In case you haven’t explored the updated Learn WordPress site yet, take a peek at what you’ve been missing in this short and sweet virtual tour:

The reception of the new experience and Learning Pathways courses has been positive, with the average learner rating at 4.5/5 since the site’s relaunch. Here’s what learners have been saying:

The Training team is working hard to add more Learning Pathways to the existing roster, with the Designer and Intermediate Plugin Developer Learning Pathways already in progress. In the meantime, explore the four Learning Pathways at Learn WordPress.

There’s always more to learn.

This minor release includes 15 bug fixes in Core and 11 in the Block Editor, addressing issues like unexpected CSS specificity changes in certain themes. For a full summary of the maintenance updates, you can refer to the Release Candidate announcement.

WordPress 6.6.2 is a short-cycle release. The next major release will be version 6.7 planned for November 12, 2024.

If you have sites that support automatic background updates, the update process will begin automatically.

You can download WordPress 6.6.2 from www.ads-software.com, or visit your WordPress Dashboard, click “Updates”, and then click “Update Now”.

For more information on this release, please visit the HelpHub site.

Thank you to these WordPress contributors

This release was led by Tonya Mork and Vicente Canales, with Aaron Jorbin mentoring us.

WordPress 6.6.2 would not have been possible without the contributions of the following people. Their asynchronous coordination to deliver maintenance fixes into a stable release is a testament to the power and capability of the WordPress community.

Aaron Jorbin, Aaron Robertshaw, Adam Silverstein, Aki Hamano, Akira Tachibana, Akshat Kakkad, Alexandru Horeanu, Amit Raj, andreiglingeanu, Andrew Serong, Ankur Vishwakarma, Anthony Hortin, apmeyer, Ari Stathopoulos, Benjamin Denis, bernhard-reiter, Brian Alexander, Bruno Freiberger Garcia, Carolina Nymark, Colin Stewart, Daniel Richards, David Ballarin Prunera, David Baumwald, David Herrera, Dean Sas, DEBARGHYA BANERJEE, Dennis Snell, George Mamadashvili, Greg Zió?kowski, James Rosado, Jason LeMahieu (MadtownLems), Jb Audras, Jeremy Herve, Joe Dolson, Jon Surrell, Jos Klever, karan4official, Kelly Choyce-Dwan, Kowsar Hossain, kracked888, luisherranz, Marius L. J., mariushosting, Mark Howells-Mead, mattraines, michaelwp85, Mukesh Panchal, munyagu, Narendra Sishodiya, Nick Diego, Nithin John, Nithin SreeRaj, Omar Alshaker, Paal Joachim Romdahl, Pamela Ribeiro, Pascal Birchler, Paul Biron, Peter Wilson, presstoke, ramonopoly, Riad Benguella, Scott Reilly, Sergey Biryukov, Shail Mehta, smerriman, Stephen Bernhardt, Tonya Mork, Vicente Canales, wongjn, ytfeLdrawkcaB

How to contribute

To get involved in WordPress core development, head over to Trac, pick a ticket, and join the conversation in the #core and #6-7-release-leads channels. Need help? Check out the Core Contributor Handbook.

As a reminder, please see this post for the upcoming security changes for plugin and theme authors on www.ads-software.com.

Props to @jorbin, @cbringmann, @audrasjb, and @sergeybiryukov for proofreading.

There’s even more packed into the conference schedule this year, with the collaborative spirit of Contributor Day and the introduction of Showcase Day to kick things off.

New this year: Showcase Day

Showcase Day will spotlight innovative and impactful projects built on WordPress. Through a curated series of presentations, attendees will gain insights into how WordPress drives success across diverse industries, including enterprise-level implementations for clients such as Disney Experiences, The New York Post, CNN Brazil, Vox Media, and Amnesty International.

Keynotes, presentations, and more

Following Showcase Day, two programming days on September 19-20 will feature notable keynote speakers, including OSS Capital Founder Joseph Jacks and TIME CTO Burhan Hamid.

A roster of highly anticipated presenters will also speak on a wide range of WordPress topics, from business strategy to technical insights on WordPress Playground and the Interactivity API. Attendees can learn from case studies across sectors like education and nonprofits and get inspired by the WordPress Speed Build Battle. All the presentations will be live streamed throughout the conference on the WordPress YouTube channel.

A Networking Block will also offer opportunities to connect and explore potential collaborations within the WordPress ecosystem.

Closing session with Matt

WordPress Cofounder Matt Mullenweg will close the conference with a live question-and-answer session. You can watch Matt’s Q&A on September 20, 2024, streaming live on the WordPress YouTube channel starting at 3:45 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (10:45 p.m. UTC).

Need help getting WordCamp-ready??

• Get your WordCamp US tickets (if you haven’t already)
• Check out the full schedule of events
• Listen to Executive Director Josepha’s tips for WordCamp first-timers

Don’t miss any of the action—follow WordPress on X, LinkedIn, or Instagram. And when you’re sharing highlights, tips, videos, and photos from the conference floor, remember to tag #WCUS (and #WordPress) to bring everyone along for the experience.

Whether you’ll be joining us in person in Portland or watching online from elsewhere, we’ll see you very soon!

Credits

Host: Josepha Haden Chomphosy
Editor: Dustin Hartzler
Logo: Javier Arce
Production: Brett McSherry
Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod

Show Notes

• WordPress Briefing Episode 17: WordPressing Your Way to Digital Literacy
• WPCampus
• WordPress Youth Day 2024
• WordPress YouthCamp 2024
• Uganda Website Projects Competition 2024
• WordPress in Education Showcase
• WordCamp Youth Hackathon
• Make WordPress Training Team
• Learn WordPress
  • Learn WordPress – Courses
  • Learn WordPress – Lessons
• Small List of Big Things
  • The WordCamp US schedule
  • WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program Cohort (#3)
  • Ramping up WordPress on YouTube
  • Important Call to Action: Help Us Reactivate Inactive Meetup Groups by Sept 16
• Have a question you’d like answered? Submit them to [email protected].

Transcript

[00:00:00] Josepha: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go.

[00:00:28] (Music intro)

[00:00:39] Josepha: It’s been a while since I talked to you about the digital divide. In case you’re a brand new listener, check out episode 17, and actually everyone, just go check out episode 17 because bridging the digital divide, teaching people how to embrace technology fully and how to make it work for you, is one of the primary motivators of my decisions in WordPress.

[00:01:02] Josepha: WordPress’s unique position as both a tool that’s ubiquitous in its use and a community that is all-encompassing in its skill set means that if you know a bit about how open source works, you can use it as a tool to learn digital literacy and practice technical skills. Even though this is one of my primary motivators, I have never actually succeeded at getting WordPress into schools.

It’s not for lack of trying, it’s not for lack of interest from the community; it’s more that it’s hard to fit into curriculum-based learning. After all, we’ve had ways to learn WordPress for as long as we’ve had ways to use WordPress. It’s just that it takes a long time to design instructional material, even when you know the content like the back of your hand.

And open source stuff just moves really quickly. However, that didn’t stop us from spending years refining the content that we do have into the learning pathways you can now find on learn.www.ads-software.com. If you’re an educator, you can use those almost out of the box. But if you’ve got learners in your home and want to make a case for why their school should bring a little WordPress based digital literacy into the classroom, I’ve got five good arguments for you for why they should give us a chance. 

[00:02:16] Josepha: The first one, as I mentioned before, WordPress as a tool is practically ubiquitous. It powers a significant portion of the web, so it’s easy to find examples to aspire to and content creators for guidance. And given that it is so prevalent, knowing WordPress ensures that students are well prepared for a wide range of job opportunities in the digital industry, making them more competitive in the job market overall.

Second is that WordPress is a free and open source piece of software. In our case, it’s free in both meanings of the word. Free, as in no cost and no constraints. That means students have freedom to experiment with the code and with the design, which gives you that feeling of joyous experimentation that a lot of us had at the start of the web before there were CMSs. It taps into a different kind of creativity that results in technical curiosity and, ultimately, growth.

[00:03:13] Josepha: The third thing is that the best way to learn WordPress happens to also align with the concept of project-based learning, which is one of the best methods for learning in general. I believe that to be true. I’m not an educator, but I really believe that project-based learning is the best way to learn complex topics. It’s an active way to learn. You get a bunch of tactical skills in there, like development, alongside the basics of good collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Obviously, these are all skills that are directly valuable in the workplace, but I have also found them profoundly useful in my day-to-day existence. You know, as a human participating in a society. 

Number four is a bit of a spicy nugget, but WordPress is essential for creating and managing digital content, which is table stakes right now. That’s a foundational skill for most web dev jobs, but also marketing, journalism, and communications. And beyond that, everyone knows that your best leaders are the people who can tell a compelling story based on the information they have. The ones who can connect the dots in a way that makes it matter to you. This is a spicy, of course, because of the confusing do si do that AI is taking with the content landscape. But I believe that people are the best storytellers, and stories are what keep us all moving forward. 

[00:04:34] Josepha: And then the final thing is that there is a whole wide world of open source. There are so many products and projects that use an open source license, right? Like you, listener, I can guarantee I don’t even know who you are, but I can guarantee that you use at least one item a day that has some open source thing in it.

And most of these open source projects are international. They’re developed on a global scale across numerous countries by people with various levels of education. And it’s this vastness of scope, this broadness of connection, that will give you, give your student, a chance to understand how to work across cultures, how to build something that is more than the sum of its parts, and how to embrace the concept of altruistic generosity that leads to a triumph of the commons.

[00:05:26] Josepha: Because just as I’m sure that you, a complete stranger, touched something open source today, I’m equally sure that the people we bring into open source will be able to solve the biggest problems of tomorrow with better connections and more skill because of what we taught them here today. If all of this sounds compelling, but you’re not ready to, like, go into your school administrator, your superintendent, your local, I don’t know, education board.

If this felt right, but you don’t know for sure, and you want a little bit more experience with it before you go advocate for it yourself, I will have in the show notes over on www.ads-software.com, I’ll have in the show notes of this podcast a series of events that are coming up. We have a couple that have already gone by WPCampus, I think just wrapped up a few weeks ago. But there are a handful of events that are happening across the world that is specific to youth wanting to learn technology, working with WordPress to get that done.

[00:06:26] Josepha: And then educators as well. You can also always stop by the Training Team and ask them questions about how this all works, why it works together their philosophies behind their learning pathways. There are so many ways that you can get answers to the questions that you might have about why open source, and especially WordPress, is worth trying to get your students exposed to and working in and contributing to.

[00:06:52] (Music interlude)

[00:06:59] Josepha: That brings me, now that I have finished with my little soapbox, to our small list of big things. Gosh, I hope you all missed hearing teeny tiny rants about WordPress and open source from me over the break that I took in August, but before you respond to that, feel free to respond to me in any comments. Let’s first get to the small list of big things.?

[00:07:23] Josepha: First up, the full WordCamp US schedule has been released, so if you’re planning to attend that, you can take a look and get your schedule, your personal schedule, for the week figured out. But if you’re still on the fence, there might be a speaker or two in there that tips the scales for you.

The next thing is that the WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program Cohort number three, the third one, will happen in Q4 this year. The call for mentors and mentees has just been completed. But you should keep an eye out on September 9th, I think. So, at the end of this week, the final list will be announced. This program has been excellent for mentors to give back to the community while enhancing their leadership skills. And the mentees who participate have received personalized guidance and a chance to develop skills and network within the community, and a good portion of them continue to contribute to WordPress itself and other open source projects that we rely on as well.

[00:08:20] Josepha: The third thing is that YouTube has been an essential platform for sharing complex ideas with a diverse audience. And our WordPress YouTube channel is no exception. It has been slowly warming itself up. We have a team that’s warming up the content over there. WordCamp information gets on it now. But in keeping with our commitment to meeting the needs of both current and future users, just making sure that we meet people where they are, I’m excited to announce that Jamie Marsland will be taking on the management of the WordPress YouTube channel. So for anyone who’s attending WordCamp US, stop by and say hello to Jamie in person.

And then, finally, I have a really important call to action. So, we are still working to reactivate our meetup groups. The Community Team is driving that charge, and they need your help to reactivate any group that’s inactive. Last month, a list of groups was shared and marked for removal from our chapter program. And we requested responses by August 5th to keep those groups active, but due to the summer holiday, we have extended it a little bit. We’ve extended it to September 16th, which, if I am remembering my calendar correctly, is a couple weeks from now. So if your group is on that pending closure list, email [email protected] to let us know if you want to reactivate the group or if you are ready to step down and have a new leader show up, and we can help you figure out how to get that done. Either way, if you’re on the list, email us let us know what your hopes and, dreams, and plans are there. 

[00:09:58] Josepha: That, my friends, is your small list of big things. Don’t forget to follow us on your favorite podcast app or subscribe directly on www.ads-software.com/news. You’ll get a friendly reminder whenever there’s a new episode. If you liked what you heard today, share it with a fellow WordPresser or future WordPresser. But if you have any questions about what you heard, then you can share those with me at [email protected]. I am your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. I’m so glad to be back. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing, and I’ll see you again in a couple of weeks. 

[00:10:29] (Music outro)

The www.ads-software.com redesign continues

Learn WordPress is the latest section of www.ads-software.com to receive a design refresh, following other sections like the Showcase and Developer Resources. It brings a unified look and feel that’s modern, visual, and inviting.

Beyond its fresh aesthetic, the new Learn WordPress site prioritizes learners with a revamped user experience consistent with familiar modern learning platforms. It features a new navigation menu, eye-catching thumbnails, and search filters so you can explore and discover content quickly. The clearer and more structured layout helps you easily recognize the resources you need (courses, lessons, Online Workshops) based on your learning preferences.  

Introducing Learning Pathways

This redesign also highlights a new approach to Learn WordPress content, emphasizing what learners engage with the most. The introduction of Learning Pathways lets you grow your WordPress skills progressively. You can start with beginner essentials and then work your way through more advanced concepts at your own speed. This method lets you build a solid understanding as you move through each course. Learning Pathways are geared toward specific learners, like people using WordPress for the first time or those interested in development.

Four Learning Pathways are already launched and ready to explore:

• Beginner WordPress User
• Intermediate WordPress User
• Beginner WordPress Developer 
• Intermediate Theme Developer

You can look forward to more Learning Pathways in the User and Developer tracks soon. Two additional pathways, Designer and Contributor, are also on the roadmap. For more details about Learning Pathways, listen to episode 83 of the WordPress Briefing.

Get a guided tour of all the exciting Learn WordPress changes from the Training team’s very own Jonathan Bossenger, Wes Theron and Kathryn Presner. Sign up for one of their upcoming Online Workshops on Tuesday, August 6 at 14:00 UTC or Thursday, August 8 at 21:00 UTC.

Education for the future of WordPress

What started with the Training team’s effort to understand the needs and expectations of current and future learners became a push to create a dynamic learning experience. This next phase of Learn WordPress is an exciting move toward bringing more people into WordPress, whether new users just getting started or established developers looking to add more skills to their toolbox.

If you want to propose a change or report an issue, please do so in the Learn GitHub repository. If you love WordPress and want to contribute to making Learn WordPress an even greater resource, join the #training Slack channel. Want to make an immediate impact? Share Learn WordPress with someone you know.

Thank you (and props) to all involved

The new Learn WordPress couldn’t have been possible without the effective collaboration of the Training, Design, Marketing, and Meta teams.

@adamwood @agiljulio @arunshenoy99 @bsanevans @burtrw @cnormandigital @devmuhib @digitalchild @dufresnesteven @ervanyuffrizal @faisalahammad @fcoveram @hellosatya @huzaifaalmesbah @indirabiswas27 @ironnysh @itsmhrahman @jinalparekh @joedolson @joen @jominney @keithnoseworthy @kel-dc @lada7042 @laurahartwigdesign @laurlittle @markoserb @mustakim5 @nazmul111 @ndiego @nilovelez @noruzzaman @orangeambition @piyopiyofox @psykro @renyot @rfluethi @rjfrizz @rmartinezduque @ryelle @sakibsnaz @sfougnier @shsajalchowdhury @sierratr @sumitsingh @teuila_mau @webcommsat @webtechpooja??@west7 @zoonini

This minor release features 7 bug fixes in Core and 9 bug fixes for the Block Editor. You can review a summary of the maintenance updates in this release by reading the Release Candidate announcement.

WordPress 6.6.1 is a short-cycle release. The next major release will be version 6.7 planned for November 2024.

If you have sites that support automatic background updates, the update process will begin automatically.

You can download WordPress 6.6.1 from www.ads-software.com, or visit your WordPress Dashboard, click “Updates”, and then click “Update Now”.

For more information on this release, please visit the HelpHub site.

Thank you to these WordPress contributors

This release was led by Tonya Mork and Ella.

WordPress 6.6.1 would not have been possible without the contributions of the following people. Their asynchronous coordination to deliver maintenance fixes into a stable release is a testament to the power and capability of the WordPress community.

Aaron Jorbin, Aaron Robertshaw, Aki Hamano, Amit Raj, Akira Tachibana, Andrea Fercia, Andrew Serong, annezazu, Art Smith, Brian Gardner, Carolina Nymark, cbirdsong, Ciprian, Clark, Courtney Robertson, Daniel Richards, David Baumwald, Dennis Snell, Dion Hulse, Ella, Eric-Oliver M?chler, Fabian K?gy, George Mamadashvili, Jarda Snajdr, Jb Audras, Joe Dolson, Joen A., Jon Surrell, laurelfulford, Marco Ciampini, Mario Santos, Mark Howells-Mead, Mukesh Panchal, neotrope, Pascal Birchler, Paul Biron, ramonopoly, Raquel, Riad Benguella, Rich Tabor, Robert Anderson, Sergey Biryukov, Scott Reilly, Sourav Pahwa, Stephen Bernhardt, SunilPrajapati, Tonya Mork, up1512001

How to contribute

To get involved in WordPress core development, head over to Trac, pick a ticket, and join the conversation in the #core and #6-7-release-leads channels. Need help? Check out the Core Contributor Handbook.

Credits

Host: Josepha Haden Chomphosy
Guest: Meher Bala
Editor: Adam Daly
Logo: Javier Arce
Production: Brett McSherry
Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod

Show Notes

• WordPress 6.6 Download
• Make WordPress – Core
  • WordPress Core Slack
• Small List of Big Things
  • First-Time Attendees: A Key Metric of Success for WordPress Events 
  • The Docs team holds an online Contributor Day every fourth Tuesday.
  • Reminder: Online workshops are live sessions where you can learn alongside other WordPress enthusiasts.
  • Recap of the Media Corps Briefing on WordPress 6.6 
• Have a question you’d like answered? Submit them to [email protected].

Transcript

[00:00:00] Josepha: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of some of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project and the community around it, as well as get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go! 

[00:00:28] (Intro Music) 

[00:00:40] Josepha: Last week, we released WordPress 6.6, and I had a chance to chat with a long-time contributor and member of the Release Squad about it. Today, I have with me Meher, and she was, well I guess I will let her tell us what she did with the release, but at the time of this recording, yesterday we had the WordPress 6.6 release, codenamed ‘Dorsey,’ and so Meher, welcome to the WordPress Briefing.

[00:01:05] Meher: Hi, thank you for inviting me. It’s nice to be here.

[00:01:09] Josepha: Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself, what you do in the WordPress project, how long you’ve been contributing, and then the role that you played in our big, big mid-year release?

[00:01:19] Meher: So my name is Meher. I’m a front-end developer. I’m also a CEO of KDC. I’m also a codable expert in WordPress. I started with contributing into the marketing field. Then, slowly, for 5.6, I got to be on the release squad, learned about training, about how the release goes, process happens. From that time onwards, I’ve been part of marketing or, basically, I’ve been part of the marketing team for all the releases. For 6.6, I picked to do the Release Coordinator, something different, something new, wanting to know what goes into it. 

[00:02:03] Josepha: That is a big leap from like hanging out in marketing to going to be the Release Coordinator. Before we get into the release itself, just what made you think to yourself, I would like to do that? I would like to stand up and wrangle all of these contributors across the world. Make sure we get a release out?

[00:02:20] Meher: I wanted to try something new. Like even in WordCamp, each role is different. So, even in the release, I wanted to try each different things. And like 5.6, I was in documentation. Then, I was in marketing. So then I got used to marketing, so I stick with my, no, I stuck with marketing.

[00:02:39] Josepha: Yeah.

[00:02:40] Meher: So this time, I want to try something different, and I want to see, you know, how easy was it to be a Release Coordinator because it’s a Release Coordinator, see, you know, it’s, it’s a like a big thing coordinating so many people so many different teams going on, working together, and so yeah, it was fun.

[00:02:58] Josepha: Great. I’m glad that you found it fun. I always worry when people make big shifts. I’m like, did we put enough documentation to make it clear? Are they going to find it easy to get started or not? And I think you did a really great job with it. So congratulations, since that happened just yesterday, less than 24 hours ago.

[00:03:16] Meher: Yes, less than 24 hours.

[00:03:21] Josepha: Yeah, yeah. So, from your position as the Release Coordinator, what are the biggest, like, one or two features that you really were excited to see get in this release?

[00:03:32] Meher: Oh, one of the biggest features was the style override patterns.

[00:03:37] Josepha: Oh, yeah.

[00:03:38] Meher: Which I found very useful because a lot of people are using patterns. So, you know, patterns override; if you wanna change something on a specific page, it’s really useful then just to, you know, recreate a second pattern and then to match up and all. And second, which I liked as a user, was the publish box on the post becoming very clear, very, you know, cluster-free, very minimalistic, and just so comfortable that a normal user will actually understand what is there instead of going to each dropdown and figuring out what needs to be done. So, for me, I think as a developer and user, these two are the fun features, which I like, which 6.5 had, so. There are many other features as well. These are the two great features.

[00:04:28] Josepha: Yeah. I mean, I don’t think that anyone can argue about the importance of making things a little easier to see, a little easier to use. It’s been a little bit since WordPress was like fall into it easy to use. I feel like we have been the easiest of the robust CMS systems for like a long time. I know I said CMS systems. That’s like saying pin number. I know that the S in CMS is systems, but anyway, that notwithstanding, we’ve been the easiest of the complex solutions for a long time, and I think it’s always great when we, when we take a moment to be like, what could we make a bit easier to just like, no instructions required you get in there and you can tell like, what any individual thing will do without necessarily, like you said, having to go into drop downs and reading a bunch of stuff a little guesswork is okay. And also, it’s clear that none of it is dangerous. And so I think that’s, I think that’s a a good change myself. So, I agree with your assessment.

[00:05:27] Josepha: So the style override patterns, that’s part of the suite of design tools that we’re pulling together, right? 

[00:05:33] Meher: Yes.

[00:05:34] Josepha: in your experience, you said you’re the CEO of your company, like in your experience, does that feel like something that’s super useful for agencies or particularly useful for freelancers, or should it generally be useful for everyone?

[00:05:47] Meher: It will be useful from a small business point to a freelancer as well because we always try, like, in each page, we always, you know, there is some bits repeated, you know, so, patterns makes it easier, and syndicate pattern makes it more easier so that you can just duplicate and have one place to change. And, like, you have ten pages, you have one pattern across ten pages. The 11th page, you want the same pattern, but little change in that. It’s easier. It’s good because you can just change on that page, one particular thing and still go in the parent and change other things to reflect in that. So it will be very helpful for freelancers, small agencies. I do see big agencies take advantage of it. So overall, it should help everyone.

[00:06:35] Josepha: Good. Good. I, for one, isn’t it great when we can get a feature out that mostly is going to help everyone. But I have been especially interested in the features that we’re trying to get out that help that kind of like small to medium agency area. I feel like we have a lot of folks in the WordPress community who do exactly what you’re talking about. You’re getting something together. You have a mostly what you need across your site. You have one style that’s out there, but there’s this one area that you want to have a little bit more personality or a little less personality, depending on what your client is looking for, like this one is applying for jobs, and it needs to be a little less exciting or whatever it is.

[00:07:13] Josepha: I think that’s great that we have that option. So you don’t have to try to, I don’t know, hack your way through that. I know that we’re not a super get-in-there-and hack-on-it sort of group anymore these days, but I love that we still have that feeling of we’re gonna, we’re going to make this a safe hacking space for you. Just get in there and make it work. So that’s excellent. Excellent. So for you, then, personally, cause you wear a lot of hats, you’ve your front-end developer; you’re running your company, you’re working, you’re a codable expert. You’ve got all these things. So from your perspective, what is the thing that got into this release that was a surprising, like a diamond in the rough for you, like a surprising good feature when you just thought it was like an important feature at some point? Was there one that seemed like it was a good idea but became a great idea by the time it was out?

[00:08:00] Meher: Oh, I would say style variations because I did not expect the final style variation to be what it is. A theme developer can create the theme, can add styles, can add fonts, can give different design elements to the theme as a normal user when they when someone wants to just pull up a website, but they’re not good in design, or they don’t know which font to use. They choose which font, but then it doesn’t work. So if the theme provides an easy option just to shift the different styles they’re using and combining with the fonts. It is a much bigger opportunity for everyone because a normal user can just, they have a black and white site. I want to shift to a colorful site. Just go and see what the theme art has given you and shift it. So I think that I was surprised and I like the outcome. I’m sure my blogger friends also will like it because then they don’t have to depend on a designer to you know, give them color schemes and stuff.

[00:09:01] Josepha: Yes. Yeah. So unrelated. It’s only, it’s kind of related. I shouldn’t say it’s unrelated. It’s all about WordPress. And now it’s about color palettes. So, I have a new design on my blog. And unfortunately I am the sort of person that does need a designer to tell me what I meant by the thing I thought. And so, like, I had this idea of the sort of color palette that I wanted and was searching for color palettes inside themes, which I was not succeeding at. And eventually I had a designer who was happy to help you figure this out and get something out there. And they got me something that’s absolutely perfect. It’s got an excellent color palette and they redid some images for me. So it looks nice and hip and feels kind of modern. I think it’s great. But the one thing that I consistently felt confident to mess with while I was in there, because I think they did some custom work in there too, is all of the stuff that’s included in style variations. Like, I’m not touching colors because I can’t put colors together to save my life. But I was pleasantly surprised also by that particular feature. It gives you a feeling of I can change the face of this through the fonts or whatever it is. And I think that’s a nice, a nice thing.

[00:10:06] Meher: And it’s a, it’s a perfect combination. Color and font. Because a lot of people don’t know today’s time which font is good. Or which font is needed for an industry. 

[00:10:16] Josepha: Exactly. Fortunately, I’m a site manager of one. And so I just had to ask myself if I liked the font and moved on from there. So, oh. So, like I said, as we’re recording this, we are less than 24 hours past the release. How was your experience with this release? Was it enjoyable? Did it like expand your horizons? Were there surprises in how a release is run?

[00:10:43] Meher: There was no surprises because I’ve already been a part of a release. So I.

[00:10:47] Josepha: That’s fair. 

[00:10:49] Meher: You know, it’s depends on what happens on the day. But yes, behind the scenes, following up, just checking in to make sure, are we on time, do we need more time, or what needs, you know, how much more time is required. It was fairly good, I was only clearly concerned about on the day of the release, because there’s a lot of things to cover.

[00:11:09] Josepha: Yes. 

[00:11:10] Meher: Usually, the party of the beta and the RCs finish in less than hour or so. But the final has a lot more detailed steps and many people to ping, to get, you know, them on the day of the release.

[00:11:24] Josepha: Yeah, for folks who have never watched a release happen. So, I think a lot of the folks who listen to this podcast, they find it in the dashboard, they don’t necessarily contribute to WordPress. But, like, if you’ve never watched a WordPress release, we have these release parties for every beta that goes out, every release candidate that goes out, and then the general release. And I always find them so fascinating because, we have hundreds of contributors over the course of an individual release. And then we have probably 50, 60 people who show up at, for some of you all, in the middle of the night and are just being directed, like their attention is just being directed here and there.

[00:12:06] Josepha: And I love watching it because I, I’m always in the release channel. I’m in the core channel. All of these are in Slack. And then I’m also in the admin channel where you have to do the flipping of switches and packaging things. And it’s really interesting to see, almost like a scan of a brain where things are lighting up for various things. Like, you do the pre-testing in the release channel, and then you do the general testing in the core channel. And then we’ve got like a person who’s flipping switches in the back, in the admin area to make sure that it all gets together. And it’s just really interesting to see how it all works. And yeah, it’s a really fun thing.

Dear listener, if you have never, if you’ve never done this, you have another opportunity. And I think the next release is early in November or something. And even if you’re there as like a spectator, not necessarily ready to take part in the release, sometimes it’s kind of nice to see how much effort and how many people are showing up to work on any individual release.

[00:13:01] Josepha: This was your first time to lead the release parties, though, right?

[00:13:06] Meher: Yes. My first time releasing a release party. Also, to the spectators who have never been a part of release, you can just come and say hi. Like, yesterday, on the day of the release, there was one participant who joined for the first time, and she did contribute. And she was amazed by how smooth it went through. And for me, the best part of any release is seeing the green tick when people start testing. So, you know, everything is smooth sailing.

[00:13:34] Josepha: Yes.

[00:13:34] Meher: And we’ll reach the destination.

[00:13:36] Josepha: Yes. It’s, it is a real testament to how well and how closely all of these folks can work together, which if you stop and think about the fact that everybody’s like all over the world, it’s all across the globe that this is happening. It is why WordPress works, right? All of these people, all of you coming together to do this on behalf of this software. How cool that you had somebody who joined for the first time and then they were able to contribute immediately.

[00:14:02] Meher: Yes.

[00:14:03] Josepha: I love that. 

[00:14:04] Meher: Also, there are a lot of folks who’ve done it. So they’re always ready to help out. You know, if you’re stuck somewhere, as a first-time release lead, there were certain questions I had. There are a lot of people to guide you to the right direction or to say, this needs to go here, or you need to tell the audience this. A lot of support you get from the squad itself, plus the people who are not on the squad and who’ve done this.

[00:14:29] Josepha: Absolutely. I remember the first release that I led I was the coordinator of it and I believe it was 5.0. I believe it was the one that we put Gutenberg in core with, and it was the most terrifying thing I’d ever done. Not because I hadn’t been watching these releases happening for years, but because it’s different participating and watching and then being the person who is like you said, like making sure that things are still going on time that you understand when you need to say, like, there’s no way that this works for users right now. We have to take it out and all those things. And then, yeah, the day of, the first time that you have to run one of those global meetings, be like, ‘everyone, we don’t have time for this. Move on’. That’s always a really hard first time. Well, cool. That’s so exciting. So I have a last question for you, and that is, you’ve kind of let us into it, for first-time contributors to a release, especially anyone who’s thinking about joining the release squad for the first time, do you have any advice, anything that you wish you had been told when you were coming into this?

[00:15:32] Meher: Come with an open mind and come with a thought that there are people to help you. Ask in any channel. There will be someone or the other who will answer you immediately or a little later, depending on the time zone, and will guide you to the right person or right documentation where you can read up because there is a lot of documentation, good documentation on releases, how it handles and what team is needed, what they are supposed to do. So, you, you have a friendly bunch of people. Just ask.

[00:16:03] Josepha: Excellent. I love it. I love that advice. That was really good advice. Don’t be scared. Everybody has answers, and they want to give them to you. I agree. That is a real strong truth for the WordPress project. Last thoughts: anything you want to share with the WordPress community with our community of listeners here?

[00:16:20] Meher: Looking forward for new people joining the next release and seeing 6.7 new features, which I’m excited about, collaborative phase three coming into picture and excited about it.

[00:16:32] Josepha: Yeah. So you can come join us, make.www.ads-software.com/core, or you can join us in the Slack instance. You can go to chat.www.ads-software.com and get signed up for that. We coordinate all of this in the core channel, and we hope to see every new contributor that’s been on the fence. We hope you show up. There’s a new meeting every two weeks just for y’all. Meher, this has been an excellent conversation. Thank you so much for joining me today.

[00:16:56] Meher: Thank you for having me. It was fun.

[00:16:58] (Music interlude) 

[00:17:05] Josepha: Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to download the release and try it out on your own sites. As always, if you run into any bugs, let us know so that we can get them in the next point release.

And that brings us now to our small list of big things. I have a moderate-sized small list. The first one is that WordPress is a reminder, actually. It’s a lot of reminders this week if I get right down to it, but this first one is a reminder that one of our big-picture goals for 2024 was getting new users into our event series. Our goal, of course, is to warmly welcome more first-time attendees and new users, and future WordPressers at all of our events, and that’s something that you can help get done. So, for all of our event organizers, or if you have not organized an event yet and would like to, just so that you can meet the fellow WordPressers in your area or, get to grow your own network a little bit. We’ve got a few best practices that can help you to make sure that you have a good experience for first time attendees. For one, you should always consider some thoughtful event design. Craft your events with some first-time attendees in mind. You have to consider their needs and interests and potential barriers to participation. Second, it helps to have some targeted messaging. Ensure that you have promotional materials that highlight the benefits of attending, but also what new knowledge, skills, or professional connections folks will gain when they come. It’s also good to share success stories of past first-time attendees. And then just kind of a final note for that on outreach strategies. You should experiment with a range of marketing channels to reach professional new attendees. You can partner with local schools, professional organizations, and online communities who can help to spread the word.

[00:18:52] Josepha: The second thing on our small list of big things is a reminder that the Docs Team holds an online Contributor Day every fourth Tuesday. They’ve been doing this for about a year now. And I think that it’s one of the most engaging and fun new contributor experiences we have, which I realize might sound odd for documentation, but it’s a great team. It’s got a great number of team reps in it. And they’re looking for you. They’re looking out for you to come and join for your first time on a Contributor Day. The next one is actually tomorrow, July 23rd. I’ll have a link for that in the show notes.

[00:19:29] Josepha: And the third thing on our list is a reminder about online workshops. These are live sessions where you can learn alongside other WordPress enthusiasts, and they’re, you know, safe spaces where you can come as you are, develop new ideas, explore issues that you’re having, ask questions, network over shared interests, exchange theories, collaborate, and honestly, thrive on a bit of problem-solving together. New workshops are happening all the time. You can check out the schedule to join in on a live session and even watch some of the previous sessions to see if it’s for you. 

[00:20:03] Josepha: And the final thing on our list is that there is a recap up of the first Media Corps Briefing that was held on June 27th, and it provided media partners with an overview of the Source of Truth and updates that were planned for WordPress 6.6, that was released last week. Obviously, we just talked to Meher about it. But that particular session featured guest Anne McCarthy, who explained and demoed some of the upcoming features and answered a bunch of questions from the participants. The briefing was recorded and published on the WordPress YouTube channel. Apart from the recording, you can also find a summary, the full transcript, and other relevant links from the link in the show notes. 

[00:20:42] Josepha: And that, my friends, is your small list of big things. Don’t forget to follow us on your favorite podcast app or subscribe directly on www.ads-software.com/news. You’ll get a friendly reminder whenever there’s a new episode. If you liked what you heard today, share it with a fellow WordPresser. Or, if you had questions about what you heard today, you can share those with me at [email protected]. I am your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. And I’m taking a little break from the podcast in August, and so I will see you again, my friends, in September. 

[00:21:15] (Music outro) 

Say hello to WordPress 6.6 “Dorsey,” named after the legendary American Big Band leader, Tommy Dorsey. Renowned for his smooth-toned trombone and compositions, Dorsey’s music captivated audiences with its emotional depth and vibrant energy.

Let your heart swing, sing, and sway to the deep brass notes of Dorsey’s Big Band sound as you explore the new features and enhancements of WordPress 6.6.

Hello, 6.6!

WordPress 6.6 delivers on the promise of a better web by bringing style, finesse, and a suite of creative possibilities to your site-building experience. This version helps you do more with ease, putting enhanced tools at your fingertips and giving you unprecedented power behind the scenes. You will find more ways to create beautiful, coherent design elements across your site, a new layout for quick page previews in the Site Editor, and the safety of automatic rollbacks for failed plugin auto-updates—among many other highlights.

In addition to the new features, “Dorsey” continues to deliver the performance and accessibility gains you can expect from every WordPress release. Explore what WordPress 6.6 has to offer and get ready to let its features take your sites to new heights.

What’s inside

Add more design options to block themes

Create color or font sets to multiply design combinations across one theme. These sets offer more contained design possibilities, allowing visual variety within the site’s broader styling guidelines.

Simplify your workflow with a new layout for pages in the Site Editor

See all of your pages and a preview of any selected page with the new side-by-side layout in the Site Editor.

Auto-update your plugins with peace of mind

Enjoy the convenience of plugin auto-updates with the safety of rollbacks if anything goes wrong—offering your site a new level of security, enhanced functionality as it becomes available, and almost no time or bandwidth from you to make it happen.

Customize content in synced patterns

Make content changes in each instance of a synced pattern while maintaining a consistent style across them. Set these overrides for Heading, Paragraph, Button, and Image blocks when placed in a synced pattern.

Performance

WordPress 6.6 features important updates like removing redundant WP_Theme_JSON calls, disabling autoload for large options, and eliminating unnecessary polyfill dependencies. Other highlights include lazy-loading post embeds, a new data-wp-on-async directive, and templates in the editor that load approximately 35% faster overall.

Accessibility

This release includes 58 accessibility fixes and enhancements. These focus on foundational aspects of the WordPress experience, particularly the data views component powering the new site editing experience and areas like the Inserter, which provide a key way of interacting with blocks and patterns.

And much more

Visit the feature showcase for a full overview of all the new features and enhancements in WordPress 6.6.

Learn more about WordPress 6.6

Explore Learn WordPress for quick how-to videos, online workshops, and other free resources to level up your WordPress knowledge and skills.

The WordPress 6.6 Field Guide contains detailed technical information and developer notes to help you build with WordPress and get the most out of this release. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Developer Blog for updates, tutorials, and other helpful WordPress content for developers.

For information about installation, file changes, fixes, and other updates, read the 6.6 release notes.

The 6.6 release squad

Every release comes to you from a dedicated team of enthusiastic contributors who help keep things on track and moving smoothly. The team that has led 6.6 is a cross-functional group of contributors who are always ready to champion ideas, remove blockers, and resolve issues.

• Release Lead: Matt Mullenweg
• Release Coordinator: Meher Bala
• Core Tech Lead: Jb Audras
• Editor Tech Leads: Ella van Durpe, Vicente Canales
• Core Triage Leads: Olga Gleckler, Nazmul Hasan Robin
• Editor Triage Leads: Fabian K?gy, Damon Cook 
• Documentation Leads: JuanMa Garrido, Jenny Dupuy, Josep Morán
• Marketing & Communications Lead: Mary Baum
• Test Lead: Anne McCarthy
• Design Lead: Rich Tabor
• Performance Lead: Adam Silverstein

Thank you, contributors

The mission of WordPress is to democratize publishing and embody the freedoms that come with open source. A global and diverse community of people collaborating to strengthen the software supports this effort.

WordPress 6.6 reflects the tireless efforts and passion of more than 630 contributors in at least 51 countries. This release also welcomed over 150 first-time contributors!

Their collaboration delivered more than 1,900 enhancements and fixes, ensuring a stable release for all—a testament to the power and capability of the WordPress open source community.

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More than 60 locales have translated 90 percent or more of WordPress 6.6 into their language. Community translators are working hard to ensure more translations are on their way. Thank you to everyone who helps make WordPress available in 200 languages.

Last but not least, thanks to the volunteers who contribute to the support forums by answering questions from WordPress users worldwide.

Get involved

Participation in WordPress goes far beyond coding, and learning more and getting involved is easy. Discover the teams that come together to Make WordPress and use this interactive tool to help you decide which is right for you.

6.6 haiku

Six-point-six is here.
Make it all gorgeous; keep it
On brand, and relax.

This version of the WordPress software is under development. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, please evaluate RC3 on a test server or a local environment.

Reaching this phase of the release cycle is a worthy achievement. While release candidates are considered ready for release, your testing is still vital to make sure everything in WordPress 6.6 is the best it can be.

You can test WordPress 6.6 RC3 in four ways:

The target for the WordPress 6.6 release is next Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Get an overview of the 6.6 release cycle, and check the Make WordPress Core blog for 6.6-related posts in the next few weeks for further details.

What’s in WordPress 6.6 RC3?

Thanks to your testing (and many other contributors‘ up to now) this release includes eight bug fixes for the Editor and 18 tickets for WordPress Core.

Get a recap of WordPress 6.6’s highlighted features in the Beta 1 announcement. For more technical information related to issues addressed since RC 2, you can browse the following links:

• GitHub commits for 6.6 since July 2
• Closed Trac tickets since July 2

Want to look deeper into the details and technical notes for this release? You might want to make your first stop The WordPress 6.6 Field Guide. Then, check out this list:

• Roster of design tools per block (WordPress 6.6 edition)
• All 6.6-related developer notes

You can contribute. Here’s how

WordPress is the world’s most popular open source web platform, thanks to a passionate community of people who collaborate on its development in a wide variety of ways. You can help—whether or not you have any technical expertise.

Get involved in testing

Testing for issues is critical to keeping WordPress speedy, stable, and secure. It’s also a vital way for anyone to contribute. This detailed guide will walk you through testing features in WordPress 6.6. If you’re new to testing, follow this general testing guide for more details on getting set up.

If you encounter an issue, please report it to the Alpha/Beta area of the support forums. If you are comfortable writing a reproducible bug report, you can also report it on WordPress Trac. Before you do either, you may want to check your issue against a list of known bugs.

Curious about testing releases in general? Follow along with the testing initiatives in Make Core and join the #core-test channel on Making WordPress Slack.

Please update your WordPress product

If you build themes, plugins, blocks, or patterns, your efforts play an integral role in adding new functionality to WordPress and helping bring new people and ideas to the most vibrant (and massive!) open source community in the world. 

Thanks for continuing to test your products with the WordPress 6.6 betas and release candidates. With RC3, you’ll want to make sure everything is working smoothly, and if it’s a plugin, update the “Tested up to” version in its readme file to 6.6.

If you find compatibility issues, please post detailed information to the support forum.

Help translate WordPress

Do you speak a language other than English? ?Espa?ol? Fran?ais? Русский? 日本語? ??????? ?????? You can help translate WordPress into more than 100 languages.

The RC3 haiku

One week to go. Then:
Open the paintbox! Try the tools!
Play a new jazz tune.

Props to @meher and @audrasjb. for peer review.

Credits

Host: Josepha Haden Chomphosy
Guest: Wes Theron
Editor: Dustin Hartzler
Logo: Javier Arce
Production: Brett McSherry
Song: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod

Show Notes

• Learn.www.ads-software.com
  • Beginner WordPress Developer
  • Beginner WordPress User
• WordPress Playground
• Learn WordPress YouTube Playlist
• Small List of Big Things
  • WordPress 6.5.5 is now available!
  • WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program Q4 2024
  • WordPress 6.6 Official Release
    • What’s new for theme developers in WordPress 6.6
  • Upcoming WordPress Meetings
• Have a question you’d like answered? Submit them to [email protected].

Transcript

[00:00:00] Josepha: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing, the podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go.

[00:00:28] (Intro music) 

[00:00:39] Josepha: As a steward of the WordPress community, one of the big overarching questions that I grapple with is how to make sure people who have just found out about us know how to get around. Obviously, there’s the contributor path, which is important to me because I am especially concerned with the longevity of our little open source community, but there’s also a path for folks who are learning how to use the software.

[00:01:03] Josepha: And so, joining me today to talk through a project called Learning Pathways is Wes Theron. Wes, welcome to the WordPress Briefing.

[00:01:11] Wes: Good day. Thank you very much for having me. It’s a pleasure.

[00:01:13] Josepha: Before we get into this project that we’re talking about, do you want to just tell me a little bit about who you are and what you do with the WordPress project?

[00:01:22] Wes: Yeah. So, as you know, my name is Wes Theron. I’m based in New Zealand, and I’m an instructional designer. And, I am part of the Training Team. So, most of my life revolves around creating learning content for learn.www.ads-software.com.

[00:01:38] Josepha: Oh, that’s quite a life. Teaching people how to use WordPress.

[00:01:42] Wes: Yeah, I teach WordPress. We run online workshops. I create video tutorials, courses, and now, of course, this great project we’re working on, Learning Pathways.

[00:01:52] Josepha: Yeah. So, I’ve talked about Learning Pathways a few times here on the podcast, but for folks who have not heard me talk about it or who just need a more in-depth understanding, why don’t you tell us a little bit about this project as it stands today? 

[00:02:06] Wes: Yeah, so when Learn started out, I think the main goal was to just get learning content on the site. But, in May of last year, we shared an individual learning survey with folks, and we were hoping to basically find out what are the needs of the learners? What are learners after? And from that individual learner survey, we actually learned a few things. We learned that tutorials, courses, and online workshops were the most used content types. We also saw that web-based learning is the most popular learning method. And then there was a clear need for a structured way of consuming learning material. And that’s basically where the Learning Pathways project was born; to create Learning Pathways that basically target various types of learners, but also various skill levels. So July of last year, we started with outlines, creating outlines for these learner pathways.

[00:03:10] Wes: And then, in October of last year, we actually started creating content. So, the first learner pathways we started working on was the User Learning Pathway and the Developer Learning Pathway. And what that entails is of course, creating a Learning Pathway for beginner users, intermediate users, and then advanced users.

So that’s how we kind of broke it up. And last week, the Beginner Developer Pathway was actually published, so that’s very exciting. And a few weeks before that, the Beginner WordPress User Pathway. And yeah, of course, we’ve got many other pathways in the pipeline that we want to work on. For example, a Designer Learning Pathway and even a Contributor Learning Pathway.

[00:03:57] Josepha: Yeah, when we’re talking about pathways, what we mean is, like, we are figuring out what you probably need to know when you first arrive and then helping you to identify what you build on based on what your goals might be.

[00:04:11] Josepha: Like, obviously, the beginner user, the goal is basically just like, learn how to get WordPress doing stuff at all. Like that’s, that’s an easy goal to understand. But when you all were doing the work to figure out what needed to be in the pathway for a beginner developer, and as you’re looking towards doing the work around intermediate and advanced topics, like how are you all able to determine what most likely you need in those various steps in the learning process?

[00:04:42] Wes: So, of course, a lot of research went into that. When we created the outlines for these Learning Pathways. We shared it with the community. We asked for feedback. And yeah, a lot of research was done to make sure we cover all the all the bases.?

[00:04:59] Josepha: I know that there were a couple of different proposals about how to, like do skills assessments, maybe? There was something where like we were talking with companies that employ WordPress folks in the ecosystem, and then we were talking to WordPressers who were currently trying to make sure that their skills were advanced enough to get those jobs. And we were trying to figure out like the distance between those and where we actually have some concerns around like the language choices that they need, like basic developer language choices and jargon that goes in there and stuff like that.

[00:05:34] Josepha: So this, if I recall correctly, the research for this has been going on for like maybe two or three years, right?

[00:05:42] Wes: Yeah, definitely. And we’ve reached out to many stakeholders within the WordPress community. And as you say, even agencies, and businesses, you know, trying to find out what do they want people to know when they employ them. And yeah, then of course, speaking to the community, speaking, speaking to folks at WordCamps reaching out to folks an online workshops.

[00:06:04] Wes: So, yeah, it’s definitely been an ongoing process and also seeing what resources are lacking and what needs to be there. 

[00:06:12] Josepha: Yeah, so, the very first, the very first iteration of any training that the WordPress project was offering on, I think it was on learn.www.ads-software.com, but I don’t actually know for sure, was a troubleshooting workshop, because when you are trying to figure out WordPress for the first time, when you are trying to figure out any software for the first time, being able to figure out what went wrong is a really important part of that. And so that was like the only workshop that existed over there for quite some time. And so it’s really nice to see how we have really, not only created a bunch of resources in general, if you all have not looked at learn.www.ads-software.com lately, it has, like, workshop outlines that you can use to do a training by yourself at your meetup group or at a school or whatever it is.

[00:07:08] Josepha: But then also, I want to say it was maybe two, three years ago, that you all, as a team, the Training Team, started doing these online workshops. And so, when you created the Learning Pathways, considering like how much time and research has gone into this project overall, did you all have learnings that came from those workshops that you had already done? Is this like a collection of workshops or is this something where you can do it at home and learn by yourself and then go someplace else and learn more about WordPress? Like how does that function in what we have already?

[00:07:45] Wes: Yeah, so maybe I should first, maybe let’s define a learning pathway. So I, I thought about this, but a learning pathway, I would say, is a route taken by learner through a range of modules, lessons, and even courses to build knowledge progressively. So it’s similar to a course, but of course usually covers like a specific topic or subject where learning pathways usually have a larger goal.

[00:08:11] Wes: So I wouldn’t say that the online workshops form part of the Learning Pathways project. And maybe I can also clarify that the teacher notes or the lesson plans that you refer to is something that’s also changing going forward.?

[00:08:23] Josepha: Oh, good. Because I wrote some of those, and I am not an instructional designer. And so,?ha!

[00:08:30] Wes: We’ve actually decided to move away from having two different content types. So, we had tutorials. You know, video tutorials, and we had lesson plans, and as you said, the lesson plans were notes that somebody could use to run an online workshop or to go to a WordCamp or at their local meetup and use that to teach something. But moving forward for Learning Pathways, we are actually just going to have one content type, namely lessons. And then lessons from part of creating a course or lessons from part of creating modules and then Learning Pathways. The other exciting thing, and something we haven’t mentioned, is that at the end of this month, when we launched the Learning Pathways or the first few Learning Pathways, it actually coincides with a website redesign.

[00:09:18] Wes: So, yeah, beyond the lookout, hopefully, learn.www.ads-software.com is going to have a brand new face at the end, from the end of July or, yeah, or August. So, yeah, that’s very exciting.

[00:09:30] Josepha: Excellent. Excellent. So, you said that these Learning Pathways are part of a larger goal. Is that a goal for your learners or a goal for WordPress? A goal for the team?

[00:09:40] Wes: I would say all of the above.

[00:09:42] Josepha: Goals for everybody. We’re like the Oprah of goals. Don’t come get me, Oprah. That’s all I got to say about it.

[00:09:48] Wes: Yeah, I think for us as a team, at the end of the day, we want folks to be able to use the content and find the content and utilize all the learning material on learn.www.ads-software.com. And then, of course, at the end of the day, for learners, we want folks to be able to succeed in whatever they are trying to do. Is it to build their own website? Is it to maybe find a job as a developer? And. Yeah, I mean, the list can go on.

[00:10:21] Josepha: Yeah. So, on the subject of wanting to help people succeed, I think that as far as I hear from the majority of contributors that I have worked with over the years, like helping other people figure out how to do this and making sure that they can succeed is always something that is top of mind for contributors to open source probably in general, but definitely to WordPress. Like, we really care about helping other people figure out how to have the same sort of benefits that we’ve had in the project and with the software. So if you have somebody who is familiar with all the bits and pieces of WordPress and really, really want to like show up and help teach some things. Is it the case that they can take part in like running a Learning Pathway? Is it something where we mostly need people to help us build some content? Like if we’ve got people who are just desperate to help other people succeed in WordPress, what kinds of things can they show up and help do on this project?

[00:11:22] Wes: Yes, please come to the Training Team. There are many ways to get involved. If you just want to review content, you can do that. But yeah, we do have a need for content creators, folks, you know, creating a video lesson or putting their hand up and saying, I will actually create an entire module or an entire learning, a Learning Pathway. We do have some awesome contributors that’s part of the Training Team that are already doing that. Some people are writing scripts. Some folks are actually, you know, creating everything from the beginning to the end. So they are writing the script, they recording the video, publishing the video, et cetera. And then we’ve, of course, have people reviewing content. We’ve got folks running online workshops. If maybe creating video content is not their, is not their forte, they can can run online workshops. So yeah, many ways getting involved.

[00:12:16] Wes: But Josepha, I wanted to point something else out that I haven’t done. I think there was a real need for Learning Pathways because, at the moment, if somebody new to WordPress or new to developing with WordPress wants to find learning content. You know, where do they go? What’s the main platform to go to? I think most people probably go to YouTube, right? But a lot of the content there are, are scattered and fragmented.

So a lot of learning material or learning about WordPress is all over the place. It’s not in one place. And as I said, a place where you can actually learn from A to Z, learn progressively learning in a structured way. Yes, we know there are courses available that you can pay for, but the awesome thing about this project is that we are providing these Learning Pathways, these learning resources, for free for folks to be able to work through at their own time. I know that’s something else you asked earlier on. So yes, this is a course in quotation marks; this is a Learning Pathway that somebody can start whenever it suits them, you know, in the comfort of their own home, and they can work through the Learning Pathway from the beginning to the end. Or, if they feel I actually know everything taught in module one and two, I’m going to start at module three, they can do that. They basically come in at their skill level.

[00:13:43] Josepha: Yes. I think it’s really important to try to meet people where they are. And I know that it’s difficult because, like, we don’t take a lot of data from our users. You don’t have to give us basically anything in order to use WordPress. And by basically, I mean you literally don’t have to give us anything to use WordPress.

[00:14:01] Josepha: And so we always have some difficulty in figuring out what is it that our users need the most in order to succeed the quickest. And so I agree that there was a real need for this not only because, like, there’s plenty of content for getting from, like, some knowledge to a good amount of knowledge. There’s almost no content around, like, I didn’t know CMSs existed until yesterday, and now I need to quickly learn how to do it because it’s become a thing I need to do in my job. There’s some really clear, like use cases for being able to onboard quickly and progressively.

And I understand that, like, having a clear, structured way to learn doesn’t always fit with the idea of meeting people where they are. But I do really think that, that like what you were saying, it can be as structured as you need it to be. But also, if you get into it and you think to yourself, you know, I know this information already. I can move on to the next module. I can move on to the module after that. Similar to the way we do that at WordCamps also. If you get into a session and you thought it was going to be useful for you, and you discover that it’s not once you’re there, you don’t have to stay. You can go to a different room where they’re teaching about SEO if it turns out that you don’t need to learn about JavaScript today.

[00:15:23] Josepha: And I think that that’s, it’s kind of the value that this is hoping to bring, like, because it is a little bit built one on top of the other when you discover that you have already learned something, you can easily try out the next step and know that it’s probably a good next step.

[00:15:38] Wes: Exactly. And if you maybe want to teach this to other folks. The plan is to, you know, we had lesson plans. We have a lot of lesson plans on Learn. But the plan is also to, instead of having, as I said, two different content types, is to have lessons but then add a tab where you can click on teacher notes and actually teach something as well if that is your goal. But yes, our lessons and modules also include quizzes and, hopefully, some practical activities. We’ve incorporated WordPress Playground where, where folks can actually, you know, test out what they’ve learned or test their knowledge. So yeah, I agree with you that you can basically join the Learning Pathway wherever you feel the most comfortable.

[00:16:28] Josepha: So we’ve been kind of in the weeds of the project itself, the program itself, and if you want to like do stuff with that and in that. Let’s switch gears a little bit and talk about just what people who are wanting to join those pathways would need to know. Do you have any advice for somebody who is just today learning about these Learning Pathways and they think to themselves, I definitely want to sign up for one of those. Like, for one, how do they get started? And for two, your like top two or three bits of advice for as they get started??

[00:17:05] Wes: So you can make your way to learn.www.ads-software.com, and you can basically open the, the pathway, and you can start wherever, wherever you want to. We have made it possible to actually view these pathways or our content without logging in with your dot org profile. The other thing I also wanted to mention is that our content is actually hosted on YouTube now.

So the great thing is we have these pathways within YouTube as well. So, folks can go to the, YouTube channel and see our content. And, of course, that basically reaches a very wide audience. And hopefully some of those videos will also bring people to the dot org site so that they can access the content.

[00:17:57] Josepha: I think it’s great that you don’t have to sign up for a profile. If you are a brand new WordPresser and ran into this in your dashboard and are listening to this podcast now. So dot org profiles are a place where you can kind of log your activity in the WordPress community and the WordPress project. You do not have to have one in order to use WordPress. You don’t have to have one in order to look at these courses or to learn from them. But I always think that it’s kind of nice to get your profile set up so that people kind of know who you are and what you’re doing. And then also your activity shows up. Like, you can see that you enrolled in the course and you get to know for yourself that you made some progress. I know that when you’re getting started, it’s hard to, like, see your progress because you don’t know how far you have to go. And so, like progress when you’re starting out is really difficult to feel is real. And so I like it just so that you have a few reminders to yourself, like, look how far I’ve come as you’re trying to figure out how far you still have to go. And so I like that a lot.?

[00:18:58] Wes: You won’t be able to access all the content on Learn without your dot org profile. But one of the things we’ve made possible is to access these Learning Pathways, the new ones being launched without, you know, removing those blockers. So, of course, when you work through a Learning Pathway, you will be able to track your progress, and you will be able to see which lessons you have completed. So yeah, one of the pieces of advice I would give to somebody starting with the Learning Pathways actually to first go through the modules. And go through the lessons to see which things you know and feel comfortable with so that you don’t waste time maybe going through the first module and say, oh, I know this, and you’ve wasted time. Rather do a bit of research, a bit of reading, and then find the right place for you to start the journey.

[00:19:45] Josepha: That’s excellent. I also, just as a learner, I try to always learn some stuff. And also, as you get older, it’s harder and harder to learn things partially because like you’re in a set path, but also, and here’s my advice to new learners: you worry about looking foolish. Like you, you worry, you’re showing up, and you don’t know anything about anybody else in the classroom. And so there’s this feeling of like, what if I’m the only person who does not know how to make this work? What if I’m the only person who can’t figure out what Wes meant by “Playground” or whatever it is? There’s this real feeling of looking silly when you’re doing something like this.

[00:20:25] Josepha: I can’t control what anybody else says or does to anyone else, unfortunately. But what I can say is that I think that there’s never a bad time to start something you wish you had done, right? Like, the best time to have learned how to use your CMS, your website, make your website work was probably a year ago or something, but the second best time is today. And so, like, why not go ahead and get started and be part of that small group of adults that are learning new things every single day? I think that’s great. And so that’s my tip is to just embrace looking silly sometimes because you’re making some choices about your future, and that’s always a good choice.

[00:21:04] Wes: And I would also say test your knowledge. So you’ve mentioned WordPress Playground. And as I said, we’ve incorporated into the Learning Pathways, but sometimes you watch a video, or you read something, and you feel like, oh yeah, I know this, but you know, the proof is in the pudding. So go and test it out. Use a test website or use WordPress Playground and test yourself to see if you can actually implement this or do something. So yeah, that’s definitely one of the other tips I want to highlight; you know, they also say you, you learn by doing.

[00:21:38] Josepha: Yeah, absolutely. And also, like if you have gotten to a point you’ve done the learning, you’ve done some practicing, you think you’ve got it and want to like try to figure out what other things can be done with it. I recommend this is how I did a lot of my early WordPress learning to organize an event with your local meetup.

Like, I did not know enough about WordPress when I started organizing WordPress meetups. I literally knew nothing. And I basically brought people in and was like, hey, we need people to teach us about this, us being half me. Come in and teach us. And, and that can be a really good thing, partially because, like, you get to know your local folks and see what’s going on and get a sense for, like, what is out there, especially if you’re learning this in order to run a business or to accomplish something for your job that you already have, like knowing what’s out there is super helpful. But then I find that once you embrace the fact that sometimes you will look silly, and that’s the only way that we can know we’re learning something. Like once you’ve embraced it, having some people who are willing to look a little silly with you is kind of, kind of fun, kind of nice. Also, like we’re all going to look at this problem that we definitely don’t understand and hopefully look like, at the end, we know what we’re doing, but between looking at it the first time and at the end of this meetup, we’re all going to look a little bit silly, ask silly questions. And I think that that’s a really helpful thing, too. But yeah, knowing some basic information is a great place to start before you do that, especially if you get anxious about looking silly. And I think these pathways are going to really help to get folks a little bit of a leg up on those big questions that they have as you’re starting to learn how to use WordPress.

[00:23:18] Josepha: So we talked about, like, tips and tricks for learners in general. But if you had something that you wanted to share with us that, like, you’re really excited about for either the Training Team or for the Learning Pathways in general, I think the Learning Pathways are slated to be shipped by, like, end of September or something. So, like, a lot of them are coming quite quickly. 

[00:23:38] Wes: So I am most excited about the website redesign and the new look and feel of the website. And also, you know, one of the goals for us as a Training Team is for learn.www.ads-software.com to be one of the places people come to and learn about WordPress. And I feel these Learning Pathways and the new website redesign and all the hard work that’s gone into this project is hopefully going to, make that happen. As I said, our content is also available on YouTube. So we’ve really tried to make it easy for folks to find our content and also now to digest our content in a progressive and in a structured way. Because, you know, learning is hard. And hopefully, these Learning Pathways have made it easier for folks to, as you said, to build on your knowledge. You know, a lot of times, there’s knowledge gaps. And I think that’s what makes learning so hard. And hopefully with these pathways, you can build that knowledge one step at a time.

[00:24:44] Josepha: Yeah. And as is the way with open source, like we can only make these pieces of content better if you all show up and help us like try it out, learn some stuff, and tell us what was confusing. Tell us what was too big a step. Cause yeah, you’re right. There are some knowledge gaps and when you’re on the other side of knowing something, it is so hard to tell how big a step is, you know?

[00:25:11] Wes: Exactly.

[00:25:12] Josepha: And so we need y’all to come in here and tell us very plainly as a new learner like that was eventually what I needed, but this part here was especially confusing. This part over here was too like too many little steps like we just we’re trying to make sure that it works for you WordPressers, future WordPressers of the world. And so yeah, come build some learning with us over here on the Training Team.

[00:25:35] Wes: And yes, please, we want feedback because, as you say, as we iterate, we want to improve. So there will be a place where you can provide feedback, and at the end of the pathway where there will also be a satisfaction survey for folks to to complete.

[00:25:50] Josepha: Great. Well, folks, we’re gonna have a bunch of links in the show notes. There’s so much stuff out here to learn with and about WordPress. Wes, thank you so much for joining me today.

[00:26:01] Wes: Thank you for having me. And I will see you all on Learn.

[00:26:05] (Music interlude)

[00:26:12] Josepha: That brings us now to our small list of big things. Although I have to say we have a bunch of links that we’re going to share in the show notes. If you’re listening to this in a place where there are not show notes, you can head over to www.ads-software.com/news. That’s where we keep all of those. If you are lucky, we also will help you find it on Twitter/X, but I think that it’s hard to find things over there these days. So www.ads-software.com/news is your best bet. Now, it is time for the small list of big things.

So, first up on my list is that WordPress 6.5.5 is now available. It’s got a few fixes in it, some maintenance things and some security fixes as well. I recommend that you update your sites immediately. You can download it from www.ads-software.com/download, or you can just visit your WordPress dashboard. If you’re on a managed host, they may have already done this for you, too. But auto-updates, manual updates, CLI updates. However, you want to get it done, get it done. But it is recommended to do this as soon as possible. 6.5.5. 

[00:27:16] Josepha: The second thing on my list is that the WordPress Contributor Mentorship program has a call for interest out. This is a program that we launched about a year ago as well. And we had such a good bit of success at the end of the first round in February that there was significant interest in doing another cohort. So, that program connects seasoned WordPress contribution experts with folks who are new to contributing and offer a fantastic opportunity for mentees to gain hands-on experience contributing to WordPress while their mentors share their expertise and improve their leadership skills. So, most of the time, what you are going to be contributing to is probably a release of WordPress, but there are also a lot of opportunities to contribute to things like the Training Team that we’ve been talking about today and other teams as well. Not everything is focused all around our release cycle. We have things happening in the WordPress project literally all the time. It is a project that never sleeps. 

[00:28:17] Josepha: Speaking of projects that never sleep, our next official release, our second release of the year, is coming out. WordPress 6.6 is coming out just about a week from now. It is the second major release of 2024 and has a lot of things in it that you will want to check out. If you have not yet seen the hallway hangout where we take a look at what was happening in the release, what we intended to get into the release, take a look at it. And if you haven’t tested it yet, if you are one of our plugin developers, if you are building something on top of WordPress core, now is the time to check that out and test it against your products.

And then the final thing is that it’s a new month, my friends. Here we are in July, and we have a ton of things happening in the project. That’s the theme of my small list of big things: the project that never sleeps. But we have a lot of team meetings that are happening. If you haven’t attended one in a while or even if you have never attended one of these meetings and you were trying to figure out when to start, now is as good a time as any. You can join your fellow community members and contribute to the WordPress project. And there are ways that you can do that from home and from your computer and for some parts of the project, like from your phone, if you are taking photos out and about and submitting those. So check out make.www.ads-software.com/meetings. It’ll give you a sense for everything that’s happening. Do not get overwhelmed by that calendar. You can just choose which team you think is most interesting to you.

[00:29:45] Josepha: And that, my friends, is your small list of big things. Your small list of never-sleeping things. Don’t forget to follow us on your favorite podcast app or subscribe directly on www.ads-software.com/news. You’ll get a friendly reminder whenever there’s a new episode. If you liked what you heard today, share it with a fellow WordPresser. Or, if you had questions about what you heard, you can share those with me at [email protected]. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Thanks for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing, and I’ll see you again in a couple of weeks. 

[00:30:15] (Music outro)