4.0 release plan and 8/27 meeting summary

Per dev chat on 8/27 (summary below), we are targeting a release of 16:00 UTC on 2014/09/03, kicking off at 14:00 UTC on 2014/09/03 in #wordpress-dev. There are a number of steps to go through, including running unit tests, checking build, and testing various update and installation scenarios. We’ll also do a dry run at the same time on Tuesday, 9/2, before we enter a 24 hour code freeze.

I’d also like to meet at 18:00 UTC on 2014/09/01 in #wordpress-dev to clear out all open tickets for 4.0 and do an RC2. It is a holiday (Labor Day) in the US, but I will be around throughout the day, as will other committers and contributors.

Summary of 8/27 dev chat (IRC log):

We’re at RCrelease candidate One of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta).! This means commits going forward need the sign off of two coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. devs, one of whom should be @markjaquith or @nacin.

  • Reverted #28659 and #25538, punted the latter due to regressionregression A software bug that breaks or degrades something that previously worked. Regressions are often treated as critical bugs or blockers. Recent regressions may be given higher priorities. A "3.6 regression" would be a bug in 3.6 that worked as intended in 3.5. issues.
  • Once a 4.1 milestone is created in TracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress., note that you should only move something into 4.1 if you’re taking responsibility for seeing it through, and/or it is already ready for commit. This applies to all milestones, to avoid bloat that becomes impossible to tackle.
  • @DrewAPicture volunteered to post on the make/docs p2 to round up help for docs / Codex.
  • Field guides / other posts for 4.0 (example on customizer API): WPLANG constant/option (@ocean90), ORDER BY (@wonderboymusic, completed), possibly one about session tokens.
  • Quick reminder to 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 devs: test your plugins against 4.0, update readmes, and add a plugin icon.
  • As always, help keeping an eye on the alpha/beta forums and bugs reported against trunk is appreciated.
  • Now is also a great time to be triaging tickets that are not for 4.0, particularly things marked as 4.1-early.