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Hola, and hello. Welcome to your monthly roundup of practical ideas, community updates, and results from organizers around the WordPress community.
Worth celebrating
WordPress Youth Day Nicaragua, Managua
WordPress Youth Day Nicaragua. Kids and teenagers in Managua spent Saturday, October 10 building websites and online stores at the third WordPress Youth Day Nicaragua, in hands-on workshops split by age from 9 to 18.
The organizers’ recap counts 113 participants: 62 of them at their first official WordPress event, and 52 of them girls.
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. Guatemala. Organizers planned for 150 people on October 10 and welcomed 162, with 20 speakers across two tracks and about 30 organizers and volunteers.
WordCamp Costa Rica. The September 18 and 19 event sold out at 368 attendees, and at least 100 of them came from Campus Connect UCR Esparza and Campus Connect BeeNova. The second-place student from the UCR Esparza showcase featured in last month’s issue was one of the speakers, with a talk on reading the data your WordPress site already collects.
What happens when the workshop becomes a challenge
WordPress Campus Connect, Stamford University Bangladesh
Campus Connect organizers in Dhaka noticed that students already line up for hackathons and programming contests, so they tried one at Stamford University Bangladesh: two days of online hackathon, then a day of seminar and workshop. Around 180 people registered, about 100 of them for the hackathon, across three tracks for beginners, designers, and developers. The result was 40 websites and 82 new WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ profiles.
The write-up is honest about what did not work. About half of the registered students never took part in the hackathon, and some beginners stopped when they got stuck with nobody online to help. The organizers are now weighing a sequence of a Learn WordPress course, then a workshop, then the hackathon, and they are asking for ideas in the comments.
It lines up with new guidance for Campus Connect: build each event around something students actually do, such as creating a WordPress.org account, building a first site, or making a first contribution, rather than a day of talks. The Event Formats & Standards handbook page has been updated to match, so check it as you plan.
And when students build something, give them a stage. Making space for the next generation of WordPress builders describes students presenting their sites at WordCamp Europe 2026, and a sponsorship tier that brought WordPress Credits graduates to the event as volunteers and contributors.
Three formats to borrow this month
A one-hour contribution session. WP LATAM ran its first online mini contribution session on September 30: 20 photos submitted to the Photo Directory, 10 strings translated, and one video subtitled, with 80% of attendees contributing in those areas for the first time. A draft guide for mini contributor sessions covers 30 and 60 minute versions, and its authors want organizers to try it and report back.
Bring a pluginPluginA plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party.. When storms cut transport links across Chiba Prefecture, the Chiba WordPress Meetup moved its September 27 meeting online and asked everyone to introduce one favorite plugin. Two people the organizer had met at other meetupsMeetupMeetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. gave lightning talks on plugins they are building, and several attendees showed plugins of their own. It works online or in a room, and it needs almost no preparation.
WordPress Campus Connect, OM Education Campus, Junagadh
The September WordPress Ahmedabad Meetup drew more than 80 people, and one of its organizers spent the same month taking WordPress to three campuses. Campus Connect at OM Education Campus, Junagadh on September 7 and 8 was the first WordPress community event in Junagadh, and more than 90 students built their first website on day two. Adani University, Ahmedabad followed on September 19 with more than 80 students, then Gyanmanjari Innovative University, Bhavnagar on September 28 with more than 150 students, more than 15 faculty members, and coverage in the local newspaper. For an established group, the pattern is worth copying: lend the people and habits you already have to a nearby city that has never had a WordPress event.
Also worth knowing
Meetup groups are moving to events.wordpress.org
An update on community groups explains the move off Meetup.com for roughly 700 groups. Members will join the new groups themselves with a WordPress.org account, so start asking your members to create one now. Groups willing to run real events on the new platform as a pilot can say so in the comments, especially groups outside Europe and North America and groups that don’t meet in English.
Who can organize a meetup event?
A Tokyo co-organizer asked a fair question after three handbook pages seemed to disagree. The answer they got: any community member can run an event without being a co-organizer, but should coordinate with the group’s co-organizers, who confirm the person is trustworthy and following the Five Good Faith Rules. The post proposes writing that down in one place. Add your view in the comments.
Instead of leaving a dead countdown and a ticket button, turn it into a closing page: photos with credits, talks with slides and WordPress.tv links, recaps, and a clear invitation to join your local group. WordCamp Costa Rica 2026 is doing it now, so you can watch theirs change.
Organizing in the US or Canada?
Events in the US and Canada: the plan through 2027 lays out three stages, starting with getting meetups back on track, and offers a menu of event types rather than a mandate. It is worth reading in full if you organize there.
A profile marker for Campus Connect participants?
A proposal suggests marking Campus Connect and WordPress Credits participants on their WordPress.org profiles, along with their 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. or facilitator, so experienced contributors know who to welcome and support. Comments are open.
By the numbers
368
attendees filled a sold-out WordCamp Costa Rica, at least 100 of them from Campus Connect.
Local meetups run in far more places than this. Everything, everywhere, is on events.wordpress.org.
Open calls for speakers:
Worth passing to your group. Someone who has never spoken before is usually one nudge away from it, and a first talk at a nearby WordCamp is how a lot of organizers started.
Have you tried a contribution activity at your meetup, even a small one? Tell us what people finished and what got in the way, so the next organizer can plan around it.
Send your recaps and photos and your group goes in Meetups of the Month. Every group that shares one is included, so ask your group’s permission and send it. Group of the Month is for a story another organizer can learn from, and you can put any group forward including your own.
Did we miss your event? Possibly, and we would rather know. Send your recap in #community-events or #campusconnect for the next issue, which publishes Friday, November 13.
Tell us what you want to read here too. If there is a section missing, a format you want explained, or a question you wish someone would answer, say so and we will build it into the next issue.
Each issue opens with a greeting from a language spoken where one of the featured groups is based. This month it is Spanish, for the organizers in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Costa Rica featured above. If you would like your language to open an issue, tell us.
Thanks for everything you do to grow and support the WordPress community.
