Josepha 9:02 pm on May 10, 2019
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5.2 Retrospective

As we finish up one release and start looking forward to the next, I’d like to take the time to let people share their thoughts on how the 5.2 release process went. I have listed three questions I’d like feedback on below.

  • What should WordPress start doing as a part of the development process?
  • What should WordPress stop doing as a part of the development process?
  • What should WordPress continue doing as a part of the development process?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below! Remember when commenting to keep the discussion professional and focused on ways the process of creating WordPress is either already working great or can be improved.

#5-2, #retrospective

Mike Schroder 5:36 pm on May 10, 2019
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Editor chat summary: May 8

This post summarizes the weekly Editor meeting on Wednesday, 8th May 2019, 13:00 UTC held in Slack.

The agenda followed can be found here.

Volunteers for Note-Taking Requested

As there are not very many folks who are taking notes for the chat at the moment, volunteers were requested. @nosolosw, @andraganescu, and @jorgefilipecosta offered to help out.

WordPress 5.2

WordPress 5.2 was released! Thanks to everyone who helped!

@youknowriad noted that he wasn’t sure why all of these things weren’t highlighted in the release post, but updates include:

  • No more TinyMCE in blocks
  • Block Management UI
  • Performance more than doubled in async mode
  • All widgets ported to blocks
  • A lot of improvements to existing blocks (cover block with inner blocks, focal point picker,…)
  • Stability improvements
  • Zero-config scripts to help authors create blocks

Accessibility Audit

The accessibility audit has been published. This is a great resource to improve the accessibility of the editor. Thank you to everyone that worked on it!

@andraganescu, @karmatosed, and @mapk attended the Accessibility chat to collaborate (recap was posted on the agenda post).

Design has done two triage sessions focused on the report (the next is on Friday, May 10, 2019 at 14:00 UTC), and development has already started in fixing some of the issues found.

The project board can be found here, and issues are also being grouped into labels (like [a11y] Keyboard & Focus). There’s interest in solving all validated issues that were found.

Several folks expressed interest in an a11y focused WordPress release, with the note that it would need to be a broader conversation with core + leadership.

@bemdesign mentioned, and others agreed, that while automation can help, a11y should ultimately be built into the process. Tenon, the company that ran the audit, provided documentation on how they tested.

Some recommended next steps included:

  • Aim for closing the project board by the end of May
  • Focus all triages until that can happen
  • Consider adding a column for deeper conversations / focuses and make issues for those
  • Dev-triage session focused on the board next week (Monday)
  • If you’re looking for an issue to tackle, take a look at this board first 🙂

Task Coordination

Note: Anyone reading this summary outside of the meeting, please drop a comment if you can/want to help with something.

Open Floor

@karmatosed asked if anyone would be interested in working with them on more detailed RC notes to be included in calls for testing.

@aduth raised a question about merge permissions.
“Is there a good sense of criteria for this to be granted? Or similar to core committer status, at discretion of leadership?”

Folks present seemed to be in consensus that this should be clarified, even if it’s only in terms of documenting general expectations.

Recommendations on criteria often included a number of contributions (committed PRs or other activities), ranging from 3-10 — with a note from @gziolo that Gatsby automatically adds access after one.

In closing, a quote from @andraganescu, “The thing with merge access is that as long as we have the triage/review/automated testing process the only thing you need is to prove some kind of good faith I guess”

Have thoughts on the above? Please leave a comment on this post!

The agenda for the next meeting, on 15 May 2019 at 13:00 UTC, is here; please add anything that you want to discuss.

#accessibility, #core-editor, #editor, #gutenberg, #meeting-notes

Tammie Lister 9:10 pm on May 8, 2019
Tags: 5-2.1,   

Dev Chat Summary: May 8th

Announcements

WordPress 5.2 was released yesterday! Thank you, everyone, who was involved in any aspect. @chanthaboune has some learnings from this release to take into handbook updates.

Global WordPress Translation Day is coming up on Saturday!

Planning next releases

@chanthaboune outlined a proposed plan of one small scale point release in a few weeks and then 5.3. The suggestion was mid-August. This sparked a discussion on what could be added to the next release. It was noted component maintainers and teams are over the next few weeks going to decide what they want to achieve. @jeffpaul added that it’s worth checking which of our 9 focuses could be the star of 5.3.

Some of the suggested things to include:

  • Fine tuning recovering mode (@pbiron)
  • Anything else which gets us closer to bumping min PHP version (@pbiron)
  • Modernizing our CSS base (@marybaum)
  • Revisiting responsive images (@kadamwhite)

@youknowriad mentioned there is some are still some uncertainties that need to be figured out about the widgets screen + Customizer, but it would like to be in 5.3.

Regarding the mid-August timeline, it was noted a lot of Europe shuts down for extended holidays and it is common vacation time.

@mapk noted if there was no later release a lot of the bigger ticket items for Gutenberg wouldn’t make it in, so there would need to be a later one. December having a release would fit into the end of year version bump for PHP minimum to 7.x.

@chanthaboune noted to keep an eye out on make.wordpress.org/core for a post and discussion.

5.2 Retrospective post

There will be one and a call for volunteers to manage was made. This will be a post on make/core asking 3 questions. @marybaum volunteered to help with that.

Calls from component maintainers

@afragen raised that if theme compatibility testing were desirable, at some point, #meta3781 needs to progress.

Open floor

Component maintainers

@afercia would like to see an audit of component maintainers and try and get new contributors involved there. @garrett-eclipse suggested a flag that could automatically be raised once someone has consistently contributed to a component, or create a potential shortlist of candidates. @jeffpaul noted this is what should happen with component maintainers. It was also noted by several people this wouldn’t help those who don’t contribute via patches.

@jeremyfelt added some thoughts on component maintaining. He noted inactive doesn’t mean unavailable and there is something to be said for historic knowledge. That said, fresh maintainers are great. Some components are just not active enough right now, which also isn’t a bad thing.

The discussion moved to talk about establishing an emeritus role and @chanthaboune linked to her post about this. It would be good to identify right now what components are in “maintenance mode” and what are “accepting features”, to get a clear picture. @jorbin noted in core we have precedence for this emeritus status.

Other open floor

@bgermann wanted to raise #21022 as something that needs a review and decision on whether a candidate for 5.3.

@clorith mentioned 5.2 hasn’t had many reports yet in forums. Some hosts have a few more than usual. There are some reports of theme updates failing after 5.2 that need investigating.

@jorbin suggested for next week getting a report of PHP versions that people using 5.2 are running. Checking back on this every month after would be great in lead up to changes end of the year. @azaozz recommended adding to the stats page and @melchoyce linked it.

@afercia wanted to discuss the a11y audit by WPCampus / Tenon and spoke on behalf of the accessibility team. The team is glad to see the aggressive triage, but the report outlined broader, fundamental, issues in the overall design of Gutenberg. Next Friday (May 10th) there will be a discussion on this and everyone is welcome at 15:00 UTC in #accessibility.

#5.3, #devchat, #summary

#5-2-1

Josepha 2:39 pm on May 8, 2019
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Dev Chat Agenda: May 8

Below is the agenda for the weekly devchat meeting on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, 2000 UTC.

  • Announcements
  • Upcoming Releases Discussion
    • Point release
    • Major release
  • Calls from component maintainers
  • Open Floor

If you have anything to propose for the agenda or specific items related to those listed above, please leave a comment below.

This meeting is held in the #core channel in the Making WordPress Slack.

#agenda, #devchat

Andrew Duthie 4:40 pm on May 7, 2019
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Editor Chat Agenda: May 8th

This is the agenda for the weekly editor chat meeting on Wednesday, 8th May 2019, 13:00 UTC.

This meeting is held in the #core-editor channel in the Making WordPress Slack.

If you have anything to propose for the agenda or specific items related to those listed above, please leave a comment below.

#agenda, #core-editor, #editor-chat

Darren Ethier (nerrad) 2:47 pm on May 7, 2019
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Javascript Chat Summary: May 7th, 2019

Below is a of the discussion from this week’s JavaScript chat (agenda, Slack Transcript)

Have a topic for discussion for the next meeting? Leave a suggested edit on next week’s agenda.

Agenda: React Hooks offering for wordpress/data

Context | Slack

There’s a bit of discussion surrounding implementing React Hooks in the WordPress use of javascript. Here’s some take-ways/actions from the discussion:

  • Experiment with a useSelect limited example to port an existing component (initial experiments owned by @nerrad)
  • Consider the broader context of higher-order components, and the impact of hooks:
    • Which existing higher-order components can be ported? All of them?
    • Do the interfaces change in porting to hooks?
    • Would we ever find reason to create new higher-order components?

Please assist in working through this discussion. You can contribute thoughts in the related github issue.

#core-js, #javascript

Boone Gorges 12:16 pm on May 7, 2019
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Changes to post globals setup and usage in get_the_content() and related functions in WordPress 5.2

In WordPress 4.5, changes were made to some post template functions (specifically, get_the_excerpt() and related functions) to improve their usability outside of the post loop; see #27246. Since that release, some users have noticed that these changes had certain side effects, specifically when the template functions incorrect used the post-related global variables ($authordata, $page, etc) as fallbacks.

WordPress 5.2 addresses these inconsistencies by relying less on post-related globals in functions like get_the_excerpt(), get_the_content(), and wp_trim_excerpt(). Where possible, these functions now prefer the $post value explicitly passed as a function argument; and the main WordPress loop setup has been updated to pass the correct post to the functions wherever possible. See #36934, #42814, [44941].

Aside from greater predictability when using the functions outside the post loop, it’s not expected that these changes will have any visible effect in the vast majority of cases. Developers should note one potentially breaking change: The 'content_pagination' filter now runs before the post globals are populated, which may be a compatibility break in some cases. Callbacks for 'content_pagination' are thus urged to use the $post parameter passed to the filter rather than relying on the globals. See #47133.

More generally, with respect to template functions that are designed for use inside the WordPress loop, developers should take special care when using them outside the context of a loop. setup_postdata(), as always, sets up many of the post-related globals that may be expected by other template functions, but it does not change the value of the $post global. See https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/setup_postdata/#comment-874. Be sure to test compatibility with plugins and themes you’re using before using these template functions outside the loop.

#dev-notes

pbrocks 11:05 pm on May 1, 2019
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Editor chat summary: 1 May 2019

This post summarizes for the weekly editor chat meeting on Wednesday, 1st May 2019, 13:00 UTC held in Slack.

Gutenberg 5.6

The release candidate was published Monday. No issues have been reported in the interim. The process for publishing the final release to the plugin repository begins today (done). A pull request for the version bump was opened, in case anyone would be so kind as to grant me an approval.

Updates

WPCampus finished the final report of the Gutenberg accessibility audit as of last night. After finishing communications prep, it will be release (done!).  This is a third-party report; additional context can be found here.  The report hasn’t yet been published, but there’s already a number of issues opened in the repository resulting from this audit. While immediate attention could help knock out basic issues, it may be wise to coordinate a joint meeting with the #accessibility team to view the report and identify next steps. The main takeaways are:

  1. – The GB team wants to make a concerted effort at addressing issues exposed by the audit
  2. – We’d like the accessibility team to help point our efforts in the right direction.

The GB team are unanimous is taking a dedicated timeframe to concentrate on the issues specifically reported in GitHub would which will provide the ability to make a significant contribution in a short amount of time. @getDave will attend this week’s #accessibility team meeting on 3 May at 15:00 UTC to connect with the team.

The ability to group multiple blocks together is in development Screencast here. Assistance is requested to test the UX and expert guidance on writing suitable tests to cover the new logic.

Progress is being made migrating the Gutenberg handbook into DevHub (developer.wordpress.org)  https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/15254This will be a staged approach where we generate two manifests for a short time, put redirects in place on the legacy handbook, then ultimately go back down to a single manifest. Once the initial work has been done we can look at further restructuring or other improvements,

Task Coordination

  • @nerrad is finishing work on refactoring effects as controls, and plans to start working on a new package to expose common controls.
  • @aduth has proposed improvements to documentation and build times, and is working to enhance the Column block to add resizable controls.
  • @getdave is continuing to work on a method to convert a selection of multiple blocks to a “Group” block.
  • @andraganescu is refactoring media blocks to have a consistent replacement flow and plans to attend the accessibility meeting.
  • @jorgefilipecosta has shared an early prototype that connects the widgets screen to new widgets endpoints (related to the Widgets RFC).

Note: Anyone reading this summary outside of the meeting, please drop a comment if you can/want to help with something.

The agenda for the next meeting, 8 May 2019 13:00 UTC is here, please add anything you want to discuss.#meeting-notes, #core-editor, #editor, #gutenberg

Anthony Burchell 9:30 pm on May 1, 2019
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Dev Chat Summary: May 1

Announcements

Josepha (@chanthaboune) has published a 5.0 retrospective wrap up. There are two questions at the end of the post that you are encouraged to discuss in the comments. Thank you for the time and care you have put into this, Josepha! You can find this retrospective wrap up at the following post:

5.0 Release Retrospective Wrap Up

5.2 updates

RC2 is planned for tomorrow with the target release date ~5 days (May 7).

Josepha brought attention a few items pending:

  1. #47093 – related to the recovery mode email translations. There’s a potential solution being worked on, but it needs review.
  2. #47070 – related to the Recovery Mode Exit button. Design input and a patch is needed, and then it will also need review.
  3. #46901 – related to the About page. A final patch is incoming that will need review.

Most tasks pending for the above tickets have an owner, but it was mentioned by Jonathan (@desrosj) that particular testing and attention to #47093 – recovery mode email translations is encouraged and appreciated.

@audrasjb asked for an idea of the timing for RC 2 tomorrow. Josepha mentioned that it will likely be in the windows of between 1430-1630 UTC and again around 2030 UTC. The earlier window is preference.

5.3

It would be great to start planning scope/teams/timing etc. for 5.3. (potential agenda item for next week!) Jonathan mentioned that we may be able to start the 5.3 branch in trunk after RC2 has released.

Open Floor

WP Campus’ Accessibility audit released today

A big thank you to WP Campus for this important initiative! You can find the blog post announcing the audit here: https://wpcampus.org/2019/05/gutenberg-audit-results/

#5-2, #core-editor, #design, #devchat, #summary

Andrew Duthie 9:01 pm on May 1, 2019
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What’s new in Gutenberg? (1st May)

More than 31 contributors participated in this Gutenberg release. It comprises of a number of improvements, including to the button block focus states, theming, and block mover controls with full- and wide-aligned blocks.

Improved Button block focus state
Improved block breadcrumb placement with movers present

5.6

Enhancements

Bug Fixes

Various

Documentation

Mobile

Performance Benchmark

The following benchmark compares performance for a particularly sizeable post (~ 36000 words, ~ 1000 blocks) over the last releases. Such a large post isn’t representative of the average editing experience, but is adequate for spotting variations in performance.

Version Loading Time KeyPress event (typing)
Gutenberg 5.6.0 6.7s 94.2ms
Gutenberg 5.5.0 6.6s 88.7ms
Gutenberg 4.8 (WordPress 5.1) 8.6s 154.1ms
Gutenberg 4.7 (WordPress 5.0) 11.2s 191.44ms

👏 Kudos to all the contributors. Thank you.

#core-editor, #editor, #gutenberg