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.
If you’d like to help test Full Site Editing, please join the FSE Outreach Program. You can find current calls for testing for this program here and you can join the fun in #fse-outreach-experiment.
On 29 August 2023 at 16:00 UTC, <test-chat> started in #core-test.
<release-party>. Raise your hand, or be kind and share this post with folks you think can help out. Thanks!There is an open PR to add a Test Team Rep page to the handbook. Reviews are welcome, which can be comments/reviews on the PR, or a 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.” in #core-test if something needs more discussion.
[This discussion started here.]
It has been proposed that the #fse-outreach-experiment begin the process of spinning down its user testing aspect (i.e. the program’s calls for testing) by the time WordPress 6.4 ships. In place of testing efforts, focus would shift to emphasize wider adoption of the Site Editor through hallway hangouts, dev documentation efforts, and other adoption-focused initiatives on the path toward wrapping up Phase 2 of the WordPress Project Roadmap.
Because the FSE Outreach Program has considerable overlap with Test Team efforts, program leadership has requested input from Test Team contributors with questions or concerns around the proposed shift. This follows other shared feedback from current program participants.
It was stressed that changes in the outreach program be handled carefully and slowly, and to capture opportunities for feedback. The next step is to compile initial feedback and thoughts around this change to share in a Make/Test post for wider input.
Current contributors in the #fse-outreach-experiment have expressed a desire to continue testing in a format adapted from or similar to the outreach program. Structured ad hoc calls for testing from within the Test Team are similar, and would provide an opportunity for continued contribution through testing. [Ed. note: the Test Team should also consider adopting things that worked for FSE CfTs to improve the experience for all testers.]
A possible source for CfT topics could be pulled from roadmap posts (for example), or otherwise collected in an ideas backlog (for example). Some pertinent links for CfTs can be found at:
Work is ongoing for documenting processes in the Test Team. The Handbook project can be found at https://github.com/wordpress/test-handbook.
[This discussion started here.]
The Call for Nominations for the next Test Team Reps is underway. Test Team members’ help is needed to nominate or volunteer for this role, to help represent the team to the wider project.
If you have a nominee in mind, or questions about the role, please comment on the post, ask in #core-test, or reach out directly to @ironprogrammer in 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/..
@ironprogrammer stepped forward with an offer to help mentor volunteers for this role. It was also noted that serving as a rep offers an excellent opportunity to gain a broader perspective of how Test Team interacts with other teams, and that while it isn’t a “lead” role, there are some leadership-focused skills that reps develop in the process.
Please submit nominations by Thursday, August 31 Friday, September 22, end of day (UTC).
The next scheduled meeting is on 5 September 2023 at 16:00 UTC for <test-triage> in #core-test.
Are you interested in helping write Test chat summaries like this one? Volunteer at the start of the next <test-chat> and earn some props!
Props @annezazu for peer review of this post.
This post is a summary of the Let’s start from the beginning call for testing for the FSE outreach program, the twenty-fifth effort. As always, I want to highlight those who helped to bring others along with them in this latest effort:
Shout out to @mdquer @olein @foosantos as first time contributors for this call for testing. Expect a badge on your WordPress profiles for your contribution!
This call for testing focused on a “from scratch” experience using the big pieces from WordPress 6.3 without detailed instructions for maximum exploration, which is reflected in the lack of new bugs found and in a fair amount of usability feedback and feature requests. In particular, folks struggled immensely with figuring out how to change the sync status of an already created pattern and fumbled through using the Command Palette, with some left confused on how best to use this new tool. While no new bugs were found, Synced Patterns losing their alignment attribute and the Table of Contents 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.’s links not working on an initial save were noted by a few folks. Here’s what some folks had to say overall:
“The only thing to mention is for me is the command palette: The command palette is not satisfying for me. It works , but for me the problem are the keywords. I could not find > top toolbar or list view. As a normal user i would expect a keyword like – list view – should open the list view, or keyword – top toolbar – , should open top toolbar, that does not work for me. I like the new patterns section with synced and unsynced patterns.” @mdquer in this comment.
I’ve been trying to use the new command palette, but I honestly don’t know what to do there. I’ve used it successfully to switch to different pages, but I don’t know what the primary purpose of the command palette is supposed to be so I have no idea if I’m leveraging its capabilities at all…In general I feel like all aspects of 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/ have been improved by recent updates. @beckej in this comment.
No new bugs were found and replicated with the following known items raised instead:
Each of these touch on items planned for 6.4 and, in particular, the alignment attribute with synced patterns remains a repeated and well established pain pointPain point Pain points are “places where you know from research or analytics that users are currently getting hung up and have to ask questions, or are likely to abandon the site or app.” — Design for Real Life.
But it looks like the block does not work on previews only after the page has been published. As the preview does not have the correct structure. https://bluewinddesign.com/?page_id=385 (previewed page). Clicking one of the headings in the Table of Contents block the link anchor looks like this: https://bluewinddesign.com/resume/#head-3 . It went to a 404 page. @paaljoachim in this comment.
Many of these feature requests centered on the Command Palette, a feature new to 6.3 and slated for improvements for 6.4, with one request already completed for adding a Toggle List View command. With the growing number of design and styling options, two folks noted a desire to see the Style Book elevated and more readily discoverable, which aligns nicely with a currently open design issue on that exact topic.
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I found the autosuggest/listings to be varied in their accuracy. Some of them didn’t make much sense in their order compared to the actual search query. @jordesign in this comment.
The ‘View Page’ button exists in the old block editor, so it would be nice to have a similar experience. (My apologies if this has already been raised in an Issue). @olein in this comment.
After checking further, I realized that Style Book does something like that. In my opinion, Style Book should be the default option with a site preview alternative. Or at least highlight Style Book a bit more somehow. @foosantos in this comment.
Media & text block didn’t apply the border when I edited the image styles. The Media & text could be composed of sub-blocks to inherit the properties of a single image block like the Gallery block does now. @josvelasco in this comment
Out of all of the usability feedback, a few themes emerged:
None of these tasks are necessarily niche to do yet prove to be tricky to navigate, with cumbersome steps or unclear UXUX UX is an acronym for User Experience - the way the user uses the UI. Think ‘what they are doing’ and less about how they do it. to navigate, like being unable to see the blinking cursor in a new page in the Site Editor.
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Using the Style Book – I was hoping to be able to make changes to the H2 specifically while viewing a preview. It wasn’t made clear anywhere what the hierarchy of editing headings was to edit the ‘Heading’ element for styles that go across all headings, but could then make individual changes to different headings under Typography > Headings. @jordesign in this comment.
I typed into the Width box where it said Auto and wrote 100. The image is now smaller. I am wondering where the size drop down is? To select full, large, medium, small, thumbnail. Instead these options are inside the Resolution dropdown and that can be very confusing. @paaljoachim in this comment.
After checking for about 2-3 minutes, I really couldn’t find a way to change from Synced to Unsynced. Both for the original and duplicated. @foosantos in this comment.
I wanted to insert the table of contents block between the title and the first block, so I moved the cursor to the page title with the mouse and pressed enter, but could not move it to the content area. @olein in this comment.
After creating the page from the Site editor, clicking the Type / to choose a block does not make the vertical text cursor | start blinking. You see it only after you start typing or pasting something like the Google Doc’s content. @josvelasco in this comment
On 15 August 2023 at 16:00 UTC, <test-chat> started in #core-test.
And we received one participant-submitted announcement:
Volunteers were asked to step forward to help facilitate the Test table, both in person and remotely 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/.. @ironprogrammer volunteered to help lead in person at the event, but at the time of this writing there was no clear lead for coordinating contributors online in Slack. Contributors wishing to help are asked to comment below or raise their hand in Slack.
The remote session for Contributor Day is scheduled to begin at 2023-08-24 10:00 EDT in the #contributor-day channel. For more details, see the Test Team at WCUS 2023 post.
It was shared that the nomination process for the next Test Team Reps would begin soon, and team members were encouraged to help identify and nominate individuals who might be a good fit for the role (even themselves). [Ed. note: the 2023-24 call for nominations has been published.]
The next scheduled meeting is on 22 August 2023 at 16:00 UTC for <test-triage> in #core-test.
Are you interested in helping write Test chat summaries like this one? Volunteer at the start of the next <test-chat> and earn some props!
Props @boniu91 for peer review of this post.
Update: This call for nominations has been extended to 2023-09-23 00:00 (see comment below).
Update 2: Nominations for the 2023-2024 term are closed.
It’s time again to nominate the Test Team Reps who will serve for the next 12 months!
This Call for Nominations is open until 2023-08-31 12:00 2023-09-23 00:00. Please leave a comment identifying your nominee(s) before then.
For a quick refresher of 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. roles across the project, please see the Team Reps post on Team Updates.
Reps in the Test Team perform primary and secondary (or backup) duties to help support team chats, make updates to the team’s blog and handbook, remove blockers, keep a pulse on team objectives, and promote testing opportunities within the WordPress project.
As a reminder, Reps are not called “team leads” for a reason. While people elected as Team Reps will generally come from the pool of folks that people think of as experienced leaders, the Team Rep role is designed to change hands regularly.
Test Team Rep duties include:
<test-chat> sessions (example).<test-chat> (example) and <test-triage> (example) sessions in #core-test.<test-chat> session recaps, and post to Make WordPress Test.These duties are shared between the primary and secondary Reps (see Rep Responsibilities on the Team Rep page).
A Rep is an active team member who is reliable and trusted, advocates for and is knowledgeable of one or more areas of testing, and wants to represent, nurture, and grow the team to better serve the WordPress open sourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. project.
Test Team Reps must be committed to showing up and performing regular duties, and should expect a time commitment of at least 2-4 hours per week. Reps serve for a term of one year.
The first step is to reach out to the community with a Call for Nominations (this post!)
Please nominate in the comments of this post. You can write a comment as simple as “I nominate @the_persons_username.” Self-nominations are also welcome by leaving a comment such as “I nominate myself.”
Private nominations can be submitted by contacting @Piotrek Boniu or @ironprogrammer in 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/..
If you’ve been nominated, please accept or decline the nomination as a reply to the same comment.
⏰ The deadline for nominations is 2023-08-31 12:00 2023-09-23 00:00.
After the deadline, each nominee will be contacted to discuss qualifications and to confirm their acceptance of the nomination.
If you get nominated, please do not feel like you have to say “yes”. It’s okay for you to decline the nomination if you don’t feel like this is the right fit for any reason. “Thank you, but no thank you!” 😉
An election will happen only if there are more than two accepted nominations within the nomination period; otherwise the nominees will become the new Test Team Reps.
If held, the election will be conducted by an anonymous poll (example). The poll will remain open for 2 weeks.
Once uncontested nominations have been accepted, or in the event of an election the voting period has passed, the new Test Team Reps will be announced in a post (example).
Are you ready? It’s time to nominate folks to serve as our Test Team Reps for the new term! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments.
Props to @boniu91 for review of this post.
WordCamp US 2023 is almost here! It takes place from August 24-26 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, USA. As is customary 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. events, a Contributor Day will be held, taking place on Thursday, August 24. This event is open to everyone, even if you are not attending WCUS.
🕰️ Important Times to Note:
#contributor-day channel (2023-08-24 10:00 EDT local)
Join the Test team in person, or contribute remotely. We can’t wait to see you!
The WordPress project offers numerous opportunities for contribution through testing. Some common ways to participate are to:
And if none of the above sound right, or you simply wish to know what contributing to WordPress with testing is all about, please stop on by the table to chat.
To ensure you get the most out of 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/., please review the following before the event, so that you can focus on the fun stuff when you arrive:
In addition to keeping the WCUS 2023 homepage handy, join the #core-test and #contributor-day channels in Make 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 follow #wcus for other event updates.
If you have any questions about Contributor Day or Test Team, please leave a comment below or reach out on the appropriate Slack channel.
Also, if you’re attending Contributor Day in person, let us know in the comments!
Interested in Contributor Day, but not sure if Test is the right fit for you? Try out Make WordPress’s Find Your Team tool to discover other opportunities that may interest you.
Props to @oglekler for peer review of this post.