Recap: GitHub updates and process refinements

The GitHub updates announced in July have finally completed! Here is an overview of the changes.

Here’s what’s new

  • 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/ labels have been reduced from over 120 to just 27.
  • Issue templates have been reduced from 9 to 5.
  • 3 workflows have been set up to automate tasks:
    • Anyone can now self-assign issues by typing //assign in a issue comment.
    • Anyone can send their issue to the relevant project board by typing either //dev, //content, or //handbook when submitting feedback.
    • Faculty members can add content development checklists to their issues by typing either //tutorial, //online-workshop, //lesson-plan, or //course in either the issue itself or in a comment.
  • 2 new handbook pages have been published to document these changes:
  • How We Use GitHub and other handbook pages have been updated to reflect these changes.

Learn more at next week’s Online Workshops

@bsanevans will be hosting two Online Workshops next week to demonstrate these changes live, and answer any question folks may have. These Online Workshops are a perfect opportunity for:

  • Training Team Faculty and contributors who have been contributing to the team and want to get up-to-date with these latest changes.
  • New contributors interested in contributing to the Training Team and wanting to know how we use GitHub.
  • Any contributor from other Make WordPress teams interested in implementing GitHub processes to their team, too.

Come sign up to these workshops from the links below. Times are shown in your local timezone. A recording will be published after the event for anyone who could not attend.


While these changes bring much needed refinements to the Training Team’s processes, there’s always room for further improvements. If you have any feedback, feel free to comment below, or bring them up directly in the Training Team any time.


Thank you to the following contributors who contributed to this project, either directly or by providing feedback as changes were implemented 👏🏼👏🏼 @webtechpooja @jominney @sumitsingh @digitalchild @psykro

Also, thank you @milana_cap for sharing your insight from setting up workflows for the Docs team 🍪🍪

#github, #procedures

Project Thread: Learning Pathways on Learn WordPress

Project Objective: Create and launch progressive user-friendly learning pathways tailored to different types of Learners on Learn WordPress.

Project Overview

The WordPress Training Team recognizes the need for a clear, structured, and user-friendly approach to presenting Learn WordPress content. This need has been confirmed by feedback from the individual learner survey and WordCamp EU Contributor Day attendees. As a result, this project aims to deployDeploy Launching code from a local development environment to the production web server, so that it's available to visitors. an improved Learn WordPress website experience that provides an easy-to-navigate, goal-oriented learning environment that caters to learners of different roles and skill levels.

This project will serve as a foundational start, establishing a framework and functionality that will allow for the expansion and growth of the learning system over time. To meet our objective, this project includes a website redesign that offers clear learning pathways to reach target Learners such as Developers, End Users, and Designers. We will also focus on making relevant content easier to find and the inclusion of a framework that classifies content by skill level. We believe this will enhance user engagement, improve learning outcomes, and increase user adoption of Learn WordPress resources.

Our journey will not end with the initial deployment of the new site. Rather, it is just the beginning of an iterative process of continuous improvement and expansion, leveraging feedback and data analytics to enhance the user experience continually.

We hope that this project will help us better serve the wider WordPress community by promoting knowledge transfer and ensuring a thriving community with diverse skills and abilities.

Thank you to @courane01 for getting this work kicked off in your Creating Learning Pathways for Learn WordPress and subsequent GitHub issue.

Project Members

Project lead: TBD

Members: @jominney @piyopiyofox @west7 @psykro @courane01

Project Timeline

Start: July 24, 2023

End: July 2024

Project Deliverables

  • Develop a website redesign for Learn WordPress that delivers a clear, user-friendly pathway for learners of different levels, roles, and use-cases.
  • Enhance the discoverability and searchability of relevant Learn WordPress content through the integration of new search filters and content organization strategies.
  • Establish a skill level classification framework for Learn WordPress content that enables clear content filtering and search results based on learner needs.

Tasks

Planning

Tasks in this section scope out project parameters and requirements for the success of this project.

Project Management

  • Recruit project members
  • Establish cross-team collaboration points of contact

Information Architecture

  • Create outlines and storyboards that detail learning pathway components based on the proposed information architecture
  • Map out content to provide a proposed information architecture (i.e. content types, taxonomies, relationships) that integrates Pathways
  • Conduct targeted user research to validate content decisions such as language, information architecture, outlines/storyboards

Deadline: September 18th 2023

Content Creation

Cross-team collaboration point of contact: @west7

These are tasks that Training Team Content Creators can help us accomplish

  • Outline specific skill levels and learning outcomes for each pathway.
  • Identify existing content that can be used within pathways.
  • Create outlines and storyboards that detail learning pathway components. (Either Miro or Google Jamboard will be used)
  • Develop a content creation guidelines that enable the Learning Pathways to scale, with a clear process for developing, reviewing, and updating content.

Deadline: November 2023

  • Develop new content where gaps exist.
  • Develop clear and concise learning pathways for target Learners.

Deadline: March 2024

Design

Cross-team collaboration point of contact: @fcoveram

These are tasks we will need to do in collaboration with the Make WordPress Design Team.

  • Develop a cohesive design concept for the Learn WordPress site.
  • Develop visual language for skill level classifications.
  • Ensure that the site design aligns with the learning pathways vision and goals.
  • Ensure that all visual elements are accessible and meet 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) standards, such as color contrast ratios and readable typography.

Deadline: January 2024

Development

Cross-team collaboration point of contact: @adamwood

These are tasks we will need to do in collaboration with the Make WordPress 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. team and Training Team developers.

  • Ensure that the Learn WordPress site redesign accommodates various learning pathways and skill levels.
  • Build out any new functionality required to support learning pathways and content classification.
  • Collaborate with content creators to ensure that the site structure and content is optimized for user experience.
  • Ensure that the site is optimized for searchability and discoverability of content
  • Implement user tracking and analytics features to capture data on user behavior and engagement with Learning Pathways.
  • Ensure that the site is optimized for fast page load times and is easily accessible on various devices, including desktop, mobile, and tablet.
  • Ensure that the Learning Pathways are integrated with any relevant third-party tools or services that may further enhance the user experience, such as social sharing, reminders and bookmarking tools.

Deadline: May 2024

Marketing

Cross-team collaboration point of contact: @sereedmedia

These are tasks we will need to do in collaboration with the Make WordPress Marketing Team..

  • Develop a strategic marketing plan for promoting Learn WordPress learning pathways.
  • Identify target audiences within the three groups of Learners and develop targeted campaigns for each group.
  • Develop clear messaging that speaks to each Learner group’s specific needs and pain points.
  • Track engagement and optimize marketing efforts over time.
  • Partner with the content creators and designers to create promotional materials, including blog posts, social media graphics, and email marketing campaigns, to promote the Learning Pathways effectively.

Deadline: July 2024


Thank you to the following contributors who helped shape this project plan: @courane01 @bsanevans @jominney @digitalchild @fcoveram @ardianimaya @tobifjellner @yvettesonneveld @askdesign @west7 @lesleysim @sereedmedia