The Community Team warmly welcomes any new contributors interested in helping to build a stronger community!

To learn more about what this team is working on and how to get involved, talk to us in the #community-team 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, leave a comment on a relevant post, or use the Community Team contact form. Not in the Make WordPress Slack channel? Here’s how to join.

Community Team Projects are broken down into five categories: WordPress Events, Community Deputy Program, WordCamp Mentor Program, and Community Working Groups.

The projects listed here are ongoing and need volunteers. The skills required vary greatly, so there really is a project for everyone. Take a look and find yours!

WordPress Events

The goal of WordPress community events is to

  • Connect WordPress enthusiasts to each other
  • Inspire everyone to do more with WordPress
  • Encourage people to contribute back to the WordPress Open SourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. Project

Along with these, we also gain the opportunity to learn together. Community events are great places to learn new skills from others, and to discover the latest updates in WordPress.

Find out for yourself with these tried-and-true event formats that can be organized by anyone!

Events include: Local WordPress Meetups, Introduction to Open Source Workshops, do_action charity hackathons, and WordCamps.

Local WordPress 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.

Meetups power year-round, local WordPress communities. Being part of the WordPress Chapter Program with Meetup.com provides centralized account management for official WordPress 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.

Organize a local group. Organize an event series within a group. Host a co-working session. Or simply gather for coffee. All of these bring together WordPress enthusiasts in your area. The goal is to meet at least once a month, but organizers and attendees can plan as many activities within the group as they’d like.

Experience Required: 

  • Familiarity with and a love of WordPress
  • Desire to meet other people who love WordPress
  • Effective communication skills
  • Organizational skills
  • Reliable

Time Commitment: Varies based on role. Anywhere from 2 hours up to 10+ hours per month, depending on what you want to do.

Steps to Get Involved:

Introduction to Open Source Workshops

This workshop series was created to highlight the potential of open source software (OSS) in regions where there is less participation in OSS projects.

Introduction to Open Source workshops spread knowledge and understanding of the open web and open source through two-hour training events, staffed and organized by local communities, and are financially supported by the WordPress FoundationWordPress Foundation The WordPress Foundation is a charitable organization founded by Matt Mullenweg to further the mission of the WordPress open source project: to democratize publishing through Open Source, GPL software. Find more on wordpressfoundation.org..

The workshop series is available on Learn WordPress along with a lesson plan for people to use in their local communities.

Experience Required:

  • Familiarity with and a love of WordPress and Open Source
  • Involvement in your local WordPress meetup group
  • Desire to spread information about open source
  • Effective communication skills
  • Organizational skills
  • Reliability

Time Commitment: Varies based on role. Anywhere from 1 to 10 hours per month, depending on how you use the workshop.

Steps to Get Involved: Check out the WordPress Foundation blog to learn more.

do_actiondo_action do_action hackathons are community-organised events that are focussed on using WordPress to give deserving charitable organisations their own online presence. Learn more on doaction.org. charity hackathons

do_action hackathons are community-organized events focused on using WordPress to give or improve deserving charitable organizations online presence. Each do_action event includes participants from the local WordPress community coming together to plan and build brand new websites for a number of local organizations.

Experience Required:

  • Familiarity with and a love of WordPress
  • Desire to help non-profit organizations meet their goals using WordPress
  • Effective communication skills
  • Organizational skills
  • Reliable

Time Commitment: Varies based on role.

Steps to Get Involved: 

WordCamps

WordCamps are the annual WordPress events organized by local communities. In order to host a 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., communities are expected to have a strong local Meetup group that has been active for at least six months

The WordCamp program is supported by the Community Team, and its 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. and MentorsEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues.. These events are organized by the local community. 

Experience Required:

  • Familiarity with and a love of WordPress
  • Desire to meet other people who love WordPress
  • Effective communication skills
  • Organizational skills
  • Reliability

Time Commitment: Varies based on role. Anywhere from 2 hours up to 10+ hours per month, depending on what you want to do.

Steps to Get Involved: 

Never been to a WordCamp, find and participate in an upcoming WordCamp on the WordCamp Central schedule page

Community Team Event SupporterEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. (formerly the WordCamp MentorEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. Program)

The new Community Team Event Supporter role combines the efforts of our meetup reactivation teams with the previous WordCamp Mentor Program to create a new role with more opportunities for contributing to the Community Team. This broader more flexible system also opens up more possibilities for meetup organizer mentoring and mentoring the new Next Gen event formats.

Event Supporters are volunteers who have experience with WordPress Community events and want to help other organizers have a great time throughout the planning process.

Your primary goals is to help make events easier to organize and improve the attendee experience. To do this, you will meet regularly with the assigned event organizer and use your experience as well as Community Team documentation on procedure to help organizers host engaging events.

Additionally, you will continue to  check in on dormant meetups to see if they can be reactivated or should be removed from WordPress Chapter Program.

Experience Required:

  • Familiarity with and/or a love of WordPress
  • Desire to meet other people who love WordPress
  • Effective communication skills
  • Organizational skills
  • Reliability
  • Finish the two required training courses

Many events are in English, but if you are able to mentor in other languages, let us know. You can be a huge help as we grow our global community!

Experience Required Specifically to Mentor a WordCamp: All WordCamp Mentors must have been a successful lead organizer of a WordCamp from application to closing. Here are the qualifications specific to WordCamps.

Time Commitment: Flexible, anywhere from 2 hours up to 10+ hours per month, depending on how many WordCamps you would like to mentor.

Get Involved: Learn more about Mentoring WordCamps and how to apply to become a WordCamp Mentor.  

Community Team Program Supporters (formerly Deputies)

Community Team Program Supporters are volunteers from all over the world who respond to incoming requests to join the meetup chapter program. This includes vetting meetup applications, interviewing applicants, running organizer orientations, checking for existing groups, and chapter setup on meetup.com if approved.

Program Supporters perform similar duties for WordCamp applications, as well as handling swag shipments for organizers.

Additional 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. tasks include supporting and advising sponsors, supporting and responding to organizer questions in the #community-team Slack channel (join the Making WordPress Slack instance), and generally help keep things moving on the administration side.

Go here to see the list of currently active program supporters.

Experience Required:

  • All program supporters are expected to have been a part of organizing a local WordCamp or Meetup
  • Familiarity with the WordPress community
  • Search skills (to check for poorly indexed groups not on meetup.com, as well as to vet applicants)
  • Effective communication skills
  • Friendly and welcoming attitude
  • Meet these qualifications
  • Finish the two required training courses

The WordPress community primarily communicates in English, but we enthusiastically welcome Program Supporters who can help in other languages.

Time Commitment: Flexible, about an hour or two per week.

Get Involved: Learn all about being a Community Team Program Supporter in the Community Supporters and Managers (Deputy) handbook, and apply to be a Community Program Supporter using the new unified application.

Community Working Groups

Diverse Speaker Training Working Group

The Diverse Speaker Training Working Group (#WPDiversity) is led by @jillbinder. This group promotes diversity in WordPress Meetups and WordCamps. One of our focuses is particularly around increasing the number of speaker applications from people from marginalized and underrepresented groups.

The group helps Meetups and WordCamps run workshops on “Organizing Inclusive and Diverse WordPress events” as well as “Diverse Speaker Workshop: Own Your Expertise.” They also hold the workshops monthly for the community as well as for training Meetups and WordCamps to run them. 

Types of Volunteers Needed: Check out the Diverse Speaker Training Working Group Call for Volunteers for the latest details. Additionally, this 30-minute video describes the group’s history, current programs, and contribution opportunities.

Experience Required: No prior experience is required, but volunteers should be willing to:

  • Share ideas
  • Collaborate
  • Define and tackle tasks
  • Use effective communication skills
  • Help reliably

Time Commitment: Flexible, anywhere from 1 hour up to 5+ hours per month, depending on the role.

Get Involved: Reply to the post, reach out to Jill Binder in Slack (@jillbinder), or join a meeting on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month at 5-6pm UTC or 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month at 3am-4am UTC on the #community-team channel on the WordPress Slack.

Contributor Working Group

The Contributor Working Group (#WPContributors) is led by @harishanker. The group, which was founded in September 2020 originally focussed on improving the contributor experience in WordPress. It was relaunched in March 2023, with a renewed exclusive focus on building a contributor mentorship program for WordPress, in order to create a significant impact on the community and empower our contributors.

The group will initially focus on the following tasks: 

  • Brainstorming and building a structure for the contributor mentorship program
  • Recruiting mentors and mentees to the program
  • Offering support and guidance for mentors and mentees in the program
  • Creating and improving learning content for mentees
  • Running at least one pilot version of the mentorship program in 2023

Types of Volunteers needed: Any and all contributors are welcome. Some roles we are trying to fill include Mentors, Facilitators, Project Coordinators, Marketers, Educators, contributors to Make/teams.

Experience Required: None

Time Commitment: 1-2 hours weekly

Get Involved: Reach out to Hari Shanker in Slack (@harishanker) or join our monthly chat on the third Thursday of each month in #community-team at 07:00 UTC (APAC/EMEA) and 16:00 UTC (AMER).

#WPContributors

Youth Event Working Group

NOTE: This group is on pause until the COVID-19 pandemic clears more and it is once again safe to plan group events for children.

The Youth Event Working Group is led by @sunsand187 and works together to provide resources to event organizers of kids based events. The group has created and updates the handbook as well as providing guidance to new organizers via written documentation.

Experience Required: None

Time Commitment: 1-2 hours weekly

Get Involved: Reach out to Sandy Edwards in Slack or ask in the #community-team channel.

#wpdiversity

#community-events