Dev-squad 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/ triage: Biweekly on Thursdays 07:00 UTC
Last year, the Training Team identified a need to clarify the contributor roles in the team. This post first outlines what improvements have been made over the last 12 months. It then proposes updating the team’s Contributor Ladder handbook page from a linear ladder to a five-path ladder, matching the team’s onboarding and faculty program structures.
Achievements from the last 12 months
Last year, the Training Team identified multiple needs in regards to the team roles. These were summarized in [Discussion] Reimagining the Training Team contributor roles. Many processes have since been implemented in response to these needs, and the team is seeing not just more contributors, but more engagement from contributors, too! Let’s take a moment to celebrate these wins!
Identified Need
Implemented Process
Easing the onboarding process for newcomers and beginners.
Having a few folks who can focus on sorting 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/ issues consistently would be beneficial.
Assign a point of contact for new contributors to reach out to in each role.
The use of SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. groups has made it easier for new contributors to reach out to all faculty members in a specific area of expertise at once without the need to identify and pingPingThe 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.” individuals.
It would be excellent to have onboarding videos/lesson plans for each role.
The team’s onboarding program walks users through their first contribution, regardless of which of the five areas of expertise they choose.
Continue building the handbook so contributors have more precise guidance.
The team handbook was audited, with additional resources added in particular to the How-To Guides section.
Clear guidelines for new joiners, especially for basic and Intermediate-level contributors.
There is, however, one identified need which has yet to be addressed:
Better team role implementation, so new contributors will also have a clear picture of their assigned task(s).
The Training Team’s Team Roles and Contributor Ladder, as currently seen in the handbook, were last discussed in 2020. These were laid out in a linear progression to match the structure of the Training Team at that time.
Below is an image of a proposed grid, placing 30 Training Team contributor roles (or tasks) in a five-path contributor ladder. The five paths match the areas of contribution already defined in the team’s onboarding program and Faculty program. The same data is added below the image in a table also.
Click to see a table with the same data shown in the image above.
Please share your feedback regarding this proposal by October 16th. Here are some questions to help you get started.
What are your thoughts about the five-path contributor ladder model?
How is the placement of contributor roles in the table? Should any roles be moved to another area of contribution, or to a different stage of volunteering?
Are there any other currently active roles in the Training Team that are missing from this table?
This month, the Training Team launched a new onboarding program to improve the onboarding experience of new contributors. Because of this, the function of the Welcome Committee (formerly Welcome Wrangler) has changed. Please check out the Welcome Committee’s new handbook page. And if you are an active team member interested in this role, come join the list of committee members!
Previously, the role required special access to the team’s email inbox in order to see contact form submissions from new contributors. With the launch of the new onboarding program, the contact form has been retired, removing the need for this special access. Now, any active contributor on the team can become a Welcome Committee member!
Is that all that changed?
There’s more! Previously, the role involved connecting with new contributors in direct messages, responding to contact form submissions, and sharing multiple resource links with them in order to get them set up with the team. Now, the focus has changed to just public interactions with new contributors. One only needs to direct them to the new onboarding program, as all other resources will be gradually introduced there.
Why no longer “Welcome Wrangler”?
The Training Team has called this role a few different names over the years, including “welcome wagon committee”, “welcome committee” and “welcome wranglers”. In September 2022, it was raised how the word “wrangler” can be difficult to understand, especially when translating to non-English languages. Those involved in the conversation then agreed “committee” would be a good alternative to use instead.
If you have any question, please leave them in the comments below. If you are interested in joining the Welcome Committee, feel free to pingPingThe 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.”@bsanevans or @faculty-admin in the #trainingSlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel.
In this post, I have taken suggestions raised in recent team meetings regarding team onboarding, and present a new idea regarding the Training Team’s contributor roles. The model I propose reimagines the current “roles” of the team as “tasks”, and positions the Faculty members as mentors in 4 areas of expertise (administrator, subject matter expert, content creator, editor) within the team.
Let’s discuss and see if this model can address the friction our new contributors are experiencing during onboarding.
The Goal
In recent sprint retrospectives (June & July Sprint, August Sprint), the Training Team identified a couple of needs related to our team roles. Here are some points of improvement raised in these retrospectives:
Better team role implementation, so new contributors will also have a clear picture of their assigned task(s).
Easing the onboarding process for newcomers and beginners.
Having a few folks who can focus on sorting 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/ issues consistently would be beneficial.
Increasing membership in the copy editor, reviewer, and auditor roles.
Assign a point of contact for new contributors to reach out to in each role.
It would be excellent to have onboarding videos/lesson plans for each role.
Continue building the handbook so contributors have more precise guidance.
Clear guidelines for new joiners, especially for basic and Intermediate-level contributors.
From these points, and other conversations the team has been having, I can see a few common goals we are aiming for:
Improved clarity regarding team tasks
Improved onboarding processes for team roles
A point of contact for each role
Better distribution of contributors throughout roles
An Idea
My idea is to view the 4 areas of Faculty responsibility as areas of expertise in the Training Team. This idea reframes what we’re calling “team roles” right now as “tasks” folks can do within each of those areas.
Reimagining the Training Team roles as four areas of expertise
Onboarding pathways (for example courses and/or tutorials) would guide new contributors into each of these areas of expertise. How-to guides in the handbook would be the go-to resource for anyone wanting to complete a task. Contributors wouldn’t have to carry a role specifically. But there would be clear guidance for them to accomplish tasks and contribute to the team’s mission.
Faculty members would be contributors with experience in a specific area of expertise. They’d function as the point of contact for anyone needing help in that area of expertise. They’d also be mentors to other contributors wanting to grow in that area of expertise.
Your Feedback
What are your thoughts about this new team role model?
Do you see it responding to the areas of improvement raised in the team’s recent retrospective?
Are there any points of concern that should be addressed?
Please share your thoughts below. Based on the conversations we have in the comments, I’ll draft some next-steps for the team to consider at the end of the month.
@courtneyengle Create a script for WordCampWordCampWordCamps 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. Point of Contacts
Lesson Plans: User Lesson for Theme CustomizerCustomizerTool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings. assigned to @suzettefranck
@bethsoderberg copy edited @abuango‘s lesson plan so that is ready for testing and recorded in all the applicable places
Reviewed List of Roles
@liljimmi wants to continue answering Support Flow tix and setting up new Authors
@bethsoderberg would like to keep handling the style guide, but start sharing copy editing duties
Slides
initial discussion and review of the designs requesting a slide plugin from the Meta team to integrate with the http://make.wordpress.org site and the Handbook
Point Person – Upcoming WordCampWordCampWordCamps 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.contributor dayContributor DayContributor 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/.
make edits across all LPs as testing results come in
tightening feedback loopLoopThe Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop.
Make new LPs
Planned actions + timeline
Next Meeting
Slides (review history + progress next meeting)
Page discussing teaching challenges (Yay/Nay? next meeting)
Come up with ideas to make testing possible (discuss next week)
Immediate
Volunteer for role(s) (via blog all week)
Add time it took to the testing questionnaire (not a role, but need volunteer)
DM Tracy/Courtney about Lead (via SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. all week)
Decide on time to discuss Nigeria and WC
Probably Monday 1700UTC (alternate suggestions in Slack please)
Talk to outreach about this on Thursday (need volunteer)
