Contributor 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/. at WordPress US was a huge success. Contributor Days are a collaborative community outreach with amazing opportunities to get involved in Making WordPress. Contributor Days happen at camps both large and small. We’d like to encourage you with an update that will inspire your community as well.
This year’s Contributor Day for WordCamp 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. US was held on Sunday, December 3 and was well-attended and productive.
ACCESSIBILITY 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)
Team leads: Rian Rietveld (@rianrietveld on Slack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/.), Andrea Fercia (@afercia on Slack), and Joe Dolson (@joedolson on Slack)
The a11y 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) group provides accessibility expertise across the project. They make sure that WordPress core Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. and all of WordPress’ resources are accessible. Learn more about the Accessibility team.
As always, we had a few different tasks. We gave info on how to test for accessibility and reviewed and discussed work from developers and designers. We also tested Gutenberg 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/, on-boarded new developers in the team, and talked to the other teams about common issues.
Full recap: Contributor day at WordCamp US 2017
COMMUNITY
Team lead: Andrea Middleton (@andreamiddleton on Slack)
If you’re interested in organizing a meetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area. or a WordCamp, the community blog is a great place to get started. There are groups working to support events, to create outreach and training programs, and generally support the community. Learn more about Community.
At WordCamp US contributor day, we did a lot! Here’s a tidy list:
- Experienced community team contributors trained newer contributors on how to order swag for WordCamps and meetups.
- We held a couple of in-person meetup and WordCamp orientations.
- Brand new contributors reviewed our meetup organizers handbook for clarity.
- A group of experienced organizers worked on some new documentation on how to review speaker applications.
- 23 people attended a discussion of recruiting diverse speakers and 8 attended a workshop on a new initiative to train people who are underrepresented in tech how to develop, propose, and give conference sessions
- New and experienced contributors took part in an application vetting sprint.
CORE
Team lead: Adam Silverstein (@adamsilverstein on Slack)
The core team makes WordPress. Whether you’re a seasoned PHP PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. http://php.net/manual/en/intro-whatis.php. or JavaScript JavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. https://www.javascript.com/. developer or are just learning to code, we’d love to have you on board. You can write code, fix bugs, debate decisions, and help with development. Learn more about the Core team.
The core team helped onboard numerous new contributors and huddled around focuses including the REST API The REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/., JavaScript, and Gutenberg. Several commits landed and contributors submitted patches to core or tested existing patches. The JavaScript group brainstormed about how to structure core JavaScript to maintain backwards compatibility while also enabling merging and building features like Gutenberg. We managed to break and then fix our build and we updated our recommended PHP version to 7.2.
DESIGN
Team lead: Mark Uraine (@mapk on Slack)
The design group explores solutions for various problems throughout the WordPress open 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. It’s a home for designers and design-lovers alike. Regular design discussions span UI 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. & UX 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., information architecture, and computation design with emphasis toward user testing and inclusion. Learn more about the Design team.
The Design Team talked about the importance of contributing to WordPress and the opportunity designers have right now to influence the direction of this open source project. We explored what design meant in the world of WordPress, and how design can be contributed in many different ways; Documentation, Core, Meta 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., etc. After lunch, some broke out to help other teams while others learned more details on Trac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.https://core.trac.wordpress.org/., tickets, and the contributing process.
DOCUMENTATION
Team lead: Jon Ang (@kenshino on Slack)
Good documentation lets people help themselves when they get stuck. The docs team is responsible for creating inline documentation for core, as well as content for the theme and plugin 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 development handbooks, and more recently, HelpHub. Learn more about the Documentation team.
The documentation team worked on the following
- Listing out tasks that have low entry barriers (maybe things that can be completed in 15 mins by volunteers). This way more people can contribute to Documentation without having to onboard onto a complicated setup.
- We created at least 5 trac tickets
- Worked on Helphub
- Continued work on Migration Moving the code, database and media files for a website site from one server to another. Most typically done when changing hosting companies. of Codex to DevHub
- Fixed styling on DevHub
- Had various discussions on PHPdocs standards – perhaps to suggest the actual PHP PSR standards to adopt what we’ve created
- Had a chat with Matias about Gutenberg documentation – of which we’ll follow up closely
- A total of 15 people contributed and half of them were new
- We’re almost done with the Docs Roadmap we created 4 years ago!
Lastly, we had a great chat about possibly participating in WriteTheDocs event in Prague where we will work with other project ‘documentators’, learn from them and have a retreat for our team to create a new roadmap for the next 5 years.
MARKETING
Team lead: Bridget Willard (@gidgey on Slack)
The Marketing team focuses on making WordPress marketable in all sorts of contexts, from the WordPress.org The 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/ side all the way to core and the wider community. Learn more the about Marketing team.
Our vision for the Marketing Team is to be the go-to resource for strategy and content for other WordPress teams.
We were excited to have a well-attended group of people who were enthusiastic about marketing. Multiple people mentioned this was their first WordCamp and their first Contributor Day. They were so elated to be part of the community making WordPress. It was amazing to see so many people new to the community step up and become part of the new generation of Contributors.
We worked on fresh copy for the German Community called CMS Garden, which is an open source advocacy group publication encouraging developers and users to explore WordPress as their CMS of choice to meet their business goals. We’re excited to help them improve copy and have begun work on a press kit.
Another team has started work on a WordPress.tv project. They are interviewing people about their Gutenberg User Testing experiences. This marketing effort will help the Gutenberg project gain support throughout the entire WordPress community.
We use Trello Project management system using the concepts of boards and cards to organize tasks in a sane way. This is what the make.wordpress.com/marketing team uses for example: https://trello.com/b/8UGHVBu8/wp-marketing. to project manage and are happy to have added ten new projects to our in-progress list including Contributor Day email copy, public policy guide for governments, and promoting the donation page for the WordPress Foundation.We’re so proud to have added over 20 new contributors to the Marketing Team and look forward to a brighter future together!
META
Team lead:
The Meta team makes WordPress.org, provides support, and builds tools for use by all the contributor groups. Learn more the about Meta team.
During Contributor Day at WCUS 2017, the Meta team had 12 people working on various things. Three new people were onboarded with an overview of the tools and how to provision the development environment, two Meta Trac tickets were closed out completely with patches committed, and several other tickets received attention and made good progress.
MOBILE
Team Lead: Cate (@cate on Slack)
The mobile team builds the iOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. and Android apps. Lend them your Java, Objective-C, or Swift skills. The team also needs designers, UX experts, and testers to give users a smooth experience on every device. Learn more about Mobile.
The Mobile Team at Contributor Day has decided to focus on improving accessibility within the mobile experience of WordPress. They’re going through the app using voiceover (like someone who is blind would) and reporting bugs as they go along. They’re fixing already-known issues that are marked as “accessibility”, such as changing font size based on what the OS settings. Through usability testing and design improvements, they’re working hard to make sure WordPress isn’t only responsive, but responsive AND accessible.
We were able to collaborate with the API 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. team during Contributor Day to agree upon providing a short term solution for a simple authentication method. We onboarded two new contributors and had pull requests submitted during the day for review. A number of accessibility issues were addressed including improving adoption of Dynamic Text on iOS and resolving a TalkBack issue in Android.
PLUGINS/PLUGIN REVIEW
Team leads: Mika Epstein (@ipstenu on Slack) & Samuel Wood (@otto42 on Slack)
The Plugins team focuses on everything revolving around plugins submitted to the WordPress.org plugin repository. Learn more about the Plugins team.
The plugin team made serious headway on supporting visible pages for closed plugins, allowing users to now see if a plugin existed (and not wondering if it vanished). We also released our proposed updates to the plugin guidelines, which are open for review by anyone.
POLYGLOTS
Team lead: Remkus de Vries (@remkus on Slack)
WordPress is used all over the world and in many different languages. If you’re a polyglot, help out by translating WordPress into your own language. You can also assist with creating the tools that make translations easier. Learn more about the Polyglots team.
The polyglot team is responsible for translating WordPress into every language and locale. The team is organized into two groups: the translation team and the technical team. The technical team is in need of multilingual developers able to code at a core level.
The polyglot team is currently working to translate all WordPress sites across all language with gender neutrality.
SUPPORT
Team lead: Marius Jensen (@clorith on Slack)
Answering a question in the support forums or IRC is one of the easiest ways to start contributing. Everyone knows the answer to something! This blog is the place for discussion of issues around support. Learn more about the Support team.
The Support Team at WordCamp US Contributor Day is focusing on onboarding new volunteers. Year round, the worldwide community of volunteers on the Support Team works hard to help WordPress.org users through support forums and IRC. During Contributor Day, the team developed improved processes to help new volunteers get involved in The Support Team. They even did a test orientation and onboarding session over Slack to evaluate their new processes, with great success! Thanks to this team, people new to WordPress or seeking more advanced help can find a friendly community online.
For the support team at WCUS CD, we tested our new onboarding process via Slack to include those who couldn’t make it to the event and that we’d like to get feedback on for future online-only use. We also went through the more pressing pain points on the forums and looked at possible ideas for improving on them.
THEME REVIEW
Team lead: @thinkupthemes and @rabmalin
The Theme Review Team reviews and approves every Theme submitted to the WordPress Theme repository. Reviewing Themes sharpens your own Theme development skills. You can help out and join the discussion on the blog. Learn more about the Theme Review team.
A number of experienced theme review team members attended WordCamp US. New reviewers were introduced to the NS Theme Check plugin which is a tool that aids reviewing of themes by automating many of the checks. New reviewers were supported in the #themereview Slack channel by members of the team in addition to those in the room at WCUS. New reviewers made progress particularly with completing reviews for child themes.
TRAINING
Team leads: Beth Soderberg (@bethsoderberg on Slack), Julie Kuehl (@juliekuehl on Slack), and Melinda Helt (@melindahelt on Slack)
The training team creates downloadable lesson plans and related materials for instructors to use in a live workshop environment. If you enjoy teaching people how to use and build stuff for WordPress, immediately stop what you’re doing and join our team! Learn more about Training.
WCUS Accomplishments
- Began to define new processes to make them more scalable
- Set up GitHub 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/ repository
- Audited all the lesson plans in preparation for migration, including those missing images or in need of updating
- Brainstormed new lesson plans due to changes in WordPress
- Started a new handbook
2018 Goals Defined
- Create handbook based on new workflow
- Move lesson plans into GitHub
- Reorganizing our website
- Fix the broken images
- Update for 4.8/4.9/Gutenberg
- Make workshop recommendations from existing plans
- Accessibility workshop
- Consider team roles
WORDPRESS TV
Team Lead: Cemal Tashan (@tashan on Slack)
The TV team reviews and approves every video submitted to WordPress.tv. They also help WordCamps with video post-production and are responsible for the captioning and subtitling of published videos. Reviewing videos is a great way to learn about WordPress and help the community: experience is not required to get involved. Learn more about TV.
Today, the TV team is captioning videos for WordPress.tv. Thanks to the library of content on WordPress.tv, WordCamp talks and meetup presentations from around world are not only documented but made available for everyone to enjoy. Captioning is a way to make these videos accessible and get them ready for caption translations. Thanks to the team behind WordPress.tv, we can all learn from the wealth of knowledge within the community.
WP-CLI WP-CLI is the Command Line Interface for WordPress, used to do administrative and development tasks in a programmatic way. The project page is http://wp-cli.org/ https://make.wordpress.org/cli/
WP-CLI is the official command line tool for interacting with and managing your WordPress sites. Learn more about CLI.
Contributing – WP-CLI
Team Leads: Daniel Bachhuber (@danielbachhuber on Slack) and Alain Schlesser (@schlessera on Slack)
- The WP-CLI team could successfully onboard several new contributors, one of them very new even to WordPress itself. We had two successful pull requests and, while working on these, could identify a recent regression as well.
- Finally, there were a lot of discussions about the state of the current onboarding experience for WP-CLI and how it could be further improved.
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