This post summarizes the weekly dev chat meeting from February 13th (agenda, Slack archive).
5.1 updates
5.1 is currently on target for the Feb 21 release date.
RC1 went out last week. Two remaining bugs have been fixed (remaining open tickets can be tracked here). Right now, all that is left is the About page, which needs some design work and some minor bug A bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority. fixes. @pento expects to release a small RC2 either late this week, or early next week.
The WordPress 5.1 Field guide is out, thanks to the hard work of @desrosj, @jeffpaul, and the many contributors who wrote individual dev notes Each important change in WordPress Core is documented in a developers note, (usually called dev note). Good dev notes generally include:
a description of the change;
the decision that led to this change
a description of how developers are supposed to work with that change.
Dev notes are published on Make/Core blog during the beta phase of WordPress release cycle. Publishing dev notes is particularly important when plugin/theme authors and WordPress developers need to be aware of those changes.In general, all dev notes are compiled into a Field Guide at the beginning of the release candidate phase. for this release.
Since the meeting adjourned, 5.1 has been branched, and Trunk A directory in Subversion containing the latest development code in preparation for the next major release cycle. If you are running "trunk", then you are on the latest revision. is open for 5.2–alpha enhancements.
5.2 and 5.1.x Logistics
Release target and cadence
Based on the desire to update the PHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 5.6.20 or higher requirements in April, @pento proposed targeting late April for a 5.2 release. That leaves about a month for alpha, a month for beta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process., and two weeks for RC.
@youknowraid proposed shortening the release cycles for WordPress to shorter, predictable cycles that are time-based instead of feature based. After some discussion, @chanthaboune suggested an official proposal be drafted on https://make.wordpress.org/core, and @desrosj volunteered to help draft the post.
Potential features for 5.2
While there are no firm commitments, a few ideas for 5.2 features include:
- 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/ performance and UX User experience improvements
- Core Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. widgets converted to blocks
- PHP Fatal Recovery (WSOD)
- Site Health Check
5.1.X Releases
Barring any major regressions in 5.1, the target for a 5.1.1 release will be 2 weeks after 5.1. With 5.2 targeted for April, 5.1.x releases will be limited to 5.1 regressions and important bug fixes that would be good to get out earlier, and exclude additional features or enhancements.
Updates from focus leads and component maintainers
An initial implementation of a CODEOWNERS file in Gutenberg was merged, which is kind of a joint 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/. and Gutenberg update.
From the Gutenberg desk: there is a lot from last week’s meeting, but there is a call for reviewers that’s worth taking a look at.
From Media: the team did a ticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. triage The act of evaluating and sorting bug reports, in order to decide priority, severity, and other factors. and left excellent notes with calls for testing and patches.
From the JavaScript desk: There’s a request for feedback from @youknowriad on how to tackle selecting data over multiple stores.
General announcements and open floor
The Navigation block 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. is currently being discussed and there are mockups in GitHub that would benefit from people’s feedback.
@afercia proposed an audit of the project’s components and maintainers soon to ensure the project is properly organized to maintain all parts of the codebase and increase participation where necessary.
Additionally, @afercia recommended that all components and teams use the correct headings level when authoring a post, and please refrain from using emojis or other extraneous content within the headings. This relates to an ongoing effort to improve the headings hierarchy across the .org network (versus site, blog).
Finally, @chanthaboune published a post titled, Strengths and Challenges: Follow Up, earlier this week. Everyone should read it, as it applies to all teams. Additionally, she is working on the first “Scrum of Scrums/Weekly Digest/Wayfinding” post, which she expects to publish later this week.
#5-1,
#core,
#dev-chat
