[wp-pro] A Modest Proposal: creating a more exciting WP mailing list

Paul Menard paul at codehooligans.com
Fri Feb 22 14:51:11 GMT 2008 

If you reread this page http://codex.wordpress.org/Mailing_Lists, you  
will see there are many many different types of mailing lists in  
operation. There is a lists just for Documentation just for people who  
are involved in documenting parts of the WordPress sytem. This is not  
a support list. You would not expect to see a question there about how  
to write a Widget.

Similarly the wp-pro lists is not a support list. As the paragraph read:

Professional
Sometimes there are professional consulting opportunities surrounding  
some aspect of the WordPress codebase for people who are familiar with  
the program. This list is for people looking for WordPress consulting  
to connect with professionals who provide it. This is the list for you  
if you are looking for professional paid help regarding WordPress


MY interpretation of the description of this list is it's not a  
support list. There are other sections on the Mailing_Lists page where  
you can subscribe to support lists. The wp-pro list (and again this is  
MY interpretation) is to connect those seeking and willing to pay for  
work. The wp-pro list is not somewhere where I would expect a long  
drawn out thread of how to do something in WordPress. There are  
support lists for this. The basic posts to this list are something  
like "I need a custom Widget/Theme/Plugin. Willing to pay $XXX.  
Contact me at ....". The developers like myself don't replay back to  
the list the reply is direct back to the potential client because we  
are now in a bidding process for the work. I'm a freelance developer  
and work mostly in WordPress these days. I rely on the wp-pro list to  
be a simple list where I can get new work.

Again, this list is not really meant to be a 'community' in that  
people exchange a lot of ideas and concerns. If you want 'alive' then  
subscribe to the wp-hackers list and read through the pages or rants  
(sometimes) about the smallest little change to the WordPress admin  
interface coming up in WP 2.5. Or the changes to the File Upload code  
to use Flash instead of the iframe.

P-







On Feb 21, 2008, at 1:51 PM, Miriam Schwab wrote:

> I personally would like to see this list become a little bit  
> more...alive.
> Right now it's quiet for a few days and then someone sends out a  
> request for
> work, and then silence.
>
> I'm on a few amazing mailing lists on a variety of topics, including  
> the
> Israeli WordPress Google group, and these lists are really active  
> and useful
> because people help each other out.
>
> Basically, the lists become a type of community where people post  
> requests
> for advice, and lots of people respond to the list with their answers.
>
> For example, this week someone on the Israeli WordPress list  
> desperately
> needed a way to enable his users to have comments turn up in his  
> search
> results. So I responded with a recommendation for the Search  
> Everything
> Plugin. Two minutes investment on my part, he got his answer, and  
> maybe
> others found that plugin useful too.
>
> For those of you who don't want to spend time helping others since  
> you don't
> get anything out of it, I have news for you: you do get something  
> out of it:
>
> 1. You help build up a vibrant community so that when you need  
> assistance or
> have a question, you have someplace to turn.
> 2. If you put your signature in every response, you can build up your
> reputation as an expert in the field.
>
> Just an idea.
>
> Miriam
> www.wordpressgarage.com
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wp-pro-bounces at lists.automattic.com
> [mailto:wp-pro-bounces at lists.automattic.com] On Behalf Of PJ Brunet
> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 9:26 PM
> To: wp-pro at lists.automattic.com
> Subject: [wp-pro] Re: wp-pro Digest, Vol 32, Issue 14
>
>
> I've been on the list much longer and you're right, it's like a tech  
> support
> list but with a little money involved.  You won't find complex/ 
> interesting
> work on this list, there's no sign of that changing yet.  It's  
> always "I'm
> stuck on an install" or "my plugins are broken" and you're right  
> about the
> ever-popular "should be simple to fix" comments.
>
> You never see, "I have this new idea, I want to hack Wordpress to do  
> xyz."
> or "I want to use Wordpress to browse my database of widgets." or "I  
> need a
> custom stats plugin to track the performance of xyz."  I have a  
> feeling that
> kind of work is out there, just not on this list.
>
> PJ
>
>
>>   I've  subscribed  to  this  list  for  a  month.  It's
>> funny.
>>   So  many  cheapskates  that  want  to  pay  fast  food  wages
>>
>>   for  tech  skills  they  obviously  lack  themselves.  Every
>> other  post
>>   says  "shouldn't  take  more  than  10  minutes"  or  "it's
>> basic,  but  I
>>   don't  have  the  time  myself"  or  some  such  malarkey.
> _______________________________________________
> wp-pro mailing list
> wp-pro at lists.automattic.com
> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-pro
>
> _______________________________________________
> wp-pro mailing list
> wp-pro at lists.automattic.com
> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-pro

Paul Menard
paul at codehooligans.com
http://codehooligans.com

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://comox.textdrive.com/pipermail/wp-pro/attachments/20080222/3931c445/attachment-0001.htm

More information about the wp-pro mailing list