Organizing Our Contributor Groups

Hi there, core contributorsCore Contributors Core contributors are those who have worked on a release of WordPress, by creating the functions or finding and patching bugs. These contributions are done through Trac. https://core.trac.wordpress.org. (and those who follow them). One of the things I’ve been meaning to do in the contributor community for the last 3-4 years is organize it so that when we say “contributor” it doesn’t just mean coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. code and the different contributing groups can all be on the same page. You may have seen some surveys sent/posted to the forums/docs/theme review teams etc. Your turn!

In order to create a closer relationship between all the contributor groups, ensure our policies and agendas don’t conflictconflict A conflict occurs when a patch changes code that was modified after the patch was created. These patches are considered stale, and will require a refresh of the changes before it can be applied, or the conflicts will need to be resolved., recognize outstanding contributors, and just generally level up, we need some organization. To wit:

  • I’d like to identify who the active contributors are in each group.
  • I’d like to appoint someone from each group (based on votes from the active group participants) as a group liaison to the rest of the WP project and any cross-team initiatives to improve communication.
  • I’d like to set up a central P2P2 A free theme for WordPress, known for front-end posting, used by WordPress for development updates and project management. See our main development blog and other workgroup blogs. for communicating project-wide things so that no contributor group ever has to hear important announcements after the fact and we can discuss any issues that come up that could use the help/attention of people from other groups (including core).
  • I’d like to try and set up a monthly IRCIRC Internet Relay Chat, a network where users can have conversations online. IRC channels are used widely by open source projects, and by WordPress. The primary WordPress channels are #wordpress and #wordpress-dev, on irc.freenode.net. chat and/or Google hangout for the liaisons to have some real-time communication.
  • I’d like to organize an annual contributor summit. Similar to the core team meetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area. concept, but more inclusive.

The core code contributor team is the most in the know right now, but I’d like to make things a little more equal. Even within core, sometimes I hear people saying they wish they had more of a voice. The way the survey is set up, first you’ll pick how many reps you think core needs to have in the game (just one for core, or a couple, with each representing a different level of experience/seniority to make sure more issues/concerns are heard?), then you’ll vote on who you think the rep(s) should be. Note that inclusion in the survey does not mean that person has agreed to be a rep… I just pulled from our credits list and teams page for 3.4. Once the votes are in, I’ll contact people to see if they’re up for it.

The survey is at http://wordpressdotorg.polldaddy.com/s/core-contributors
and is password protected to help reduce spam responses: core2012

If you could fill it in before the weekend is over (or right now… it’s only a few multiple choice questions), that would be great.

Thanks!

#contributors, #survey