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WP Briefing: Episode 84: A WordPress 6.6 Sneak Peek

Join WordPress Executive Director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, as she offers an exclusive preview of the recently released WordPress 6.6, accompanied by special guest Meher Bala, the release’s coordinator. Don’t miss this opportunity for an insider’s look!

Credits

Host: Josepha Haden ChomphosyGuest: Meher BalaEditor: Adam DalyLogo: Javier ArceProduction: Brett McSherrySong: Fearless First by Kevin MacLeod

Show Notes

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.WordPress.org/core, or you can join us in the Slack instance. You can go to chat.WordPress.org 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 WordPress.org/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 WPBriefing@WordPress.org. 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)