Get Terminology
“What’s A8C?” Here’s an overview of Automattic slang that will help you understand what the heck everyone is saying around here.
a8c: Shorthand for Automattic.
a11n: Shorthand for Automattician.
a12s: Shorthand for Automatticians (pro tip: the number in the middle of the word denotes the number of letters between the first and last letter).
AFK: Away from Keyboard (make sure you schedule enough of this!)
AMA: Ask me anything.
Code Poet: Public resource for anyone building sites with WordPress.
Field Guide (FG): Resource for Automatticians. Includes HR information, how-tos, and advanced documentation on work processes.
Matt’s Global Search (MGS): Search through the Automattic universe (P2s, Slack conversations, Field Guide pages, support documentation, and more) Check out How to Use MGS Like a Pro.
MC aka Metrimattic aka Mission Control: The “brain” of Automattic. Contains stats, Matt’s Global Search, etc.
Meetup: Team or company conference/meeting, with a focus on connection, learning, and team bonding (typically) in person. The most common Meetups include: Team Meetup (your immediate team), Mega Meetups (20+, often cross-functional), Division Meetup (your full business unit division), and Grand Meetup (the entire company).
P2: The name of the theme used for internal blogs; also shorthand for the blogs themselves.
Ping: Term used to contact a fellow Automattician. “I’m going to ping Paolo.” Traditional reply, naturally, is “pong” but this is optional.
Sandbox: A sandbox is a development environment nearly identical to the production environment where new features are developed and we discover and fix bugs.
Town Hall: Monthly “virtual” meeting with Matt. Announced via email and on #announcements, archived on a8c.tv. Participate in chat on #townhall (general chat) and #townhall-questions (questions for Matt).
Trac: An enhanced wiki and issue-tracking system for software development projects. It provides an interface to Subversion, an integrated Wiki, and convenient reporting facilities. Access Tracs for different teams.
There’s lots more terminology on our MC Glossary.
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