The Test Team helps manage testing and triage across the WordPress ecosystem. They focus on user testing of the editing experience and WordPress dashboard, replicating and documenting bug reports, and supporting a culture of review and triage across the project.
Please drop by any time in SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. with questions or to help out.
Did you know? Your WordPress.org profile includes your 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/, SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/., and GitHubGitHubGitHub 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/ user info, as well as any profile badges you’ve earned.
[Recommended] Join the conversation on WordPress Slack (must be logged on to WordPress.org). While Slack is not required for Contributor Day participation, it connects you directly with the talented and diverse community behind WordPress.
[Optional] For users who intend to work with the Gutenberg plugin or test PRs (pull requests), having a GitHub account is very helpful. You can sign up for GitHub here.
Local environment testing is suggested for past contributors, or users with prior development experience.
Perhaps the biggest challenge faced by new contributors is preparing a test environment. If you would like to test patches and PRs directly during Contributor Day, it is highly recommended that you set things up at home before the event.
Tip: Wifi at the venue during a busy Contributor Day can be slow and unreliable, and configuring your laptop can take a lot (if not all) of your time. Don’t wait to fork the `wordpress-develop` repository or download Docker at the event, as this drain on bandwidth also impacts other contributors.
Differences between operating systems and personal workflows make environment configuration beyond the scope of this article, but here are some links to get started on a local test/dev environment:
Installing WordPress Locally: setting up WordPress using GitGitGit is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. Git is easy to learn and has a tiny footprint with lightning fast performance. Most modern plugin and theme development is being done with this version control system. https://git-scm.com/., SVNSVNApache Subversion (often abbreviated SVN, after its command name svn) is a software versioning and revision control system. Software developers use Subversion to maintain current and historical versions of files such as source code, web pages, and documentation. Its goal is to be a mostly compatible successor to the widely used Concurrent Versions System (CVS). WordPress core and the wordpress.org released code are all centrally managed through SVN. https://subversion.apache.org/., or from a zip file.
Get Set Up for Testing: environment setup for 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/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 PR testing.
Browser-based testing is suggested for users who have not contributed to WordPress before.
If you prefer to test using a browser only — a good option if you have joined Contributor Day at the last minute! — then you might consider using gutenberg.run, WordPress Playground, or a service like InstaWP or TasteWP.
Contributor Day has arrived! Look for the table with the “CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.: Test” or “Test” placard, find a seat, and don’t be afraid to introduce yourself. And most importantly: have fun collaborating with other contributors!
Table leads are volunteers who have taken on the responsibility of helping steer and answer questions from other Contributor Day attendees. Make sure that other attendees know they can come to you for help.
If you’re lucky, there will be other contributors at the table when the session begins, but don’t be surprised if others trickle in (or leave) during the day. Remember that not everyone signs up for a team/table before the event, so you might end up steering them elsewhere, or pitching them on why the Test Team is so cool 😎.
To kick things off, here are some suggestions:
Introduce the table leads to clarify who to reach out to for help.
Go around the table and ask everyone else to introduce themselves.
Good icebreaker questions:
Where are you from/how far did you travel?
How do you use WordPress?
Have you contributed before, and what interests you most about contributing?
Slack can be a good way to connect with remote attendees, many of which can help answer questions and collaborate with testing. Everyone at the event and remote should be invited to keep in touch online.
Tip: While it’s not required to run/mirror table collaboration in Slack, it does provide a very convenient way to record participation, as well as share the inevitable Trac query and GitHub PR links with other participants.
Not everyone can make it to Contributor Day, but Test table attendees are encouraged to invite remote participation. The Test table lead should make every effort to keep remote Slack attendees up to date, or assign another volunteer at the table to handle these communications.
If you show up as a remote attendee on the #core-test channel, make sure to let everyone know you’re there for Contributor Day.
And finally, perhaps the most important part of attending Contributor Day is being able to connect with each other as individuals. Take the time to get to know each other, and foremost, have fun!
The Test Team’s “duty of care” covers all forms of testing in the WordPress project, whether manual or automated, from the core software to Gutenberg to other teams. This provides many options for involvement at Contributor Day.
The most popular activity for Test table participants is usually…testing! Core’s official Bug Reports page is a good place to start, but here are some other themed examples of testing opportunities:
Key features from the latest major releaseMajor ReleaseA set of releases or versions having the same major version number may be collectively referred to as “X.Y” -- for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, and all other versions in the 5.2. (five dot two dot) branch of that software. Major Releases often are the introduction of new major features and functionality., e.g. https://make.wordpress.org/test/2023/02/07/help-test-wordpress-6-2/.
Focus on a particular 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. or RCRelease CandidateA beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge. release, e.g. https://wordpress.org/news/2023/03/wordpress-6-2-release-candidate-1/.
Features or updates highlighted in recent Core Dev Notes.
Handbook articles (like the one you’re reading now) are the result of numerous hours of collaboration effort from Test contributors, and benefit current and new Test Team members alike.
If you have at least a basic understanding of Test Team procedures (or are willing to learn about them), and you enjoy moderately-technical writing, please consider opening a PR for one of the documentation issues in the Test Handbook repo.
Contributors who provide a meaningful contribution to Test Team, such as a reproduction or patch test report, submit unit tests, or open a PR for a documentation update, will be awarded a shiny Test Contributor profile badge.
If during your participation in Contributor Day you were unable to post a traceable contribution (i.e. something that can be shared in a URLURLA specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org), speak with your table lead before the day is through and share how you contributed to the team.