The WordPress coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. development team builds WordPress! Follow this site for general updates, status reports, and the occasional code debate. There’s lots of ways to contribute:
Found a bugbugA 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.?Create a ticket in the bug tracker.
WordPress 6.5 is set to be released on March 26th, 2024. This release brings greater design control and optionality, more robust blockBlockBlock 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. capabilities with new APIs, access to current block theme functionality to classic themes, and the start of the new adminadmin(and super admin) redesign. More specifically, these significant features include the Font Library for easy global font management, support for Appearance Tools in Classic Themes for more expansive design options, and more robust revisionsRevisionsThe WordPress revisions system stores a record of each saved draft or published update. The revision system allows you to see what changes were made in each revision by dragging a slider (or using the Next/Previous buttons). The display indicates what has changed in each revision. across the editing experience (including revisions for template parts and templates). New APIs like Interactivity, Custom Fields, and Block Binding expand block capabilities and underpin features like partial sync patterns, and PHPPHPThe web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 5.6.20 or higher compatibility work ensures alignment with PHP versions. Rollback for pluginPluginA 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 theme updates enhances safety, and bugbugA 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 address various components for an improved user experience. The first taste of the admin redesign as part of phase 3 efforts are planned for this release in an iterative and contained way by bringing a new experience to the template, template part, and pattern lists within the Site Editor.
As always, what’s shared here is being actively pursued, but doesn’t necessarily mean each will make it into the final release of WordPress 6.5.
For a more detailed look at the work related to the block editor, please refer to the 6.5 board.
Design tools
Font Library
The Font Library makes it easy for anyone to install, remove, and activate fonts across your site. It’s available globally, independent of the theme activated, similar to the Media Library. Any installed font, whether installed by a user or a theme, can then be selected across the editing experience.
Syncing specific blocks and attributes of patterns
Building upon synced patterns, partial sync patterns would allow users to ensure a synced layout and style across patterns while allowing each instance of the pattern to have customized content. This allows for consistency in design across different pieces of content. For instance, consider a testimonial pattern in a grid. With the enhanced feature, someone can insert this testimonial pattern into multiple posts, ensuring that the layout and styling components, such as the overall design of the recipe card, remain consistent across instances. Meanwhile, the content, such as Name, Image, and Role, would be local to each instance allowing for individual customization. Additionally, folks would then be able to revisit and modify the design of the overall testimonial pattern without affecting the content in existing instances. Of note, this work will need to align with the following Custom Fields API and Block Binding API.
Section Specific Theme.jsonJSONJSON, 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. and Colorways
Taking the high level styling system with features like style variations, section specific theme.json offers more granular control for defined parts of your site using that same underlying system. This is a broad set of work and, for 6.5, the aim is to bring color variations to group blocks via the idea of Colorways. Colorways is a subset of section-specific theme.json, with styling elements only. This option would only be available for Group blocks for 6.5 in a code only way except for a minor UIUIUser interface to select. These styles would apply curated color, typography, border styles etc along with styles for elements (links, buttons etc). For now, the most common use case is a theme author creating them for a theme to provide a predefined set of colors that have been preselected based on appropriate contrast, aesthetics, and more. In the future, work is being explored to allow users to create them in the Styles interface.
Adding support for Appearance Tools opens a world of design options that, up until this point, have been only available with Block Themes, or themes using theme.json. For example, adding a simple border to a Group block requires support for Appearance Tools. Work is underway to allow Classic Themes to add support for most of these tools safely, without breakage, unlocking more design options for more sites in a big way.
Similarly, building off of work in WordPress 6.3 to enable the creation and management of patterns, this same experience will land for non-Block Themes is planned by adding a Patterns tab under Appearance that allows access to the modernized patterns interface available in the Site Editor. Within this experience, one can easily preview and manage created patterns for most themes.
New data views for templates, template parts, and patterns in the Site Editor
This work kicks off aspects of the Admin Redesign effort in an iterative and contained way by bringing a new experience to the template, template part, and pattern lists within the Site Editor. The following features are planned:
Ability to display a table with specific fields, pagination and quick actions.
Toggling fields and sorting and filtering data by field.
UI for selecting entries and performing bulk actions.
Support for different layouts, like classic table, grid view (including gallery), with the option to display a side-by-side preview.
Support for saving and toggling between “views”, which are specific configurations of layouts, field visibility, etc.
This feature-rich experience provides immediate value both to the Site Editor and begins to lay the groundwork for future work related to Phase 3, including efforts around Workflows and Media Library.
Revisions help create confidence when writing and creating, knowing your changes are always safely stored. For WordPress 6.5, templates and template parts will now display revisions, alongside broader upgrades to style revisions with plans for side by side comparisons, pagination, more detailed descriptions, and more.
6.5 seeks to move the needle with responsive controls by adding the ability to fully customize what your overlay menu will look like. The navigation overlay is the name for the menu that’s shown when you set and open a mobile menu. Having full control over this mobile menu would allow you to customize the colors, spacing, and blocks offering the option for a distinct menu experience across devices.
Interactivity APIAPIAn 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.
The Interactivity API aims to be a standard way to allow developers to add interactivity to the frontend of their blocks, like hearting a post or adding to cart without page loads. A standard makes it easier for developers to create rich, interactive user experiences, from simple cases like counters or popups to more complex features like instant page navigation, instant search, or carts and checkouts. After testing the API on specific coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. provided blocks for months in the GutenbergGutenbergThe 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/ plugin and, more recently, in core with WordPress 6.4, there are a few remaining tasks to expose the API for extenders: “store refactoring” based on feedback from early adopters, server-side directive processing that covers SEO requirements and optimizes initial renders, and adding support for ES Modules and import maps. Each of these are projects in their own right and will need to be evaluated for the release.
This feature aims to create a simple way of connecting block attributes and Custom fields/metadata. Because this is such a broad undertaking, a scaled back version is planned for 6.5 that would accomplish the following:
Connect block attributes and custom fields without a UI.
Include a basic UI to create these bindings where the API can read the metadata value
Add the possibility to edit the value of the metaMetaMeta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. field directly through the editing experience.
Add support for more core blocks based on importance and relevancy.
This API aims to connect block attributes to values, obtained from different sources, that might vary depending on the context. For example, a value like post_author that changes depending on the current post. This will expand the capabilities of existing blocks without the need to create new ones, which will empower theme developers and site owners. For example, having a heading block with the content of the Post Author without needing a new Post Author block. For 6.5, the work for this API will mainly be focused on serving other pieces of the roadmap, namely Custom Fields and Partial Sync Patterns.
Several compatibility fixes are scheduled to ship with 6.5, with work underway to improve compatibility with PHP 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2.
Since the adoption of a tiered PHP 8+ compatibility plan, each release brings the opportunity to update official PHP compatibility information for the new, as well as previous, versions of WordPress. Using current data from each PHP 8.x version’s usage metrics and open compatibility issues, exceptions will be cleared or added, and updates applied to the version chart. Significant exceptions might also warrant a dedicated Make/Core post with additional details.
The official release of PHP 8.3 in late November means that site operators and hosting companies will want to know if WordPress 6.5 is compatible with the latest PHP. Technical exceptions called out on the PHP compatibility page do not provide many users a clear answer to this question. Barring any major issues with running 6.5 on PHP 8.3, it may be helpful to publish an official compatibility notice on WordPress/News (see this example clarifying WordPress 6.4 compatibility on PHP 8.1 and 8.2).
Rollback for plugin and theme updates for automatic updates
Building on prior efforts released in WordPress 6.3, rollbacks for automatic updates to plugins is underway. Specifically, this means that checks will be added to ensure that an updated plugin does not cause a PHP fatal error when the plugin is active during an auto-update.. If it does, this error is captured and the previously installed version is restored, along with an email sent to the site admin.
Currently, any plugin that requires another plugin (i.e., a dependency) is on its own to make sure admins install the dependency since the plugin won’t work without it. To ease that process for everyone involved, work has been underway to create a consistent method to handle dependencies and provide a clear pathway for folks to know the relationship and take proper action while installing these kinds of plugins. Namely, the current approach prevents activation of a dependent plugin if its dependences are not installed and activated. If dependences suddenly become unavailable (such as if a dependency’s directory is manually deleted), the dependent plugin is automatically deactivated. To learn more about this effort, please review the Feature Project: Plugin Dependencies post.
While performance is a constant focus and each new feature must be reviewed for performance impact, a few priority projects are on the performance team’s list to address for 6.5:
Review a discussion around changing the order of the sidebar items in the Site Editor (and why it might make more sense in the future with improved blockBlockBlock 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. theme switching!).
In the meeting or in the comments for async contributions, @annezazu asks if folks can please emoji reactReactReact is a JavaScript library that makes it easy to reason about, construct, and maintain stateless and stateful user interfaces. https://reactjs.org/. with feedback to give a sense of whether she is on/off track: = good, = okay, = bad. For anything other than green, feel free to thread a comment during the meeting with feedback or link the item and add it to the comments below.
Please also add your thoughts to the discussion on the future of the core-editor chat.
Forthcoming release updates
WordPress release: 6.4
Any new issues?
New updates on 6.4.x release team or dates for 6.4.2?
For those who were missing the core contributor profile badge and should have received it after 6.4, profiles have been updated. Slack update. should have it now.
Are you able to help with future bugbugA 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. scrubs? Bug scrubs post. Check out the tickets discussed at the bug scrub on November 28, 2023. Next scrub: December 5, 2023 at 19:00 UTC in the core SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel.
Tickets or Components help requests
Please add any items for this part of the agenda to the comments – tickets for 6.5 will be prioritized. If you can not attend dev chat live, don’t worry, include a note and the facilitator can highlight a ticketticketCreated for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. if needed.
Open floor
If you have any additional items to add to the agenda, please respond in the comments below to help the facilitator highlight them during the meeting.
a) Reminder from last week: Josepha has asked in the Team Reps channel for highlights from the last year, if you have any item you feel should be included about core’s achievements or items in progress, please add them to the comments on this post for @webcommsat and @hellofromtonya who are preparing the bullet points to send for core. Please do share any comments on this agenda.
b) Nominations for Core Team Reps: 2024 edition – reshare of the draft post to gather suggestions on timings related to the end date for nominations and the end of the voting period. The voting tool to use and whether an embedded voting block in discussion with other teams would be available for this edition to be finalized.
Please do consider whether you could stand for the core team repTeam RepA 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. for next year.
This hallway hangout is a continuation of prior hallway hangouts in the FSE Outreach Program about release specific updates. In this session, we’ll talk through some of what’s to come in the next WordPress release with a proposed schedule for March 26th. This is being shared early to help encourage more folks to tune in and to build some excitement for this next release.
How to join
If you’re interested in joining, the Hallway Hangout will happen on 2024-01-16 21:00 . A Zoom link will be shared in the core-editorSlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel before starting and all are welcome to join, whether to listen or participate, for as long or as little as you’d like. This will be recorded and recapped.
Agenda
At a high level, expect this to take the form of a free flowing demo/presentation going through as many release priorities as possible. @annezazu and @saxonafletcher will take point to demo and share what’s being worked on. Others might jump in to share as well depending on the roadmap post for 6.5 and where work stands by that point in the release cycle.
As a reminder, hallway hangouts are meant to be casual and collaborative so come prepared with a kind, curious mind. Depending on how large the session is, we may not get to all questions live on the call but we can always include follow up in the recap.
Exploration to support Modules and Import Maps – this post shares the collaborative effort to explore native support for modern JavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. https://www.javascript.com/. modules and import maps within the WordPress ecosystem to enhance the developer experience. Details of how you can get involved with this initiative are in the post.
Please add any additional highlighted posts in comments.
Introduction
Update from coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.-editor (New section in the agenda)
Initially items relating to this will be posted as comments on the agenda by @annezazu and others.
Please also add your thoughts to the discussion on the future of the core-editor chat.
Forthcoming release updates
WordPress release: 6.4 – any new issues?
Any new updates on 6.4.x release team or dates for 6.4.2?
Are you able to help with future bugbugA 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. scrubs? Bug scrubs post.
Tickets or Components help requests
Please add any items for this part of the agenda to the comments – tickets for 6.5 will be prioritized. If you can not attend dev chat live, don’t worry, include a note and the facilitator can highlight a ticketticketCreated for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. if needed.
Open floor
If you have any additional items to add to the agenda, please respond in the comments below to help the facilitator highlight them during the meeting.
a) Josepha has asked in the Team Reps channel for highlights from the last year, if you have any item you feel should be included about core’s achievements or items in progress, please add them to the comments on this post for @webcommsat and @hellofromtonya who are preparing the bullet points to send for core.
b) Nominations for Core Team Reps: 2024 edition – reshare of the draft post to gather suggestions on timings related to the end date for nominations and the end of the voting period. The voting tool to use and whether an embedded voting blockBlockBlock 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. in discussion with other teams would be available for this edition to be finalized. Please do consider whether you could stand for the core team repTeam RepA 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. for next year.
Hosting companies and interested contributors are encouraged to join the distributed testing program where anyone can get involved with and report the results of the coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. automated test suite back to WordPress.
WordPress 6.4 performance improvements (to be added to the Field GuideField guideThe 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.).
Update to the core commit message format: It has been updated to take into account backportbackportA port is when code from one branch (or trunk) is merged into another branch or trunk. Some changes in WordPress point releases are the result of backporting code from trunk to the release branch. and follow up commits. There is also a change on where “props” is used in the commit message.
@webcommsat emphasized that developers with 6.4 knowledge can really help with reviews and contributions toward End User docs. The sooner the documentation is published, the sooner it can benefit the community.
And some items from last week’s cancelled chat to touch on:
A proposed schedule for 2024 major releases has been shared by @chanthaboune, proposing dates for 6.5, 6.6, and 6.7. Please share your thoughts on timing, focus, or anything else relates to these releases in the post comments.
@jeffpaul called on potential 6.5/6.6/6.7 leads to share their thoughts on this post.
Accessibility improvements in the 6.4 release: Check out this rundown of a11yAccessibilityAccessibility (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) items addressed in 6.4.
Shareable performance testing utils: Join the discussion to explore ways that projects can incorporate performance testing as part of their development workflow.
And finally, some reminders ⏲️:
Call for 6.4.x Release Managers: Work on improving 6.4 continues after the main release, so please consider joining the minor releaseMinor ReleaseA set of releases or versions having the same minor version number may be collectively referred to as .x , for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and all other versions in the 5.2 (five dot two) branch of that software. Minor Releases often make improvements to existing features and functionality. squad to help keep 6.4 healthy.
Call for volunteers to help with 6.4 end-user documentation: The Docs team is looking for volunteers to revise end-user docs (HelpHub) for 6.4. Check out the post and learn how to pitch in! Wait…did I mention this already? Yep — but it’s so important for our user community ❤️.
Release Updates
Next minor release: 6.4.2
@jeffpaul noted that if minor release squad volunteers can be found soon, that there’s a possibility of shipping a 6.4.2 minor release before year’s end. He requested feedback on whether there are any urgent/important items that need to be addressed soon.
@jorbin has been watching the (6.4) minor release issues report, and noted that #59847 seems the most urgent. He also pointed out nice-to-have editor package backports in #59828. If volunteers can be found to support the release, then he suggested a target of the week of November 27, 2023.
@joemcgill noted that #59847 is nearly ready, and requested feedback on the related PR.
👉🏻 Volunteers who can help with the 6.4.2 minor release (and determine timing) should drop a note in #6-4-release-leads.
Next major releasemajor releaseA release, identified by the first two numbers (3.6), which is the focus of a full release cycle and feature development. WordPress uses decimaling count for major release versions, so 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, and 3.1 are sequential and comparable in scope.: 6.5
The development cycle page has been created. It will be populated after discussing release timings and the finalization of the squad.
Are you able to help with future bugbugA 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. scrubs? Check out the 6.5 scrub schedule.
@jorbin asked that 6.5 ticketticketCreated for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. scrub participants keep an eye out for regressions that should be moved to the 6.4.2 milestone, to get fixes delivered to users more quickly.
@webcommsat shared a link to the November 14 scrub for anyone looking at tickets async, and called on contributors to help with patches and writing of tests. 🙏🏻
@jeffpaul expressed worry about losing touch with GutenbergGutenbergThe 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/ development without regular meetings and sought alternative ways to stay updated. @jorbin suggested incorporating editor updates into existing meetings, particularly emphasizing involvement from major release editor leads.
@webcommsat highlighted the usefulness of core-editor summaries and proposed integrating regular updates into the dev chat agenda. @ironprogrammer raised the question of where the editor summary would originate if the meetings themselves were cancelled. @jeffpaul suggested obtaining editor updates during dev chat to ensure communication of updates and blockers across the project.
The idea of carving out an official “editor updates” section in dev chat was considered, and @jorbin suggested seeking volunteers from the #core-editor channel to participate in the chat. @annezazu volunteered to take on the responsibility and discussed potential ways to share editor updates, including during the meeting or through agenda posts. The need for asynchronous options, given different time zones, was acknowledged.
@webcommsat suggested having a dedicated section for editor updates on the dev chat agenda post, and plan for asynchronous sharing. @annezazu volunteered to make the meetings and incorporate asynchronous sharing, considering her near term availability across time zones. The importance of avoiding disruptions during meetings was discussed, as was the possibility of maintaining #core-editor office hours for specific questions related to the editor.
2024 Core Team Reps Nominations
@webcommsat gave a reminder for #core contributors to have a look at the draft post: Nominations for Core Team Reps: 2024 Edition. The dates/timing may need revising, and team reps are looking into the possibility of having the voting poll embedded into the post to make it easier to vote. Please share your feedback in #core and CC @webcommsat and @hellofromtonya.
WordPress 6.4 Retrospective
@cbringmann shared WordPress 6.4 Retrospective, and asked that anyone who has contributed to the release to reflect and share their thoughts on the release process (instructions in the post). A follow-up post will be published in December.
the distributed testing program where hosting companies or anyone can get involved with and report the results of the coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. automated test suite back to WordPress.
WordPress 6.4 performance improvements (this will be added to the Field GuideField guideThe 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.). @swissspidy has also published his own post on how to get started with WordPress performance https://pascalbirchler.com/wordpress-performance-testing/
An update to the Field Guide with a new dev notedev noteEach 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.: Main query loop handling for block themes in 6.4.
Post on an update to the core commit message format. It has been updated to take into account backportbackportA port is when code from one branch (or trunk) is merged into another branch or trunk. Some changes in WordPress point releases are the result of backporting code from trunk to the release branch. and follow up commits. There is also a change on where ‘props’ is used in the commit message.
Reminder from last week’s schedule dev chat: (not all these may be featured in the dev chat on November 15 depending on time available).
A proposal for 2024 major release timings has been shared by @chanthaboune. This includes proposed dates for 6.5 to 6.7. Thoughts on timing, focus, or anything else relates to these releases can be added to the comments. In addition, depending on other items, the Dev Chat facilitator can give time during the meeting for a live discussion.
Call for 6.4x release managers – any update on any future 6.4.x or release manager/ team call can be shared during the meeting or added in the comments if the timing of the meeting is not suitable.
Forthcoming release updates
WordPress release: 6.4 – any issues
Reference information: – Field Guide for 6.4 – All Developer Notes relating to 6.4 can be found using this tag.
Next major WordPress release: 6.5
The development cycle page has been created. It will be populated post the discussion on release timings and the finalization of the squad.
Are you able to help with future bugbugA 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. scrubs? The next bug scrubs post.
Bug scrub on November 14, 2023. The list of tickets in milestone by the scrub. Start of the scrub for those looking at tickets async.
Tickets or Components help requests
Please add any items for this part of the agenda to the comments – tickets for 6.5 will be prioritized. If you can not attend dev chat live, don’t worry, include a note and the facilitator can highlight a ticketticketCreated for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. if needed.
Open floor
If you have any additional items to add to the agenda, please respond in the comments below to help the facilitator highlight them during the meeting.
This was due to be shared at last week’s dev chat. Bringing it again to November 15, 2023: Nominations for Core Team Reps: 2024 edition – @webcommsat to reshare the draft post and timings. To continue exploring and with metaMetaMeta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. to embed a voting blockBlockBlock 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. within the post to make it easier for voting. Thanks to @ironprogrammer on testing and helping move this option forward, which may also assist other teams in the future.
This post will list bugbugA 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. scrub sessions dedicated to move things forward towards 6.5. This post will be taken forward by the 6.5 release coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.triagetriageThe act of evaluating and sorting bug reports, in order to decide priority, severity, and other factors. leads once they are in place. This post is being published early to provide a place to list bug scrubs and raise greater awareness and time on tickets for future releases, some of which may be aimed at 6.5.
The full 6.5 Release Schedule will be populated as planning for the release progresses.
Everyone is welcome to join to help triage tickets, explore tickets to contribute to by creating patches, writing or conducting tests, providing code reviews, and more. Things to keep in mind:
all features and enhancements should be in the TrunktrunkA directory in Subversion containing the latest development code in preparation for the next major release cycle. If you are running "trunk", then you are on the latest revision. before BetaBetaA 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 and most bugs and all strings need to be there before Release Candidaterelease candidateOne 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). 1 (RC1)
If you are working on a patchpatchA special text file that describes changes to code, by identifying the files and lines which are added, removed, and altered. It may also be referred to as a diff. A patch can be applied to a codebase for testing., it is helpful if you can please plan your contribution to give enough time for other contributors to make suggestions, review and test.
Dates will be added as the development cycle progresses
Release Candidate Bug Scrubs (if needed)
Focus: issues reported from the previous RCrelease candidateOne 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)..
Dates will be added as the development cycle progresses
Check this schedule often, as it will change to reflect the latest information.
Regular component scrubs and triage sessions
For your reference, here are some of the recurring sessions:
Have a regular component scrub or triage session? PingPingThe 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.”@audrasjb, @oglekler or @marybaum@webcommsat on Slack to have it added to this page.
You can start your own triage sessions
Decide what you want to work on
6.5 triage session are our priority and moving forward tickets which already are scheduled for the release is most needed task. If you want to lead some of them, they can be added on this schedule.
But if you are interested in particular component or user focus, for example to take care about RTL-tickets, this will be most welcome too.
Especially interested can be the session to scrub old tickets. We are continuously closing new tickets with the same topic in favor of existing ones and because these tickets are looking complicated just because they’re age not, so many contributors are eager to work on them, but there are actual treasures hidden among very difficult or tricky topics.
Ping@oglekler or one of the 2023 core team reps @hellofromtonya or @webcommsat on Slack with the day and time you’re considering as well as the report or tickets you want to scrub. Note: when the 6.5 core triage leads are confirmed, contacts in this section will be updated.
Useful reports and information
More will be added as the development cycle progresses
Need a refresher on bug scrubs? Checkout Leading Bug Scrubs in the core handbook.
Thanks to @oglekler for helping to put together this agenda and peer review, and to previous contributors to this to release bug scrub posts for the information reused in this post.
Following the conversation in CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. chat a few weeks back (Oct. 25, Nov. 1), here are some proposed dates for releases in 2024. These are open to adjustment, but the current dates attempt to account for major holidays and WordPress events.
6.5 – BetaBetaA 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 Feb. 13, final release on Mar. 26 (WordCampWordCampWordCamps 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. Asia Mar. 7-9)
6.6 – Beta 1 on Jun. 4, final release on Jul. 16 (WordCamp Europe Jun. 13-15)
6.7 – Beta 1 on Sep. 24, final release on Nov. 5 (WordCamp US still TBD)
Given that 2024 will hold a bulk of the work for Phase 3, I expect that 6.5 and 6.7 will be focused on those Collaborative features. I would like to propose that 6.6 be held specifically for maintenance and general polish of the software (as was wished for earlier this year).
Leave your thoughts in the comments on timing, focus, or anything that you think is key to discuss! And as always If you’re interested in participating in a squad and want to know more, you can pingPingThe 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.”@davidbaumwald, @hellofromtonya, @jeffpaul, @priethor or any former release squad member you know!
WordPress 6.4 Release Candidate 3 was released just before Dev Chat – please help test and make the release the best it can be. All details are on the post. Thanks to everyone who contributed towards this.
Reminder: Dev Chat continues at 20:00 UTC throughout the year and does not change with daylight saving changes.
Call for 6.4x release managers – this followed a discussion in Dev Chat last week. Please add a comment to the post if you are interested in supporting the maintenance and minor releases. Thanks to @jorbin for putting this together.
RC3 was the last scheduled Release Candidaterelease candidateOne 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)..
@hellofromtonya explained that another RCrelease candidateOne 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). could possibly happen in the following circumstances. If a regressionregressionA software bug that breaks or degrades something that previously worked. Regressions are often treated as critical bugs or blockers. Recent regressions may be given higher priorities. A "3.6 regression" would be a bug in 3.6 that worked as intended in 3.5.(s) gets reported and resolved, then yes, another might happen. But currently all regressions are resolved and shipped in RC3!
Next week’s schedule:
Dry Run – on Nov 6, 2023.
24 hour code freeze starts after the Dry Run.
6.4.0 release party starts on Nov 7, 2023 after the 24 hour code freeze expires.
Any issues relating to 6.4?
No other issues were raised during the meeting.
Relevant 6.4 links
No new links were published at the time of the meeting.
@webcommsat: In addition to the Field GuideField guideThe 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., you can also find all Developer Notes relating to 6.4 using this tag. If you think a change would benefit from an additional dev notedev noteEach 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., please add it to the Documentation Tracker for 6.4. You can also tagtagA directory in Subversion. WordPress uses tags to store a single snapshot of a version (3.6, 3.6.1, etc.), the common convention of tags in version control systems. (Not to be confused with post tags.) one of the docs release co-leads in a message in coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. if you want to discuss the possibility of an additional dev note and do not have access to the tracker.
@joemcgill followed up the question at last week’s dev chat on the formation of a release squad for 6.5.
@chanthaboune is thinking through the timing of releases across the year, and therefore there is no clear date for the first release of 2024 as yet. She hopes to bring a draft of suggested dates/ times by Monday November 6, 2023. This is the ‘only blockerblockerA bug which is so severe that it blocks a release.’ for a call for volunteers. One person has contacted Josepha so far to participate in 6.5.
General agreement in the meeting for early planning for the next release.
TriagetriageThe act of evaluating and sorting bug reports, in order to decide priority, severity, and other factors. tickets for 6.5
@oglekler requested triages to start as soon as possible, as trunktrunkA directory in Subversion containing the latest development code in preparation for the next major release cycle. If you are running "trunk", then you are on the latest revision. is already open and 6.5 Alpha has begun. She raised a call for volunteers.
discussion followed on updating the core handbook to reflect that triages and bugbugA 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. scrubs can be held at any time, and to clarify that any contributors wanting to run a scrub did not need to wait for a completed release cycle or for a squad to be formed. The possibility of a post highlighting and calling for volunteers was suggested for the future.
a number of experienced core developers are able to buddy or give advice to help anyone less familiar with running scrubs.
if you can volunteer to run a scrub, you can share details in a future dev chat or comment on the summary post, and also post the information in the Core SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel ahead of time to best ensure that others are aware and can gather to help at the scrub. The core triage lead or the Core Team Reps can also update the bug scrub post in Make/Core.
if you are wanting to run a scrub related to particular component(s), please contact the component maintainers who can help and share information on priority tickets or planned scrubs.
Are you interested in helping draft Dev Chat summaries? Volunteer at the start of the next meeting on the #core Slack channel or contact one of the Core Team reps.
Props to @zunaid321 for contribution to the notes, and to @marybaum for review.
These policies mainly cover how and when CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. committers can commit. For non-committing contributors, this post may help explain why a Core committercommitterA developer with commit access. WordPress has five lead developers and four permanent core developers with commit access. Additionally, the project usually has a few guest or component committers - a developer receiving commit access, generally for a single release cycle (sometimes renewed) and/or for a specific component. makes a certain decision.
String Freeze
To allow the Polyglots teamPolyglots TeamPolyglots Team is a group of multilingual translators who work on translating plugins, themes, documentation, and front-facing marketing copy. https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/. time to get their local language’s translationtranslationThe process (or result) of changing text, words, and display formatting to support another language. Also see localization, internationalization. of WordPress ready, no new strings are permitted to be added to the release. Existing strings can be removed and/or duplicated if needed.
Seek guidance from the Polyglots team leadership for any strings reported as buggy. A buggy string is one that can not be translated to all languages in its current form.
Tickets on the WordPress 6.4 milestone
For the remainder of the cycle, only two types of tickets may be placed on/remain on the 6.4 milestone:
Regressions: bugs that have been introduced during the WordPress 6.4 development cycle, either to existing or new features.
Test suite expansion: tests can be committed at any time without regard to code or string freezes. This can cover either new or existing features.
TrunktrunkA directory in Subversion containing the latest development code in preparation for the next major release cycle. If you are running "trunk", then you are on the latest revision. is now WordPress 6.5-alpha
Backporting to the 6.4 branchbranchA 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".
Backporting commits of production code (that is, anything that ends up in the zip file) now requires double sign-off by two core committers. The dev-feedback keyword should be used to request a second committer’s review, dev-reviewed should be added to indicate a second committer has reviewed and approved the commit to the 6.4 branch.
Commits to the test suite do not require double sign-off.
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