Uniting WordPress YouTubers Part II on August 20th, 2024

In the spirit of open sourcing everything, I wanted to share my notes too alongside the video anyone can watch. I used Otter.AI to create the transcript and then used their baked in ChatGPT integration to pull a summary out. The notes are incredibly high level so I recommend watching the video itself if you have time as there was some awesome dialogue.

AI Summary from Otter.AI

Anne McCarthy led a discussion on the WordPress community’s efforts to engage YouTubers. Key points included the importance of inclusivity and collaboration, with participants sharing their backgrounds and favorite colors. Aaron Jordan explained WordPress’s decision-making process, emphasizing the philosophy page and the principle of minimizing options. Concerns were raised about the complexity of WordPress due to numerous plugins and themes, and the need for better onboarding and extensibility. The group discussed the challenges of integrating page builders with core WordPress and the potential benefits of a more robust starting point for users. The meeting concluded with a mention of Jamie Marsland joining Automattic to run the WordPress YouTube channel.

Introductions and Meeting Purpose

• Anne McCarthy opened the meeting by emphasizing the inclusive and collaborative nature of the discussion. She invited new participants to join and share their perspectives, stressing that this effort is not meant to be exclusive, but rather to bring together a diverse group of WordPress users and contributors.
• Participants introduced themselves, sharing their name, location, years of WordPress experience, and favorite color. This revealed a diverse group with a range of backgrounds, including YouTubers, developers, agency owners, and core contributors. The group collectively represented decades of experience working with WordPress, with a variety of favorite colors, showcasing the diverse nature of the WordPress community.

Participant Introductions

• Brendan O’Connell from San Diego, favorite color is blue.
• Joel Rivera from the Bronx, New York, favorite color is black.
• Jackson, a YouTuber and WordPress creator, favorite color is blue.
• Kevin from Atlanta, favorite color is medium green.
• Hector, a sponsor contributor from Spain, favorite color is blue.
• Nick Diego from Minneapolis, favorite color is green.
• Matt Maderas, 15 years with WordPress, favorite color is blue.
• Nathan from the UK, favorite color is peach.
• Aaron Jordan, a WordPress Core committer, favorite color is green.
• Mark Szmanski from Pittsburgh, favorite color is red.
• Paul from the UK, favorite color is black.
• Derek Hanson from Ames, Iowa, favorite color is blue.

Blue wins 🙂

WordPress Philosophy and Decision-Making:

• Aaron Jordan provided an in-depth overview of the WordPress philosophy page, which serves as a guiding document for core decision-making. He highlighted key principles, such as the focus on minimizing user options to reduce cognitive load, and the philosophy of WordPress taking on technical debt so that its users don’t have to.
• Participants discussed the potential need to update the philosophy to better reflect the expanded use cases of WordPress beyond its origins as a blogging platform. They acknowledged that while the philosophy has evolved over time, maintaining a balance between core functionality and extensibility through plugins remains a delicate and ongoing challenge.
• The group recognized that the philosophy is not set in stone and has been amended over the years, with the most recent addition being the “Deadlines are not arbitrary” principle in 2010. They discussed the importance of referencing the philosophy when making decisions, as it helps to align the core team and the broader WordPress community around the project’s guiding principles.

Feedback on WordPress Core and Extensibility:

• Kevin raised concerns about the lack of certain core features, such as custom post types and custom fields, which are heavily relied upon by many users and agencies. He highlighted the tension between WordPress’ origins as a blogging platform and its current use cases, which often extend far beyond that initial scope.
• The group discussed the rationale behind not including such features in core, as it could lead to plugin conflicts and bloat. However, there was agreement that better integration between core and popular plugins could be beneficial, providing a more seamless experience for users.
• The group discussed onboarding and how Core doesn’t provide an opinionated onboarding due to the sheer number of people and use cases to meet but that more can be done to have “micro” onboarding moments when using WordPress.
• Onboarding new users to WordPress was identified as an area needing improvement, with suggestions around better documentation, learning resources, and personalized onboarding experiences. Participants acknowledged the challenge of catering to a wide range of user needs, from DIY enthusiasts to enterprise-level clients.
• The importance of making it easy for users to switch between different plugins, themes, and page builders was emphasized, as this flexibility is crucial for the long-term sustainability and growth of the WordPress ecosystem.

Challenges with Gutenberg and Block Editor:

• Participants shared feedback about the perceived disconnect between the Gutenberg development process and core WordPress, as well as the challenges of decision fatigue when dealing with the vast number of plugins and themes available.
• There was a discussion around the need for better standardization and personalization in the WordPress admin interface to cater to the diverse needs of users, from bloggers to agencies and enterprise-level clients. Participants recognized the difficulty in balancing the needs of different user groups, from those who embrace the block editor to those who prefer traditional page builders and classic editing experiences.
• The group acknowledged that while the block editor has brought significant improvements and new capabilities to WordPress, the transition has not been seamless for all users, particularly those who have invested heavily in page builder workflows and ecosystems.

Future Directions and Collaboration:

• The announcement of Jamie Marsland joining Automattic to run the WordPress YouTube channel was met with enthusiasm, but also raised questions about ethical considerations around amplifying certain channels or individuals over others. How will this work? Will YouTubers be able to collaborate on the WordPress.org channel? How will that work without amplifying certain folks?
• Participants suggested exploring ways to enable more collaboration and contributions from the YouTube community, as well as the potential for hosting language-specific feedback and contribution channels to better serve the global WordPress user base.
• Anne McCarthy encouraged participants to get involved with initiatives like Learn WordPress, which aims to provide better onboarding and educational resources for users.
• Barna’s suggestion to explore language-specific feedback and contribution channels was well-received, as participants acknowledged the importance of making WordPress accessible and inclusive for users from diverse linguistic backgrounds. Learn WordPress is a great place to get started there.

Overall, the discussion highlighted the complex challenges faced by the WordPress project in balancing the needs of its growing and diverse user community, while maintaining the core principles and philosophy that have guided the platform’s development. The participants provided valuable feedback and asked great questions to touch on some of the harder problems facing the project today.

Quick Anne thoughts

Alongside these AI powered notes, I wanted to leave some quick personal thoughts. I didn’t get as much as I wanted in terms of specific feedback but that’ll be a continual topic and it was clear there was more momentum in asking questions about Core! That was a gut decision I had to make midway through the call and I don’t regret it. It’s sometimes best to go where momentum is rather than steer things too much especially in the early days of an effort.

Having Aaron join was an incredible addition and it only makes me want to have more Core Committers and Contributors join in the future. It’s so important for these conversations to happen and to not overly rely on WordCamps to have them, which is how I started running these hallway hangout style sessions to begin with during COVID times. This is where I can likely add value in bringing in relevant folks with expertise and history to give accurate context to YouTubers who can then do what they do best.

There’s a lot of tension around how to move the WordPress project forward while not leaving people behind who aren’t ready for block themes. We both must compete with proprietary systems and don’t want to stop providing value to those who aren’t using the latest and greatest. This is where we can focus on efforts like bringing the Font Library to Classic Themes.

Next up: I think we need a dedicated session on Jamie taking over WordPress.org YouTube, discussions around what’s planned for 6.7, and again more feedback.

What are your takeaways?