Welcome to the official blog of the community/outreach team for the WordPress open sourceOpen SourceOpen 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!
This team oversees official events, mentorship programs, diversity initiatives, contributor outreach, and other ways of growing our community.
If you love WordPress and want to help us do these things, join in!
Getting Involved
We use this blog for policy debates, project announcements, and status reports. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to comment on posts and join the discussion.
You can learn about our current activities on the Team Projects page. These projects are suitable for everyone from newcomers to WordPress community elders.
You can use our contact form to volunteer for one of our projects.
Communication
We have Office HoursOffice HoursDefined times when the Global Community Team are in the #community-events Slack channel. If there is anything you would like to discuss – you do not need to inform them in advance.You are very welcome to drop into any of the Community Team Slack channels at any time. four times a week in the #community-events channel on Slack: Mondays & Wednesdays 22:00 UTC, Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:00 UTC.
We also have regular Community Team meetings on the first and third Thursdays of every month at 12:00 UTC and 21:00 UTC in #community-team on Slack (same agenda).
Events WidgetWidgetA 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.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WordPress events are online. Please refer to our online events handbook.
For communities COVID-19 has been more effectively contained, returning to hosting an in-person meetupMeetupMeetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. event is possible, with caution, using the resources provided. If you plan to move forward with an in-person meetup, you must use the provided checklist.
Anyone involved in a 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. in an official role is representing WordPress. Because of this, it is important that organizers vet each person/company that wants to be an organizer, speaker, sponsor, or volunteer to make sure they meet the requirements for promotion by a WordCamp/WordPress.
If your WordPress derivative is not distributed (a pluginPluginA 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 you build just for yourself and do not distribute, or a theme you build just for a client), then there is no expectation related to the GPLGPLGPL is an acronym for GNU Public License. It is the standard license WordPress uses for Open Source licensing https://wordpress.org/about/license/. The GPL is a ‘copyleft’ license https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html. This means that derivative work can only be distributed under the same license terms. This is in distinction to permissive free software licenses, of which the BSD license and the MIT License are widely used examples. because you are not distributing (whether for free or for payment) the WordPress derivative.
The GPL expectation relates only to WordPress and derivatives of WordPress. Hosting does not relate to the WP license, as it is not a WordPress derivative — same goes for software owned and distributed by Microsoft, Apple, etc. If a company were to start distributing WordPress derivative software like a theme, plugin, etc, then we would expect that derivative software to carry with it the same freedoms that WordPress itself provides to the user:
0 – The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose.
1 – The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish; access to the source code is a precondition for this.
2 – The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
3 – The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others; by doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
The freedoms above mean that WordPress plugins and themes can be loaded onto as many sites as the user wishes, for as long as the user wishes. Many theme and plugin developers sell support and facilitated updates in a year-by-year and/or site-by-site basis, and this practice does not violate the GPL, as it does not limit any of the above freedoms — the GPL does not require that a user get free support or that the software author facilitate the user updating this software.
Requiring that a user buy a license to use a plugin or theme on a certain number of sites or for a certain amount of time *DOES* violate the GPL as it limits the four freedoms of the user, listed above.
Note: If a company’s terms and conditions state “all plugins (or themes) are 100% GPL” but then they limit the user’s 4 freedoms another place in their license, then the derivative is not actually GPL. 🙂
We have sponsorship office hoursOffice HoursDefined times when the Global Community Team are in the #community-events Slack channel. If there is anything you would like to discuss – you do not need to inform them in advance.You are very welcome to drop into any of the Community Team Slack channels at any time. every week on Wednesdays at 17:00 UTC in #events on Slack for real-time communication. You can also email [email protected] with any questions about licensing or trademark issues.