Meetup Tracker

The 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. Tracker is a tool that the Global Community TeamGlobal Community Team A group of community organizers and contributors who collaborate on local events about WordPress — monthly WordPress meetups and/or annual conferences called WordCamps. uses to track all current Meetup.com groups, and new Meetup applications received via the form for the Meetup Chapter Program.

This tool is hosted in the dashboard of central.wordcamp.org, and if you’re an active Community Program SupporterProgram 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. (DeputyProgram 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.) who has been vetting Meetup applications for the last 6 months, you should have received access to it already.

Reviewing Applications

For instructions and tips on how to vet Meetup applications, please check the Community Team Supporters and Manager’s Handbook page “Application Review”. This page shows how to use the Meetup Tracker tool, and is not about vetting applications.

Custom Post Type: Meetups

We imported all existing WordPress Meetup.com groups on September 7th, 2018 into the Meetup tracker. Any group that applied to the chapter before that date will not have application details in this new tool, but you will still be able to check their application details in HelpScout.

Any new Meetup application received from September 10th, 2018 will show up in the following page of the Meetup Tracker (see screenshot below):

If you’re going to vet Meetup applications, we recommend you to click “Needs Vetting” at the top of the page and then order by “Date”. That way, we always review applications from the older to the newest.

As you can see in the image above, you’ll be able to filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. the list of Meetup groups by its status. In the next section, you’ll see all the different statuses available per Meetup custom post typeCustom Post Type WordPress can hold and display many different types of content. A single item of such a content is generally called a post, although post is also a specific post type. Custom Post Types gives your site the ability to have templated posts, to simplify the concept..

Meetup Statuses

All Meetup applications can have assigned one of the following statuses:

• Needs Vetting
• Awaiting Feedback
• Needs orientation/interview
• Scheduling [the orientation/interview]
• Scheduled [the orientation/interview]
• Needs site [a new Meetup.com group]
• Needs transfer [to transfer the existing group into the chapter program]
• Needs to assign new owner [second step of the transfer]
• Changes requested
• Cancelled
• Declined
• Active in the chapter
• Dormant
• Removed from the chapter

When vetting an application

All Meetup applications are received and marked initially with the status “Needs vetting” (see image above).

After you’ve vetted an application by filling in the review checklist, please copy/paste all that info into the “Add Private Note” text field. Then, based on the outcome of your vetting, you have some options:

1. Change the status to “Needs orientation/interview”
2. Mark as waiting for more information by adding the Meetup TagTag Tag is one of the pre-defined taxonomies in WordPress. Users can add tags to their WordPress posts along with categories. However, while a category may cover a broad range of topics, tags are smaller in scope and focused to specific topics. Think of them as keywords used for topics discussed in a particular post. “More info requested” and changing the status to “Awaiting Feedback”. This way the “Needs vetting” queue is more accurate.
3. Use the status “Cancelled” when the applicant doesn’t reply to our emails, or if they step down and are no longer interested in organizing the Meetup group.
4. Change the status to “Declined” when the application has been declined by us for different reasons: CoCCode 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, GPLGPL GPL is an acronym for GNU Public License. It is the standard license WordPress uses for Open Source licensing https://wordpress.org/about/license/. The GPL is a ‘copyleft’ license https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html. This means that derivative work can only be distributed under the same license terms. This is in distinction to permissive free software licenses, of which the BSD license and the MIT License are widely used examples. or Trademark violation, etc.

After that, click the blue “Update” button, and all your private notes, status change, and tags added/deleted will be updated in the “Log” section near the bottom of the page (see image below).

Note: we’ll keep using HelpScout to communicate with our users, so don’t forget to add the HS ticket link to the field “HelpScout link” under the “Meetup Information” section.

Application Information section

As we used to do in the “Meetup Status Doc” sheet, we’ll track the supporter who managed the vetting, as well as the date of vetting, orientation and joining the chapter. This information is found near the middle of the page under “Application Information”.

So, don’t forget to add the date of the action, and your 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/ username and update the “Who contacted” fields! 🙂

After Meetup Orientation

Orientation is the opportunity for you to get to know the applicant(s) and the WordPress community they are representing. The orientation script is the guidance you can use.

These are the steps you have to do after an orientation:

1. Add notes about the applicant and groups to the 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. box “Add Private Note”.
2. Update the ‘Orientation Date’ and ‘Oriented by’ fields under “Application Information”.
3. Create a site – please contact the Supporters who have permission to create a Meetup.org group.
4. Send an email to the applicant using ‘MEETUP: New Group Ready to Join’ saved reply on Help Scout.
5. Update the ‘Join chapter date’ and ‘Join chapter by’ fields under “Application Information”.
6. Add necessary tags based on the status on the tracker and on Help Scout.
7. Send welcome swag pack – please contact the Supporters who have permission to send swag.

Sending swag to a Meetup group

If you’re going to send swag to a Meetup group, don’t forget to check our documentation page with the instructions.

After ordering Swag, please add the date and order number of the shipment to the meta box “Add Private Note”.

Ta-da! That is everything you need to do to help track 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.. Thanks for all you do to keep Meetups around the world happy, healthy, and organized!