Editor chat summary: May 15

This post summarizes the weekly Editor meeting on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, 4:00 PM GMT+3 held in Slack.

The agenda followed can be found here.

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/ 5.7

Gutenberg 5.7 was released today, congratulations to everyone who participated in this release!

Gutenberg Docs are now in the WordPress DevHub

You can check this out at: https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/  They have also been reorganized for better navigation and discoverability. Props to @nosolosw @chrisvanpatten @coffee2code @mkaz @kenshino.

WordPress 5.3 planning

During the previous dev chat the scope of the WordPress 5.3 was discussed. Today @youknowriad asked what can we get into that release from the CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Editor team.

@youknowriad, @aduth, @joen, @getdave proposed new Gutenberg features and updates to land in  WordPress 5.3 (to be released in late August):

Improvements we can safely expect:

  • Columns 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. Resizing
  • Group Block (new block)
  • Nested Block Selection improvements
  • Table Block
  • UIUI User interface improvements: Micro-animations, publishing flow tweaks, Snackbar notifications
  • Selecting parent blocks with clickthrough
  • Block Grouping

Big subjects and uncertain features:

  • A Navigation Block
  • A new widgets screen
  • The Block Registration APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. relying on block.jsonJSON JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a minimal, readable format for structuring data. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and web application, as an alternative to XML.

Notes:

  • @mapk expressed concern over committing to landing a Navigation Block in WordPress 5.3 because of a lacking clear place to use the block once it becomes available in the Inserter.
  • @youknowriad expressed hope that we’ll soon have a « widgets screen » prototype in the 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 and clarify whether this can be part of the release or not.
  • @gziolo: 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. 1 is the deadline for new features which means late July to have everything ready

Task Coordination

  • @nerrad:
    • Exposing whether a selector has a resolver
    • New `wordpress/data-controls` package is up for review, requires the above before it can be merged
    • Exposing the registry context object needed for the work related to `useSelect` and other hooksHooks In WordPress theme and development, hooks are functions that can be applied to an action or a Filter in WordPress. Actions are functions performed when a certain event occurs in WordPress. Filters allow you to modify certain functions. Arguments used to hook both filters and actions look the same.,
    • Some initial experimental work on `useSelect`
    • volunteered to review the RFC docs
  • @karmatosed
    • Next week the goal is to go through the ‘needs design’ and pass over issues to see we didn’t miss anything.
    • Personally focused on herding triages and test posting for RCrelease 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).
    • Volunteered to review the RFC docs
  • @mkaz
  • @jorgefilipecosta
    • Add 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.-areas endpoint, ready for review, and it may be good PR for people with more experience in PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 5.6.20 or higher than JSJS JavaScript, a web scripting language typically executed in the browser. Often used for advanced user interfaces and behaviors. to review.ecially
  • @aduth
    • Would like to start looking at persistent user preferences (maybe reduce the frequency in which you see the “Welcome to Gutenberg” tips)
  • @kjellr:
  • @koke:
    • there are more incoming changes to RichText so the mobile team would like to coordinate those better: @sergioestevao and @daniloercoli would be the RichText contacts for iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. and Android respectively.
  • @getdave
  • @nosolosw
    • Helping with docs: fixes, reorganization, migrationMigration Moving the code, database and media files for a website site from one server to another. Most typically done when changing hosting companies. to DevHub.
    • For the next weeks, iterate on gallery improvements and the ability to reorder images within them (new controls that are keyboard-friendly and drag&drop).
  • @danr:
    • working on table block improvements, there is a new PR open for adding captions
    • WIll work on  exploring keyboard navigation (navigating between cells using arrow keys)
  • @mapk
    • Will  help @danr on those Table block improvements

Explicit Draft statuses for RFCs

There is an increasing worry over the current state of the Widgets RFC because it is hard to make sense of it, or to follow developments as it’s now at over 170 comments. It became a good example that when trying to devise the perfect all-encompassing plan, discussion can become fragmented, we lose sight of the larger goal, and momentum halts.

There was as lively discussion about this and @youknowriad identified the following actionable steps:

To handle multiple merged RFCs @aduth proposed we’d have a Project board with a column for each RFC, and each column would contain issues or PR’s that affect that column’s RFC.

A second Gutenberg triagetriage The act of evaluating and sorting bug reports, in order to decide priority, severity, and other factors. session that is more APAC timezones friendly

The proposal is to have a second Gutenberg triage session around 06:00 UTC, every two weeks, in the 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/. #core-editor channel, but no day is yet. @danr, @noisysocks and, @andraganescu would attend/run the sessions and we’d love it if others could join/help. The reasoning is that many struggle to attend meetings or triage sessions due to timezones, so this would be a chance to get involved at a more comfortable time of day.

Notes:

  • the general feeling was that it’s a good idea and that it should happen.
  • @youknowriad suggested it could include new contributors help

Closing

Have thoughts on the above? Please leave a comment on this post!

The agenda for the next meeting, on Wednesday, May 22, 2019, 4:00 PM GMT+3 , is here; please add anything that you want to discuss.

#editor-chat