The WordPress Community Code of Conduct outlines expected behavior within the WordPress Community. The primary purpose of the WordPress Incident Response Team (IRT) is to serve as a resource for the community when behavior within the WordPress project deviates from these standards. The team’s responsibility isn’t to actively monitor behavior, but to be available and responsive when needed.
Incident Response Team Mission and Scope
To provide a clear channel for community members to report and address incidents that may violate the WordPress Community Code of Conduct, ensuring a safe and respectful environment for all participants.
Scope: The 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 applies within all community spaces (virtual and in-person) and applies when an individual officially represents the community in public spaces. Examples of representing our community include using an official email address, posting via an official social media account, or representing WordPress as an organizer, speaker, or volunteer at an online or offline event.
How the Incident Response Team Operates
This is a high-level overview of how the IRT operates. You can find a more detailed description of IRT processes on the Incident Response Process handbook page.
1. Receive Reports
All reports are submitted through a dedicated channel, ensuring privacy and confidentiality for the reporter. To submit an incident report, please do so through this form or by emailing reports@wordpress.org. The IRT aims to reply to a reporter as quickly as possible after receiving an incident report; within 3 days at most.
2. Initial Assessment
Upon receiving a report, the IRT conducts an initial assessment to determine whether the reported behavior may violate the WordPress Community Code of Conduct.
3. Investigate
If deemed necessary, the IRT carries out a thorough investigation. This may involve speaking to involved parties and witnesses, and reviewing evidence.
4. Decision Making
After the investigation, the team deliberates and decides on the appropriate action. This may range from a correction to more severe consequences, in accordance with the Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines.
5. Feedback LoopLoop The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop.
The reporting party is informed about the outcome of the investigation and any actions taken.
Training and Onboarding
IRT members are nominated, vetted, and undergo a rigorous, cohort-based training. This training consists of an online IRT training course, followed by six synchronous sessions. All members participate in a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) training.
Incident Response Team Members
Team members as of January 2025:
- Aaron Campbell (@aaroncampbell)
- Kevin Cristiano (@kcristiano)
- Juan Hernando (@unintended8)
- Aditya Kane (@adityakane)
- Destiny Kanno (@piyopiyofox)
- Devin Maeztri (@devinmaeztri)
- Isotta Peira (@peiraisotta)
- Katie Richards (@katiejrichards)
- Harmony Romo (@harmonyromo)
- Felipe Santos (@foosantos)
- Hari Shanker (@harishanker)
- Rocío Valdivia (@_dorsvenabili)
- Pooja Derashi (@webtechpooja)
- Timi Wahalahti (@sippis)
In some circumstances, the IRT will escalate situations to the Executive Director of WordPress.
Communication Channels
- Public Contact Email: reports@wordpress.org. Emails are processed via Help Scout, with account access limited to IRT members.
- Public 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: #incident-response – A space for anyone to ask public questions of the Incident Response team. Team members should keep an eye on the channel and respond to community members’ questions as they arise.
- Private Slack Channel: A dedicated space for IRT members to collaborate on confidential situations.
While we aim for transparency in our operations, the nature of incident response requires confidentiality. However, anonymized annual reports will be shared with the community. Here is the 2023 annual report.
How to Report an Incident
If you witness behavior that doesn’t align with the project-wide or events code of conduct, please reach out to any of the IRT members, email reports@wordpress.org, or submit a report via this form. The IRT is also available for general inquiries, including clarifications about how incident response functions within WordPress.