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Note: On getting feedback from the community that the AMER timing of our chat was a bit off, we did an experiment where AMER folks could join the chat asynchronously, but it did not work out as planned, unfortunately. We will be resuming regular EMEA and AMER chats going forward from next week.
Notes
Program Updates
Call for Mentees Closes
The early call for mentees for the Q4 2024 WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program concluded on July 15, 2024. The program received 54 mentee applications from 35 cities and 20 countries, along with 30 mentorEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. applications from 10 countries and 19 cities. Significant interest was noted in the CoreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. Team and Plugins team, with 17 and 21 mentee applications respectively. Full application details were shared with the working group for evaluation.
In our chat, we took a detailed look at the applications. There was clearly a higher interest in the Community, Polyglots, and Photos teams from mentorsEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. compared to mentees. We also discussed the higher number of mentee applicants for the Plugins team, questioning whether applicants were more interested in creating plugins rather than contributing to the Plugins team’s work. A suggestion was made to separate the Core Team into distinct options: Core, Core Test, and Editor (GutenbergGutenbergThe Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/).
Based on discussions from the past chats, we put together an initial plan for the first cohort, including documentation. The goal of creating this document at an early stage is to create a clear, cohesive, and transparent plan for our initial cohort of the mentorship program helping us to create a more structured and systematic mentoring experience. Here’s a draft of the plan that was shared: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uatuObmi0iZyAC_bBSiGvAMoXV7UFZosPJyqRCySi38/edit
A draft project plan for the next cohort was shared, outlining phases from planning and cohort selection to The plan includes structured onboarding and training sessions, with a goal of establishing a replicable mentorship program format. The plan is based on the current WordPress 6.7 release plan.
Program Duration and Phases
Phase 1: Planning (June-July 2024)
Close Early Mentee Applications by July 15
Create a detailed project plan and white paper
Develop mentor and mentee documentation and guidelines
Define cohort selection criteria
Finalize facilitators and create vetting groups for mentors/mentees
Outreach for the mentorship program
Phase 2: Cohort Selection & Program Building (August–September 2024)
Open call for mentors/mentees
Finalize mentor/mentee selection and inform them
Provide pre-event orientations and training
Create the mentorship Slack channel
Phase 3: Mentorship Program (October 7 – November 15 2024)
Week 1: Welcome and introductions
Week 2: Onboarding and release process familiarization
Ensure at least 25% of mentees contribute to big picture goals-related projects
Major Changes from Previous Cohorts
Use GitHubGitHubGitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ Project for centralized management
Pre-scheduled live onboarding and training sessions as much as possible
Discussion
We had a discussion on the Mentorship Program and some excellent feedback was shared highlighting the importance of documentation and outreach to local communities.
Broad Suggestions
The team discussed several key points for improving the mentorship program. They emphasized the importance of documentation and suggested setting a 25% contribution goal. The need for outreach to local communities and the inclusion of local cohorts was highlighted. An introductory session before the final team selection was proposed, along with the flexibility for mentees to switch teams if needed. The conversation also covered the importance of planning for translations and setting an application deadline to accommodate vacations in Europe. The overall focus was on structured introductory sessions, local outreach, and careful planning for the mentorship program’s success.
Program Dates
The team discussed potential dates for the mentorship program, suggesting October 7 – November 15, 2024, to align with the release week and avoid overlapping with WCUSWCUSWordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event.. Concerns were raised about this timeline starting too late for optimal contributions to the 6.7 release. An earlier start, like September 30, was proposed for better alignment with the release cycle. Additionally, the idea of bringing a few early applicants as mentees to follow the entire release was considered, which could increase their chances of contributing effectively. The team agreed to finalize the best dates to balance program needs and core involvement.
Opening the Formal Call for Mentees
The team discussed how to combine early and later mentee applications for the mentorship program. One suggestion was to pair mentors and mentees initially, and if any mentees are left without mentors, issue a specific call for the required mentors closer to the start date. The challenge is balancing the early interest sparked by WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Europe with the promise of a later call. Another idea proposed was to double-check early applicants’ interest before opening the standard invitation. Additionally, the importance of a longer, more structured program to build strong mentor-mentee bonds was emphasized, highlighting that ongoing support and camaraderie are crucial for effective mentorship.
Mini Cohort Starting Early?
A suggestion was made to pre-select up to five early applicants as mentees to follow the entire 6.7 release, starting with the Alpha phase, allowing them to make more significant contributions. This idea was well-received, especially if the mentees seem ready and mentors are available. Another suggestion was to include these mentees in the mentorship planning and documentation process. It was proposed that a “bridge mentor” could be appointed to explain the various aspects of the release as they happen, helping to navigate the complex release operations and enriching the overall experience for everyone involved.
Discussing Program Next Steps
We took some time to discuss next steps in the mentorship program:
Cohort Selection Criteria
Suggestions included prioritizing motivation, desire to learn, and ensuring mentees do not already have connections within the community. It was agreed that previous criteria used should be maintained, but adding a multilingual aspect would be beneficial to address language barriers. It was also noted that mentees should have some prior contribution experience, and mentors should be well-connected within the community. Emphasizing a safe and supportive environment for non-native English speakers was highlighted as essential for effective mentorship. The goal is to offer a more multilingual and globalized version of the mentorship program to better support diverse contributors.
Cohort Size
Participants debated whether to expand the cohort size to 100 or keep it smaller. It was agreed that the number of mentors available would determine the cohort size. A 1:2 mentor-to-mentee ratio was suggested as ideal, with a potential adjustment to 1:3 if needed. Additionally, the idea of creating a mini French cohort was proposed and received positive feedback, acknowledging the presence of Francophone members in the group. The overall consensus was to scale the cohort size based on mentor availability while ensuring effective mentorship.
Working with Projects
One participant suggested organizing an online Contributor DayContributor DayContributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/. for bbPressbbPressFree, open source software built on top of WordPress for easily creating forums on sites. https://bbpress.org., potentially expanding it to include BuddyPress. The idea received support, and plans were made to coordinate and organize the event. Another participant highlighted the involvement of various teams such as Polyglots, plugins, themes, and learning in parallel operations with the release. The tech leads expressed enthusiasm for collaborating with the mentorship program during the 6.7 release, emphasizing the potential for cross-team projects and enhanced coordination.
We celebrated wins from the mentorship program in the last chat, incluing the program being featured in the WP Briefing Podcast and the DooTheWoo podcast. Our program also made a splash at WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Europe 2024, with the event generating a lot of excitement and energy. At the camp, there was a dedicated WordCamp Connect session titled “Introduction to the Mentorship Program” which was facilitated by group members @nao@peiraisotta and @josepmoran. This session provided detailed insights into various aspects of the program and generated significant excitement among attendees. Additionally, in the opening slide of Matt Mullenweg’s 2024 Summer Update, the mentorship program was featured with Q1 2024 mentees being celebrated. Additionally, the opening slide of Matt Mullenweg’s 2024 Summer Update celebrated the Q1 2024 mentees of the mentorship program. Here are some pictures from WCEUWCEUWordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event.:
Participants in the chat expressed their enthusiasm and positive experiences from WordCamp Europe 2024. According to in-person participants at the dedicated WordCamp Connect session, there was great engagement and valuable questions during the event. @josepmoran‘s proposal to bring the mentorship program to local teams in their own languages got a lot of attention. Seeing all the interest from WordCamp participants in mentorship, we opened up an early call for interest for the 2024 Q4 mentorship program at WCEU, which was also announced in the final presentation!
Mentorship Program Cohort #3 (Q4 2024) Updates
Preparations for the next mentorship program have begun with the early call for interest already out. In the last meeting, the group decided on a cohort size of about 40 mentees paired with 20 mentorsEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues.. The aim is to involve as many Make/Teams as possible, with each mentee working on dedicated projects contributing to the 6.7 release.
The program will be executed in four phases:
Planning (June to August 2024): The full call for mentees and mentors will open in August.
Cohort Selection and Program Building (August to September 2024): Selection of participants will take place, with announcements in early September.
Mentorship Program (late September to early November 2024): The program will run for 4-6 weeks leading up to the release week.
Graduation and Retrospective (November to December 2024): Focus on concluding activities and reflecting on the program.
Chat participants expressed great interest in the cohort and in joining the same in various capacities. We then opened up a discussion on the following important points:
On Ensuring Great Mentorship Participants emphasized the need for pre-introduction workshops to help mentees understand various teams and select the right one, preventing mismatches and dropouts. The importance of conducting interviews with potential mentees and mentors to ensure a clear understanding of stable and lasting contributions was highlighted. There was consensus on creating a clear schedule of workshops and introductory sessions. Additionally, the idea of multilingual mentorship programs was proposed to make contributions more accessible to non-English speakers, with suggestions for local language cohorts working on language-specific projects. Regular Zoom calls for mentees to share progress and experiences were also recommended.
Connecting Mentorship with 6.7 Release The group discussed integrating the mentorship program with the WordPress 6.7 release. It was suggested that mentees could work on high-priority projects or features related to the release, providing them with practical tasks. This approach aims to give mentees real-life experience and a sense of contribution to the coreCoreCore is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. WordPress project.
Timeline to Open the Formal Call for Applications The group was in agreement with the suggested timeline.
Suggestions for Next Cohort Suggestions for the next cohort included setting clear expectations for mentors and mentees, involving them in practical tasks to build self-esteem and a sense of usefulness. The idea of having local language cohorts working on language-specific projects alongside the main program was discussed. Creating a dedicated landing page and providing recognition for mentors and mentees were suggested to enhance the program’s visibility and appeal. There were also proposals to include opportunities for mentees to work closely with release leads, providing valuable real-life experience. Direct outreach and scholarships for underrepresented groups were recommended to ensure a diverse group of participants. An early call for “Make/Team Projects” was also suggested for this cohort.
Creating a Plan for On-Demand Mentorship in 2025
We took some time to discuss implementation details for the On-Demand Mentorship Idea. Key points discussed in the last chat include creating a structured asynchronous mentorship approach, a pool of available mentors, clear processes, a dedicated onboarding Slack channel, mentorship content on Learn WordPress, Q&A sessions, and bridging cohorts with continuous mentorship.
We realize that it might be difficult to implement this idea in 2024, but we are considering implementing the same in 2025. Towards that, we discussed the following points:
Adopt Current Cohort-Based Mentorship Structure for On-Demand Mentorship We discussed the idea of leveraging the existing cohort-based mentorship structure for the on-demand program. The idea is to create a detailed process and documentation to guide mentors and mentees, ensuring consistency. This approach could bridge on-demand mentorship with the cohort-based model, providing ongoing guidance and support. It was suggested to document key learnings and progress on a platform like P2P2P2 or O2 is the term people use to refer to the Make WordPress blog. It can be found at https://make.wordpress.org/., allowing mentees to showcase their achievements.
Creating a Process for 1:1 Mentorship The value of offering mentorship on demand was highlighted in this discussion. We all agreed that having a structured program where new contributors could onboard into the project with the help of a mentorEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues., could facilitate quality contributions. We shared the idea of creating a framework for mentors to support mentees asynchronously through a dedicated process and structure. The idea of having a pool of mentors was explored, with hopes of encouraging mentees to connect with other mentors, too, when needed, on an on-demand mentorship program.
Facilitating On-Demand Mentorship To facilitate on-demand mentorship, the group proposed creating a pool of available mentors who can be booked for sessions by mentees. This system would allow for flexible and immediate support. The idea of hosting sessions with multiple mentors for open questions was also discussed, with sessions conducted based on mentee interest. Creating a central repository of current mentor/mentee assignments was suggested to ensure coordination and awareness among mentors. We all agreed that to move ahead with on-demand mentorship, the process should be clear and documented, as well as possible.
How to Connect Mentors and Mentees Participants emphasized the need for a dedicated Slack channel for onboarding new contributors, serving as a general onboarding space with team-specific customizations. This channel would facilitate easy connections between mentors and mentees. Additionally, mentorship content on Learn WordPress, coupled with Q&A sessions, was proposed to provide flexible support. Collaborative documentation and clear guidelines would help mentors and mentees navigate the on-demand mentorship process effectively. We also explored the idea of setting up some Informal (unstructured) mentorship across the project. Also, we discussed setting up various criteria to match mentors and mentees, including their language preferences, region, personalities, etc.
In conclusion, the group decided to use preparation time towards Cohort #3 as a way to create documentation and structure as a first step towards launching on-demand mentorship in early 2025.
Brainstorming/Planning Cohort #3 of the Mentorship Program
We spent some time planning the third cohort of the WordPress contributor mentorship program. Participants agreed to maintain the six-week duration but also suggested extending it to seven weeks, dedicating the first week for introductions and onboarding. There was a consensus to keep the cohort size at 40 mentees paired with 20 mentorsEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues., but with a backup list of mentors to handle emergencies or increased applications. Clear and visible documentation for mentors was emphasized, as current public resources on mentorship are lacking. Ideas like integrating mentees into multiple teams to showcase cross-team collaboration, creating a dedicated onboarding channel in Slack, and organizing an online WordCampWordCampWordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. for mentorship were discussed. Leveraging existing programs like do_action hackathons and bridging with the Training Guide program for onboarding new contributors were also brought up in this discussion.
We decided to focus on enhancing clarity, structure, and support for both mentors and mentees. Participants stressed the importance of setting clear individual project goals and maintaining general program goals to measure success. Improving mentorEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues.-mentee communication and avoiding the initial loss of momentum were highlighted as key areas for refinement. Additionally, ideas for integrating initiatives like Hacktoberfest and WP Translation Day to enhance contributions were explored. Overall, the discussions aimed at creating a more effective and engaging mentorship experience, ensuring sustainable mentor participation, and providing a comprehensive support system for new contributors.
Based on the discussion, we arrived at a broad set of dates for the next cohort which are as follows:
June – July 2024: We finalize the structure for the next cohort
August – September 2024: Call for mentees/mentors goes out, we select mentors + mentees, and announce them.
October-November 2024: Mentorship Program.
It was highlighted that the mentorship program should avoid coinciding with major events like WCUSWCUSWordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event. to ensure that mentors are not overly occupied. Adjustments may be needed to align with the WordPress 6.7 release cycle, aiming to start the program after major events to maximize participation and focus. For further details, refer to the 2024 Major Release Timing Proposal.
We are going to start working on building the next cohort as per this plan, and will try to create an MVPMinimum Viable Product"A minimum viable product (MVP) is a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers, and to provide feedback for future product development." - WikiPedia plan for the next cohort with the goal of creating a strong foundation and structure for the program as early as possible.
On-demand Mentorship
In our last chat, @tobifjellner shared an excellent idea around “on-demand mentorship”, where we create a pool of mentors who are available to support new contributors, so that new contributors coming in can get mentorship whenever they want. We discussed this idea quite a bit in this month’s chat.
@tobifjellner elaborated on this idea in the discussion. Essentially, the idea involves creating a dedicated Slack channel for onboarding, supplemented by an email sequence to help new contributors become familiar with the WordPress project. This channel could serve as a general onboarding space, with specific teams building on this process for their own needs. Additionally, the idea of mentorship content living on Learn WordPress, coupled with available time slots for Q&A sessions, was proposed to offer flexible support. The goal is to bridge the periodic cohorts with continuous, ongoing mentorship, ensuring new contributors receive guidance whenever needed.
Participants also discussed having a structured approach where mentors can support mentees asynchronously and provide guidance while encouraging them to connect with their primary mentors. This would ensure mentees receive timely assistance without undermining their mentor-mentee relationships. Creating a pool of available mentors and setting up weekly sessions for bug scrubs were suggested to maintain engagement and address specific questions. Furthermore, integrating the on-demand mentorship with existing programs like do_action hackathons and leveraging university partnerships for project-based contributions were considered valuable for expanding outreach and sustaining the mentorship program. We also pointed to discussions on different forms of mentorship in the WordPress Contributor Working Group Tracker.
On-demand mentorship was identified as an idea with great potential – and our group will continue to discuss the idea with hopes of creating a structure and launching it after the next mentorship cohort concludes.
Five for the Future Documentation Updates and Discussions
Additionally, in our chat, we highlighted a set of important ongoing discussions related to Five for the Future and the WordPress Contributor Experience.
A group of volunteers from our group have started working on creating documentation for self-sponsored and sponsored contributors for Five for the Future. We have already received excellent feedback on the same from community members on work done so far. Please review these docs and share any feedback that you have – the plan is to ship these updates to the Five for the Future website once the documentation is more complete. Feedback is specifically requested for these documents:
