Milana Cap 1:32 pm on February 3, 2026
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Agenda for Discussion Meeting September 16, 2025

The meeting is scheduled with the following details:

When: Tuesday, February 3, 2026, 14:00 UTC

Where: #docs channel on Slack

Agenda:

  1. Attendance.
  2. Note-taker and facilitator selection for the next docs team meeting.
  3. Project check.
  4. Proposal for Gamifying Docs contributions draft
  5. Open floor.

If there’s anything you’d like to discuss on the open floor, please leave a comment.

#agenda, #docs, #meetings

Estela Rueda 3:59 pm on February 2, 2026  

How to help with the overhaul of documentation issue tracker in GitHub

While writing and updating HelpHub articles for 6.9, the team discovered that many articles have not been updated making it difficult to maintain the quality of the documentation. For this reason, the team is incurring in an overhaul of the documentation with 3 main goals:

  1. Improve the quality of the documentation.
  2. Use the changelog to recognise contributors.
  3. Update the blocks articles before WP 7.0 is released.

What is the overhaul and how it works

A project has been created in 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 be the repository owner. https://github.com/ for each of the categories plus the blocks – see links below. In each categoryCategory The 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging. there is a READ FIRST issue with instructions.

Basically, a new issue is open per blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience./feature with the title “Overhaul XX block documentation”.  Look at the related open issues, see what’s still useful, and close anything that’s ancient/irrelevant. For other details, follow the instructions in the READ FIRST article.

Key things to remember:

  1. Self-assign the issue you decide to tackle.
  2. Close those outdated issues! Don’t let them hang around.
  3. Write your final updates in the comments first, before you update the actual article in WordPress.
  4. Need to edit the docs site? 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.” @estelaris or @milana_cap for access.
  5. Don’t forget the contributors! Add anyone who suggested something (even if you don’t use it) to the changelog. You only need to contribute once to become a Docs contributor!
  6. If you can’t figure out a contributor’s WordPress username, just ask in the SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. docs channel.
  7. Note: if there is only one issue open  for a feature/block, only the title has been edited to add the word “Overhaul”. This is done to avoid extra issues and extra work.

The list of the overhaul projects in GitHub:

Note: the audit on the GH docs issue tracker is still happening, thus projects below will be updated as soon as possible.

Props to @milana_cap and @mosescursor for reviewing this post.

Estela Rueda 4:11 pm on December 18, 2025  

Docs meeting notes Dec. 16, 2025

Housekeeping

Find the complete Transcript of the meeting on Slack.

Next meeting:

  1. Where: #docs channel on Slack
  2. When: Tuesday, January 13, 2026 14:00 UTC

Project updates

@milana_cap informed the team that there will be a holiday break and docs team will reinitiate activities on the 13 of January 2026 at 14:00 UTC.

@milana_cap also let the team know that next year, there will be a new gamification contribution system, where contributors can collect points for every single contribution, from attending the meeting to writing articles, documenting releases and leading docs tables at Contributor Days. There will also be special titles, leader board, and points could be deducted. More information will be posted in the Make blog in January.

@estelaris closed as “not planned” 60 issues related to the mobile app. For the time being there is no one to take ownership of this project. Perhaps in the future, the project could be reopened. https://github.com/orgs/WordPress/projects/89/views/1

A new project to overhaul the blocks documentation is starting. The goal is to update the blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. articles before WP 7.0 is release and fix any outdated information, broken links, broken images, etc. Instructions will be up in the upcoming weeks. https://github.com/orgs/WordPress/projects/267/views/1

@tobifjellner, a global mentor for the polyglots teamPolyglots Team Polyglots 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/. joined, he is interested in understanding the documentation workflow to continue the translation project. Docs contributors interested in translating documentation are invited to join the #polyglots-multilingual-community

Previous work has been done in the documentation translation project, read the notes from the last meeting in WCEU 2024 in Torino.

#docs, #meeting, #summary

Ritika Roy 8:29 am on November 13, 2025
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Summary of Docs Team Meeting on 11th November

Housekeeping

Find the complete Transcript of the meeting on Slack.

Next meeting:

  1. Where: #docs channel on Slack
  2. When: Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 07:30 PM GMT+5:30
    Participants and Their Contributions:
    @milana_cap
    1. Facilitated the meeting, welcomed @ritikaroy2830, and shared onboarding resources:
    Onboarding Sessions for Documentation Team
    2. Provided the meeting notes format template:
    Summary of Docs Team meeting Nov 4, 2025
    3. Led project updates, discussed contributor rewards, and explained documentation review roles (First and Second Reviewer).
    4. Closed 4 documentation issues for version 6.8, stating only one left:
    GitHub Issue Tracker.
    5. Announced planned 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 be the repository owner. https://github.com/ automation for review checklists and notifications.
    6. Clarified roles for HelpHub, DevHub, Handbook, and GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ releases documentation.
    7. Guided policy updates for documentation responsibilities on Themes and Plugins handbooks.
    8. Summarised action items: updating reviewing roles, renaming review roles, implementing GitHub automations, and updating the CONTRIBUTING documentation.
    9. Proposed automating replies for documentation issues outside Docs’ scope.
    10. Suggested a triage role for new and open issues classification.
    @atachibana
    Shared experience leading the Docs table at 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. Kansai and translation work. Confirmed willingness to continue as second reviewer for HelpHub.
    @Azhar Deraiya
    Reminded team about submitting contributions via the contributions form on the Docs blog sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme.:
    Make WordPress Documentation
    Encouraged contributor submissions for badge assignments.
    @Arslan
    Led Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/. and Docs Table at WordCamp Islamabad 2025; submitted contributions through the contributions form.
    @estelaris
    1. Discussed project responsibilities and defined roles within Docs projects.
    2. Proposed detailed roles for first and second reviewers with checklist requirements.
    3. Emphasised task distribution for efficiency.
    4. Agreed on policy directing off-scope handbook issues to respective teams.
    5. Highlighted the need to update HelpHub and DevHub roles with detailed responsibilities, including issue review and closure.
    6. Recommended asking draft writers for changes when necessary.
    @MosesCursor
    Supported having experienced reviewers fill roles to maintain consistency.

    Main Points Discussed in the Meeting:
    1. Documentation roles are clearly defined with reference to team roles:
    Docs team roles
    2. Two-tier review system agreed upon:
    3. First Reviewer: Checks grammar, structure, style, screenshots, with guides:
    Grammar Guide,
    Writing Tips,
    Tone and Voice Guide
    4. Second Reviewer: Fact-checking and final approval.
    5. GitHub automation planned for checklist reminders and review label notifications.
    6. Policy updates to clarify the Docs team’s scope and proper handling of documentation issues for Themes and Plugins.
    7. Expanded HelpHub and DevHub roles to include issue review, documentation updates, and closure.
    8. Proposal for an issues triage role to handle new and open issues.
    9. Checklist to be created for reviewers detailing responsibilities.
    The End 🙂

#docs, #meeting, #summary

Milana Cap 4:05 pm on November 4, 2025
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Summary of Docs Team meeting November 4, 2025

Housekeeping

Find the complete Transcript of the meeting on Slack.

Next meeting:

1. Meeting Time Confusion

  • The meeting began one hour later than planned due to daylight saving time changes.
  • Action:

2. Contributor Recognition Initiative

  • Discussion focused on improving recognition for contributions and clarifying the process for tracking them.
  • Reference post: Rethinking Contributor Recognition in Documentation Team.
  • A new contribution form was introduced to capture contributions not recorded anywhere else.
  • Proposal:
    • Contributors to submit their activities every week via the form.
    • Meeting leads will collect and announce the contributions during the meeting.
    • Weekly contributor badges will be issued and announced.
    • Contributions will be gamified: each submission earns points and titles, contributing to a leaderboard.
  • Action:
    • Contributors are asked to submit their contributions via the form.
    • @milana_cap to publish a detailed post explaining the recognition workflow and gamification proposal.

3. Regular vs. Release Contributions (led by @estelaris)

  • Continuing previous discussions around defining regular and release contributions.
  • Regular contributions include:
    • Attending meetings, writing up meeting notes, or leading meetings.
    • Attending contributor days (e.g., 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., MeetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area., external events).
    • Submitting issues to update documentation articles.
    • Note: Fixing typos is important but does not count as a regular meaningful contribution.
  • Release contributions refer to tasks related to specific WordPress version releases (e.g., the current 6.9 release). These contributions include:
    • Creating and managing project repositories (e.g., WP 6.9 documentation).
    • Updating articles, submitting new screenshots, reviewing documentation.
    • For developer docs, interacting with the release team, ensuring devnotes are documented (though not writing them).
    • Final tasks are done during the release party (see: Documentation process during a major version release).
  • Discussion around devnotes:
    • Currently, responsibilities for devnotes are unclear and need to be revisited after the 6.9 release.
  • Action: Clarify and document the specifics of release contributions after the 6.9 release.

    4. Conclusion & Next Steps

    • Action items:
      • All contributors should submit their contributions using the form on the Docs blog.
      • The team will review feedback and questions over the next week.
      • A follow-up discussion about contributions will take place in the next meeting.
    • Next Meeting:
      • Date: November 11, 2025
      • Time: 14:00 UTC (new time due to daylight saving time).

    #docs, #summary

    Estela Rueda 12:00 pm on November 4, 2025
    Tags: contributor recognition, , new ideas   

    Rethinking Contributor Recognition in Documentation Team

    At the Documentation Team meeting on October 21, 2025, we started an important conversation: How do we properly recognize contributions and how do we create clear paths for people who want to contribute once, versus those who want to grow into long-term team members?

    This discussion surfaced everything from value perception, to badges, to long-term career benefits. Below is a summary of the key questions we’re exploring as we refine a contributor journey that is fair, motivating and future-proof.

    What counts as a “valued” documentation contribution?

    Not all contributions have the same impact — and contributors know it. We acknowledged that fixing a small typo is not the same as drafting or updating full documentation for a new feature. But where do we draw that line clearly?

    We need to define:

    • What is considered a regular (ongoing/essential) contribution?
    • What is considered noteworthy — something worthy of highlight in a release announcement?
    • How do we document these contributions for transparency?

    Recognition systems: Props, badges, highlights… or something new?

    We asked ourselves:

    • Badges are still meaningful, when should we provide the docs contributor badge vs the docs team badge?
    • What’s the difference between props on a release and props in the SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. #props channel?
    • Should we distinguish clearly between one-time contributors and active team members?
    • Should recognition appear more frequently, e.g. monthly or even at every weekly meeting?
    • Should we publish recognitions in the Make/Docs weekly updates or Week in Docs posts — similar to other teams?

    Several agreed that contributor recognition should happen more often. A one-time contributor should get the contributor badge as small contributions still matter.

    Defining growth paths — beyond “show up and help”

    We want to answer two different needs:

    1. I want to contribute once / occasionally — how do I-do that and get recognized confidently?
    2. I want to grow into a team member or specialist — what path can I follow? What are the levels?

    We could create progressive roles — for example, team members take on responsibilities like:

    • Maintaining a documentation project or focus on the handbook
    • Being the person responsible for HelpHub or DevHub areas
    • Assisting with leadership tasks (triage, reviews, release prep)
    • Being considered for 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. based on initiative over time

    We want to do this more intentionally.

    There is also interest in offering a structured program — e.g. a 6-month pathway where contributors could earn a recognized professional title, such as Technical Writer (Docs Team) — something they could confidently add to their CV or LinkedIn.

    When and where should recognition happen?

    We explored timing:

    • Should recognition align with release cycles?
    • Or would monthly or quarterly acknowledgment be more meaningful and visible?
    • Could recognitions be part of each weekly meeting agenda/notes?
    • Example: “Contributor Recognitions — username username”
    • Should these recognitions also be included in Make blog updates?

    We also noted that the WordPress Credits page is only visible if a user manually clicks “upgrade,” not during auto-updates which means that WP release recognition is currently invisible to most users.

    Are contributors feeling valued beyond public recognition?

    Badges and props are great — but contributors also contribute in invisible ways:

    • Running meetings
    • Writing meeting notes
    • Triaging and reviewing 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 be the repository owner. https://github.com/ issues
    • Reviewing and updating articles
    • Leading Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/. tables

    We asked: Are these roles recognized equally? Should they be?

    And finally — does attending a Contributor Day actually advance someone’s contributor journey?
    Answer: Yes — participation at a Docs table currently qualifies contributors to receive the Docs Contributor Badge, provided table leads submit their names.

    What’s next?

    This is the beginning of a larger effort — our goal is to build a clear, transparent contribution pathway that supports:

    • Casual contributors
    • Returning contributors
    • Aspiring team members
    • Professionals seeking career credibility
    • Future leaders

    We want contributors to feel not just recognized — but valued, supported, and growing.

    This conversation will continue, and we invite the wider Docs community to help co-create the next iteration of what meaningful contribution looks like.

    With these points in mind, we have one clear action item which is to create a method, perhaps using gamification, to quantify the number of contributions. @milana_cap will review what options are available.

    Props to @milana_cap for reviewing this post.

    #contributor-recognition, #handbooks, #new-ideas

    Estela Rueda 4:59 pm on September 18, 2025
    Tags:   

    Summary of Docs Team meeting September 16, 2025

    Attendance

    @estelaris, @milana_cap, @ninianepress, @sagargurnani, @atachibana, @azharderaiya, @mosescursor, @aialvi, @sirlouen, @rollybueno

    Housekeeping

    Find the complete Transcript of the meeting on Slack.

    Upcoming meetings

    Open Floor

    @milana_cap and @estelaris attended the #core meeting on September 10 and our conclusion is that coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. team wasn’t aware of the tasks of the docs team during a release. For 6.9 release, @estelaris accepted a temporary Docs Liaison, to not interfere with release work and to have a proposal from the docs team on how we want to collaborate in future releases.

    The Docs Liaison will attend the release team meetings in the #6.9 release leads channel, review the roadmap to create the 6.9-related user documentation and to support the team during the final release day. DevNotes will be the responsibility of core committers, the 6.9 GH project has been created to track both DevNotes and User documentation.

    @estelaris will work with the 6.9 release team on final release day to create/update the release documentation. In order to mentor other documentarians on this workflow, during the next Contributor Day (September 23), docs will have a mentoring session on this topic and record videos to add to the handbook page Documentation process during a major version release day.

    Other topic discussed was how #docs team gives props to contributors and we agreed to review our process on this topic.

    As a summary, the team committed to discuss the following in the next discussion meeting on September 30:

    • Gather all the release-related documentation (from core & docs handbooks) and review the sections that are pertinent to docs. Update what’s needed, change the vocabulary/tone and length. We know people don’t read and sometimes handbooks are written in a difficult English.
    • Create a proposal of how docs wants to work in future releases (@estelaris to write a draft), including tasks and timing.
    • Define which contributors tasks should be recognized (is there an automatization we can add to GH/WP?)  eg. when they submit an issue, submit drafts, publish a new article, etc.
    • Decide what goes for noteworthy and what goes for “regular” release contributor.

    Among other handbook workflows we need to review:

    • Define team members vs team contributors
    • Update the team page
    • Documentation team profile badge
    • Add props and ask for peer reviews on meeting notes

    Gathering the list of updated files

    Thank you to @sirlouen for showing us how to gather the updated files list during a release cycle.

    Props to @milana_cap and @ninianepress for reviewing the notes

    Jenni McKinnon 3:01 pm on September 16, 2025
    Tags: , ,   

    Summary of Docs Team meeting September 9, 2025

    Attendance

    @estelaris, @milana_cap, @ninianepress, @sagargurnani, @jdy68

    Housekeeping

    Find the complete Transcript of the meeting on Slack.

    Upcoming meetings

    Open floor

    @estelaris shared these updates about the next release, which was discussed:

    1. “CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. is experimenting with a smaller release team to avoid pitfalls. The experiment will be re-evaluated after this release.
    2. There seems to be no need to have docs team as a named lead in releases, I argued the importance that it has to us, mainly we want to mentor other contributors and releases are like an “extra” benefit for the team.
    3. Also, the release team needs to plan better so they can ask us for someone to update the HelpHub pages – known to us as the WP version pages

    For releases, Mary recommended that we name a Docs Liaison person that will commit to update in documentation anything related to the releases (User documentation, WP version pages, etc.).

    Docs will not be in charge of wrangling/writing any DevHub articles related to releases. Updating issues that are posted in the Docs Issue Tracker is still on the balance, as I found out that many core committers had no clue that issues were reported to us, so they don’t update anything util someone from docs reports the issue on TracTrac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.https://core.trac.wordpress.org/..

    And the biggest issue that we need to decide is the updating of the WP version pages. The last 3 minor releases, I have done it. 1 time I was asked when the release was being planned and the other 2 times, at the last minute. So I mentioned that we need to plan better and find a way to work together and create a process that works for both teams.

    The response from core is that we give access to all core committers so they can update the WordPress version pages, that is a list of 40 people. And I said I wasn’t comfortable in giving access to everyone, perhaps a few, my reasons the version pages are in the same site as the rest of the documentation and the docs team is in charge of maintaining the version pages also. Giving access to everyone, means we will be called less and less to help on releases or anything else.

    Here is the chat to the main conversation.”

    #docs, #meetings, #summary

    Milana Cap 12:20 pm on September 16, 2025
    Tags: , ,   

    Agenda for Discussion Meeting September 16, 2025

    The meeting is scheduled with the following details:

    When: Tuesday, September 16, 2025, 14:00 UTC

    Where: #docs channel on Slack

    Agenda:

    1. Attendance.
    2. Note-taker and facilitator selection for the next docs team meeting.
    3. Project check.
    4. Open floor.

    If there’s anything you’d like to discuss on the open floor, please leave a comment.

    #agenda, #docs, #meetings

    Milana Cap 9:46 am on August 5, 2025  

    The Documentation team meetings summer break

    Due to low meeting attendance and a lack of topics to discuss, the Documentation team has decided to take a summer break from meetings, which will take effect in August. The team will continue to contribute and communicate asynchronously in the Slack channel.

    During August, the primary focus for the team will be on preparing for the use of AI in documentation processes, building a system for gamifying contributions, and completing as many issues as possible from past WordPress releases.

    If you have any questions, please feel free to post them here in the comment section or the SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel. Other than taking a break from meetings, business is as usual for the team.

    The next meeting will happen on Tuesday, 2nd September 2025, 2PM UTC.