Title: Call for volunteers: Release Model Working Group Author: Francesca Marano Published: December 20, 2019 --- [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/francina/) [Francesca Marano](https://profiles.wordpress.org/francina/) 5:04 pm _on_ December 20, 2019 Tags: [core ( 756 )](https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/core/) # Call for volunteers: Release Model Working Group The topic of the release cadence has been brought up multiple times over the past year: 1. The original post about [Major and Minor Version Release Cadence](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/02/27/major-and-minor-version-release-cadence/)– February 27, 2019 2. Recap of [Devchat after the hour: November 20](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/11/25/devchat-after-the-hour-november-20/)– November 20, 2019 3. [Tentative Release Calendar 2020-2021](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/11/21/tentative-release-calendar-2020-2021/)– November 21, 2019 There seems to be a strong will to increase the number of releases per year and some exploratory work has been already done by multiple sources. Now it’s time to put it all together and move forward with a plan of action. ## What problem needs to be solved WordPress releases involve quite a lot of manual labor and testing so the releases right now can’t be more than 3, 4 per year. Core contributorsCore Contributors Core contributors are those who have worked on a release of WordPress, by creating the functions or finding and patching bugs. These contributions are done through Trac. [https://core.trac.wordpress.org](https://core.trac.wordpress.org) are eager to move to a more frequent cadence. ## Scope of the Working Group To evaluate what is needed to change the CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. release model in terms of procedures, cadence, resources and produce a report that will: 1. Document the existing release process 2. Evaluate the technical changes needed to speed up the release process 3. Evaluate if those changes are doable with the existing resources and tools ## What has been done so far A few people have already done some research and told their experience during dev chats or in the above-mentioned posts, including in the [comments](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/11/21/tentative-release-calendar-2020-2021/#comment-37531). In particular, some blockers have been identified and the working group aims to document all of them and find reasonable and feasible solutions. Here is a nonexhaustive list of things that have been mentioned: * scoping the release * putting together a release team * the process itself: automated, semi-automated, manual tasks * supporting fewer PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher versions * supporting fewer WP versions (for security and other things) * better E2E tests and vuln tests * Tide support * writing the announcements * writing the 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. * writing 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](https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/about/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. ## Prerequisites The team needs people with different skills and levels of expertise * A project manager/coordinator to make sure work gets done * People with commit and mission control experience to document the process of the release itself * People able to write E2E and vuln tests * People that worked in previous released and are familiar with the coordination part: from scope to release. * Historians! People that have been contributing for a while and are able to provide some background and context. * Anyone who is willing to help 🙂 ## Time commitment and frame Between 2 and 3 hours a week, more if you want to! By the end of 5.4 release the group should produce: 1. A research of the various steps of the release 2. An evaluation of the technical changes needed 3. A draft of the feasible proposed changes ## Communication and project management I propose the group meets weekly in [#Core](https://make.wordpress.org/core/tag/core/) and adopts a project management tool for the research phase – [Trello](http://trello.com/) would be my suggestion. Once it moves to build solutions (hopefully!) TracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. or GitHubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged by the repository owner. [https://github.com/](https://github.com/) can be used. ## Who is in? Please drop your name, 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/](https://wordpress.org/) and SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/) username in the comments if you are interested and how you think you can help. **Deadline**: January 5. Hopefully, work will start on January 7th or 8th ### Share this: * [ Threads ](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/12/20/call-for-volunteers-release-model-working-group/?share=threads) * [ Mastodon ](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/12/20/call-for-volunteers-release-model-working-group/?share=mastodon) * [ Bluesky ](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/12/20/call-for-volunteers-release-model-working-group/?share=bluesky) * [ X ](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/12/20/call-for-volunteers-release-model-working-group/?share=x) * [ Facebook ](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/12/20/call-for-volunteers-release-model-working-group/?share=facebook) * [ LinkedIn ](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/12/20/call-for-volunteers-release-model-working-group/?share=linkedin) 1. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/888ecb9bec980eb4758575606e394842d4552fe72897e5183af8bb656035fba7? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 2. [Sultan Nasir Uddin](https://profiles.wordpress.org/manikmist09/) 5:10 pm _on_ December 20, 2019 3. I am interested manikmist09 4. * ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/60ecaaf28abd7db0e7590dd93a614e4d94750261f1a575ef2248341823a11be3? s=32&d=mm&r=g) * [brisksync](https://profiles.wordpress.org/brisksync/) 6:42 pm _on_ January 20, 2020 * I am interested 5. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e48e95eba4f298f73069e3545b63f3e6ac6c20104ff14e664afa6d787625918a? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 6. [Hristo Pandjarov](https://profiles.wordpress.org/hristo-sg/) 5:11 pm _on_ December 20, 2019 7. I would be happy to help creating the tests, by using SiteGround’s existing ones and expanding on them, to make them part of CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. automated testing. Our QA team is available to help. 8. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6f505c6be9a951929a99becb6b413dcfa583a5ca3dd0f7320766fee1481f0f82? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 9. [Jb Audras](https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/) 5:11 pm _on_ December 20, 2019 10. Interested, of course, as I worked in previous releases: [@audrasjb](https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/) 11. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/27d6168a7bff0f10ec5c569992a85745fccd9cb89798ffcb666ca3b08424f131? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 12. [Dipak C. Gajjar](https://profiles.wordpress.org/dipakcg/) 5:32 pm _on_ December 20, 2019 13. Yes, I am interested and can’t wait to get started. I never got a chance working on a CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., but being a WordPress 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/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/) or can be cost- based plugin from a third-party. developer, I am happy to help anyway. My SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/) username is: [@dipakcg](https://profiles.wordpress.org/dipakcg/) 14. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/52525485c604c4ed417a11636a0884d89395675d139245024cb71ac3ebe88dcc? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 15. [Justin Ahinon](https://profiles.wordpress.org/justinahinon/) 5:47 pm _on_ December 20, 2019 16. I would be happy to help as previous release leadRelease Lead The community member ultimately responsible for the Release.. [@justinahinon](https://profiles.wordpress.org/justinahinon/) on W.org and SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/). 17. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e2b013d8cbbb5db9bddc82e338bb2a74a5d7db1d4866a593bb383bdbab63dbc8? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 18. [Mukesh Panchal](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mukesh27/) 6:00 pm _on_ December 20, 2019 19. Interested. You can reach me in WP.org and SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/) using [@mukesh27](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mukesh27/) 20. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/28c4fc4ed512b59cb61ab14f7f0f1711a41f7a605b9d85d40753fd46472b9c08? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 21. [Erick Hitter](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ethitter/) 6:19 pm _on_ December 20, 2019 22. Consider my interest piqued. 🙂 I’m [@ethitter](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ethitter/) basically everywhere. 23. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f177e770b035389ec065534539ac16c73c5e4bf2b41ece68336c7119f0b9c6f5? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 24. [Sergey Biryukov](https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergeybiryukov/) 7:12 pm _on_ December 20, 2019 25. I’m interested, have some experience from co-leading a few releases 🙂 26. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97891a17d737ebead37447e64a530eb0ba3ddabe7e5ea2450bbde2b705dd87fc? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 27. [Amy Kamala](https://profiles.wordpress.org/amykamala/) 9:55 pm _on_ December 20, 2019 28. I’d be happy to help! I wasn’t part of the whole conversation thus far (just lurking in part of it) but I feel like new contributor onboarding could definitely be a factor in being able to push out more releases more quickly or not. [@amykamala](https://profiles.wordpress.org/amykamala/) on both wp.org and slackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/). 29. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a2690bc3e7ef0350cac88e27809169288b0086b1714707655fd2635026a0670b? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 30. [Robert Anderson](https://profiles.wordpress.org/noisysocks/) 11:21 pm _on_ December 20, 2019 31. Thanks Francena for wrangling this! Very interested in helping out. My username is [@noisysocks](https://profiles.wordpress.org/noisysocks/). 32. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9149875a8cf2875474223005576f7c412e7b4d07df82160adc687a8252227a5d? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 33. [Hareesh Pillai](https://profiles.wordpress.org/hareesh-pillai/) 4:29 pm _on_ December 22, 2019 34. Interested in this. WP profile: [@hareesh-pillai](https://profiles.wordpress.org/hareesh-pillai/) [@Hareesh](https://profiles.wordpress.org/hareesh/) on SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/) 35. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/0d38ddddc13b1cf1a4acd0b687b686462a7079b3b127f52373b6f97a7c82999f? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 36. [Debabrata Karfa](https://profiles.wordpress.org/dkarfa/) 7:39 am _on_ December 23, 2019 37. I’d be happy to help! and interested in this. WP profile: [@dkarfa](https://profiles.wordpress.org/dkarfa/) SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/): [@Deb](https://profiles.wordpress.org/deb/) 38. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/cf8262fd1764a03216f73938e487856669fcf73e9e7e2b7edd4bc447cca2ea75? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 39. [Ankit Panchal](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ankitmaru/) 8:39 am _on_ December 23, 2019 40. Yes, I’m interested. WP – [@ankitmaru](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ankitmaru/)@ ankitpanchal on SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/). 41. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/cdcf163a124db5909aed9f9aeb095f26f8db540d8e006109f41dc783a21c7d5e? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 42. [sathyapulse](https://profiles.wordpress.org/sathyapulse/) 1:17 pm _on_ December 23, 2019 43. I’m interested. [@sathyapulse](https://profiles.wordpress.org/sathyapulse/) – Both WordPress and SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/). 44. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f3e3d7032e8f3fe65ecd09482d321ffe40eaa144623c2ad0e774b0c1a067daec? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 45. [Chetan Prajapati](https://profiles.wordpress.org/chetan200891/) 6:33 pm _on_ December 23, 2019 46. I am interested. My WordPress and SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/) username [@chetan200891](https://profiles.wordpress.org/chetan200891/) 47. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/73c1045212929211deda7262005831319397c68d340a8c41d53633b3f7e7f129? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 48. [Andrew Ozz](https://profiles.wordpress.org/azaozz/) 5:57 pm _on_ December 28, 2019 49. It’s great to see so many people ready to help with this, I’d also like to help! 50. Frankly I don’t have much “software release cycle” experience outside of WP for the last 15 years or so. Have some from before that, but we are talking late 90’ s here 🙂 51. Nevertheless the basics are the same: get new features, enhancements, and bugbug A bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority. fixes in the hands of the users as fast as possible while ensuring the released code is high quality, and as bug-free as possible. 52. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4e44c1e7cc09211ae5d7ce33b214bf3d41fd728642bfcdb27561c16c9fc30195? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 53. [akshayar](https://profiles.wordpress.org/akshayar/) 7:17 pm _on_ January 4, 2020 54. I’m interested. I’m new contributor. [@akshayar](https://profiles.wordpress.org/akshayar/) on 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/](https://wordpress.org/) and [@akshaya](https://profiles.wordpress.org/akshaya/) on #slackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/). 55. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e0c792651dbc75c9f7c252e5c54355d63ed4f934405b90e61159344219aa21c3? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 56. [rafiq91](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rafiq91/) 6:07 am _on_ January 5, 2020 57. I am interested. I have budgeted 8 hours a week. [@rafiq91](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rafiq91/) Both WordPress and SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/). 58. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/963956274bfd2bffea32c06f693fe31f7447de67b239e0f55c1a631e4bce14c5? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 59. [Vinita Tandulkar](https://profiles.wordpress.org/vinita29/) 4:46 pm _on_ January 5, 2020 60. I’m Interested to help. [@vinita29](https://profiles.wordpress.org/vinita29/) on 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/](https://wordpress.org/) and SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/). 61. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2ea5772c260bea4c2f696267b582bcf93303ddae792cd0332e6ab4a19185adb9? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 62. [Shamali Sulakhe](https://profiles.wordpress.org/shamalisulakhe/) 5:51 pm _on_ January 5, 2020 63. I am interested. Recently started contributing, I would like to extend it further. 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/](https://wordpress.org/) – [@shamalisulakhe](https://profiles.wordpress.org/shamalisulakhe/) SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/)– shamalisulakhe 64. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/49238abf0487452747726c4e66c4af86151ab61c69a8ba4b6c599fbdd18dc639? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 65. [erickjlee](https://profiles.wordpress.org/erickjlee/) 5:59 pm _on_ January 6, 2020 66. Interested! [@erickjlee](https://profiles.wordpress.org/erickjlee/) 67. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/241584c8900ae5ccd62ff4c9db7d58e58bc9e0dc0162d4bdcac2a916d586c7ed? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 68. [Francesca Marano](https://profiles.wordpress.org/francina/) 8:15 pm _on_ January 6, 2020 69. Thank you all for your comments. I didn’t expect so many volunteers! I will go pingPing The act of sending a very small amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.” you in the next few days to hear more about your expertise and how you envision your role in a working group so we can get started. 70. * ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6f505c6be9a951929a99becb6b413dcfa583a5ca3dd0f7320766fee1481f0f82? s=32&d=mm&r=g) * [Jb Audras](https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/) 9:03 pm _on_ January 6, 2020 * Great 😉 71. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ae4a4e54f58de7f040c1caef738bb56f5ccaf16b0eed9b2304df92826609d3ca? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 72. [Mike Schroder](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kirasong/) 8:50 am _on_ January 8, 2020 73. Getting around to this is a bit late, but if I can be of help, I’m happy to. 74. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/46e579e5809af6c797613c207eb35f9b2ef06b2008e48c03e63e6d801ad048d6? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 75. [Mary Baum](https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/) 9:16 pm _on_ January 8, 2020 76. I’m in! 77. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/70c83ce0b076a495b73ee5823d0007c7b8e340fbc920c61286d2750deafa6a77? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 78. [Jake Spurlock](https://profiles.wordpress.org/whyisjake/) 9:27 pm _on_ January 8, 2020 79. Also interested, looking for ways to get security releases out a little faster… Comments are closed. # Post navigation [← Media Meeting Recap – December 19, 2019](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2019/12/19/media-meeting-recap-december-19-2019/) [Editor Chat Agenda: 8 January, 2020 →](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/01/07/editor-chat-agenda-8-january-2020/)