Agenda

Ways to get involved

Slack Log (Requires 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/. login to view. Set one up if you don’t have a Slack account.)

Live meeting attendees: @courane01 @azhiyadev @rkohilakis @webcommsat @elblakeo31 @nalininonstopnewsuk @ndiego @arasae @boogah
Async: @tantienhime @webtechpooja @meher

Meeting Notetakers

• 4 January 2022 @webcommsat
• 11 January 2022 @elblakeo31
• 18 January 2022 @boogah
• 25 January @kemmy99

Volunteers needed:

• team members interested in managing account access to Learn/Training team sites, answering any questions for new people eg helping new team members draft meeting recaps, pointing them to specific content in the handbook, and more
• notetakers
• to take part in the January 2022 focusing on the WordPress 5.9 release
  

Goal setting for the Training Team for 2022

Team Goal Setting document.

In December 2021, started part 2 of Team goal setting. To recap, in part 1, defined the Training Team’s

• vision
• values
• stakeholders
• ideas that will help us reach the vision and what will help us operate as a team

In part 2, the team: 

• grouped the ideas into in-scope and out of scope. Out of scope was anything that was not within our remit (that is it relied on external parties to deliver), required additional development resources, or had too many dependencies that need to be in place before we could even consider working on it
• broke this down into order of priority and grouped this into themes 
• worked and can continue to collaborate async and update following frames on the Miro board.
  • Methods – what are the actions and steps that we need to take to get the job done? Please rank this in order of priority.
  • Obstacles – what obstacles do we face in accomplishing all this and how can we overcome them?
  • Metrics – how can we measure what we’ve done to identify if it is successful or not?
  • Link to the Miro board. This has been switched to view mode and if you would like edit access, please contact the team reps. On the board, P1 and P2P2 P2 or O2 is the term people use to refer to the Make WordPress blog. It can be found at https://make.wordpress.org/. represent Priority 1 and Priority 2.

APAC friendly meeting

With @webtechpooja joining the team reps for 2022, there have been discussions on running an APAC-friendly meeting. 

Actions/ requests:

• Share this with those that may want to contribute.
• Please complete the Doodle poll to help us identify the best time to run this meeting. Results of the poll will be announced at the next team meeting

LearnWP calendar

https://learn.wordpress.org/social-learning/

Training has received enquiries about potentially using the Social Learning Spaces (SLS) calendar in a few new ways. This calendar is part of the Upcoming Events widgetWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. in all WP Admin Dashboard views.

Useful reading material and how to apply to be involved with the Social Learning Spaces (formerly known as Discussion Groups for Learn WordPress):

• Applying to Facilitate
• Planning an SLS
• Hosting an SLS
• Tools for hosting
• Brand guidelines

There is no post on this, but please refer to this Learn WP GitHub issue to integrate it into the meetings calendar 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. 

Examples of SLS applications:

• Proposal for a Gutenberg Developer Hour Series of events (@bph)
• Creating a Block-based theme from scratch – @daisyo and @welcher are conducting multiple sessions through a Twitch series on building from scratch a 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. theme.
  

Discussion on the potential widening and use of Social Learning Spaces calendar

The below is a summary of the discussion in the meeting. Please add further suggestions and thoughts in the comments at the end of this post.

• @arasae: I would love to see this calendar filled up with a variety of events from contributors from everywhere. It sounds like the questions that need to be answered are: “What can go on the calendar, and how do I get on that calendar?”
• @courane01
  • we also have brand guidelines
  • this makes sense, especially 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/ Dev Hours
  • what considerations do we have for others to also host various events both on SLS calendar AND livestream wherever else? Team is working on processes. There’s already vetting in process. To facilitate, one must apply. This will go through a group similar to Community Deputies for consideration.
  • as a team, what documentation do we want for guidelines and who will do the work of vetting all that? We are launching something similar to Community Deputies, and this likely would go there. But are we accounting for the increased workload if we really open this up to anyone wishing? 
• @bph: As for the Developer Hours, it would all have wp.org branding only the zoom link and the promotion would run through Gutenberg Times. I was just trying to figure out if a meetup.com event would get more people interested in the events. Requested access as an organizer to the meetupMeetup 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. space to be able to update the calendar for this.
• @courane01: Elevating it would be important and definitely wanted to see it there.
• @nalininonstopnewsuk:
  • In terms of thinking about branding and marketing. Does the idea of opening up the events mean they would not necessarily be Learn WP events, but could be run, hosted, marketed by others in the ecosystem?
  • There are also marketing and data aspects to that question Courtney in terms of who can host and promotion. Would the normal review process occur in the same way as someone wanting to submit a workshop?
  • Another consideration, is whether the events would be recorded, how that recording would be used, and where it would appear in the future.
  • Consideration for how questions are encouraged to be raised during the event, and how they might be shared if it the recording appears on other platforms.
• @courane01: I don’t have a lot of guidelines yet, but am in the phase of forming questions to consider. If we cross-promote, do we mention that “you can go to my profile to get more”? Do we care if folks need to sign up on multiple platforms
• @nalininonstopnewsuk: The data issue is one we should consider. Consider guidelines on what mailing lists people may end up signing up to in order to be able to attend a session.
• @courane01: If folks sign up on something to get access, it can put them onto email lists for promotions.
• @arasae: so basically, someone who applies to run an event on Learn also does events outside of Learn. We need guidelines on if they can mention their other things while they run their Learn event? @courane01: yes. @arasae: can see how that could be an issue. The multiple platforms one is tricky, for sure! I would prefer one centralized place, but I’m not sure how to make that happen or if that’s even the best way about it.
• @azhiyadev: I think the brand guidelines would come into play for workshops, SLS and lesson plans. I think for the Developer Hours, this can come onto Learn, there is a post on it for .org and @bph has already been vetted.
• @arasae: So, guidelines for social learning calendar options would be on:
  • self-promotion outside of Learn WP
  • which things appear on the calendar and which are outside the scope of the calender (so basically, the answer to the question ‘what makes something an SLS?’)
  • others to be determined
  • with considerations on what people are signing up for (I know I get annoyed with the # of meetup emails I get) when they attend SLSs.

• @boogah: I’m fine doing what I do for Learn (running SLSs) being explicitly for Learn and that’s it. However, I realize that, as someone whose time is sponsored by a corporate entity, my being fine with not getting them involved on any SLSs might be a minority opinion. So long as day job can say “Our very own Jason is running this SLS in n days” on Twitter and promote the event, I think that’s all they need out of the deal
• @courane01: My own take, the content of what I’d consider also putting in would adhere very much to WP.org ethos and be impartial, but to view livestreams, it’d be signing up to my employer’s instance of Bevy, or even joining a Zoom that has our branding on that browser page that loads. I want to handle things delicately and consider all concerns. I could also just go with Zoom and SLS as is for topics that are appropriate. @boogah: Makes perfect sense.
• @arasae: Product placement: is it okay if your employer/twitch ID/etc. exists in the background or not. Got it. Thank you for clarifying, Courtney!
• @courane01: email sign ups or promoting our personal accounts though is a concern not addressed in brand guidelines.
• @nalininonstopnewsuk:
  • also if corporate zoom accounts are being used, checks on whether they are being automatically recorded
• @webcommsat:
  • the guidelines to use need to be simple to follow to not be a barrier if the aim is to encourage others to do partnership/ joint events in this space, and also to minimize inadvertent breaches from over complex information

January 2022 sprint – focus on WordPress 5.9 Release

Update from @azhiyadev

January 2022 sprint document – please read and add updates. This is an area to note the lesson plan and courses that need to be updated as well as the courses, lesson plans or workshops that need to be created too.

With the release of 5.9 scheduled for this month, all our efforts will be focused on updating Learn. Courtney and Hauwa have gone through all the content on Learn WP, updating the taxonomyTaxonomy A taxonomy is a way to group things together. In WordPress, some common taxonomies are category, link, tag, or post format. https://codex.wordpress.org/Taxonomies#Default_Taxonomies. (WP version and included content). With the release of 5.9, WordPress will now consist of four different types of themes:

• Block theme: a theme made for FSE using HTMLHTML HTML is an acronym for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is a markup language that is used in the development of web pages and websites. templates and theme.jsonJSON JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a minimal, readable format for structuring data. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and web application, as an alternative to XML., allowing one to manage all parts of their site with blocks.
• Universal theme: a theme that works with both the CustomizerCustomizer Tool 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. and the Site Editor.
• Hybrid theme: a classic theme that adopts a feature(s) of FSE, like theme.json or the template editor.
• Classic theme: a theme built the way we’ve been used to with PHPPHP 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. templates, functions.php, and more.

We will need to keep this in mind when creating content for Learn. We’ve broken the content down into revisionsRevisions The WordPress revisions system stores a record of each saved draft or published update. The revision system allows you to see what changes were made in each revision by dragging a slider (or using the Next/Previous buttons). The display indicates what has changed in each revision. and new content needed for 5.9. Each topic identifies the lesson plan that needs to be updated and if there is also a corresponding workshop that needs to be updated.
@courane01: There is a lot of content that needs to be updated (see 5.9 Revisions Needed)

As well as new content (see New Content Needed)

Volunteers needed:

• Action: if you are interested in helping then please make a comment on the Sprint post saying what you can help with

• @rkohilakis & @bph volunteered during the meeting. @nalininonstopnewsuk will confirm next as also involved with the release
• @courane01: This will be the biggest push on updating content across Training team materials/Learn that the team has conducted in cadence with a WP release yet. Amongst the things we are also assessing is how to include Training contributors that revise and create content in a similar manner to how Docs does for release props
• @ndiego : question: to tackle, for example, How to use WordPress Block Patterns”, how do I start that process?
  • @courane01: Team reps can get contributors access to Learn WP. Then they can share a link to the posts for review. The team has a great revisions updater plugin.
  • Would you like to claim the lesson plan and workshop videos of this topic? For video, I will check with the forming vetting team regarding how to handle this for updating. This is a first time around for this.
• @nalininonstopnewsuk with @webcommsat reviewed two of the courses on FSE on Learn WP this last week, and identified some UXUX 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. issues for courses in general. @azhiyadev to add the update to the January sprint
• The January sprint will focus on the release. If you need help creating content, there are some great workshop videos ready for you to learn how training does this:

• Lesson plan about lesson plans and workshop about lesson plans
• Workshop about workshops
• Request: @courane01: Let the training team reps know if you can help in creating content, revising content, and also invite in any others you think would be interested. We are anticipating a link from the 5.9 about page to Learn, likely to workshops. But as of yet, this is the first we are seeking contributors for having 5.9 content.
• @azhiyadev: The list of new content needed is listed under the ‘January 2022 Sprint WordPress 5.9 New Content’
• @courane01: For those updating content now before 5.9 ships, please check out the plugin #meta created for training: https://youtu.be/K92EVbgVpKM. It’s like a pull-request inside the WP Editor YouTube – WordPress Training Team – How we use the Revisions Extended plugin on LearnWP

@arasae summarized the process:

1. Pick a topic. Is there anything else we should do?
2. Get access if you don’t have it already to learn.wordpress.org
3. Watch the video ‘how to use the revisions extended plugin‘
4. Make the revisions on the website using the video as a guide.
5. Get it reviewed (do we ask here in this chat?)
6. Revisions made
7. Changes published and

@courane01: comment either in team channel or on sprint post so we can keep track of who is doing what.

This summary has been appended as a comment on the January 2022 Sprint post.

Social media collaboration on WordPress 5.9

@webcommsat: We will be continuing this in the marketing slack Wed 5 and 12 January 2022, from 14:00 UTC. As usual, fellow training team members are very welcome. Another example of how the two teams are collaborating well together.

Open Floor

@nalininonstopnewsuk: for the new people to this team, there is a box at the top of the Training homepage which has some key links. For example, the sprints document. It is a good place to find the latest things. Most teams have a similar box. https://make.wordpress.org/training/

APAC-friendly meetings: @azhiyadev: The idea is to have two identical meetings, the second one might be a recap of the first. Contributors are not expected to attend both, but can if they would like to.

Props to @webcommsat for notetaking, @courane01 and @azhiyadev for leading the meeting.

#5-9, #marketing, #training-team