Dev Chat Summary: October 11th (4.9 week 11)

This post summarizes the dev chat meeting from October 11th (agendaSlack archive).

4.9 schedule and priorities review

  • Today is the BetaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. 2 deadline
  • Beta 2 build process will begin around Wednesday, October 11th 20:00 PDT / Thursday, October 12th 03:00 UTC
  • Next on the 4.9 release schedule will be Beta 3 next week on Wednesday, October 18th
  • Alpha/Beta/RC Forum has been quiet, excepting one that turned into a beta2 fix
  • Fix for PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 5.6.20 or higher file editor came in via Twitter
  • Testing ideally focused on:
    • Remapping of nav menus and widgets when switching themes (see #39693 and #39692)
    • The updates the theme/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 code editors
    • Scheduling and drafting in the CustomizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings.
    • Locking in the Customizer (like post locking, but for your site changes)
    • Theme browsing and installation in Customizer
    • Revamped nav menu creation flow
    • Video and gallery widgets, plus Text widgetWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. with embeds
    • Browser testing, especially mobile + IE
  • 16 tickets still need patches
  • Would appreciate help reviewing patches and committing from committers over next two weeks

Dev Notesdev note Each important change in WordPress Core is documented in a developers note, (usually called dev note). Good dev notes generally include a description of the change, the decision that led to this change, and a description of how developers are supposed to work with that change. Dev notes are published on Make/Core blog during the beta phase of WordPress release cycle. Publishing dev notes is particularly important when plugin/theme authors and WordPress developers need to be aware of those changes.In general, all dev notes are compiled into a Field Guide at the beginning of the release candidate phase.

  • 24 tickets tagged with needs-dev-note
  • Dev Notes were due with Beta 1, so we're behind on those
  • Please aim to publish those by this time next week so we can compile them into the Field GuideField guide The field guide is a type of blogpost published on Make/Core during the release candidate phase of the WordPress release cycle. The field guide generally lists all the dev notes published during the beta cycle. This guide is linked in the about page of the corresponding version of WordPress, in the release post and in the HelpHub version page. before Release Candidaterelease candidate One of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta).

General announcements

  • @paaljoachim: Has there been any discussion about Twenty Eighteen theme?
    • No plans as of now for Twenty Eighteen, likely not enough time to start and finish by end of the year anyway
  • @presskopp: looking for an answer on my question on #42131
    • Recommendation to check with the Widget component maintainers who may otherwise be focused on Customize-related defects with 4.9

#4-9, #core, #dev-chat, #summary