welcome wagon – Make WordPress Community

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We still need volunteers to sit in the #wordpress-contribute IRC channel and just make sure anyone with questions is directed to the right area. The biggest need is between UTC 0:00-12:00, and we have 4 hour shifts.

This is probably one of the easiest ways to actually start contributing if you’d like to start helping out anywhere. Familiarity of the contribution process is needed, but programming knowledge is not.

See the schedule here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ap7kF4dij-8ddDY2d1laWFRQR1BfWDRhbmtDMmhrOEE#gid=2

And our original post here https://make.wordpress.org/community/2013/01/29/im-pinch-hitting-for-andrea-r-so-we/

#irc, #signup, #welcome-wagon

I’m pinch-hitting for @andrea_r so we can get the schedule for IRC going before the team meeting.

I made a schedule of 4-hour blocks. People who want to volunteer should choose one 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. on either Wednesday, Saturday, or Sunday. We’ll get those days staffed first, and expand as we grow. Volunteering for that block means you commit to being online, in the room, and available to answer questions during that time, and if you can’t make your time slot, you are responsible for finding another approved welcome wagoner to take your place. Even if you plan to hang out in the channel and answer questions if you are around, only sign up for one block.

Once we have a schedule we’ll do an orientation so everyone’s on the same page about how we should be directing people. After orientation, we’ll go ahead and announce the room, link to it, etc.

Please read the instructions before choosing a time slot and adding your name. Use your full name with your .org username in parenthesis. Don’t erase anyone.

Add your name to a time slot at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ap7kF4dij-8ddDY2d1laWFRQR1BfWDRhbmtDMmhrOEE

#irc, #sign-up, #welcome-wagon

The official IRC channel for the welcome wagon is now live on freenode. Per @andrea_r‘s earlier post, this channel should be staffed 24/7 with at least one person able to point potential/new contributors in the right direction. My guess is that it won’t be very busy (at least at first), so it’ll be mostly a matter of idling and just responding when someone comes in. With contributors all over the world (making it nearly impossible to schedule real-time chats) I’m thinking that it shouldn’t be too hard to get volunteers. It’ll be Andrea’s job to decide on the volunteer schedule, but I’d recommend making it a weekly one that repeats for the sake of ease, and letting people swap shifts as needed.

Anyway, the channel is live at irc.freenode.net #wordpress-contribute. Once we get the coverage squared away we can start publicizing it and work it into documentation, make sites, etc.

#irc, #welcome-wagon

Jane and I had a great chat about what our hopes and dreams for this team can be. One of the things discussed is a Welcome Wagon.

For those unfamiliar with the term, a welcome wagon is a small organization that traditionally welcomes new people who move in to a neighbourhood. Often a basket is dropped off with some food, maps of the area and coupons for local businesses.

Since we are a virtual organization spread out all over the world, that’s not really possible, but there are some things we can do to make new members feel welcome and want to contribute.

What are some ways we can do this? Think back to other communities you have joined up in the past. What did they do that you really liked? I’d like to focus on positives here, instead of don’ts. 🙂

Some things I thought of which we might be able to do:

a nice email when someone signs up for 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/, outlining both help resources and contribution areas
a nice email once a certain threshold of forum posts occurs
a nice “Congrats! Your patch is accepted and you’re now an official contributor!” kind of notice for when that situation occurs
some way to team up new contributors with a buddy to show them the ropes
have the front page of https://make.wordpress.org/ be a little more directional and specific. Right now it shows feeds from each team blog, but as a newbie, there’s no real explanation of where you should go or what to do.
when a contributor submits a 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 or theme to the repo, a reminder that it now shows up on their profile