The purpose of this post is to kickstart one of the topics on the current Sustainability Team roadmap: creating guidelines for making WordPress websites more sustainable.

Over the past few months, there have been several discussions during our meetings regarding this topic. This post gathers the proposals, doubts, and decisions that came out of those conversations to have a starting point for the project.

What are we aiming to do?

Our initial idea is to create educational content for WordPress users to raise awareness about web sustainability within the community. Although there is already content about creating more sustainable websites, we think it’s necessary to create guidelines specifically focused on WordPress.

Where to start

We need to define how our content will be different from existing web sustainability resources and ensure that it is practical and WordPress-specific. To do this, we’ve agreed that our first task should be to create a content plan.

It has been suggested that we collaborate with other WordPress teams like Training, Hosting, and Documentation, as well as with the Developer Blog. Working together with these teams and other projects will help us define the structure, required information, and other aspects like format, distribution, and data.

Existing guidelines on web sustainability, such as the Web Sustainability Guidelines (WSG) 1.0 and the Web Sustainability Guidelines created by Mightybytes and Wholegrain Digital, will be used as references.

Thoughts on the format

While we all agree on the project’s objective, there have been some discussions and questions about the format for presenting the information. Here are the current suggestions (not mutually exclusive):

• A traditional handbook, similar to what we’ve created for more sustainable WordPress events.
• More intuitive and hands-on formats like “101s” and tutorials.
• A referential format that points to existing documentation on web sustainability.
• Courses or tutorials for Learn WordPress.
• A format that provides the Sustainability 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 users with specific information for issues as they arise.
• A format adaptable for publishing on the Developer Blog.
• Include a “not-fun-facts” introduction section, similar to this example.

Who the information is for

The most intense debate has been focused on the target audience. There was an initial suggestion to divide the content into three profiles: developers, designers, and less-experienced users. However, the debate is still ongoing about whether this is the best approach.

Contributors have shared both supporting and opposing opinions, taking into account the following aspects:

• How will each profile find the information, and can we ensure that all will access it?
• Should the format, location, or structure of the content be different for each profile?
• Should we start with one user group and expand to others later to avoid slowing down the project?
• Is it necessary to have different content for developers and designers, or can they be combined under a single “professional users” profile?
• Which group stands to benefit the most from web sustainability practices?
• Should we avoid segmenting users and focus on providing generalist information that is useful to everyone?

These are the main points we’ve discussed so far, but you can check the full conversation here.

Can I help with this project?

One of the most common problems contributors face when trying to move forward with a project is the lack of clear information: How should things be done to stay aligned with the rest of the WordPress teams? Who has the know-how? Is there something I know or can do to help the project?

If you’re in doubt, check if you meet one (or more) of the following situations:

• You, or someone you know, are working on a project that can be linked to this one or can provide any kind of valuable information. For example, @ironnysh informed the team about the Training team’s plan to develop a Learning Pathway for designers, which could include content on sustainable web creation.
• You know a company or external project that might be interested in collaborating, whether by funding, assigning contributors, providing data, or sharing their experience with similar documentation efforts.
• You are part of a veteran and wiser WordPress team and you think you should warn or advise us about processes or formats. For example, Documentation or Training teams who have more experience in managing and publishing educational content for the WordPress community.
• You, or someone you know, are interested in making WordPress websites in a more sustainable way and just want to help. Anyone can provide feedback, propose solutions, or share examples that could serve as a reference, like the ones mentioned above.

Where is everything happening?

All the information in this post comes from recent Sustainability Team meetings. You can find the full conversations here, here, and here. This topic will continue to be discussed in future meetings, starting tomorrow, 13-09-2024 11:00 UTC.

Additionally, we’ve created a GitHub space to organize the project and centralize information and feedback.

To keep the project updates more accessible, posts like this one will be published with the most outstanding updates. Feel free to leave your comments here as well.