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It’s time for another edition of our meetupMeetupMeetup 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. organizer newsletter, packed full of updates from the WordPress world and our community!
Newsletter contents:
Check out the brand new Learn WordPress Platform
WordPress 5.5 is now available
Online Event Updates
Tuesday Trainings
Check out the brand new Learn WordPress platform
Learn WordPress is a brand new cross-team initiative led by the WordPress Community team, with support from the training team, the TV team, and the meta team. This platform is a learning repository on learn.wordpress.org where WordPress learning content will be made available. The first iteration has launched with a few workshops, and more will be added each week. The four initial workshops are:
In addition to these workshops, we will also be hosting supplementary discussion groups based on the content of the workshops – facilitated by discussion group leaders. Anyone can be a discussion group leader, including workshop presenters themselves! The first of these discussion groups have been scheduled,and you can join an upcoming discussion on the dedicated meetup group. More will be added as new workshops are published. Each workshop page will link to the meetup group.
Want to contribute to the Learn WordPress program? Here’s how:
You can apply to be a discussion group leader so that you can organize discussions directly through the learn.wordpress.org platform. (Note: If you are a meetup organizer, you can organize workshop-based discussions exclusively for your local meetup group without having to apply for a discussion group leader position. More details below.)
Help out with updating and contributing new lesson plans by following this guide.
How Meetup groups can benefit from the Learn WordPress platform
Meetup organizers can use the Learn WordPress content for their meetup events – simply ask your meetup group to watch one of the workshops in the weeks leading up to your scheduled event, and then host a discussion group for that content as your event. If you do this, you do not have to apply to be a discussion group leader using the form above – you can just go ahead and do it as an existing organizer.
WordPress 5.5 “Eckstine” (named in honor of Billy Eckstine) came out on August 11th 2020. The release is a major update with a host of features like automatic updates for plugins and themes, enabling updates over uploaded ZIP files, a blockBlockBlock is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. directory, XML sitemaps, block patterns, inline image-editing, and lazy-loading images, to name a few. WordPress 5.5 is now available in 47 languages too! You can update to the latest version directly from your WordPress dashboard or download it directly from WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe 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/.
As organizers, you can now help spread the word about WordPress 5.5 through your local meetup groups! Contributors from the WordPress marketing team are working on slides that could be used by MeetupsMeetupMeetup 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 promote the new release. We request meetup organizers to fill in this survey from the team so that they can support the marketing needs of meetup groups in general. The survey will also help the marketing team to come up with resources for organizers so as to help them promote WordPress 5.5.
This month, Luke Carbis and Jonathan Wold organized one of the first “virtual” WordPress meetups! The event was held in a 3D virtual world (powered by a hosted instance of Mozilla Hubs – an open-source platform for creating virtual spaces), via the WordPress Brisbane Meetup. The large virtual hall, designed specifically for the event, was big enough for the 12 or so participants to break out into smaller groups, holding multiple conversations at once. The 3D audio helped participants feel immersed in the space, hearing people to the left and right, closer or further away. Most people joined from their computer, and some even joined from their VR headsets, including the presenter Jonathan who talked about the future of WordPress and the Open Web. Attendees could see Jonathan’s head movements and hand gestures as he delivered the session. Luke and Jonathan plan to organize monthly virtual events of a similar nature, and have already started planning their next virtual event.
The picture shows a virtual “stage” where the session was held.
Would you like to highlight recent online events from your local meetup group in our monthly newsletter? We will publish a “call for content” post for the next edition of the newsletter in the first week of August on the Make/Community Blog. Please comment on the blog post when it is up or send us an email to support@wordcamp.org to share about events in your local meetup group.
Upcoming Online Events
WordPress Meetup groups worldwide are currently organizing online events instead of in-person events due to COVID-19. The team recommends meetup organizers to avoid in-person meetups for the rest of 2020, to ensure the safety and well being of our community members. However, since meetup events are online, you can now attend meetups and WordCamps across the world from the comfort of your own home! You can find out about all upcoming online events here: https://make.wordpress.org/community/events/online/
If you are holding a meetup online and would like to have a global audience, please use the tag #OnlineWPMeetup so that the Marketing team can find you and bring you some communications and marketing support. We’d also like to remind organizers of our Online events handbook page that offers a wealth of information on organizing online events.
Here’s a list of upcoming online WordCamps. Don’t forget to grab your free tickets for these events!
The Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) is holding workshops in July to support diverse voices to share knowledge and stories at online WordPress meetups and WordCamps. They have the following events scheduled for August – October 2020:
August 18-20, 2020: Beginner Speaking Topics
September 8-10, 2020: Intermediate Speaking Workshops
September 24, 2020: Hold your own Speaker workshop (Asia timezone)
October 6-9, 2020: Beginner Speaking Topics
October 24, 2020: Hold your own Speaker workshop (America timezone)
Follow the #WPDiversity hashtag on social media if you would like to keep track of diversity workshops.
Tuesday Trainings
Through Tuesday Trainings (#tuesdaytrainings) we publish a different topic on the WordPress Community Blog to train organizers and interested community members in a variety of skills, while also adding additional training documentation to our handbooks. Every Tuesday, a different topic will be highlighted on the WordPress Community Blog. You can find links to the latest Tuesday training posts below:
If you have any questions, Community Team deputiesProgram SupporterCommunity 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. are available to help. Please send an email to support@wordcamp.org or join the #community-eventsSlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel. Thanks for everything you do to grow the WordPress community, let’s keep sharing knowledge and inspiring each other with our contributions!
