GSoC 2014

It’s that time of year again, when all good* coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. developers start thinking about whether or not they’re up for mentoring a GSoC student this year. Many in this group know the drill, but there quite a few involved core contribs active this cycle who haven’t been involved with GSoC before, so here’s the deal:

  • Google pays for a program that gives college students summer jobs creating 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. code under the mentorship of an organization (like WordPress).
  • We apply to be a mentoring organization and put up a list with a bunch of potential summer project ideas and identify who the mentors might be.
  • If we’re chosen to participate, we get a certain number of slots to fill, and students submit applications to work with us.
  • All the potential mentors rate/rank the proposals, and decide if there’s someone they’d like to mentor.
  • In game of chance-meets-requests dizzy enough to rival medical school matches, we put together our wish list for mentor-student matchups. 2 mentors per student, to provide coverage and make things more collaborative.
  • We hope that none of our top picks also applied to other orgs who accepted them, and wind up with our student roster.
  • We provide volunteer mentors to work one-on-one with the kids on projects that they applied to do over a 3-month period.
  • Open source code is released into the wild.

I’ll be putting together our application to be a mentoring organization this week, so it’s time to start thinking of project ideas we could suggest on the Ideas page that we need for the application (the more ideas the better) and who wants to be a mentor. The application deadline is February 14, so I’d like to get the Ideas list in solid shape (along with mentor bios) by Feb 10 (a week from Monday).

If you have an idea or are interested in being a mentor, please leave a comment on this post. At the end of the dev chat after 3.9 business is out of the way, we can discuss some of the ideas and I can answer any questions people have about mentoring.

Related: I’m also going to be posting soon about starting up a regular mentorship program, as outlined here. But that can wait for another day.

*Where good means both skilled and kind and generous with their time.

#gsoc, #mentorship

OSCON 2014

There are a few days left to submit proposals to OSCON. It would be great to see the sessions there that are about WordPress actually being presented by people involved in the project, so I’d like to encourage/beg/urge some of you to submit a proposal based on your involvement in the core project and/or the cool stuff that’s come out in the past year. The submission deadline is January 30, and the event itself is in Portland, OR July 20-24, 2014. To apply to speak at OSCON, go to http://www.oscon.com/oscon2014/public/cfp/308

#conferences, #oscon, #outreach

Team Rep

Hi coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. team! Checking in on the team repTeam Rep A Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts. situation — just waiting on core team to pick one for the next three months before getting all the other teams going with theirs (their new ones, I mean; everyone else already chose). It’s been a couple weeks, so would like to get this wrapped up today if possible. I asked Jaquith in -dev just now about the result of the meeting yesterday, and he said: “I believe we were going to let people volunteer themselves or others.nominate, decide, soon.”

If that’s already underway, great, and please let me know later today who you all decided on.

If it’s not really a priority bc core development is taking up all the prioritized brain activity, may I suggest @dh-shredder? When Scribu bowed out last time, we all agreed for Shredder to replace him, but though I talked to him about it at WC San Diego and then posted his name on the team reps page on the make/updates blogblog (versus network, site), I apparently forgot to post a formal announcement. So if no one is feeling an urgent desire to step up and write weekly updates and relay news back and forth, maybe Shredder would be willing to take the 3-month term, formally this time?

Anyone you guys decide is fine, but please do decide today.
Thanks!

#team-reps

GSoC Chat

Mentors: GSoC chat in #wordpress-gsoc in about an hour if you’re available.

#gsoc

Post Formats, Schedules, and Philosophy

Post Formats UIUI User interface is looking like this right now:
Screen shot 2013-04-23 at 9.05.04 AM

This seems confusing, because it looks like they are icons to insert something (Image, Gallery, Link, Video, etc), but instead of launching a popup to insert a link or an image, the screen changes and the navigation that was just used to choose disappears completely. (Note: If Standard had some indication of being the default/current selection it wouldn’t be as confusing)

Clicking on one — say Link — makes the UI change, the big icon row go away, and a format switcher link drops below the title rather than keeping its visual hierarchy above the post stuff, and it’s generally disorienting.

Screen shot 2013-04-23 at 9.09.35 AM

If the user thinks, “Whoa, what happened, I better change format again,” and they click on the “Change format’ link under the title field and next to the “Enter URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org” instruction, the screens morphs again to this:

Screen shot 2013-04-23 at 9.12.41 AM

Where the icon strip is back, but the link field has disappeared and the icon next to Add New Post is still a link. This is super confusing. Does it still think it is a link bc they didn’t actively choose to return to standard, they just chose to see the options? If that’s so, why did the url field disappear?

Looking at the release schedule:
Screen shot 2013-04-23 at 9.40.18 AM
We launched 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 on April 4, and it’s been almost 3 weeks without a follow-up beta 2.
…I am wondering if the post formats ui is really prime time ready, or if it should be one of the very first thing sto land in a 3.7 branchbranch A directory in Subversion. WordPress uses branches to store the latest development code for each major release (3.9, 4.0, etc.). Branches are then updated with code for any minor releases of that branch. Sometimes, a major version of WordPress and its minor versions are collectively referred to as a "branch", such as "the 4.0 branch". so we can get the things that are completely ready into the hands of users sooner rather than later?

Since I’m outside the coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. dev group now, I’ve been on both sides of the deadline delay dance. I know how hard it is to let go of something that feels like it is thisclose to done. And I know that just about everyone on the core team will be thinking right about now that I should shut up (and I’m okay with that, because it used to be my first response to deadline questions to core, too). But we have this philosophy posted 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/:

Deadlines Are Not Arbitrary

Deadlines are not arbitrary, they’re a promise we make to ourselves and our users that helps us rein in the endless possibilities of things that could be a part of every release. We aspire to release three major versions a year because through trial and error we’ve found that to be a good balance between getting cool stuff in each release and not so much that we end up breaking more than we add.

Good deadlines almost always make you trim something from a release. This is not a bad thing, it’s what they’re supposed to do.

The route of delaying a release for that one-more-feature is, literally, a rabbit hole. We did that for over a year once, and it wasn’t pleasant for anybody.

The more frequent and regular releases are, the less important it is for any particular feature to be in this release. If it doesn’t make it for this one, it’ll just be a few months before the next one. When releases become unpredictable or few and far between, there’s more pressure to try and squeeze in that one more thing because it’s going to be so long before the next one. Delay begets delay.

I’m not trying to be a troublemaker or imply that anyone isn’t doing everything they can — I know for a fact that people are working themselves into the ground on this release. Nor am looking to incite a debate about deadlines or all the explanations of how we fell behind this time (I’ve been following along, everything is really pretty normal). But would it be better to not try to squeeze it all in, get out what we can ship now (including the awesome 2013 theme that regular people still don’t have access to), and take a quick breath to relax before diving back in on a new cycle? Shipping is a feature, too. 😉

#3-6, #deadlines

GSoC 2013 Update

We have been accepted as a mentoring organization for GSoC 2013. I’m already being bombarded by overenthusiastic students with questions, so we need to get our act in gear re mentor list and project list more or less now. Definitely by tomorrow.

IF you have worked on an assigned feature team in one of the last few releases, you can be a mentor, yay!
IF you haven’t worked on an assigned feature team but you’ve had multiple patches accepted in one of the last few releases, you can be a mentor, yay!
IF you have themes/plugins in the .org repo and the lead devs say your code is good, you can be a mentor, yay!
IF you don’t meet either of these criteria but think you’re skilled enough and want to contribute, I need to have your code vetted by the lead devs.

If you are in one of the “yay” categories, please add yourself to the mentor list at https://codex.wordpress.org/GSoC2013 and leave a comment here saying you did so. Then, go to http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/org/google/gsoc2013/wordpress, scroll down, and follow the process to apply to be a mentor in the gsoc system. Note that it’s a little bit busted right now, so you might not get a confirmation back from me until they fix the existing bug there.

If you are in the maybe categoryCategory The 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging., you can 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.” me in irc, comment here, or email ([my username/irc nick]@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/) me to get on the list of potential mentors that will have code reviewed by the leads.

Also, project ideas can be added to the wiki page as well IF you fall into the pre-approved to mentor category. Worth running ideas past the leads in irc for a gut-check first. Other ideas can be posted here for review.

Thanks!

#gsoc

GSoC 2013

It’s time for us to apply for GSoC 2013 if we want to participate. I can take care of the application, but will need everyone’s help in producing the project ideas and mentor sections.

“Why didn’t we get accepted last year?”

We didn’t get accepted last year because our Ideas page wasn’t as good as it had been in past years, and they wanted to make room for some new orgs, so we got cut. Our ideas page wasn’t great because we were planning to embed students in regular cycle feature teams, but we didn’t write up all the potential features this might have included. This year we need to write out all the possible features.

PROJECT IDEAS:

The more project ideas the better, so things that aren’t targeted for the next cycle but that we might want to do as a 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 to get some traction for inclusion in a later release would be great projects, too. Project ideas can include coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. features, plugins, themes, unit tests, etc. This includes work on .org site things like the plugin used to power 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. sites. The projects must be code, though, not design, documentation, etc. List your project ideas in a comment on this post. Please give it a title, and a short one-paragraph description. If there’s a ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. or relevant thread somewhere, link to it.

POTENTIAL MENTORS:

Want to volunteer to be a mentor? You need to be good enough with wp coding that you currently don’t need oversight to generally get it right (though obviously we all can get better with more eyes on code), and have enough time to be available to your student for feedback and code review (at least once per week, though more often is better). The time commitment can be anywhere from one hour to ten hours per week, depending on how far along your student’s project is, and what there is for you to review (an hour or two a week is typical). You get a GSoC tshirt at the end. Want to be a mentor? Leave a comment on this post with a short/one-paragraph little bio about yourself, what kinds of projects you are interested in/qualified to mentor, and links to your website, 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/ profile, and twitter account.

LEAD DEVELOPERS:

I know you are right smack dab in trying to get this release out, which is why I’ll take care of the application and associated materials. That said, I’m a bit out of the loopLoop The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop. with core plans, so coming up with the potential projects list on my own would mean they might not mesh with the actual goals/plans of core team very well. I’ll be looking to you guys to give me a sense of priority/possible plans for the next dev cycle, and to tell me who is qualified to mentor a project from the final list of volunteers. Will 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 offline for this.

Not sure how to write up a project idea or your short mentor bio? Take a look at the ideas page from 2011 for a guide.

Note 1: This year BuddyPress will be applying as a standalone organization with WP as the vouching organization. I’ll be helping Paul Gibbs get their application going.

Note 2: I haven’t announced it yet since it just happened, but we’ve been accepted as a mentoring organization for the Gnome Outreach Program for Women for the summer session. Unlike GSoC, where Google foots the bill, we’ll have to raise the money to cover our interns for the Gnome program, so I’ll announce it along with a fundraising drive. The Gnome program is a little broader than GSoC, and does allow non-code projects, so things like design, ux, documentation, translationtranslation The process (or result) of changing text, words, and display formatting to support another language. Also see localization, internationalization., community management, etc would all be possibilities there.

#gsoc, #gsoc2013

Will need two volunteers to be the admins…

Will need two volunteers to be the admins for GSoC, overseeing our application, mentor wrangling, and if we get selected, student wrangling. Good project management skills required, familiarity with 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. a plus. Note: though most mentors will likely come from this group, it’s not my intent to pull devs away from development to be admins. Just posting here bc I know a number of project managers follow this blogblog (versus network, site). The adminadmin (and super admin) volunteers would be coordinated via the community group and would work with devs across coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., themes, and plugins as needed. If interested in volunteering as an admin, 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.” me. Thanks.

#gsoc

Contributor Stats

Going to be working on a project around stats for the contributor community, something at which we currently suck (even creating the list of people with props each release is still a fairly manual process). For the sake of this exercise, ignore the voice in your head that thinks, “There’s no way to gather that information,” or “We’d need a new 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. for that,” and just brainstorm. What stats would it be cool for us to have about the activity of 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.? Leave your ideas in the comments, and they’ll be cobbled together into a big list that I take to Otto to see what’s possible (at which point Nacin can start daydreaming about APIs, but not until then).

#stats

Team Reps

Heya. Now that we know Mark will be the release leadRelease Lead The community member ultimately responsible for the Release. for 3.6, on with team repTeam Rep A Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts. voting results. 🙂
Part of why I wanted to wait was because the people with the most votes were Nacin and Jaquith, and I suspected Jaquith would be leading 3.6 (so he shouldn’t be team rep also, per earlier discussions).

CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. team reps: @nacin and @scribu. Woohoo!

Term begins with the new year and goes through June.

#team-reps