Editor chat summary: January 16

Phase 2

• 4.8 has been included in WordPress 5.1
• 4.9 is going to be released next week according to the regular schedule.
• In order to address some feedback about how to get involved for phase 2 this post was shared to hopefully clarify this more.
• Task Co-ordination
  • The idea is not to get everything done for next week, a simple task could be to do some research and clarify the work needed to accomplish a task.
  • The main features/focus for phase 2 are highlighted here.

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. Proposals Flow

• @karmatosed raised the point of getting new blocks into coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress..
  • When should something be proposed to core? Not all blocks should be core
  • How can you propose a block to core?
  • What ‘state’ should it be in?
  • How do we proceed from proposal to iterate and collaborate?
  • Don’t want to end up with 1000s of the same block

Widgets > Blocks

• Need devs to build prototypes.
• Would be great to get more people contributing and building these blocks.

PRs to highlight

• E2e tests reorganisation — @gziolo has been doing some great work on e2e tests both for accessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) and also a way to make the e2e tests setup usable outside the GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ repository, reference here.
• A note for those who write e2e tests, they have been moved them to packages/e2e-tests/specs folder. As new blocks are developed supporting documentation should be developed and attached to the block some way.
• New package with all e2e test utils wordpress/e2e-test-utils which is going to be published to npm next month and will allow some code reuse for those who can start writing e2e tests for their WordPress sites.
• aXe accessibility testing
  • The set of tools for accessibility static analysis which need integration with e2e tests to ensure that regressions are caught early on, learn more here.
  • Issues need fixing, some of them are related to the fact that WordPress uses “screen-reader-text” class. More info here.
• Async mode for the data module
  • A big milestone in terms of performance improvements that is going to be included in 4.9.
  • Make sure to test it extensively with your custom blocks plugins. More info here
• Ready to review:
  • Any volunteers to test and review these blocks?
  • Tag Cloud  (@soean)
  • RSS Block: (@soean)

Action Items

• Blocks Testing
  • – classic 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. block @jorgefilipecosta
  • – Server-side registration @gziolo @aduth @pbrocks
  • – Undo @aduth @mcsf
  • – e2e tests @sheri
  • – Widgets 2 blocks @ajitbohra @soean @pbrocks
  • – Potential data improvements @nerrad
• New Feature Testing –
  • @gziolo wants to battle test wordpress/e2e-test-utils with WordPress core and Twenty X-teen themes. Once it’s solid hopes to see some tutorials published.
  • @karmatosed will prepare a post gathering details/flow about core block candidates.

Open Floor

• @chrisvanpatten — will have some free cycles this week to review docs PRs, particularly from a grammar/clarity/readability perspective. If anyone has PRs you want reviewed please DM him.
• @luehrsen — would love to see a ‘blocks’ section on the ideas page: where people can propose blocks and 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 devs can pick that up. (Good case in point is @melchoyce’s Restaurant Design blogblog (versus network, site) post)
• Although @joostdevalk has expressed a desire to kill that ideas page in the past, and now that he’s in his new marketing position for the project he may very well follow through on that
• @youknowriad — A premise of Gutenberg is to enable people to build custom blocks easily (for niche use-cases)
• @ajitbohra — Perhaps a block library/pack as a plugin, for blocks that are not intended for core.
• @paaljoachim — supports having options in blocks to create a top and bottom margin/padding, as we need space between blocks in the layout.

The meeting archive is here.

The agenda for the next meeting is here, please add anything you want to discuss.

#meeting-notes, #editor-chat

#core-editor, #editor, #gutenberg