Two years ago, the organizing team of WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Paris started using the WP Idea Stream 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 as part of its toolbox, for the intake of speaker applications and to streamline the deliberation process. This year, we also implemented the plugin as part of the process at WordCamp Europe, using only the latter aspect as it was implemented only after the call for papers was closed.

After working with WP Idea Stream for a total of three events, and getting feedback from numerous team members, we feel that this could be a real asset to WordCamps all over.

The purpose of this post is to:

• detail the current state of the plugin’s development,
• look at possible roadblocks of using it on a WordCamp site,
• and determine whether there is enough interest and enthusiasm from all interested parties to work toward a compatible version.

STATE OF THE STREAM

WP Idea Stream was developed by Mathieu Viet (imath on 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/), with help from Grégoire Noyelle (aglekis on WordPress.org), with the general purpose of sharing ideas between members of a WordPress site. In its “generic” state, the plugin is not fully adapted to the needs of a WordCamp. There is a custom PHP file that they developed in parallel, to add the necessary functions and modifications.

Key Features for applicants:

• Speakers can subscribe with basic user information, creating their own accounts
• The inscription can be customized to include all of the information usually asked of a speaker applicant: bio, twitter, .org username, email, etc.
• Once logged in, a user can submit one or more talks.
• The talk submission form includes: talk title, talk description, tags, categories.
• Categories can be used for talk formats (lengths of talks), or any other taxonomyTaxonomy A taxonomy is a way to group things together. In WordPress, some common taxonomies are category, link, tag, or post format. https://codex.wordpress.org/Taxonomies#Default_Taxonomies. need desired.
• Custom 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. can be added as needed. The custom PHPPHP PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. http://php.net/manual/en/intro-whatis.php. file includes one for type of talk (design, dev, marketing, business), for example.
• Applicants can edit their talk, and admins can set a limit on the time (defaults to 1 hour but can be set to what needed see https://github.com/imath/wc-talk/blob/master/WP_PLUGIN_DIR/wp-idea-stream-custom.php#L896 )
• Applicants can view and update their personal information at any time.
• Applicants can view their talk proposals at any time.
• Applicants only have to submit personal info once, not once per talk.

Key features for organizers:

• The plugin can be configured for applications to be open until a specific date and time.
• The submissions are only visible to admins.
• Organizers can vote on talk proposals, using a 5 star rating (for which you can assign custom wording via the admin).
• The voting system displays the number of votes per talk, and the average rating.
• Organizers can comment on talk proposals.
• There is a sort feature allowing organizers to view talks by
  • Most recent,
  • Best voted,
  • Most comments
• Proposals can be filtered by a tag or a categoryCategory The 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging..
• Organizers also have a per-user view, which shows them which talks they have voted on and which ones still need to be rated. This can be handy with dozens and dozens of proposals.
• Talk proposals can be exported as a CVS with their taxonomies and average ratings.
• The WordCamp Europe organizing team requested an option so that the average rating is only visible after an organizer votes, in order to avoid bias.

POSSIBLE ROADBLOCKS

• User (applicant) inscriptions, because the plugin currently calls for users to be subscribed the WordPress site.
• ?

ROADMAP

There are two ways to proceed in making WP Idea Stream a viable option for WordCamp sites:

1. Fork it, and create a new, WordCamp-specific version
2. Add all specific features as options that could be configured back-end.
3. Or possibly a third option, if it would be acceptable to keep the custom.php file and install it alongside the plugin on the WordCamp network.

Complete list of features in the external custom functions file:

• 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. & taxonomy names and labeling as it appears in the admin.
• Specific signup process so that the user can choose between english or french for the site’s language
• Specific user role for speakers
• Various tweaks to make sure only Admins will be able to comment the talks (neutralization of post feed, comment notifications…)
• Specific postmetas
• Closing date for submissions
• Specific user’s profile tab to list the talks an admin still have to evaluate.
• Specific WP_List_Table column to include a simple workflow during final selection

RESOURCES

• https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-idea-stream/
• https://github.com/imath/wc-talk#wordcamp-talk
• http://wptavern.com/how-wordcamp-paris-streamlined-speaker-submissions-with-the-idea-stream-plugin

(CURRENT) TEAM

We’re stoked about the idea of making WP Idea Stream available for all WordCamps! And we’re willing to put in the time and energy needed to get it there…

• Mathieu Viet (Lead dev)
• Veselin Nikolov (Dev)
• Jenny Beaumont (PM)

#ideas, #plugin, #wordcamps