Meetup Organizer Newsletter: March 2021

Hello friends,

Wow, can’t believe it’s March already! We have some exciting updates and resources for your 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. groups this month. Read on to find out more!

Newsletter contents:

• WordPress 5.7 and your meetup group
• Online event updates
• Tuesday Trainings
• News from the WordPress world

WordPress 5.7 and your meetup group

The latest major WordPress release  – version 5.7, “Esperanza,” came out on 9 March 2021. The release comes with some neat blockBlock Block 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. editor improvements such as inserter drag and drop for blocks & block patterns and improved reusable blocks. Additionally, it features a simpler default color palette, single-click HTTPHTTP HTTP is an acronym for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. HTTP is the underlying protocol used by the World Wide Web and this protocol defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands. to HTTPSHTTPS HTTPS is an acronym for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure. HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP, the protocol over which data is sent between your browser and the website that you are connected to. The 'S' at the end of HTTPS stands for 'Secure'. It means all communications between your browser and the website are encrypted. This is especially helpful for protecting sensitive data like banking information. migrationMigration Moving the code, database and media files for a website site from one server to another. Most typically done when changing hosting companies., a new Robots APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways., lazy loading for iFrames, and password reset links from WP-Admin. You can find more information in the field guide and the release post.

Upcoming 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. highlighting WordPress 5.7
Want inspiration for your Meetup event on WordPress 5.7? The following meetup groups have already announced sessions to promote WordPress 5.7. Check out these upcoming events!

• WordPress Oxford: What is new in WordPress 5.7? (English)
• WordPress Bern: Was gibt es Neues in WordPress 5.7 (German)

Online event updates

Don’t forget to catch up with online meetups across the world! If you’re organizing an online WordPress event, use the hashtag #OnlineWPMeetup for social media promotions. The WordPress Marketing team can help promote your online meetup – if you wish to avail their assistance, reach out to them in the #marketing SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel for more information. 

Decision-making checklist for in-person meetups
The Community Team has published handbook pages and a decision-making checklist for organizers to restart in-person meetups in areas where it is safe to do so (e.g., countries such as New Zealand, Australia, and Taiwan, where there are lower COVID-19 risks). However, WordPress meetups and WordCamps in most parts of the world will remain online due to  COVID-19.

Tuesday Trainings

Through Tuesday Trainings (#TuesdayTrainings), the Community team publishes a different topic on the WordPress Community Blog to help organizers and interested community members learn various skills. Don’t forget to check out our latest Tuesday Training posts: 

• Dealing with sponsors that are not 100% GPL
• Do I need a sponsor for my meetup?
• When can we start having meetups in person again?
• The Foundation Said…

News from the WordPress world

• The third call for testing as part of the Full Site Editing outreach program is out! To participate, join the #fse-outreach-experiment Slack channel. Deadline: March 23, 2021.
• Your local WordPress Community can now help with the Full Site Editing project! Learn more on how you can contribute. In case you missed participating in the FSE outreach program, you can now test FSE anytime —check out this handbook page to learn more.
• The Community team has shared a proposal on improving online events – please share your feedback on the same in the comments.
• The 100th release of the GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ 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 — Version 10, came out on February 17th. Check out Matias Ventura’s post to learn more. Version 10.1 also came out on March 3.
• In the latest WP Briefing Podcast episode, Josepha Haden talks about her typical day as the WordPress executive director. Check it out!
• Read Meetup volunteer Olga Geckler’s story in this month’s People of WordPress!

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If you have any questions, Community Team deputiesProgram Supporter Community 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-events Slack channel. Thanks for everything you do to grow the WordPress community. Let’s keep sharing knowledge and inspiring each other with our contributions! 

We will see you online soon!

#meetup-organizer-newsletter #newsletter

The following people contributed to this edition of the Meetup newsletter: @andreamiddleton @annezazu @daisyolsen @jillbinder