[wp-docs] Joining Forces

Tue May 15 19:25:27 UTC 2012

Welcome, Valerie Lynn, glad to know you've been lurking.

If there is anything we can help you with or direct you down a particular
path, don't be afraid to ask. We're a friendly bunch here.

Please take time to look over http://wpdocsteam.wordpress.com/ and the list
of helpful information in the sidebar on how to edit the Codex. We've a
list of things to do there, too.

Welcome and thanks for chiming in.

Lorelle

On Tue, May 15, 2012 at 8:53 AM, Valerie Lynn <val.lynn at gmail.com> wrote:

> I just want to chime in with, "I'm following and listening to the
> discussion."
>
> I'm too new to editing to have an opinion but wanted to raise my hand and
> say, "I'm here."
>
> Valerie Lynn
> Email:   val.lynn at gmail.com
> GooglePlus:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/104997630384054362441/
>
>
>
> On Tue, May 15, 2012 at 11:28 AM, <wp-docs-request at lists.automattic.com>wrote:
>
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>> Today's Topics:
>>
>>   1. Joining Forces: Support (Jane Wells)
>>   2. Re: [wp-forums] Joining Forces: Support (esmi at quirm dot net)
>>   3. Re: Joining Forces: Support (Chip Bennett)
>>   4. Re: Joining Forces: Support (Andrea Rennick)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Tue, 15 May 2012 08:09:05 -0400
>> From: Jane Wells <jane at automattic.com>
>> Subject: [wp-docs] Joining Forces: Support
>> To: wp-docs at lists.automattic.com, wp-forums at lists.automattic.com
>> Message-ID: <4FB24761.30403 at automattic.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>
>> Hi everyone. The results of the recent surveys to identify active
>> contributors and elect team reps made it pretty clear that the docs team
>> is in a bit of a slump, organizationally speaking. Only 5 people from
>> the wp-docs post responded, and of those, 2 were new or not yet
>> contributing, and there was no consensus re reps among the remaining 3
>> respondents. It got me thinking about how we organize contributors, what
>> has worked well elsewhere in the WP ecosystem and in other free software
>> projects, and leads me to this proposal: what if we combined forums and
>> docs into one Support team?
>>
>> Looking back at the Codex activity from the past six months or year,
>> chunks of it have been tied to forum mods (like Ipstenu and Andrea_r),
>> other contributor groups (like Chip on the Theme Review Team), and new
>> releases. Not that how Automattic/WordPress.com organizes itself should
>> decide anything, but their support team manages forums, email support,
>> and docs, and it seems to work pretty well. They have a schedule for
>> reviewing existing documentation so it never gets too far out of date,
>> and the people on the front lines with users in the forums and via email
>> can see very clearly where they need to beef up documentation. I'm
>> thinking this could work well for .org, too. Those who are strong
>> writers and just want to contribute to documentation could still do so,
>> but within a context of what our user support needs are at any given
>> time based on the actual support requests.
>>
>> What I'm envisioning is less siloing of contributor personnel, with one
>> group blog at make.wordpress.org/support that uses tags like forums and
>> codex to organize posts, and has pages to help orient new contributors
>> and get them started. These mailing lists could fade away in favor of
>> email subscriptions from the blog, which are more easily searchable and
>> would be more visible to potential contributors. Within the uber-group,
>> some people would naturally gravitate toward specific tasks while others
>> would multi-task as they have been doing.
>>
>> Over time we could expand the purview of the group to include things
>> like moderating instructional videos and comments at wordpress.tv (and
>> start embedding appropriate videos into codex), possibly helping to
>> staff in-person help desks in local communities and/or at events like
>> WordCamps and Meetups, etc. I think the prospects are pretty exciting,
>> and I could see this becoming the biggest and most active of all the
>> contributor groups, which would be awesome.
>>
>> If there are any strong objections to this approach, please reply to
>> this thread today so we can discuss. If not, and everyone is willing to
>> give this a shot and all work together (at least as an experiment for,
>> say, the next release cycle or two), I'll go ahead and set up the group
>> blog tomorrow.
>>
>> Jane
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Tue, 15 May 2012 13:41:00 +0100
>> From: esmi at quirm dot net <esmi at quirm.net>
>> Subject: Re: [wp-docs] [wp-forums] Joining Forces: Support
>> To: wp-forums at lists.automattic.com
>> Cc: wp-docs at lists.automattic.com
>> Message-ID: <4FB24EDC.8040104 at quirm.net>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>
>> on 15/05/2012 13:09 Jane Wells said the following:
>> > what if we combined forums and
>> > docs into one Support team?
>>
>> I can see the definite logic to this and I do like the idea of a Codex
>> that is possibly more responsive to support (and, therefore, users')
>> needs. My concern would be that, whilst there would more contributions
>> and active editing, there might be less organisation. And a badly
>> organised Codex is of no use to anyone.
>>
>> I do think that documentation generally needs at least 1 (preferably
>> more than 1) person who can step back and take the objective overview -
>> free from any concerns about directly answering users' questions.
>>
>> Does that make any sense?
>>
>> tl;dr Great idea but I'd like to see someone (perhaps another sub-rep?)
>> take on the role of Codex organisation, looking after review schedules
>> etc.
>>
>> Mel
>> --
>> http://quirm.net
>> http://blackwidows.co.uk
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 3
>> Date: Tue, 15 May 2012 09:51:10 -0500
>> From: Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>
>> Subject: Re: [wp-docs] Joining Forces: Support
>> To: WordPress Documentation <wp-docs at lists.automattic.com>
>> Message-ID:
>>        <
>> CAPdLKqe4F6fZCt2wpD9MNr_V003n18aQT3kTcgyYaQGEQ68iAw at mail.gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>> Personally, I love the idea. Speaking as a contributor group member who
>> tries to keep in the loop regarding support and/or Codex issues that
>> impact
>> our group (or issues where our contributor group can be helpful), such
>> consolidation is welcome.
>>
>> Chip
>>
>> On Tue, May 15, 2012 at 7:09 AM, Jane Wells <jane at automattic.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Hi everyone. The results of the recent surveys to identify active
>> > contributors and elect team reps made it pretty clear that the docs
>> team is
>> > in a bit of a slump, organizationally speaking. Only 5 people from the
>> > wp-docs post responded, and of those, 2 were new or not yet
>> contributing,
>> > and there was no consensus re reps among the remaining 3 respondents. It
>> > got me thinking about how we organize contributors, what has worked well
>> > elsewhere in the WP ecosystem and in other free software projects, and
>> > leads me to this proposal: what if we combined forums and docs into one
>> > Support team?
>> >
>> > Looking back at the Codex activity from the past six months or year,
>> > chunks of it have been tied to forum mods (like Ipstenu and Andrea_r),
>> > other contributor groups (like Chip on the Theme Review Team), and new
>> > releases. Not that how Automattic/WordPress.com organizes itself should
>> > decide anything, but their support team manages forums, email support,
>> and
>> > docs, and it seems to work pretty well. They have a schedule for
>> reviewing
>> > existing documentation so it never gets too far out of date, and the
>> people
>> > on the front lines with users in the forums and via email can see very
>> > clearly where they need to beef up documentation. I'm thinking this
>> could
>> > work well for .org, too. Those who are strong writers and just want to
>> > contribute to documentation could still do so, but within a context of
>> what
>> > our user support needs are at any given time based on the actual support
>> > requests.
>> >
>> > What I'm envisioning is less siloing of contributor personnel, with one
>> > group blog at make.wordpress.org/support that uses tags like forums and
>> > codex to organize posts, and has pages to help orient new contributors
>> and
>> > get them started. These mailing lists could fade away in favor of email
>> > subscriptions from the blog, which are more easily searchable and would
>> be
>> > more visible to potential contributors. Within the uber-group, some
>> people
>> > would naturally gravitate toward specific tasks while others would
>> > multi-task as they have been doing.
>> >
>> > Over time we could expand the purview of the group to include things
>> like
>> > moderating instructional videos and comments at wordpress.tv (and start
>> > embedding appropriate videos into codex), possibly helping to staff
>> > in-person help desks in local communities and/or at events like
>> WordCamps
>> > and Meetups, etc. I think the prospects are pretty exciting, and I could
>> > see this becoming the biggest and most active of all the contributor
>> > groups, which would be awesome.
>> >
>> > If there are any strong objections to this approach, please reply to
>> this
>> > thread today so we can discuss. If not, and everyone is willing to give
>> > this a shot and all work together (at least as an experiment for, say,
>> the
>> > next release cycle or two), I'll go ahead and set up the group blog
>> > tomorrow.
>> >
>> > Jane
>> > ______________________________**_________________
>> > wp-docs mailing list
>> > wp-docs at lists.automattic.com
>> > http://lists.automattic.com/**mailman/listinfo/wp-docs<
>> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-docs>
>> >
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>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 4
>> Date: Tue, 15 May 2012 12:28:54 -0300
>> From: Andrea Rennick <andrea at ronandandrea.com>
>> Subject: Re: [wp-docs] Joining Forces: Support
>> To: WordPress Documentation <wp-docs at lists.automattic.com>
>> Message-ID:
>>        <CAJzjkbcDQSKBwqomLSyERU7Wu14FSG=
>> DG++PNLhTqRBfwbs1Hg at mail.gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>> It makes totally sense, because Support & Docs are two sides of the same
>> coin. :) If users can't understanding docs or can't find them, they post
>> in
>> the forums. ;P
>>
>> Better docs mean less support issues, because people don't scale. And the
>> people answering questions are the first ones who see the need for new
>> docs. Because they answer the same questions over and over (and over)
>> again.
>>
>> Getting people to read docs is a separate issue, but having support and
>> docs work hand in hand in tandem is a big first step.
>>
>> I think half the people overlap anyway, yes?
>>
>> a.
>>
>> On Tue, May 15, 2012 at 11:51 AM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > Personally, I love the idea. Speaking as a contributor group member who
>> > tries to keep in the loop regarding support and/or Codex issues that
>> impact
>> > our group (or issues where our contributor group can be helpful), such
>> > consolidation is welcome.
>> >
>> > Chip
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, May 15, 2012 at 7:09 AM, Jane Wells <jane at automattic.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi everyone. The results of the recent surveys to identify active
>> >> contributors and elect team reps made it pretty clear that the docs
>> team is
>> >> in a bit of a slump, organizationally speaking. Only 5 people from the
>> >> wp-docs post responded, and of those, 2 were new or not yet
>> contributing,
>> >> and there was no consensus re reps among the remaining 3 respondents.
>> It
>> >> got me thinking about how we organize contributors, what has worked
>> well
>> >> elsewhere in the WP ecosystem and in other free software projects, and
>> >> leads me to this proposal: what if we combined forums and docs into one
>> >> Support team?
>> >>
>> >> Looking back at the Codex activity from the past six months or year,
>> >> chunks of it have been tied to forum mods (like Ipstenu and Andrea_r),
>> >> other contributor groups (like Chip on the Theme Review Team), and new
>> >> releases. Not that how Automattic/WordPress.com organizes itself should
>> >> decide anything, but their support team manages forums, email support,
>> and
>> >> docs, and it seems to work pretty well. They have a schedule for
>> reviewing
>> >> existing documentation so it never gets too far out of date, and the
>> people
>> >> on the front lines with users in the forums and via email can see very
>> >> clearly where they need to beef up documentation. I'm thinking this
>> could
>> >> work well for .org, too. Those who are strong writers and just want to
>> >> contribute to documentation could still do so, but within a context of
>> what
>> >> our user support needs are at any given time based on the actual
>> support
>> >> requests.
>> >>
>> >> What I'm envisioning is less siloing of contributor personnel, with one
>> >> group blog at make.wordpress.org/support that uses tags like forums
>> and
>> >> codex to organize posts, and has pages to help orient new contributors
>> and
>> >> get them started. These mailing lists could fade away in favor of email
>> >> subscriptions from the blog, which are more easily searchable and
>> would be
>> >> more visible to potential contributors. Within the uber-group, some
>> people
>> >> would naturally gravitate toward specific tasks while others would
>> >> multi-task as they have been doing.
>> >>
>> >> Over time we could expand the purview of the group to include things
>> like
>> >> moderating instructional videos and comments at wordpress.tv (and
>> start
>> >> embedding appropriate videos into codex), possibly helping to staff
>> >> in-person help desks in local communities and/or at events like
>> WordCamps
>> >> and Meetups, etc. I think the prospects are pretty exciting, and I
>> could
>> >> see this becoming the biggest and most active of all the contributor
>> >> groups, which would be awesome.
>> >>
>> >> If there are any strong objections to this approach, please reply to
>> this
>> >> thread today so we can discuss. If not, and everyone is willing to give
>> >> this a shot and all work together (at least as an experiment for, say,
>> the
>> >> next release cycle or two), I'll go ahead and set up the group blog
>> >> tomorrow.
>> >>
>> >> Jane
>> >> ______________________________**_________________
>> >> wp-docs mailing list
>> >> wp-docs at lists.automattic.com
>> >> http://lists.automattic.com/**mailman/listinfo/wp-docs<
>> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-docs>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > wp-docs mailing list
>> > wp-docs at lists.automattic.com
>> > http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-docs
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> Andrea Rennick, http://wpebooks.com and http://ronandandrea.com
>> Co-author of WordPress All-In-One For Dummies http://rml.me/aio
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>>
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