as we did in previous editions, and I’d love to apologize to all meetup members and organizers who were waiting for the survey to be available in their languages. Next year we’ll plan it in advance.

Please take a moment to complete the Annual Meetup Survey – even if you haven’t participated in a meetup recently! This survey is an important opportunity to share your feedback on WordPress meetups in 2023 and how we can improve the program in the future. Even if you did not attend meetup events in 2023, your input is valuable! The survey takes less than 5 minutes to fill out, and the results will help strengthen WordPress meetups in the years to come.

We hope to achieve a 100% response rate among Meetup organizers and members around the world, and get actionable insights about two challenges that the WordPress ecosystem is facing right now:

  • How can we increase the number of WordPress events?
  • How can we increase the number of WordPress users worldwide?

The survey will remain open until January, Dec 14, 2024.

To open the survey in a new tab, please use the following link: https://wordpressdotorg.survey.fm/2023-meetup-annual-survey

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