Welcome to 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. Team!
The Meta team is responsible for maintaining and managing WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe 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/ websites. Our work is mostly done on the meta trac. If you see a bug, file a ticket!
The community.wordpress.org Matrix server is kept “in sync” with the Make.WordPress slack. Messages sent on Slack (in public channels) are automatically posted to a corresponding Matrix room. Newly-created public Slack channels automatically get a new Matrix room.
The Matrix rooms contain the complete history of the Slack channels, as if those rooms had existed since always.
We’re looking for community feedback on what tooling is needed to address administrative tasks on Matrix, like GDPR erasure, moderation, etc.
We’re in the process of migrating Slack integrations to Matrix (e.g, “slash commands”, Welcome Bots, RSS feeds, etc), but there is still quite some work to be done on this front. We’ve started with making an inventory of all Slack integrations.
We have created documentation to visually explain how to join rooms via Matrix:
Shared progress on import of private Slack channels. Mentioned users who wish to migrate the history of private channels should get in touch with @akirk@ashfame or @psrpinto.
Shared documentation on how to join the community.wordpress.org Matrix server, and on available Matrix clients.
A Community member asked about how Matrix administrative tasks will differ from Slack (e.g. GDPR erasure requests).
How will the administration differ from Slack? For example Slack has procedures for data erasure requests, that is very important that gets carried over.
Clarified Matrix administration needs (e.g.GDPR erasure requests) are on our radar, but we would like to understand the kind of administrative operations that are more common, so that we can provide necessary tooling for those needs.
Shared update on a minor production incident that caused some “noise” in Matrix rooms (users’ names and avatars being changed)
Mentioned Slack channels created after the initial migrationMigrationMoving the code, database and media files for a website site from one server to another. Most typically done when changing hosting companies. were now available on Matrix, and that new Slack channels would be automatically created on Matrix without human intervention, from now on.
Shared documentation (also linked from the main Chat with Matrix page) to visually explain how to join rooms via Matrix:
This meeting was essentially an open floor to discuss or answer anything Matrix related.
Main points that were brought up were:
Timeline on switching to Matrix
We don’t have a defined timeline, but the accessibility team recently tested Matrix and we would be working with them to define what accessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (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) standards Matrix must meet before we can consider a full switch to Matrix.
Migrating messages in private Slack channels
We discussed the browser extensions we presented earlier as means of obtaining a copy of private messages. We couldn’t process private messages since they are not included in Slack export and there are privacy concerns in handling them. We talked about it being theoretically possible for one of the participating members of a private channel to export messages using the browser extension and an import tool capable of processing that data to import messages in a room to which other members can be invited afterwards. Messages would be posted as ghost user and not actual authors since private rooms require encrypting messages with keys only the account holders possess.
Migrating Slack integrations/bots
All Slack integrations/bots’ messages make it to Matrix today, thanks to the bridge. We would be rewriting these integrations on Matrix side, before turning them off from Slack side.
Any issues related to Matrix can be reported on Meta’s Trac under Communication (Matrix, Slack, IRC) component. Next meeting would be conducted on August 31st, 10 AM UTC.
We mainly announced that all public channels have been migrated with their entire history. There are some minor issues that we are tackling such as Slack message being posted back to Slack after being posted to Matrix. Any issues related to Matrix can be reported on Meta’s Trac under Communication (Matrix, Slack, IRC) component.
While we hope that all login problems have been resolved, we continue to investigate some reported cases to ascertain whether users are still experiencing difficulties with logging in. Please do let us know of any troubles.
The Slack bridge is active in all public channels so you can join conversations from either side.
For some rooms the history is already imported (for example, 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. room or a number of archived Slack channels), for others we’ll continue to import them over the coming week.
In the meeting itself, we first summarized important points from the previous meetings:
Login to the community.wordpress.orgWordPress.orgThe 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/ Matrix server has been implemented using Single Sign On (SSO) with WordPress.org using OpenID Connect (OIDC). The plugin we created is open source and can also be found in the WordPress.org 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 directory as OpenID Connect Server.
Compared to Slack this means a vastly simplified onboarding process. Instead of waiting for an e-mail arriving at a special e-mail address, you set the server in your Matrix client to community.wordpress.org and click “Login with WordPress.org” (the name of that button might vary by client).
As another way to access Matrix, we’ve created a 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/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. that hosts an in-page Matrix client, called Chatrix. It can be added to P2P2P2 or O2 is the term people use to refer to the Make WordPress blog. It can be found at https://make.wordpress.org/. pages or posts to add a Matrix chat there and when you’re logged in to WordPress.org, joining the chat is a matter of going to that page and proceeding with SSO inside the block (which, the first time, will redirect you to authorize the login). An example of this can be found at https://make.wordpress.org/meta/chat/.
Slack Bridge
We’ve enabled the Slack bridge on all public channels, and we’re gradually importing Slack history to Matrix. For some channels, like #meta, this has already completed.
As part of the history migrationMigrationMoving the code, database and media files for a website site from one server to another. Most typically done when changing hosting companies., you’ll be automatically invited to rooms on Matrix when you have joined the channel on the Slack side. You’ll also be autmatically invited to the respective Matrix rooms if you said something on Slack in the channel since we started the bridge earlier this week.
DMs are not part of the bridge, so on Matrix you can DM people but you’ll only get a response if they also use Matrix.
Private channels are not bridged at this point either but it will likely be possible to bridge them. In one of the next meetings we’ll discuss that.
You Can Try It Today
So, please go and start trying to use Matrix today and give us feedback!
We’re planning to do some more wide-scale announcements after this has been running stable for a while. If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments!
We first recapped a few items around the setup that we’re exploring:
We have a Matrix server for the WordPress project at community.wordpress.orgWordPress.orgThe 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/.
Instead of having to create a new account at that Matrix server, we’ll want to use SSO (“single-sign on”) and allow you to use your WordPress.org account. This is possible through OpenID Connect (OIDC) and a WordPress 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 that we created, called OpenID Connect Server.
To make joining WordPress meetings easier, we’ve developed another plugin that sports a 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/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. that hosts an in-page Matrix client, called Chatrix. The idea being, that we can have pages on the Make P2s that are dedicated to a specific room on the Matrix server where the meeting will take place.
So for example, for 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. meetings, there is a Chatrix block installed on https://make.wordpress.org/meta/chat/ which points to the Matrix room where these meetings occur. Unfortunately, at the time of testing, the Chatrix block was broken for people who first started using it. We are working on a bugfix on Github.
Still it is possible to experience the above setup by joining the room via another client (and this is one thing that sets Matrix apart from SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/.: you have multiple clients to choose from), for example Element at https://app.element.io/
When you click “Sign In” there, you’ll arrive at a screen where you can change the server to community.wordpress.org. Then you can continue using the Single-Sign On flow: you are redirected to WordPress.org and asked to allow the Matrix server to confirm your WordPress.org username to log in. After this you arrive logged in to the Matrix server where we have already set your display name and profile picture.
Over at the Matrix server, we looked at the second agenda item, a test-migrated Slack channel on the Matrix server:
These are the topics that we would like to discuss:
Join us exploring the community.wordpress.org Matrix server. We’ll walk you through how to join and test.
Look at a test-migrated Slack channel on the Matrix server.
Explore a test-setup of the Slack bridge together.
Discuss the next steps.
If you have topics you would like to add to the agenda, please share them in the comments below.
The next meeting will be on Thursday, June 15, 2023 10AM UTC Thursday, June 29, 2023 10AM UTC. Also, @psrpinto and myself (@akirk) will attend WCEU and are happy to chat about Matrix there.
Update on the status of community.wordpress.org Matrix server
Tentative plan and challenges with using SSO with WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe 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/ to login to Matrix server
Update on the status of importing public SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. history into Matrix server
community.wordpress.org homeserver
The community.wordpress.org Matrix server (homeserver in Matrix lingo) is now available. However, we don’t recommend using the homeserver as of now, as we are still optimizing its configuration, namely in what concerns logging into the homeserver.
Also please note that it’s likely that we will wipe the homeserver and all data at any point, until we’re confident we have it configured correctly.
SSO with WordPress.org
The only available login method on the homeserver will be SSO (more specifically OpenID Connect, or OIDC) with WordPress.org. This means users log in to the homeserver with their WordPress.org account. Users will not be able to log in to the homeserver with a username/password, SSO will be the only method to log in.
SSO with wporg presents some challenges however, specifically in what concerns usernames, since WordPress usernames are not valid Matrix usernames. For example, WordPress allows uppercase letters and spaces in usernames, while Matrix does not.
Instead of using the WordPress username as the Matrix username, it was discussed to use the nicename, which appears to fulfill Matrix’s username requirements. @akirk@ashfame and @psrpinto will investigate the feasibility of using WordPress’s nicename as the Matrix username and report the results in the next Matrix meeting.
Importing public Slack history into Matrix server
@ashfame mentioned that imports for some public Slack channels have been tested and appear to work correctly, though thread support remains to be implemented. Messages are credited to the right Matrix account, so the user will find their Slack messages linked to their matrix account. Uploads and emojis (in messages and reactions) work as expected as well.
These will be some of the topics we would like to discuss:
Update on the status of community.wordpress.org Matrix server
Tentative plan and challenges with using SSO with WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe 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/ to login to Matrix server
Update on the status of importing public Slack history into Matrix server
If you have topics you would like to add to the agenda, please share them in the comments below.
The next meeting will be on Thursday, May 17, 2023 10AM UTC
MigrationMigrationMoving the code, database and media files for a website site from one server to another. Most typically done when changing hosting companies. of Messages from SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. to Matrix
The agenda was to discuss a tentative plan for migration from Slack to Matrix. We have identified a successful migration path which consists of moving over the messages in public channels to matrix rooms. All the messages in public channels would be available in their respective Matrix rooms from Day 1 of Matrix. All users would find themselves to be in the right Matrix rooms as per what Slack channels they have joined.
Private conversations (private channels and direct messages) are best handled by user themselves using a browser extension (Firefox / Chrome).
We would use SSO (OIDC) to use WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe 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/ account to login onto Matrix. The OpenID Connect Server plugin was built for this purpose.
During the duration of transition, both would be accessible and messages would be relayed from Slack to Matrix and vice-versa using the help of a bridge. As of now, it works by creating a Slack ghost account on Matrix side and we would be trying to make it possible to not need that and just post Slack side messages as messages from the respective Matrix account of those users. Matrix side messages are posted to Slack by a Slack app masquerading as the user, but not accredited to the actual Slack user.
Comment(s) on Agenda post
Alex Stine: When will a test instance be available? Important to start accessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (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) testing early.
Accessibility testing can start right away with a regular Matrix.org account on any room. There is also a WordPress related room – #wordpress:matrix.org. In this case, you would be using Matrix’s official client – Element.
Our embedded chat client Chatrix can also be tested, which is deployedDeployLaunching code from a local development environment to the production web server, so that it's available to visitors. on https://make.wordpress.org/meta/chat/ for Chatrix’s own room #chatrix:matrix.org
This would be our fifth community meeting and we would like to discuss a possible plan for Slack to Matrix migrationMigrationMoving the code, database and media files for a website site from one server to another. Most typically done when changing hosting companies..
Tentative plan for the future Matrix homeserver for Making WordPress:
For a transition period, Slack and Matrix would work in parallel, by means of a Slack bridge, which would send Slack messages to Matrix, and vice versa.
Past Slack history (public channels only) would be on Matrix from day one.
The homeserver URLURLA specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org would be community.wordpress.org.
Login will be done through SSO, with WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe 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/ account.
If you have any additions to the agenda, please share them in the comments.
Next meeting will be on Thursday, May 4, 2023 10AM UTC
