Support Team Update: July 30

I need to poke @otto42 for concrete stats, but eye-balls tells me that Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/. for Docs and Support was a resounding win! Pair-ups went well, as did custom titles, so I’m going to push for carrying that onward with other things (I think this tails in with @samuelsidler and some of the work he’s doing).

Next? 3.6 was not released at WCSF, but it’s imminent. That OMGWTFBBQ post is going to get a re-write today, and a re-post on make/support.

Ideas/concerns from non English language support forums will be brought up to 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., but also on make/support for discussion.

#support

Theme Review Team Update: 07/29/13

The Stats

Currently

  • 8 new tickets are waiting for review.
    • 0 tickets are older than 2 weeks
    • 0 tickets are older than 1 week
    • 4 tickets are older than 3 days
  • 36 tickets are assigned.

In the past 7 days

  • 128 tickets were opened
  • 171 tickets were closed:
    • 111 tickets were made live.
      • 39 new Themes were made live.
      • 72 Theme updates were made live.
      • 3 more were approved but are waiting to be made live.
    • 56 tickets were not-approved.
    • 4 tickets were closed-newer-version-uploaded.

#themes, #trt

Mobile Group Update for July 29, 2013 

Update

  • iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads.: version 3.6.4 was released with some important fixes
  • iOS: there was more testing and polishing on 3.7 (Native WordPress.comWordPress.com An online implementation of WordPress code that lets you immediately access a new WordPress environment to publish your content. WordPress.com is a private company owned by Automattic that hosts the largest multisite in the world. This is arguably the best place to start blogging if you have never touched WordPress before. https://wordpress.com/ Reader) and bug fixes
  • Android: development continues on Media Library (access, update 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. data, etc) and theme switching (for WordPress.com blogs) functions.
  • Mobile Handbook: Progress was made on several parts of the handbook. Roughly 1/2 is ready for review.

Ongoing

  • iOS: Refactoring project continues
  • iOS: Updating the style of the app for next-gen iOS
  • Android: Feature complete media library and (WordPress.com) theme switching
  • Android: (NUX as time permits)

What’s Next

  • iOS: Submit 3.7 tuesday (WordPress.com Native Reader)
  • iOS: Work on 3.7.1 – bug fixes and improvements to the native reader
  • Android: BetaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. test 2.4.3 – improved categories.
  • Mobile Handbook: continue to make progress

More info in the dev chat summary.

#mobile

Team Rep Dinner Notes

For reference, here are the notes from last night’s team repTeam Rep A Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts. dinner.

Combining Teams

Heated discussion about combining teams vs combining blogs re Support/Docs. References to Automattic subteam structure sounded good to some, not to others. In combined team structure, would look at subteams for IRC, video transcription, codex, international forums, etc in addition to existing handbooks and forums groups.

For now, will combine events and outreach as subteams under Community umbrella and will combine blogs, to show what we meant. Support and Docs will combine rep role to provide one update but will not combine blogs at this time. They will try to work on outreach to the invisible subteams above.

Reps vs Leads

Agreement that it’s a murky distinction and that the experienced subject matter experts shouldn’t necessarily be what is basically an admin as well, and that the ‘team rep’ as we set it up might need some revision. Agreement also that the admin role can be a good way to increase a contributor’s responsibility and grow them into a lead.

@jenmylo, @drewapicture, @mordauk, and @samuelsidler will work on a proposal for how to recognize and label the different roles, and will bring it to this group (and Matt) for discussion.

Monthly Chat

Some reps were more interested in this than others, but we’re going to try it. @samuelsidler was volunteered to pick a recurring day/time. We’ll change the day/time every three months so that no one has to wake up at 3am for chat more than a few times.

The Job

Being a rep isn’t just about posting an update (also, reps that haven’t been posting updates, get going), but about bringing news from other teams back to your group and then bringing their response/suggestions/concerns back here, and about working with other team reps when there are cross-group initiatives (docs + 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 review on the plugin dev handbook was one example).

The job description is still at https://make.wordpress.org/updates/team-reps/ below the list of current reps. When we have an agreed-upon proposal for reps/leads, we’ll revise the job description. We’ll try to use fewer words and more bullets so it’s not too much to read.

Summit

Lots of discussion around what/where/when to do with summit, though all agreed we need to do another one. Early 2014 is the target timing. Many locations were discussed, including Tybee, hubs like Atlanta/Boston/Toronto/London/Paris/Chicago, other European cities, South America, Caribbean, Texas, smaller cities. No decision made.

@jenmylo, @siobhan, @samuelsidler, and @aaroncampbell will investigate some of the front-runner locations with regard to travel costs, 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), and the cozy factor. General agreement that the cozy factor was worth a little more money and a little more inconvenience in travel if the summit is a few days long. We’ll bring back 2-3 suggestions and take a vote to decide the location/dates.

Elections

We are overdue on elections, but the reps/leads thing should be defined first so people know what they are getting into. Will run elections soon after WCSF to get back on track.

Also-Rans

If any of the team reps who weren’t at the dinner would like to volunteer for the summit research team or the role revision team, let me know.

#meeting-notes

Plugins Directory Update, July 25, 2013

Most or all of the 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 reviewers will be at WCSF so the queue is likely to get pretty large over the next few days, but here is where we are right now.

Plugins Directory stats for the last week:

Requested :201
Rejected : 43
Closed: 12
Approved: 169

Commits by plugin authors: 3433
Currently in the request queue: 73 (2 older than one week; 23 with no replies)

Plugins support email stats for the last week:

Currently open: 28 (5 with no activity in the last week)

#plugins

Suggestion Since meta only had one team rep…

Suggestion: Since /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. only had one team repTeam Rep A Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts. (Otto) and he was spread pretty thin to begin with between meta, plugins, etc, and now there’s a new /meta person who’s full-time on the .org site management stuff, can we appoint @samuelsidler as /meta’s 2nd team rep until such time as we do the voting etc? It would be useful to include him in this stuff and he’ll have more time than Otto, I think.

Team reps: sound off in the comments.

#appointment, #meta

Team Reps at WCSF

I know not all team reps will be at 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. San Francisco this weekend, but I think at least half will be, and I’d like to get us all together for a lunch or dinner sometime between Thursday night and Monday night. Can everyone leave a comment saying whether or not they’re coming to WCSF? For those who’ll be there, also mention if there are any days you are already booked for such things that I should try to plan around. Thanks!

(While we’re at it, I’m helping Andrea with Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/. at WCSF, and knowing which team reps will be there will help us plan that better.)

#wcsf

Support Update for July 23

This weeks 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. may be thinly populated as many of us will be in transit.

Update

  • RC1 came out, https://wordpress.org/support/forum/alphabeta is pretty quiet, though, which matches Nacin’s remark that RC1 was more RC than other RCs. Still, any help is welcome 🙂
  • Google’s Spellcheck API vanished on the 11th, intentionally (i.e. Google turned it off). This will be removed in 3.6 because of reasons. If people ask why, tell them it was Google’s fault and point ’em to https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/24789 if needed.

What’s Next

  • WCSF!

WCSF is coming! I’ll be there at Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/., doing pretty much what you’re thinking of. The current plan is to pair up experienced ‘supporters’ with people who are new, to help walk them through getting their feet wet.

Mobile Group Update for July 22, 2013

We’ve changed our weekly dev chat time to be on Mondays, 9:00AM PST / 16:00 UTC. As a result, we need to post these updates on Mondays from now on for the update to make sense – would this be OK @jenmylo?

Update

  • iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads.: refactoring under way with some progress but still too early to tell/show
  • iOS: bug fix update 3.6.4 was submitted with some important fixes
  • iOS: More testing and polishing on 3.7 (Native WordPress.comWordPress.com An online implementation of WordPress code that lets you immediately access a new WordPress environment to publish your content. WordPress.com is a private company owned by Automattic that hosts the largest multisite in the world. This is arguably the best place to start blogging if you have never touched WordPress before. https://wordpress.com/ Reader) and bug fixes
  • Android: development continues on Media Library (access, update 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. data, etc) and theme switching (for WordPress.com blogs) functions.

What’s Next

  • Mobile Handbook!
  • iOS: Refactoring project continues
  • iOS: Updating the style of the app for next-gen iOS
  • iOS: Submit 3.7 (WordPress.com Native Reader)
  • Android: Feature complete media library and (WordPress.com) theme switching
  • Android: (NUX as time permits)

More info in the dev chat summary.

#mobile

Theme Review Team Update: 07/22/13

Stats

Currently

  • 5 new tickets are waiting for review.
    • 0 tickets are older than 2 weeks
    • 0 tickets are older than 1 week
    • 0 tickets are older than 3 days
  • 65 tickets are assigned.

In the past 7 days

  • 127 tickets were opened
  • 218  tickets were closed:
    • 131 tickets were made live.
      • 38 new Themes were made live.
      • 93 Theme updates were made live.
      • 2 more were approved but are waiting to be made live.
    • 82 tickets were not-approved.
    • 5 tickets were closed-newer-version-uploaded.

Theme Review Incentive Program

This week, the Theme Review Team unveiled a trial incentive program for Theme reviewers:

With the recent changes to the Theme Review infrastructure, we are now much more easily able to track Theme review and approval of new Themes, previously reviewed Themes, and updates to currently approved Themes.  While we have a much higher volume of tickets being closed than we have had in the past, we end up mired in a cycle of Themes being not-approved, re-submitted, and then not-approved again. If we are ever to gain long-term control of the review queue, we need to break that cycle – and the only real way to do that is to ensure that, as often as possible, all Themes submitted eventually get through the review process, and approved.

In an effort not only to bring the Theme Review queue under control but also to further our ultimate objective: to ensure Themes are approved and made available in the Theme directory, we are going to try an incentive program of sorts. As a side benefit, this incentive program will partially address another area of frequent discussion: the Featured Themes list.

This Trac Report tracks new and previously reviewed Themes that have been approved and made live in the past 30 days. It will be the basis for our experimental incentive program.

Every month, we will determine the three reviewers with the most tickets in this report. Each of those reviewers will get to select a Theme to be included in the Featured Themes list for the next month.

The program appears to be initially successful. By taking advantage of infrastructure changes (thanks @nacin and @Otto42) in order to change the focus from closing tickets to approving Themes, we appear to have made a dent in breaking the cycle of repeat “not-approved” tickets for a given Theme. In less than a week, we’ve eliminated the backlog of open tickets waiting for review activity.  The one number that has increased is the number of currently assigned tickets – but this number represents reviewers working in-ticket with developers to address outstanding issues, instead of just closing as “not-approved” as had been the norm previously. This improvement bears watching, to ensure that it can be maintained long term, but this is a great first step.

I’ve changed the displayed stats somewhat, to highlight the number of new Themes being made live, as separate from the number of Theme updates made live.

#themes, #trt