Converting WordCamp Shortcodes to Gutenberg Blocks

With the imminent release of Gutenberg, the Meta WordCamp 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 shortcode output, like wrapping it in your own HTML 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 Gutenberg is released, though they won’t be updated with new features.