The Happiness Lounge at WordCamp Philly

two stuffed smiling emojis in a box decorated with more smiling emojis

Sometimes you have a particular challenge with your WordPress site — a small bug, a new feature you want to add, advice you need from someone more knowledgable — that isn’t covered in a particular WordCamp talk. Or perhaps you need more hands-on guidance.

That’s where the Happiness Lounge at WordCamp Philly 2019 comes in.

Located on the lower floor of the event, the Happiness Lounge is a place where you can seek out assistance and pointers. WordPress community volunteers will be there between 10 am and 4 pm October 5 to help you.

Whether your question is about adjusting your CSS, sizing an image correctly, installing a plugin, finding a new theme, selecting a host, improving your SEO, or interpreting an error, these folks will take a look at it.

If it’s something simple, they can often help you resolve the issue on the spot. For complex or time-consuming matters, they will try to point you to resources to get you on the right track.

There are several things you can do to make the most of your experience at the Happiness Lounge.

First of all, if your question is about a live website, make sure you know who is hosting the site. And have your user names and passwords handy for your site, your web hosting, FTP, and other accounts you may need to get into.  If you can’t log in, there’s only so much the volunteers at the Happiness Lounge can do to help.

Secondly, be as specific as possible. Ask “How can I change the alignment of this image?” rather than “I can’t get my website to look right.”

Finally: if you are seeing an error message, copy it exactly or get a screenshot of it prior to going to the Happiness Lounge. If your problem is on a mobile device, it helps to have that device with you so the volunteers can see what you’re seeing.

And once you arrive, relax. Don’t be afraid that you’re asking a stupid question; all our volunteers were beginners at one time and had many of the same questions you do. Just head on over and see what WordCamp Philly can do do make your day happier.

WordCamp Philly is over. Check out the next edition!