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.
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, most WordPress events are online. Please refer to our
online events handbook.
For communities where COVID-19 has been more effectively contained or have easy access to COVID-19 vaccination and/or testing,
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
.
Assess whether to postpone or cancel your 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.#Assess whether to postpone or cancel your WordCamp
What are the circumstances that have lead to thinking about postponing or cancellation and can those change drastically (to better) in a short period of time? If not => cancel
Will the majority of the organizing team still want to be involved if WordCamp is postponed? If not => cancel
Does the WordCamp gather attendees and sponsors from wide region (for example from multiple countries) rather than from local areas? If does => cancel
Would the WordCamp be postponed past the current calendar year? If yes => cancel
Is the same venue or some other sensible alternative available for the date(s) postponing is planned? If not => cancel
Once you have determined if you will postpone or cancel your WordCamp, please email [email protected] to let the Community Team know about your decision. Please also follow the guidelines below. Items marked with an asterisk (*) will be completed by a DeputyDeputyCommunity Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook./MentorMentorSomeone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues.. Items marked with a double asterisk (**) need to be performed by a Super DeputySuper deputySuper Deputies are Deputies who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule. with Proxy Access. PingPingThe act of sending a very small amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.” in slackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. #community-team if you need help
WordCamp postponement is defined by a change to a date in the same calendar year. If you’re postponing to the next calendar year, please see the Cancellation section below.
Remove tickets from public-facing page so tickets can no longer be purchased (This is done by setting the ticket availability to an end date in the past – see screenshot).*
Send postponement email to attendees via Tools -> Notify.
Refund all purchased tickets after email goes out**. Why refund in the case of postponement? Our concern is holding on to funds if the situation gets any worse, so we would prefer to refund now so that we aren’t holding on to people’s money. So unless you can confirm a rescheduled date very quickly, we strongly recommend refunding all tickets.
Contact venue to confirm postponement and find new date
Contact Speakers
Contact sponsors about the postponement. If the new date is in the same calendar year, offer them the choice between a refund or carrying their sponsorship over to the rescheduled event. If the new date is in the next calendar year, sponsors should be refunded.
Refund paid sponsors that request refunds.*
Void sent (but unpaid) sponsor invoices*
Email vendors and ask if their any payment/deposits made can be applied to the postponed date, and request refunds if necessary.
Change event status (back to “Pre-planning” if postponing to next year. Mark as “Cancelled” if pushing to the next calendar year).*
Draft announcement on WordCamp CentralWordCamp CentralWebsite for all WordCamp activities globally. https://central.wordcamp.org includes a list of upcoming and past camp with links to each. (then notify a deputy to publish, which auto-posts to Twitter and Facebook)
*Items marked with an asterisk will be completed by a Deputy/Mentor.
Cancellation is for moving to a new date in the next calendar year, or cancelling for the foreseeable future.
Remove tickets from public-facing page so tickets can no longer be purchased (This is done by setting the ticket availability to an end date in the past– see screenshot)*
Send cancellation email to attendees via Tools -> Notify.
Refund all purchased tickets after email goes out*
Email venue to start cancellation process
Email paid vendors to cancel and request refunds if necessary
Contact all invoiced sponsors
Refund all paid sponsors*
Void sent (but unpaid) sponsor invoices*
Contact global sponsors*
Contact Speakers
Change event status to “Cancelled”*
Draft announcement on WordCamp Central (then notify a deputy to publish, which auto-posts to Twitter and Facebook)
*Items marked with an asterisk will be completed by a Deputy/Mentor.
For WordCamp organizers who are considering cancelling or postponing their eventp, deputiesDeputyCommunity Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook. are currently researching how to provide infrastructure and support for livestream alternatives. Please see the post “Researching livestream infrastructure and support” for more information.
You can also refer to the handbook page for Meetup organizers titled “Organizing Virtual Events” for some more livestream ideas and tips.