Iteration issue: https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/74549

Have you been waiting to collaborate in WordPress posts the way you do in Google Docs? Here’s your chance!

Real-time collaboration is the crowning feature of 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/ Project phase 3, and this is the first iteration to land in CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.. You can call it RTC for short.

But before it can get there, RTC needs you! (And your friends!) Every part of this groundbreaking functionality, from front-end usability to literal php functions, plus database calls, APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. endpoints, and more, needs to run this first implementation through its paces.

In short, please ride this hard. Try to break everything! That’s how the folks who’ve been working hard on this for years will know it’s good enough to be in Core.

Testing steps:

• Install WordPress 7.0 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. 1 on a server that somebody else can reach. 
• This should probably be a new installation. maybe on a local network or on a staging server, or something in between—not a production server, but also not a local installLocal Install A local install of WordPress is a way to create a staging environment by installing a LAMP or LEMP stack on your local computer. on a single machine.
• In the 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., navigate to Settings > Writing and toggle on “Enable real-time collaboration.
• Open a post for editing. Start with a regular post, of course, but remember that pages are also posts, and custom post types are posts too! There are some exceptions, which you’ll find below. 
• Invite a friend or colleague (or two or ten!) to edit the same post.
  • Consider joining a video call and sharing your screens so you can each see both experiences.
  • Or, collaborate with yourself! To do that, open your install in a separate tab and log in as someone else. See if you can edit as both people!
  • Another option: open your site on two machines on the same network.
• If you have some, use real content—real text and images, other data sources and other media. See if you can use your usual workflows.

What to expect

• Real-time collaboration only works when you’re editing posts in the 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. editor. It won’t function on other admin screens.
• Classic post metaMeta Meta 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. boxes do not sync. Using these boxes still works, but your collaborators will not see updates in real time. They might even overwrite each other’s changes.
  • Without looking at the code, it’s not always obvious whether a post meta box is Classic (persisted using a save_post hook) or modern (integrated with the Gutenberg data store). Many plugins still use Classic post meta boxes.
• Most blocks are compatible. Blocks are synced via their attributes, which means that most blocks support real-time collaboration by default. Some blocks might use local state when working with user input, which can result in issues during real-time collaboration.
  • The core/freeform (Classic) block is currently incompatible.
• Plugins that integrate with the block editor might have issues. Behavior with plugins is some of the most important feedback you can give. 
• Collaborator cursors disappear in the Show Template view.
• Collaborating on the same block can have issues. Please test it anyway, but expect quirkiness around cursor placement. Your feedback may well speed up the fix!
• Syncing happens over HTTPHTTP HTTP is an acronym for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. HTTP is the underlying protocol used by the World Wide Web and this protocol defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands. polling, so it’s not instant. It could feel laggy sometimes—please report this! As well, if it feels much smoother at some points than at others, please report that. Performance will directly affect how the community takes to RTC long-term.

What to notice

About overall functionality:

• Did real-time collaboration work the whole time? 
• Did you get disconnected? Did it ever feel unresponsive to the point that it interrupted your work?
• Did you lose any content? How about duplication?

In real-life workflows, could you collaborate:

• On custom blocks?
• Inside a plugin’s UIUI UI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout of the page the user interacts with. Think ‘how are they doing that’ and less about what they are doing.?
• In the site editor?
• On a large document?
• If you added more than one user?

How did RTC do on 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)? Did it work:

• Only  using the keyboard?
• With a screen reader?
• On a mobile device?

Thank you!

Please report your findings to the fine folks at #feature-realtime-collaboration on Make 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/, or directly to the authors of this post. If you’re comfortable with 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 by the repository owner. https://github.com/, the best place to report would be in comments on the tracking issue, #52593.

One more thing: RTC is getting its own table.

That hasn’t merged yet, but if you want to follow its progress, start with the discussion on the ticket at https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/64696#comment:44 and happy testing!

Props to @ankit-k-gupta, @maxschmeling, @czarate, and @annezazu for peer review and collaboration.