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Contributor Day Table Leadership Guide

This guide helps table leads prepare for and manage a WordPress Playground contributor table at WordCamp events.

Before Contributor Day​

Pre-Work Checklist​

  • Curate "Good First Issues": Review and update the good first issues list on GitHub. These should be straightforward tasks that new contributors can complete independently. If you find a bug that is not on the list but could be part of it, contact the playground team at the Slack channel.
  • Coordinate with the Playground Team: Confirm if Playground team members are available online to provide remote support during the event, especially for flagship WordCamps. Due to timezone differences, align in advance at the #playground channel to check their availability.
  • Connect with Local Contributors: Identify regular contributors in the region attending the event. Check on the #playground Slack Channel if an active community member is participating in the contributor day. This is an opportunity to gather feedback and strengthen community connections.
  • Check the Playground Repository: If you never contribute with the WordPress Playground Repository, you should get familiar with this a good section at the documentation that can guide you to understand the project is Developers > Architecture it will contain information how the project is organized. If you have any questions, please get in touch with the team at the Playground Slack channel.

Starting the Day​

Setup and Onboarding​

  1. Create Your Agenda: Prepare a flexible checklist of key activities while allowing for organic collaboration. Share it in the project documentation if helpful.

  2. Guide Contributors to Slack: Direct everyone to the #playground channel on WordPress Slack. This centralizes communication and enables asynchronous collaboration with late arrivals.

  3. Post a Welcome Message: Share an initial message in the Slack channel announcing your presence (in-person or online) and welcoming contributions from everyone.

  4. Share Essential Links: Post these resources in the #playground channel:

  5. Introduce the GitHub Repository: Provide a brief walkthrough of the repository structure, highlighting different packages and their purposes for first-time contributors.

During the Day​

Managing Contributions​

Encourage Different Contribution Types:

Check the contributors' levels, try to understand based on their level how they can contribute to the project in the short window of a contributor day. Ask if the participants need help and redirect them to the related documentation page. Also, encourage them to ask questions at the #playground Slack channel. Here are some suggestions for ways of contributing:

  • Documentation improvements and translations.
  • Carefully crafted issues describing problems with actionable solutions.
  • Blueprint creation and plugin demos at the WordPress plugin repository.
  • Testing and product feedback.

Foster Collaboration: Look for cross-table opportunities. For example, contributors at the Polyglots/Translation table might translate Playground documentation, or the Core Test team could provide valuable Playground feedback.

Collect Feedback: Ask contributors about their experience and note improvement suggestions. Report this in the #playground Slack Channel if possible.

After the Event​

Follow-Up and Support​

  1. Review Pull Requests: List PRs created during the day and assess their completion likelihood. Most contributions have a short momentum window—engagement within the first two weeks is critical.

  2. Set Clear Expectations: For incomplete PRs, follow this approach:

    • After one month of inactivity, leave a comment asking if the author plans to complete the work.
    • If no response after two more weeks, inform them that the PR may be taken over by another contributor or closed.

  3. Stay Active on Slack: Continue supporting new contributors through the #playground channel, answering questions and helping them become regular contributors.

  4. Reflect and Improve: Review collected feedback and your experience to refine this guide for future events. Feel free to submit a Pull Request to this guide!

Getting Help​

For more information on contributing to WordPress Playground, see the Contributor Day guide.