Gloria Liuni receives the Yoast Care fund for her contribution to the WordPress community

Let us introduce you to Gloria Liuni, an esteemed member of the WordPress Community, Polyglot, and Support Teams! Stefano Cassone nominated her for the Yoast Care fund, recognizing her dedication and contributions to the community. Let’s delve into the story of this passionate WordPress enthusiast.

Nominator Stefano Cassone: “Gloria is one of the organizers of the Turin Meetup, as well as an organizer of many WordCamps in Turin (leader of WordCamp Turin 2023) and speaker at some WordCamps (e.g., the last WordCamp Verona). She is one of the reference points of the Italian community, especially in the Community and Forum teams, and she is a translator. I must emphasize her excellent availability and encouragement in the activities of the Italian community: I must praise her enthusiasm and willingness to do and help.”

Let’s get to know Gloria Liuni

That’s quite an introduction, Stefano! We would love to get to know Gloria even better. That’s why we asked her some questions about her work and her passion for WordPress:

Hi, Gloria! What do you do?

I could define myself as a multipotential person for many things. I mainly teach web designers for beginners: HTML, CSS, and, of course, WordPress. In addition to that, I love to take care of my clients’ websites, keeping them updated and up to date with news and constantly improving them in terms of accessibility, my secret passion.

In my free time, I am a rescuer volunteer for the Turin Green Cross; I love reading and taking long walks with my little dog. I love learning new things.

How do you know about WordPress?

The first version of WordPress I used was 2.5 in 2008. I discovered WordPress by chance. It was the period in Italy when the first blogs were seen (I found them by reading an interview about them in a paper magazine). I started writing my blog, too, and when I was ready to switch from a free version to my domain name, I encountered CMS and had to choose which one to use.

Even though I tried a few, in the end, WordPress was the one that gave me the most satisfaction in terms of customization and documentation. Already working as a web designer, I started interacting with WordPress themes (back then, there was a lot of interaction) and became even more passionate about the platform.

Why did you start contributing? Could you share your first contribution with us?

I started contributing because I discovered it could be done! I participated in my first WordPress Torino Meetup in 2017, and there, I learned that a WordPress community existed and that I could be part of it. Having already become familiar with WordPress, I joined the support team. Helping others is in my DNA; I couldn’t have started on a different team.

I share the most bizarre episode that happened to me regarding my contribution. I was working on a site and couldn’t remember how to set plugin options. As I always do, I did an online search. I found the answer among the first results concerning a topic on the Italian support forum. So lucky! Then, when I read the answer, I discovered that I had written it myself a year earlier!

What would you love to do in the future?

I love teaching what I know very much, and I believe that transmitting one’s knowledge is fundamental. And this must also be understood by those starting today with correct and simple language.

It seems to me that there are still few female voices in Italy in the context of a less-plugin-more-native-resources approach and the FSE (Full Site Editing). Here, with great ambition, I want to become an authoritative voice in this. And, of course, continue to contribute to WordPress. Thanks to the community, I met wonderful people and enriched myself professionally, giving back part of what I received for free.

Where may people find you? Online, WordCamps, other meetups?

If you search with “Gloria Liuni WordPress,” you will discover they are like parsley. You can find me at the Italian and European WordCamps, at the WordPress Meetup Turin, in the Italian WordPress Support Forum, on Slack, and with a few guest posts here and there.

You won’t find much of me as a creator on social media; what I frequent most is Linkedin. Oh yes, I also have my website!

Thank you for this interview, Gloria, and for all of your contributions to the WordPress community! Do you know someone like Gloria Liuni who also deserves to be in the spotlight? Go to our Yoast Care page and nominate them right away.