Potential addition of a new Onboarding Team

Hi Community Team!

Recently I proposed an addition of a new ‘Make WordPress Team‘, currently there’s well over 15 different teams from CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., Polyglots, Mobile and even Marketing. However I feel like there’s one team that is missing and is a huge part of what makes WordPress, WordPress. The new team would be focused around on-boarding new contributors to the WordPress project and also help in steering them where they need to go depending on how they want to get involved. Sort of like a hotel concierge service (sort of).

Now, whilst the community team does a great job at the community side of things such as 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. events to name a couple of things and getting people involved – this new team would reach beyond what the community team does and also cover every other team in WordPress as well. I’ve heard first hand from others (myself being one!) that getting involved with WordPress is incredibly difficult. There’s so many moving parts and all kinds of things happening that it’s very hard to make that first contribution. Even so, once you’ve made the first contribution, it’s hard to find out where to go next.

Here’s the low-down of what (I think) the team would do:

  • Liaise with other team leads on ‘good first bugs’-esque contributions for things like Core & Design.
  • Work with the training team and marketing teams for producing help guides and tutorials.
  • Quick start help with getting involved with 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 and Theme contributions.
  • Talk with the community team on how to get involved with WordCamps and 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..
  • Other outreach work with the Make/Teams.

And my favourite of all points:

  • Mentorship programme with on-going support for people who might not be as confident contributing or for people who want to try their hand at all sorts of things. Giving insights into the WordPress philosophies, community and 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.

So, what do I need from you guys?

Help. Please discuss this, let me know what you think and raise any points for concern or potential ideas we can include. Whilst I appreciate this isn’t strictly community related, and I’d like to ensure that this team is separate from the community as a whole – this new team will overlap in some form or anything with every other team in the 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/ community.

Also, some more food for thought, some team names!

  • Welcoming Team
  • Concierge Team (Hotel WordPress anyone?)
  • Onboarding Team

Thank you!