Author Archives: Cami Kaos

Cami Kaos 10:00 am on August 3, 2021
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Tuesday Trainings: If you deviate, communicate!

If there’s a question you’d like to see answered or a topic you’d like to see discussed, please share it in the comments or email support@wordcamp.org with the subject line Tuesday Trainings. Now onto this week’s topic.

This week’s question: What if I can’t follow through as expected?

I was talking with a colleague the other day about experiences we’ve had with people who couldn’t get done what they said they’d be able to get done in the amount of time they gave themself to do it. Not quite failing to do the thing, but certainly not doing a task in the timeline or manner that was expressed. Sometimes I can’t get something done when I say I will. Sometimes I just can’t get something done. And if my life experience has taught me anything, I’m not the only one.

And of course that can be frustrating for all involved, but there is a way to make it better. I just never had a catchy little phrase for it until I was talking with this colleague who is also a softball umpire. She said something in our conversation that I will never forget. One phrase that rang so true with me that I’m adding it to “I don’t know, but let’s find out” in its level of importance, simplicity, and usefulness. Today, I share her wisdom with you.

If you deviate, communicate.

It’s a simple statement. It’s an even simpler plan. If something isn’t going as expected, let someone involved  know. If you can’t get something done, let the stakeholders know. If you’re going to complete the project but it’s going to be late, let someone know. If something goes off track let someone know. 

We all get it. Sometimes things don’t work out as planned. There is nothing wrong with failure. There is something wrong with not communicating in the face of failure or change. Some folks are afraid to over communicate. I get that. Sometimes far too many words will just stream right out of me and before I know it I’ve said too much. That’s why this phrase resonated so much with me. Maybe it will with you too. 

Wrapping up

I said it before, but let me say it one more time, if you deviate, communicate. If you have tried and true suggestions for the best way to communicate when things go awry I’d love to see them in the comments.

And as always if you have any questions or topics you’d like to see addressed in this space let me know in the comments or by emailing support@wordcamp.org

#tuesdaytrainings

Cami Kaos 6:51 pm on July 27, 2021
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Tuesday Trainings: What’s the deal with self care?

If there’s a question you’d like to see answered or a topic you’d like to see discussed, please share it in the comments or email me at support@wordcamp.org with the subject line Tuesday Trainings. Now onto this week’s topic.

Disclaimer: I’m not a mental health professional, I’m just a person who does a lot of emotional labor and cares deeply about the emotions and mental well being of others. I’ll do my best to share what is working for me and I hope you’ll share what works for you.

This week’s question: What’s the deal with self care?

Let me jump into this one a little differently. Usually these Tuesday Training posts are aimed at anyone in the WordPress community that is looking for the information I’m serving up, but this week’s post is something else. Many of the topics we bring up in this series of posts are near and dear to my heart, but this one especially is important to me. So while I intend this information for anyone who needs to read it, this post in particular is for the organizers out there. The meetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. organizers, the WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. organizers, the community organizers. This goes out to the people who activate teams of volunteers, who make our little corner of the internet a safer and more inclusive space.

This goes out to those who tirelessly give of themselves with active listening and engagement so that we can get to the root of issues when they arise or stop them in their path–before most people even notice. 

So what’s the deal with self care? Self care is important. I’m not just talking about getting a haircut, facial, or a manicure. Those are all forms of self care, sure. But I’m talking about the kind of self care that fills you up and fortifies you so you can continue to be the best you that you can be while supporting others in being their best selves. All of that allows us to engage in and build this project with authenticity and respect for one another.  

In community work we take care of other people. In order to be able to take care of other people we first must be taking care of ourselves. The clearest example I can share with you is that you can’t pour from an empty cup. Which means if you have nothing left to give, you can’t give it. That way leads to burnout. Exhaustion. Dissatisfaction. And sometimes calling it quits altogether. 

I don’t want that for any of you. I want you to continue to embrace, improve, grow, and uplift the WordPress community in the special way that you each do. So let’s talk about how to make sure our cup isn’t empty.

Say no mindfully

Be aware of your bandwidth and what you have to give; say no to taking on additional work when it isn’t the right thing for you. I never want to say no to helping others, but it has helped me to reframe it by reminding myself that when I say yes to one thing, it means there are other things I’m going to have no choice to say no to down the road. 

Ask yourself: In saying “no” to one thing, what am I saying “yes” to? Or vice versa.

For more on the importance of saying no, check out this past Tuesday Training post.

Ask yourself what you would tell someone else

I’m hard on myself sometimes. And that’s a choice I make. But sometimes I have to step back and look at everything on my plate, both professionally and personally, and realize that there’s too much. 

If I have a headache and a day full of meetings, it is my inclination to just find a way to power through. But if any of my teammates or mentees let me know that the same was happening with them, I would insist immediately that they take some time to rest and feel better. A headache or being physically exhausted or ill is an easy example, but it’s just as important to give yourself that break if you are upset, stressed, anxious, or just plain overwhelmed. 

Check in with yourself: How are you today? What would you tell a friend, teammate, or colleague? 

Give yourself the same grace you would give to someone else you care about.

Do something nice for yourself

It might be a haircut and a nice lunch out, or it might just be finding time to go on a walk, draw a picture, or straighten up your surroundings so you feel better about them and yourself. It might be sitting in a park watching nature. It might be drinking one more glass of water a day. Find something that you need to do for yourself that will help you feel better, or happier or less stressed and do it. Little things can count here just as much as big things. It might not necessarily be something you want to do. But maybe it’s something you should do. Like taking a walk, getting some exercise, having a side of veggies with lunch, or starting your day with a healthy breakfast. 

Think on it: What’s one kindness you can give yourself today?

Say something

People don’t always notice when others are overwhelmed, overworked, or burned out. Some folks handle their stress and workload silently and seem to carry it with such grace that others may not notice that they’re under stress. “Holding up” to stress doesn’t mean you should have more of it, it just means you’re good at fooling people into thinking the stress isn’t there. If you’re struggling say something. Ask others in the community to take over responsibilities that are causing the issues or aren’t right for you. Let folks know that you need a break. Ask for help getting some space or solving a problem that’s standing in your way.

Delegate: What is something on your plate that you might share with someone else to lighten the load?

Wrapping up

Taking care of oneself is absolutely a critical component of being able to take care of others and build a healthy community. I hope you all keep that in mind in the days, weeks, months, and years to come. Each of us here is critical to the success of this project, and self care is critical to surviving and succeeding over all. 

If you’d like to share what helps you, I’d welcome your thoughts in the comments below. And as always if you have any questions or topics you’d like to see addressed in this space let me know in the comments or by emailing support@wordcamp.org

#tuesdaytrainings

Cami Kaos 5:00 pm on July 20, 2021
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Tuesday Trainings: How do I start a WordPress meetup?

This year we’ve changed the format of Tuesday Trainings to better get directly at the issues that seem to be on the minds of folks in our community. How are we doing that? Great question. We’re either seeking to answer commonly asked questions or address commonly heard complaints, concerns, and confusions.

If there’s a question you’d like to see answered or a topic you’d like to see discussed, please share it in the comments or email me at support@wordcamp.org with the subject line Tuesday Trainings. Now onto this week’s topic.

This week’s question: How do I start a WordPress MeetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook.?

Over the weekend I had the honor and privilege of speaking at and attending WordCamp Santa Clarita. The talk I gave was about growing the leadership of your meetup, but as with any related topic I wanted to cover the basics too. I didn’t have all the time I would have liked to dedicate to starting a meetup but… I do have the time to do that today!

Because thankfully we have all the info already published and ready to share in the Meetup Organizer Handbook!

It’s not a light read, there’s a lot of information there. If you’re interested in becoming an organizer or are an organizer who hasn’t read it yet I’d still encourage you to explore the entire handbook. 

How do I get started?

Before you apply to organize a meetup in your area, search for a meetup.com group for WordPress events in your area. The Community Team gets nearly as many applications to organize groups where a group already exists as we do for those in areas where one needs to be started. Just because you don’t know it exists, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

But I want to organize my own group!

Of course you do! I appreciate your enthusiasm and drive. The desire to create a group and a sense of community in your area is admirable and I absolutely think you should do it. And you can make that happen by joining your already existing local WordPress and getting involved.

We don’t want to fragment local communities, we want to help them work together. So if there’s a meetup group in your area and you want to be an organizer join the group. Contribute. Volunteer. Offer to help the organizers. Not everyone realizes this but any trusted member of a WordPress Meetup can organize a meeting. You don’t need to take over what another organizer is already doing, volunteer to take the planning of meetup events that you’re excited about.

This handbook talks a lot about “local” meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook.. Does that mean we can gather in person again?

The short answer is that it depends. There is not a clear yes or no answer that will match up with every area, but we do have some new guidelines for communities looking to restart in person meetups. You can read all about that here. If you have any questions about how this applies to your area feel free to comment below or email the community deputiesProgram Supporter Community Program Supporters (formerly Deputies) are a team of people worldwide who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about program supporters in our Program Supporter Handbook. at support@wordcamp.org

Is there anything else I should know?

Yes. There is. Actually there are 5. I never pass up the opportunity to share the 5 good faith rules that apply to all meetups in the WordPress chapter account.

The Five Good Faith Rules 

 

  1. WordPress Meetups are for the benefit of the WordPress community as a whole, not specific businesses or individuals. All actions taken as an event organizer are with the best interest of the community in mind.
  2. Membership in the local Meetup group is open to all who wish to join, regardless of ability, skill, financial status, or any other criteria.
  3. Meetups are volunteer-run with volunteer speakers.
  4. Meetup groups allow events to be organized by any reliable/trusted member of the community.
  5. Meetups are welcoming places where everyone works to foster an accepting environment which is free of discrimination, incitement to violence, promotion of hate, and general jerk-like behavior.

Okay… but it’s also important to know what we ask everyone that organizes WordPress Chapter Meetup to uphold the principles of the WordPress open sourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. project, including the GPL. This helps protect the user/attendee, who might not realize that by using a non-GPLGPL GPL is an acronym for GNU Public License. It is the standard license WordPress uses for Open Source licensing https://wordpress.org/about/license/. The GPL is a ‘copyleft’ license https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html. This means that derivative work can only be distributed under the same license terms. This is in distinction to permissive free software licenses, of which the BSD license and the MIT License are widely used examples. pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party or theme, they are giving away the rights that WordPress provides them.

Let’s do this!

Ready to sign up? Complete the application form here

As always if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions, or requests for future Tuesday Training posts leave them in the comments or email me at support@wordcamp.org 

#tuesdaytrainings

Cami Kaos 10:40 pm on July 13, 2021
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Tuesday Trainings: Why is it so important that contributors use GPL?

This year we’ve changed the format of Tuesday Trainings to better get directly at the issues that seem to be on the minds of folks in our community. How are we doing that? Great question. We’re either seeking to answer commonly asked questions or address commonly heard complaints, concerns, and confusions.

If there’s a question you’d like to see answered or a topic you’d like to see discussed, please share it in the comments or email me at support@wordcamp.org with the subject line Tuesday Trainings. Now onto this week’s topic.

Before this week’s question, an important clarifying question: What is GPLGPL GPL is an acronym for GNU Public License. It is the standard license WordPress uses for Open Source licensing https://wordpress.org/about/license/. The GPL is a ‘copyleft’ license https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html. This means that derivative work can only be distributed under the same license terms. This is in distinction to permissive free software licenses, of which the BSD license and the MIT License are widely used examples.?

GPL or General Public License is “a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, and modify the software.” WordPress is released under the GPL v2 license. This is important because the license gives software users what is commonly referred to as the “Four Freedoms”, detailed on the GNU Philosophy Page, which allow users to use the software in any way they wish, to modify the software (if desired) for their purpose, to redistribute the original software to help others, and to redistribute modified versions. 

This week’s question: Why is it so important that contributors use GPL for their derivatives?

We talk a lot about the technical end of GPL. How to determine if a license is true to the GPL, and how to talk with sponsors, speakers, and organizers, about bringing their license up to expectations. If you’re curious about that, check out this great past post on the topic.  

Recently I realized that we haven’t talked much lately about the why of it all. ANd sometimes the why really matters. In this case it really really matters to me so I’ll share.

We ask any involved in an official capacity with the WordPress Open SourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. project in an official capacity –especially at events like WordCamps and MeetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook.– to uphold the principles of the WordPress open source project, including the GPL. This helps protect the user/attendee, who might not realize that by using a non-GPL pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party or theme, they are giving away the rights that WordPress provides them.

I want to repeat that because in all the years I’ve been doing this work, this line has stuck with me when other things seemed to fade away.

We ask anyone involved with WordPress to release their derivatives as GPL because it ensures users the same rights that WordPress itself provides them. 

Wait that’s it?

Yes. That is in fact that. I know these posts tend to be longer and more drawn out. And I can certainly babble with the best of them, but in this case that’s all there is to it. 

If you have additional questions about GPL, either the why, the how, or any other question please share it in the comments. And as always if you have a question you’d like to see answered in a future Tuesday Training let me know here or at support@wordcamp.org

#tuesdaytrainings

Cami Kaos 9:05 pm on June 22, 2021
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Tuesday Trainings: Of Codes of Conduct and Reporting

This year we’ve changed the format of Tuesday Trainings to better get directly at the issues that seem to be on the minds of folks in our community. How are we doing that? Great question. We’re either seeking to answer commonly asked questions or address commonly heard complaints, concerns, and confusions.

If there’s a question you’d like to see answered or a topic you’d like to see discussed, please share it in the comments or email me at support@wordcamp.org with the subject line Tuesday Trainings. Now onto this week’s topic.

We’re interrupting our previously scheduled content to talk about something important for a safer community. I want to make all the information we have out there more accessible to all of you, so here we go with this week’s question.

Does the WordPress Community Team have a Code of ConductCode of Conduct “A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party.” - Wikipedia? How does that work? 

CoCCode of Conduct “A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party.” - Wikipedia (Code of Conduct) is one of those, in my mind, absolute necessities for any community. But it’s one that most people tend to shy away from talking about. There’s any number of reasons for that, but I think most of the time it comes down to people not liking to talk about things that make us uncomfortable. While there is nothing uncomfortable to most about the CoC, talking about it tends to lead to talking about breaking or violating it. Then people start to think about getting “in trouble”. When I think about getting in trouble my mind slips back to my childhood days and I’m a fearful tiny human not understanding what’s happening and why. 

So let’s remove that fearful lack of knowing and talk a little bit about the CoC for WordPress, specifically for WordPress community events like WordCamps, MeetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook., Contributor Days, and any other events in our program.

What is our CoC?

We use the same base CoC for all of our events. It can be found here in its draft form to be updated and used for individual events. It also comes as pre-loaded content in all WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. sites for the organizers to update and publish.

I won’t list the entire Code of Conduct here, though I do encourage you to read it in its entirety if you’re an organizer or it’s of interest to you. For today I want to focus on two of the sections specifically as they cover how people should and should not behave at events.

Expected Behavior

  • Be considerate, respectful, and collaborative.
  • Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory or harassing behavior and speech.
  • Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants. Alert conference organizers if you notice a dangerous situation or someone in distress.
  • Participate in an authentic and active way. In doing so, you help to create WordCamp and make it your own.

Unacceptable Behavior

Unacceptable behaviors include: intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory or demeaning conduct by any attendees of WordCamp and related events. All WordCamp venues may be shared with members of the public; please be respectful to all patrons of these locations.

Harassment includes: offensive verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, disability; inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces (including presentation slides); deliberate intimidation, stalking or following; harassing photography or recording; sustained disruption of talks or other events; inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

By the way, the Community team and WordPress event organizers don’t actively seek out misbehavior, nor do we actively seek out content to moderate. As a volunteer-run community, we rely on contributors to communicate expectations and report violations. We support WordPress community members by offering dedicated help when members see or experience anything outside of expected behavior. We invite you to help create a safer and more positive experience for everyone.

What happens if I do something wrong?

This is another one of those questions I see come up frequently – in public forums, in conversations with deputiesProgram Supporter Community Program Supporters (formerly Deputies) are a team of people worldwide who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about program supporters in our Program Supporter Handbook. and mentorsEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues., or as a private pingPing The act of sending a very small amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.” in SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/.. Let’s ask it out in the open. What does happen if you do something wrong? What happens if someone does something wrong?

Unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated whether by other attendees, organizers, venue staff, sponsors, or other patrons of WordCamp venues.

So if someone is engaged in unacceptable behavior they will be asked by an organizer to stop. Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately, and usually they do comply. They just stop. And often that’s where it stands. I find that most of the Code of Conduct violations I have seen were made  by mistake, accident, lack of awareness, not understanding, or because of an emotionally charged situation. Most are not a safety issue and can be easily resolved by saying “please stop that.” 

When a swift end is put to the situation and no harm came to anyone, that’s usually the whole story of what happens. 

If it’s worse than that? If a participant engages in unacceptable behavior, the conference organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, up to and including expulsion from the conference without warning or refund. 

What if it wasn’t so easily resolved?

When something isn’t so easily resolved, is reported after the event, or is egregious and/or causes harm, it’s often too much to put on our amazing, hard-working volunteer organizers. So we’ve created a safer space for people to report concerns or issues in the report form. 

All reports are handled confidentially to the extent possible.  Incident response teams  do not disclose or discuss the content of a report, or even its existence, without express consent from the reporter, unless in extenuating circumstances where a community member’s safety is actively threatened.

If you have witnessed or experienced a violation of the code of conduct or there has been specific behavior within the community that is alarming to you from a CoC perspective you can either email reports@wordpress.org or submit an incident report through this form.

Submitting a report isn’t a fix-all for community issues. We can’t do anything about things that happen outside of our community events and spaces. But if you experience or witness a violation of the CoC or behavior that is not okay at one of our events or in our digital spaces, letting us know at reports@wordpress.org gives us the opportunity to look into the problem and help to find a resolution. Sometimes it just helps keep us aware of what’s going on at events and online spaces. 

Do they get in trouble?

I feel like we’re back to being that scared little kid worried about being in trouble for showing up late to school or finishing the last of the cookies, so let’s try to clear that up with a little more information.

Not all of the reports we receive are actionable. Not all of the reports we receive are one sided. Some of the reports we get are more like someone waving a flag and saying “a little help here!”

In those cases we opt for research, discussion, and mediation to help clear up issues that are concerning before they become real problems. 

And yeah, sometimes someone does something that they shouldn’t. Someone may do something bad. Someone may do something that makes others feel scared, hurt, harassed, intimidated, or threatened. These we handle on a case by case basis with the help of those who have raised the issue. We listen to what they are seeking as a resolution. Evaluate the behaviors. Research. Talk to witnesses. And come to a conclusion about what we can best do to protect our community and its members.

I have more questions!

I’m not at all surprised if you do. There is a lot of nuance to working with the Code of Conduct and maintaining community safety and harmony. If you have questions I would love to hear them so I or another experienced deputyProgram Supporter Community Program Supporters (formerly Deputies) are a team of people worldwide who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about program supporters in our Program Supporter Handbook. can answer them for you. What is it that you would like to know about the Code of Conduct or the incident report system? Let us know in the comments.

If you have a question about a specific report you filed or have a question you’re not comfortable asking publicly please email reports@wordpress.org and we’ll do our best toanswer you there.

Next up

Join us next week for a post from Angela and Taco sharing 10+ energizers for online events! I can’t wait!

#tuesdaytrainings
Cami Kaos 9:11 am on June 15, 2021
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Tuesday Trainings: How do I contribute to WordPress? Part 4

This year we’ve changed the format of Tuesday Trainings to better get directly at the issues that seem to be on the minds of folks in our community. How are we doing that? Great question. We’re either seeking to answer commonly asked questions or address commonly heard complaints, concerns, and confusions.

If there’s a question you’d like to see answered or a topic you’d like to see discussed, please share it in the comments or email me at support@wordcamp.org with the subject line Tuesday Trainings. Now onto this week’s topic.

This week’s question: How do I contribute to WordPress?

This is a great question… and usually when someone asks how they contribute to WordPress we would jump right in and tell them all about the exciting opportunities to contribute no matter what your specialty or skill level. But sometimes it’s not how you CAN contribute to WordPress that people are asking… it’s actually wondering how DO I DO THIS?

Well this week my goal is to help you learn the HOW TO part of getting involved in WordPress contribution. Not just here on the community team, but across the program. How am I going to do that, you may ask? By sharing resources!

What are the teams?

Last week’s Tuesday Training post introduced Plugins, Community, MetaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress., and Training. This week I’ll bring you the last seven of our amazing teams, tell you what they do, and share a link for you to start getting involved. 

Test

The Test team patrols flow across the entire WordPress ecosystem on every device we have at hand. We test, document, and report on the WordPress user experience. Through continuous dogfooding and visual records, we understand not only what is wrong, but also what is right. We immerse ourselves in the context of what we are making and champion user experience.

TV

The TV team reviews and approves every video submitted to WordPress.tv. They also help WordCamps with video post-production and are responsible for the captioning and subtitling of published videos. Reviewing videos is a great way to learn about WordPress and help the community: experience is not required to get involved.

Marketing

The vision for the Marketing Team is to be the go-to resource for strategy and content for other WordPress teams.

Hosting

They work to improve WordPress’ end-user experience across hosting environments through industry collaboration and user education. Come join us!

CLI

WP-CLIWP-CLI WP-CLI is the Command Line Interface for WordPress, used to do administrative and development tasks in a programmatic way. The project page is http://wp-cli.org/ https://make.wordpress.org/cli/ is the official command line tool for interacting with and managing your WordPress sites.

Openverse

Openverse is a search engine for openly-licensed media. The Openverse team implements new features and new media types; maintains the public APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. and front-end search engine; and develops WordPress integrations to share Openverse with the entire WordPress community.

Tide

Tide is a series of automated tests run against every pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party and theme in the directory and then displays PHPPHP PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. http://php.net/manual/en/intro-whatis.php. compatibility and test errors/warnings in the directory.

Questions?

If you’re interested in working on any of these teams, there’s no time like the present. Check them out and see if there’s a fit for you. if you have any questions, as always, please ask in the comments!

Join us next Tuesday for a post from @angelasjin and @tacoverdo sharing 10 energizers for online events!

#tuesdaytrainings

Cami Kaos 4:50 pm on June 8, 2021
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Tuesday Trainings: How do I contribute to WordPress? Part 3

This year we’ve changed the format of Tuesday Trainings to better get directly at the issues that seem to be on the minds of folks in our community. How are we doing that? Great question. We’re either seeking to answer commonly asked questions or address commonly heard complaints, concerns, and confusions.

If there’s a question you’d like to see answered or a topic you’d like to see discussed, please share it in the comments or email me at support@wordcamp.org with the subject line Tuesday Trainings. Now onto this week’s topic.

This week’s question: How do I contribute to WordPress?

This is a great question… and usually when someone asks how they contribute to WordPress we would jump right in and tell them all about the exciting opportunities to contribute no matter what your specialty or skill level. But sometimes it’s not how you CAN contribute to WordPress that people are asking… it’s actually wondering how DO I DO THIS?

Well this week my goal is to help you learn the HOW TO part of getting involved in WordPress contribution. Not just here on the community team, but across the program. How am I going to do that, you may ask? By sharing resources!

What are the teams?

Last week’s Tuesday Training post introduced Polyglots, Support, Documentation, and Themes. This week I’ll bring you four more amazing teams, tell you what they do, and share a link for you to start getting involved. 

Plugins

If you are a PluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party developer, subscribe to the Plugin review team blog to keep up with the latest updates, find resources, and learn about any issues around Plugin development.

Community – that’s us!

If you’re interested in organizing a meetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. or a WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more., the community blog is a great place to get started. There are groups working to support events, to create outreach and training programs, and generally support the community.

Meta

The MetaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. team makes WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/, provides support, and builds tools for use by all the contributor groups. If you want to help make WordPress.org better, sign up for updates from the Meta blog.

Training

The WordPress training team helps people learn to use, extend, and contribute to WordPress through synchronous and asynchronous learning as well as downloadable lesson plans for instructors to use in live environments, via learn.wordpress.org. If you enjoy teaching people how to use and build stuff for WordPress, immediately stop what you’re doing and join our team!

Questions?

If you’re interested in working on any of these teams, there’s no time like the present. Check them out and see if there’s a fit for you. Come back next week for another set of teams, and if you have any questions, as always, please ask in the comments!

#tuesdaytrainings

Cami Kaos 9:23 pm on June 1, 2021
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Tuesday Trainings: How do I contribute to WordPress? Part 2

This year we’ve changed the format of Tuesday Trainings to better get directly at the issues that seem to be on the minds of folks in our community. How are we doing that? Great question. We’re either seeking to answer commonly asked questions or address commonly heard complaints, concerns, and confusions.

If there’s a question you’d like to see answered or a topic you’d like to see discussed, please share it in the comments or email me at support@wordcamp.org with the subject line Tuesday Trainings. Now onto this week’s topic.

This week’s question: How do I contribute to WordPress?

This is a great question… and usually when someone asks how they contribute to WordPress we would jump right in and tell them all about the exciting opportunities to contribute no matter what your specialty or skill level. But sometimes it’s not how you CAN contribute to WordPress that people are asking… it’s actually wondering how DO I DO THIS?

Well this week my goal is to help you learn the HOW TO part of getting involved in WordPress contribution. Not just here on the community team, but across the program. How am I going to do that, you may ask? By sharing resources!

What are the teams?

Last week’s Tuesday Training post introduced Core, Design, Mobile, and Accessibility. This week I’ll bring you four more amazing teams, tell you what they do, and share a link for you to start getting involved. 

Polyglots

WordPress is used all over the world and in many different languages. If you’re a polyglot, help out by translating WordPress into your own language. You can also assist with creating the tools that make translations easier.

Support

Answering a question in the support forums or IRC is one of the easiest ways to start contributing. Everyone knows the answer to something! This blog is the place for discussion of issues around support.

Documentation

Good documentation lets people help themselves when they get stuck. The docs team is responsible for creating documentation and is always on the look-out for writers. The blog has discussion around the team’s current projects.

Themes

The Theme Review Team reviews and approves every Theme submitted to the WordPress Theme repository. Reviewing Themes sharpens your own Theme development skills. You can help out and join the discussion on the blog.

Questions?

If you’re interested in working on any of these teams, there’s no time like the present. Check them out and see if there’s a fit for you. Come back next week for another set of teams, and if you have any questions, as always, please ask in the comments!

#tuesdaytrainings

Cami Kaos 8:09 pm on May 25, 2021
Tags:   

Tuesday Trainings: How do I contribute to WordPress?

This year we’ve changed the format of Tuesday Trainings to better get directly at the issues that seem to be on the minds of folks in our community. How are we doing that? Great question. We’re either seeking to answer commonly asked questions or address commonly heard complaints, concerns, and confusions.

If there’s a question you’d like to see answered or a topic you’d like to see discussed, please share it in the comments or email me at support@wordcamp.org with the subject line Tuesday Trainings. Now onto this week’s topic.

This week’s question: How do I contribute to WordPress?

This is a great question… and usually when someone asks how they contribute to WordPress we would jump right in and tell them all about the exciting opportunities to contribute no matter what your specialty or skill level. But sometimes it’s not how you CAN contribute to WordPress that people are asking… it’s actually wondering how DO I DO THIS?

Well this week my goal is to help you learn the HOW TO part of getting involved in WordPress contribution. Not just here on the community team, but across the program. How am I going to do that, you may ask? By sharing resources!

If you’re reading this post on the site (rather than in email) you’re on the Make WordPress Community site. The Community page is just part of an entire network of sites built and connected to keep contributors in the know and welcome new contributors. So let’s start off with a link to the homepage of Make WordPress – this is the gateway to everything. You’ll find a listing of all the teams within the WordPress project with a link to their page, a description of what they do, and the date and time of their next scheduled meeting. Interested in contributing to AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility)? CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.? Marketing? TV? Click the link and you’re transported to a site made to help bring you up to date and ready to contribute. If you click on a few of those and take a look you’ll start to notice something. 

On each site up in the right corner you’ll see ways you can get involved or learn more. They vary from team to team but the one thing you’ll find in each place is the team’s handbook. This documentation has been created by each team and is what you need to know so that you can start contributing. 

What are the teams?

With 19 teams listed on that site there is no way I’m able to tell you about all of them. At least not today. But for the next few weeks I will feature several teams here on Tuesday Trainings to give you a little more information and the teams a little more visibility!

Core

The core team makes WordPress. Whether you’re a seasoned PHPPHP PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. http://php.net/manual/en/intro-whatis.php., HTMLHTML HTML is an acronym for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is a markup language that is used in the development of web pages and websites., JavaScriptJavaScript JavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. https://www.javascript.com/. or CSSCSS CSS is an acronym for cascading style sheets. This is what controls the design or look and feel of a site. developer or are just learning to code, we’d love to have you on board. You can write code, fix bugs, debate decisions, and help with development. 

Design

The design group is focused on the designing and developing the user interface. It’s a home for designers and UXers alike. There are regular discussions about mockups, design, and user testing.

Mobile

The mobile team builds the iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. and Android apps. Lend them your Java, Objective-C, or Swift skills. The team also needs designers, UXUX UX is an acronym for User Experience - the way the user uses the UI. Think ‘what they are doing’ and less about how they do it. experts, and testers to give users a smooth experience on every device.

Accessibility

The a11yAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) group provides accessibility expertise across the project. They make sure that WordPress core and all of WordPress’ resources are accessible.

Questions?

If you’re interested in working on any of these teams, there’s no time like the present. Check them out and see if there’s a fit for you. Come back next week for another set of teams, and if you have any questions, as always, please ask in comments!

#tuesdaytrainings

Cami Kaos 10:43 pm on May 18, 2021
Tags:   

Tuesday Trainings: How can I keep up to date with what’s happening in the WordPress world?

This year we’ve changed the format of Tuesday Trainings to better get directly at the issues that seem to be on the minds of folks in our community. How are we doing that? Great question. We’re either seeking to answer commonly asked questions or address commonly heard complaints, concerns, and confusions.

If there’s a question you’d like to see answered or a topic you’d like to see discussed, please share it in the comments or email me at support@wordcamp.org with the subject line Tuesday Trainings. Now onto this week’s topic.

This week’s question: How can I keep up to date with what’s happening in the WordPress world? 

There are so many ways!

  • Once a month we send a curated newsletter full of content relevant to meetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. organizers and others in the WordPress community. If you’re an organizer for a WordPress Meetup under the chapter account, you should already be receiving this newsletter. If you’re not seeing it show up, check your meetup.com settings or 
  • Subscribe to this P2P2 P2 or O2 is the term people use to refer to the Make WordPress blog. It can be found at https://make.wordpress.org/. so you get updates on the posts you might be looking for. Including, but not limited to a public posting of the Monthly Meetup Organizer newsletter. From that link you will see all the back issues.
  • From the CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. team all the way through to the TV team here’s a listing of P2s for every WordPress contributor team! You can subscribe to any that interest you so you always know what’s going on in every corner of the project
  • Looking for WordCamp news? There aren’t as many WordCamps right now, but that makes it even more important to stay on top of what events are happening. You can subscribe to the WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. News on WordCamp CentralWordCamp Central Website for all WordCamp activities globally. https://central.wordcamp.org includes a list of upcoming and past camp with links to each. to hear what’s happening from WordCamp organizers around the world!
  • WordPress Events and News can also be found in your WordPress.org dashboard where you will find blog posts from WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/, online WordPress events like meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook., WordCamps, contributor days, etc, and WordPress events near you when we return to in person events. 
  • Is it less event information and just WordPress news you’re looking for? Subscribe to WordPress news!

#tuesdaytrainings