Alex Kirk 4:20 am on January 11, 2025  

Shutting down WordPress.org’s Matrix Server

After careful evaluation and considering the evolving needs of our community, we have decided to shut down the community.wordpress.org Matrix server on January 31, 2025.

With the integration of Single Sign-On (SSO) using WordPress.org accounts on 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/., one of the primary advantages of the Matrix solution—simplified onboarding for new contributors—has been effectively addressed. Additionally, with very low usage and no significant demand for Matrix services, maintaining the server is no longer the best use of our resources.

The links to the team chat pages from the Make homepage have already been removed, and we’ll remove the individual chat pages when the server has shut down.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this effort, especially @ashfame and @psrpinto, but also everyone who helped surface issues with the implementation.

Thank you for your understanding and support. If you have any questions or need help transitioning, please don’t hesitate to comment below.

Angela Jin 3:08 pm on January 26, 2024  

Updates from the Incident Response Team

In recent months, the Incident Response Team (IRT) has received excellent questions about its role and responsibilities and its approach to confidentiality. To that end, this post aims to share some current thinking with an invitation to ask further questions and provide your feedback. 

About the team

In WordPress spaces, including Make Team blogs, the Making WordPress 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/., and official social media accounts, all participants are expected to adhere to the Code of Conduct. This is upheld by all WordPressers in their interactions and efforts to de-escalate situations. 

The Incident Response Team can assist in determining if the Code of Conduct has been breached and addressing situations that are in question of doing so. Our approach favors mediation, de-escalation, and correction over punishment, promoting positive conduct.

The Incident Response Team is not for policing tone or intervening in every disagreement. Disagreements, when productive, can be beneficial, reflecting our shared commitment to developing great software and a strong community. This page captures the team’s current practices. 

Recent challenges

The Incident Response Team was formed in late 2022 and handled a wide range of reports in 2023. In doing so, there were a number of challenges: 

  • Reports received were increasingly more nuanced and difficult to take clear action on. 
  • There was a higher volume of reports, especially toward the latter half of the year.
  • Scheduling meetings for reporters, reported people, witnesses, and IRT members was challenging and often slowed down the process. 

In light of this, the IRT members came together in January to explore how to improve our current practices. Identified areas for improvement include: 

  • A handbook to publicly document existing processes
  • Improved training for new members and ongoing training opportunities for current team members
  • Improved communication, such as sharing how long inquiries might take with all parties. 
  • Onboarding more members to the Incident Response Team

How you can help the IRT and WordPress Community

The Incident Response Team strives to keep identifying details of incident reports confidential to support those hesitant about reporting and desiring a swift resolution process. However, we have seen more reports and their outcomes being made public beyond the IRT’s annual reporting. The IRT asks that before you do this, please consider the possible unintended consequences.

Publicly shared reports attract a wide range of feedback, from well-informed to uninformed perspectives. This can cloud the original issue, complicating the IRT’s understanding and response. Moreover, the influx of opinions can hinder maintaining an objective approach.

Sharing outcomes without appropriate context can also be problematic. It can lead to misuse of information, exacerbating division and mistrust within the community. 

In all cases, the IRT encourages careful consideration before making such details public to avoid these issues. While some conflicts should be public, not all conflicts need such visibility. 

The Incident Response Team will update its processes and create a more thorough handbook (V1 published here). Further work on this handbook will be done in the #incident-response channel and posts published on https://make.wordpress.org/project/ to invite your feedback and questions. 

Lastly, a gentle thought. Our Code of Conduct outlines the behaviors we aim for and explains the steps to be taken if these are not met. Remember, we’re all human and should treat each other with kindness and respect. If a situation becomes challenging, taking a brief pause is helpful. This allows us to approach these moments with a clear and respectful mindset, seeking solutions together.

Thank you to the Incident Response Team members for helping to write and edit this post!

Angela Jin 1:21 pm on January 15, 2024  

Incident Reports 2023 Recap

The Incident Response Team (IRT) receives and handles incident reports following the Community Code of Conduct. This handbook page includes information about the Incident Response Team, its members, and insight into their processes. 

If you witness behavior that doesn’t align with the project-wide or events code of conduct, please contact any IRT members, email reports@wordpress.org, or submit a report via this form. The IRT is also available for general inquiries, clarifying how incident response functions within WordPress.

Per Incident Response Team practices, this is an annual recap of reports received in the prior year, the method of reporting, and the action taken after investigation into each report. 

The Incident Response Team received 17 reports in 2023, 5 of which were resolved through mediation*. The remaining 12 reports are summarized as follows:

Report #1

Reports were received between December 2022 and January 2023 alleging that local community members influenced 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.’s organizing decisions to benefit particular companies and individuals.

Outcome: The inquiry process revealed insulting and personal attacks, public and private harassment, influencing and inciting harassment, retaliation, and discrimination. As a result, the Incident Response Team took several actions. The WordCamp was cancelled, a Community deputy and mentor role was removed, and involved companies were banned from sponsoring WordPress events for one year. As the issue also extended to the local 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., all organizers were removed from their roles and asked to complete Meetup organizer training before becoming an organizer again. 

Due to the unique nature of this situation, an announcement was shared with the community.

Report #2

In May 2023, reports alleged gatekeeping behaviors by a longtime Meetup organizer. 

Outcome: Following the inquiry, the Incident Response Team issued a warning and provided guidance to the meetup organizer.

Report #3

A WordCamp in late 2022 did not provide a thorough financial transparency report despite Community Program Supporters reaching out to request information. After giving significant time for the lead organizer to provide the requested information, the issue was escalated to the Incident Response Team due to the missing funds. 

Outcome: The Incident Response Team deduced that ample time had been offered to the individual to provide the information. As such, and due to the financial severity of the situation, the Incident Response Team took steps to remove the reported person from organizing roles. The individual eventually provided the requested information and was able to regain roles. 

Due to the unique nature of this situation, a reminder and clarification around the process were shared with the community. 

Report #4

In July 2023, reports alleged financial fraud by a WordCamp. 

Outcome: This report is still under investigation.

Report #5

In September 2023, reports shared that a member and speaker of the local community was directly insulting other community members and expressing derogatory comments.

Outcome: The Incident Response Team’s inquiry learned that the individual’s behavior did violate the Code of Conduct. They were removed as a speaker from an upcoming event and issued a warning. 

Report #6

In August 2023, a WordCamp attendee found an unwrapped condom hidden in the roll of toilet paper at the venue. 

Outcome: Incident Response Team members reported this to the venue, requesting increased security. 

Report #7

In September 2023, reports alleged hostile and aggressive behavior from one community member to another. 

Outcome: After an inquiry, the Incident Response Team issued a warning to the parties involved with a reminder of the Code of Conduct in place for all events. 

Report #8

In September 2023, reports alleged insulting and derogatory comments from one community member to another.

Outcome: This report is still under investigation.

Report #9

In August 2023, reports alleged harassing and inappropriate behavior from one community organizer to another. 

Outcome: This report is still under investigation

Report #10

In September 2023, community members reported an unfair banning from wp.org and requested additional review. 

Outcome: This report has gone through an investigation and is now working toward a resolution.

Report #11

A WordCamp attendee reported frustration with the organizing team. 

Outcome: In investigating this further, the Incident Response Team determined that there were misunderstandings on the attendee’s part and that their behavior (continuous contacting and harassing of event organizers) was inappropriate. The attendee was asked to refrain from attending the event. 

Report #12

In December 2023, a WordPress event organizer reportedly used threatening and rude language towards a Community Event Supporter. 

Outcome: This report is still under investigation.

Thank you

The Incident Response Team is essential to supporting our community, providing a straightforward method for members to report and address incidents that go against the WordPress Community Code of Conduct. A huge thank you to the Incident Response Team Members this year for their tireless, often invisible work to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all participants. 

Incident Team Members this year include Aaron Campbell (@aaroncampbell), Aditya Kane (@adityakane), Angela Jin (@angelasjin), Cate DeRosia (@mysweetcate), Devin Maeztri (@devinmaeztri), Destiny Kanno (@piyopiyofox), Evangelia Pappa (@evelina87), Harmony Romo (@harmonyromo), Hari Shanker (@harishanker), Isotta Peira (@peiraisotta), Julia Golomb (@juliarosia), Katie Richards (@katiejrichards), Kevin Cristiano (@kcristiano), Megan Rose (@megabyterose), Naoko Takano (@nao), Rocío Valdivia (@_dorsvenabili), Sam Suresh (@samsuresh), Timi Wahalahti (@sippis).

And thank you to the reporters and the individuals who assisted along the way. Reporting can be scary, especially if you’ve experienced an uncomfortable situation. At the same time, reporting allows for the opportunity to address and prevent unwelcoming challenges in the future. 

Looking forward to 2024

The Incident Response Team will continue to do this critical work in 2024. Additional activities will include refining and adding to existing training for Incident Response Team members and inviting and onboarding new members to the team. If you have questions about the Incident Response Team’s work, join us in the #incident-response 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 or email us at reports@wordpress.org.

*Mediation is when the involved community members, with or without support from the Incident Response Team, work through issues by discussing them. This is a common and effective step to take before any enforcement guidelines. The Incident Response team appreciates being notified of these situations in case they escalate. 

Josepha 6:55 pm on December 22, 2022
Tags: covid, journalentry, wordcampasia, wordcampcentral   

Journal Entry: WordCamp Asia 2020 Cancellation Debrief

This is post-action documentation of what happened during the cancellation of 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. Asia at the start of the pandemic. There are no necessary action items remaining, this is simply to make the work and process available publicly should the need ever arise again ~Josepha.

Timeline – 2020

Early Jan:

  • 3 community members reached out to WordCamp CentralWordCamp Central Website for all WordCamp activities globally. https://central.wordcamp.org includes a list of upcoming and past camp with links to each. (WCC) to ask about how the coronavirus might impact WordCamp Asia (WCA).

Jan 21:

  • First mention of coronavirus among make.wp.org contributors, who were bringing concerns from their team members.

Jan 22:

  • WCC reached out to the WCA organizing team to discuss whether or not there was cause for concern.

Jan 27:

  • WCA organizing team publicly announced they were monitoring the situation: https://2020.asia.wordcamp.org/2020/01/27/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-outbreak-update/

Jan 29:

  • WCA team began researching contracts, etc. in case of a late cancellation.
  • Thai Department of Disease Control (DDC) made recommendations for gathering in crowded places, but no directives to postpone: https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/eng/file/recommendation/06crowded_place.pdf
  • WCC and WCA team collaborated on possible cancellation criteria and landed on travel advisory from US or UK to Thailand + travel advisory from any SE Asian country to Thailand.

Jan 30:

  • Declared a global health emergency by W.H.O.

Feb 4:

  • WCA local team member had a call with Thai Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation officer.
  • WCA team publicly shared their cancellation criteria, and assurances that planning was proceeding as usual: https://2020.asia.wordcamp.org/2020/01/27/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-outbreak-update/

Feb 10:
WCC received reports about the following:

  • a significant number of sponsors cancelled their travel
  • a significant number of speakers cancelled (due to health concerns or flight cancelations)
  • some companies were not allowing them to attend
  • Some organizers privately shared their concerns about legal consequences if the event did happen and people were infected.
  • our contact inside the Ministry of Health assured us that the Thai gov was planning an announcement for big events to be postponed.

Feb 11:

  • WCC had several meetings with the WCA team discussing all these factors with a focus on having our attendees’ safety as the main priority.
  • There was no unanimous position between WCA and WCA on what to do next.
  • Later that day, the DDC recommended that big events in Thailand be postponed unless absolutely necessary: https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/eng/file/recommendation/016Recommendations.pdf

Feb 12:

  • WC Asia was officially cancelled.
  • https://2020.asia.wordcamp.org/2020/02/12/cancellation/
  • https://wordpress.org/news/2020/02/wordcamp-asia-cancelled-due-to-covid-19/

Cancelling the Event

Action Plan
WCC and worked through an 8-hr handoff, global communication plan. Communicating the change was a lengthy process, due to the desire to maintain ethical communication patterns. It was important to let anyone who would have to accomplish the bulk of the work (or receive a bulk of the feedback) know first, and progressively share the information from there.

Inform the organizing team:

  • The team was spread across several time zones.
  • Naoko delivered the news progressively across all three time zones.

Inform the public:

  • Andrea coordinated with the organizing team when and how to communicate the changes through their channels.
  • Josepha coordinated with Matt how to communicate the changes on WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org//news.

Create supporting materials:

  • Writing and proofreading posts for each property
  • Letters to request that fees/penalties be waived
  • Emails to attendees, sponsors, etc

Logistics management:

  • Canceling/moving dates with the venue
  • Negotiating changes with the hotel
  • Helping connect affected attendees to community initiatives
  • Monitor social media, private 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/. instances, and influential bloggers

Temp Checks and Feedback

Many factors were taken into account while discussing how to move forward. These were some of the most concerning unknowns that we had:

  • Thai govt gave some inconsistent pointers, such as advice to avoid large gatherings but then not preventing them.
  • The unpredictability of quarantines, and other disruptions to travel.
  • Uncertainty of the incubation period, increasing the possibility of unknowingly spreading the virus.
  • Attendee-focused decisions were hard because putting the attendee first can be “making sure they can attend regardless” or “making sure we don’t put them in harm’s way unnecessarily”.
  • People are worried about how this affects future flagship events.

#journalentry, #covid, #wordcampasia, #wordcampcentral

Chloe Bringmann 3:33 pm on September 19, 2022
Tags: WCUS, ,   

WCUS 2022 Q&A

WordCamp US 2022 convened from September 9 to 11 in San Diego, California. It felt reminiscent of earlier gatherings that offered a comfortable environment for reconnecting, learning, and discussing all things WordPress. The highlight for many was the closing session with the project’s co-founder, @matt, who shared a sneak peek at features slated for the upcoming 6.1 release and engaged in conversation with attendees in a Town Hall Q&A.

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. US 2022 Q&A

In an effort for no questions to go unanswered, those submitted on Livestream and Twitter are listed below with answers from WordPress contributors. 

Q1. How do we convince legacy web builders, agencies, and companies to more quickly adopt new WordPress features? I’m seeing a ton of opportunities to support older sites (5.0), but very few agencies/projects/companies are moving to build on 6.0.

A1. A few teams are working hard to share and educate users about new features in the latest WordPress releases. The Training Team publishes tutorials to help ease adoption. Marketing highlights new #WordPress features across multiple social networks. @annezazu hosts regular Hallway Hangouts in Test. Your thoughts on additional adoption initiatives are welcome.

Q2. How close is WordPress to editor collaboration? It’s sometimes frustrating that two people can’t be in the editor at the same time. 

A2. The project roadmap shows the big picture goals and upcoming releases, and @matveb shared some early thoughts about building a “multiplayer” experience, but there is no release date for this feature yet. As noted in the Q&A, some big questions need to be addressed before collaboration can be addressed. That said, some exciting plugins explore comments and other collaborative tools.

Q3. Any thoughts on p2’s release date for self-hosting? It looks lovely!

A3. The new version of P2 requires WordPress.comWordPress.com An online implementation of WordPress code that lets you immediately access a new WordPress environment to publish your content. WordPress.com is a private company owned by Automattic that hosts the largest multisite in the world. This is arguably the best place to start blogging if you have never touched WordPress before. https://wordpress.com/ hosting to power its more advanced feature set, so there is currently no self-hosted version available. You’re welcome to try the O2 plugin and the P2 Breathe theme, but please note that this pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party is not in active development.

Q4. What commitment does WordPress CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. have to advance accessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (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) for disabled WP users and also for baking it into WordPress sites created?

A4. Accessibility is top of mind while developing WordPress, and WordPress 6.1 has seen 40 accessibility improvements listed under milestones 13.1-14.1 in the 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/ 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/ repository, if you would like to follow along, with more expected in upcoming releases. As Matt mentioned in the Q&A session, there is an interest in slowing down the fast clip of Gutenberg development to allow for necessary improvements, like accessibility.

Q5. What is the plan for making the Site Editor accessible?

A5. Every new release includes a variety of accessibility improvements. You can read about WordPress 6.0 Accessibility Improvements and expect more in 6.1. You can also get involved with this work by joining the #accessibility channel in Make Slack.

Q6. Are there any plans to make future WordCamps hybrid to take advantage of the aspects of video conferencing that we discovered during the pandemic?

A6. WordCamp US 2022 had a captioned Livestream available throughout the event (recordings also available). Community members in San Diego and at home kept the conversation going with #WCUS across social platforms, especially on Twitter. WordCamp organizers are committed to iterating and exploring how best to bring the experience to participants both in-person and online.

Q7. What is the timeline for removing the “BetaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process.” tag from the Site Editor?

A7. The Core Team is discussing open issues and blockers to the removal of the Beta label. You can follow along with the discussion on GitHub.

Q8. Right now, the navigation 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. is basic. Are they planning to improve this? For example, I would like to easily create a mega menu.

A8. Navigation is a crucial part of the site editing experience and can cover a wide array of use cases, from simple “all pages” navigation to complex structures. Currently, the project is focused on ensuring the best experience possible for the most common use cases while still allowing extensibility. Once that experience is polished enough, the editor will be extended to allow more complex navigation structures such as mega menus.

Do you have a question? Comment below, and join one of the many teams making WordPress for answers.

#wcus2022