#WCEU2026 - Contributor Day - New Skills Unlocked

#WCEU2026 - Contributor Day - New Skills Unlocked ![rw-book-cover](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BnTnunog-7I/maxresdefault.jpg) 🔗 **Source:** [#WCEU2026 - Contributor Day - New Skills Unlocked](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnTnunog-7I) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: #wordcamp #contributor-day #documentation #open-source #wordpress > author: WordCamp Europe Insights > source: YouTube > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnTnunog-7I > date created: 2025-01-13 10:00 > > # 🏷️ Title: #WCEU2026 - Contributor Day - new skills unlocked >  ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Register separately for Contributor Day - tickets required #wordcamp - [H2] Set specific goals: one skill to learn, one person to meet - improves focus #contribution - [H3] Walk between tables during Contributor Day - don't stay at one table all day #networking ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [[#📝 Summary]] - [[#📖 Main Content]] - [[#🗒️ Notes]] - [[#📚 References]] - [[#🗣️ Paraphrase]] - [[#📰 Newsletter]] - [[#✅ Action Items]] - [[#🧪 Hypotheses]] - [[#📊 Methodology]] - [[#❓ Questions]] - [[#🔮 Future Research]] - [[#💡 Implications]] - [[#🧠 Learning Styles Assessment]] - [[#📊 Accessibility Assessment]] - [[#🌍 DEIB Assessment]] - [[#✅ Logical Validity]] - [[#🛡️ DARVO Analysis]] - [[#🎯 Conclusion]] ### 🔗 References - [WordCamp Europe 2026](https://europe.wordcamp.org/) - [WordPress.org Contributor Handbook](https://make.wordpress.org/) ## 📝 Summary - WordCamp Europe 2026 Contributor Day offers opportunities for 800+ people to contribute to WordPress across 27 teams - Documentation team representative Mila explains how Contributor Day works and encourages newcomers to participate - Key insight: WordPress project is mostly non-code work - design, community, marketing, translations, support - Bottom line: Contributor Day is primarily about learning what's possible and meeting people, not completing major work ## 📖 Main Content Contributor Day at WordCamp Europe brings together representatives from WordPress's 27 teams under one roof, creating unique networking and learning opportunities. While focus and deep work are limited with 800 attendees, the event excels at introducing newcomers to contribution possibilities beyond coding. The WordPress project consists primarily of non-development work including documentation, translations, community management, plugin/theme reviews, and marketing. Teams like the Plugins team review submissions rather than building plugins, while the Design team works on WordPress interface improvements rather than traditional design work. Documentation team prepares small 10-30 minute tasks for Contributor Day, focusing on helping newcomers understand processes rather than completing major projects. Table leads emphasize listening skills and helping contributors identify unclear documentation that needs improvement. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=0) — [H1] Introduction to the podcast and guest - Key idea: WordCamp Europe Insights podcast featuring documentation team representative Mila - Evidence: "My name is Kashayanoska. I am World Camp Europe organizer and my guest today is Mila" #### ⏱️ [02:30](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=150) — [H2] Mila's background and contribution history - Key idea: Long-term contributor since 2011 with experience across multiple WordPress teams - Evidence: "I contribute mostly with documentation you know constant since 12th May 2011" #### ⏱️ [04:45](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=285) — [H2] Motivation for contributing to WordPress - Key idea: Contributing helps you become a better developer through understanding and documenting new features - Evidence: "If you want to be better developer for WordPress and to build on WordPress, then it's best if you can be in touch with what's happening" #### ⏱️ [06:15](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=375) — [H1] Open source philosophy comparison - Key idea: WordPress embodies communist theoretical ideal of giving what you can, taking what you need - Evidence: "You give as much as you can and take as much as you need and that is to me the idea of the open source" #### ⏱️ [07:30](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=450) — [H1] What Contributor Day offers - Key idea: 800+ contributors representing 27 WordPress teams creates unprecedented networking opportunity - Evidence: "When you get representative for each of those teams under one roof imagine the IQ the creativity the mass of brains inside of one room" #### ⏱️ [09:45](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=585) — [H2] Contributor Day limitations and realistic expectations - Key idea: Focus is limited with large crowds; don't expect to complete major work - Evidence: "You really don't have enough time to do any specific work and especially when there are 800 people in the room you don't have focus" #### ⏱️ [11:00](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=660) — [H1] WordPress is mostly non-code work - Key idea: Only Core team actually writes WordPress code; other 26 teams do non-development work - Evidence: "There is only one team that is actually doing the code and that's core team... all the other teams have more or less to do with code" #### ⏱️ [13:15](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=795) — [H2] Team names can be misleading - Key idea: Plugin and Theme teams review submissions rather than building; Design team works on WordPress interface - Evidence: "Plugins team is building plugins but they're not. They're reviewing plugins that are built by other people" #### ⏱️ [15:30](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=930) — [H2] Documentation team Contributor Day activities - Key idea: Focus on small 10-30 minute tasks that newcomers can complete successfully - Evidence: "We prepare small issues that you can do in you know 10 to 30 minutes and just feel that you have contributed" #### ⏱️ [17:45](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=1065) — [H1] Table lead qualities - listening is key - Key idea: Good table leads listen to contributors and acknowledge when documentation needs improvement - Evidence: "I would say mostly listening... if they go through documentation and say this is not logical at all. You don't say this is how we do it" #### ⏱️ [20:00](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=1200) — [H2] Large vs small Contributor Days - Key idea: Big events are more exhausting but potentially reach more new contributors - Evidence: "After contributor day at work Europe... I'm exhausted. I haven't done any work and I'm completely exhausted" #### ⏱️ [22:15](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=1335) — [H1] Advice for first-time attendees - Key idea: Set specific goals - one skill to learn, one person to meet - and bring chocolate to share - Evidence: "Find one thing to do or one person to meet and I would suggest bring a piece of chocolate with you" #### ⏱️ [24:30](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=1470) — [H2] Moving between tables is encouraged - Key idea: Don't spend entire day at one table; take advantage of having all teams present - Evidence: "I wouldn't expect anyone to spend the whole day at one table... take advantage of having all those brains in one room" #### ⏱️ [26:45](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=1605) — [H1] Career change catalyst - Key idea: WordPress community involvement can trigger major career changes - Evidence: "I was professional classical musician and I was working in opera house and now I'm developer" ## 📚 References - [WordPress Teams Handbook](https://make.wordpress.org/) - [Documentation Team](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/) - [WordCamp Europe](https://europe.wordcamp.org/) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - Contributor Day brings together 800+ people representing WordPress's 27 teams for networking and learning rather than deep project work - Most WordPress contribution opportunities don't require coding skills - teams handle documentation, translations, community management, and reviews - First-time attendees should set specific goals like learning one skill or meeting one person, and should feel free to move between different team tables ## 📰 Newsletter WordCamp Europe's Contributor Day offers an incredible opportunity for WordPress community members to explore contribution beyond development. With 27 teams represented and 800+ attendees, it's less about completing major projects and more about discovering your place in the ecosystem. Key insight: WordPress is primarily a non-code project. While Core handles development, teams managing documentation, translations, plugin reviews, community support, and marketing form the backbone of the platform we all rely on. For newcomers, the advice is simple: set a goal to learn one skill and meet one person. Don't feel obligated to stay at one table all day - this is your chance to explore the full breadth of WordPress contribution opportunities. Resources: [WordPress Make Teams](https://make.wordpress.org/), [Contributor Handbook](https://make.wordpress.org/handbook/), [WordCamp Europe](https://europe.wordcamp.org/) ## ✅ Action Items #### WordPress - Core: Prepare beginner-friendly issues for Contributor Day participation - Community: Create clearer team descriptions to help newcomers understand contribution paths - Documentation: Develop standardized onboarding materials for Contributor Day table leads - Support: Document processes for getting company sponsorship for community contribution time - Meta: Improve team discovery experience on make.wordpress.org to clarify actual responsibilities #### Community - Maintainers: Prepare 10-30 minute tasks suitable for Contributor Day timeframes - Contributors: Set specific learning goals before attending large-scale contributor events - Sponsors: Develop frameworks for supporting employee contribution time to WordPress ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Contributors who set specific goals at Contributor Day are more likely to continue contributing long-term - Large contributor events (800+ people) are more effective for discovery than deep work - Most newcomers underestimate non-coding contribution opportunities in WordPress - Company-sponsored contribution time increases after employees demonstrate community value first ### 📊 Methodology - Survey Contributor Day attendees about goal-setting and subsequent contribution patterns - Compare contribution retention rates between large and small contributor events - Analyze team onboarding success rates by contribution type (code vs non-code) ### ❓ Questions - How can WordCamp organizers better prepare first-time contributors for the networking focus vs work expectations? - What specific onboarding materials would help table leads serve 800+ attendees more effectively? - How might WordPress teams restructure Contributor Day activities to balance discovery with meaningful contribution? ### 🔮 Future Research - Analysis of contributor retention patterns from large-scale events like WordCamp Europe - Study of career change patterns within WordPress community involvement - Investigation of optimal team table layouts and workflows for high-volume contributor events ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Contributor Day organizers should emphasize networking and discovery over project completion - Policy: WordPress teams need clearer public documentation about their actual responsibilities vs perceived roles - Education: WordCamp attendees benefit from pre-event goal setting and realistic expectation management - Community: Large contributor events serve different purposes than regular team contribution workflows ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 8th Grade (conversational podcast format) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Video format allows seeing speakers and their expressions - Improve: Add diagrams showing WordPress team structure and relationships #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Podcast format perfect for audio-focused learning - Improve: Chapter markers for easy navigation to specific topics #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Conversational format with clear explanations and analogies - Improve: Glossary of WordPress-specific terms mentioned #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Actionable advice about moving between tables, setting goals - Improve: Step-by-step checklist for first-time Contributor Day attendees #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Clear structure explaining team roles and contribution processes - Improve: Flowchart showing decision tree for choosing contribution areas #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Emphasis on networking, meeting people, community connections - Improve: Buddy system recommendations for first-time attendees #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Self-directed exploration advice, personal goal-setting - Improve: Pre-event self-assessment tools for identifying contribution interests #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Open source ecosystem analogies, community growth patterns - Improve: More explicit connections between contribution and ecosystem health ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Clear headings and structure in transcript - Improve: Add speaker identification markers throughout transcript #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Standard YouTube player controls - Improve: Transcript navigation by timestamp #### Contrast and readability - Present: Good video contrast for visual elements - Improve: Ensure captions meet contrast requirements #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: YouTube player supports standard accessibility features - Improve: Provide downloadable transcript in accessible formats #### Media and captions - Present: Full transcript available - Improve: Add speaker identification and audio descriptions #### Forms and interactions - Present: Standard YouTube interaction elements - Improve: Ensure comment forms are properly labeled ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: Serbian contributor perspective, multi-regional WordCamp context - Improve: Include perspectives from more diverse geographic regions #### Inclusive language - Present: Welcoming tone, acknowledges different skill levels - Improve: Define technical terms for non-native speakers #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Clear structure, specific actionable advice - Improve: More explicit content warnings about crowd/noise levels at events #### Representation - Present: Features experienced female contributor as expert voice - Improve: Acknowledge varying comfort levels with large social events #### Psychological safety - Present: Emphasizes that confusion means documentation needs improvement, not contributor failure - Improve: More explicit messaging about belonging regardless of technical skill level ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: Strong logical flow from community needs to individual benefits - Inductive strength: Uses personal experience to support broader claims about contribution - Causal reasoning: Clear connections between contribution activities and skill development - Analogical strength: Effective comparison of open source to communist theoretical ideals #### Fallacies - Survivorship bias: Success story may not represent typical contributor experience, addressed by acknowledging different outcomes - Appeal to tradition: Some emphasis on "how we do things" balanced by encouragement for improvement suggestions #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Welcoming, enthusiastic, and encouraging with authentic personal sharing ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No concerning denial patterns present - Attack: No attacks on critics or newcomers - Reverse victim/offender: No victim/offender reversals identified - Emotional cues and rhetoric: Positive, inclusive messaging throughout ## 🎯 Conclusion Contributor Day at WordCamp Europe serves primarily as a discovery and networking event rather than a deep work session. With most WordPress contribution being non-technical, newcomers should approach with specific learning goals and openness to exploring multiple teams. The real value lies in understanding the breadth of contribution opportunities and making human connections within the WordPress community ecosystem. ## 🧱 Refactor Appendix ### 📚 Literature Split Pad Purpose: Stage CEE units that become Literature notes. Split level: H3 ### [H1] Contributor Day optimizes for discovery over deep work completion > [!quote] #WCEU2026 - Contributor Day - new skills unlocked by WordCamp Europe Insights via YouTube. Published 2025. Accessed 2025-01-13. > "You really don't have enough time to do any specific work and especially when there are 800 people in the room you don't have focus to work on something deep." Large contributor events serve different purposes than regular contribution workflows - focus on learning possibilities and meeting people. [view highlight](https://youtu.be/BnTnunog-7I?t=585#H1) #xref #articleseed ID:rw_contributor --- ## Full Transcript [00:00] Hello and welcome to Word Camp Europe [00:02] Insights podcast. Remember that we are [00:05] not only on YouTube and Spotify, but [00:08] also on every other podcast platform [00:11] that you probably can imagine. So [00:13] remember to subscribe and let's begin. [00:16] My name is Kashayanoska. I am World Camp [00:18] Europe organizer and my guest today is [00:22] >> Mila. I'm also a world camp organizer, [00:25] but I'm also a documentation team [00:28] representative and also will be a [00:31] documentation team table lead at world [00:34] computer contributor day and that is the [00:36] reason why I'm here. I'm also some other [00:38] things but that's for another podcast. [00:42] It's so nice to have you here. And as [00:45] you probably already know, this series [00:48] of podcast is called Word Camp Dragons. [00:51] And this is because this year's Word [00:53] Camp Europe is happening in KCO. Oh, you [00:56] have a dragon. So nice. [00:57] >> I have I have a dragon and a baby. [00:59] >> Huh? [01:00] >> Yeah. [01:02] >> That's a pretty great tattoo. I love it. [01:05] So, you won't be scared of the fact that [01:08] this year's questions might be a little [01:10] bit straightforward, a little bit [01:13] surprising because they are inspired by [01:16] word camp mascot and KCO's mascot. This [01:19] year, it's a dragon from Krakco. It's a [01:22] Slavic beast that has nothing to do with [01:25] good upbringing. So, be ready for [01:28] straightforward questions. [01:30] >> I'm also Slavic beast, so it's going to [01:34] be fine. Yeah. So, let's start with [01:36] that. From which country are you [01:38] originally? And do you still live there? [01:41] >> Yes. I live in the same city. I was born [01:44] in Novisad, Serbia. But I was born in [01:48] four countries ago. So, this is the the [01:52] fourth um official country that I live [01:56] in uh and still living in the same city. [01:59] So you are traveling so much around the [02:02] world without moving from the same. [02:05] >> Exactly. [02:06] >> And as we already know from the episode [02:09] with Pier Mario about speakers team you [02:12] are in the speakers team this year but [02:14] not only that according to that episode [02:17] you are walking living breathing legend [02:20] in word community. [02:23] >> Yeah I I saw that episode and I was like [02:25] oh my god they're talking about me. So [02:28] in your WordPress or profile you have [02:31] probably almost all badges possible. So [02:35] I imagine you contribute to WordPress a [02:38] lot during your day. So tell me how do [02:41] you contribute? Why do you do that? [02:45] Oh well uh I contribute um mostly with [02:50] uh documentation [02:53] uh you know constant since 12th May 2011 [02:59] and uh lately I'm doing more of the [03:05] administration around the team so I'm [03:08] trying to enable people to do that so I [03:11] can go back to writing documentation [03:14] and I do some plug-in reviews and I [03:18] prepare talks and I go around word camps [03:21] and and give talks [03:24] >> badges just appear in your profile. [03:26] That's [03:27] >> beautiful. [03:28] >> Yeah. Well, uh that's the badges there [03:31] are also. Yeah. I'm organizing a meetup [03:34] in my city and I'm also someone that is [03:37] very familiar to all people who are not [03:40] English native speakers. you know you [03:42] you start with translations. So I'm for [03:45] Serbian language I'm translator and [03:48] general editor I think it's called that [03:50] way. So those bad badges are there as [03:54] well. Also volunteering at word camps, [03:57] speaking, organizing word camps. Then I [04:00] believe there's a community [04:04] uh and also for support. Now for support [04:07] I think that I got badges because I was [04:11] recording videos how to how to [04:14] contribute to documentation team and [04:17] those videos are now at WordPress TV and [04:19] I think that's why I got those I I'm not [04:22] sure why but you know some some are [04:25] there I'm not sure why and also I was [04:28] doing documentation for uh WordPress [04:31] releases so that's why I have the core [04:35] badges is [04:37] >> nice. [04:38] >> And why do you do that? What is there in [04:41] it for you to contribute so much? [04:45] >> Well, there are I believe two major [04:49] factors. First of all, I wanted to be [04:53] better developer. You know, if you want [04:56] to be a better developer for WordPress [05:00] and to build on WordPress, then it's [05:03] best if you can uh be in touch with [05:06] what's happening in WordPress and uh [05:09] what are new features and all of that. [05:11] But even better in my opinion is if you [05:15] try to document it. When you can [05:18] document new code that means you [05:21] understand it and that's why I'm doing [05:23] it. uh that is the major reason that uh [05:26] was my reason in 2011 and it's still my [05:30] reason [05:31] and that is the reason why I haven't [05:34] been uh you know burned out and haven't [05:38] stopped contributing because there is [05:40] always something personal for me in [05:43] there. I'm not going to go political [05:44] here but I'm born in communism. I don't [05:47] recommend communism anywhere but there [05:50] is this theoretical idea of communism [05:53] that you give as much as you can and [05:57] take as much as you need and that is to [06:00] me the idea of the open source and you [06:04] know going there giving what you can and [06:06] taking what you need and if everybody do [06:11] that you know just a little thing then [06:13] we can grow something really nice [06:16] >> and In this ecosystem of open source, it [06:19] actually makes sense and no one is [06:22] harmed by this system. [06:25] >> Yeah. Yeah. [06:25] >> So you do that because you want to be a [06:29] better developer and it just stuck with [06:32] you I guess. [06:33] >> Yeah. [06:34] >> But if someone wants to start before the [06:37] official part of Word Comp Europe, we [06:39] also have contributor day. Could you [06:42] tell us what contributor day is? Well, [06:45] uh, computer day is a different thing [06:47] for different people and also different [06:50] thing for different word camps. With the [06:53] big word camps like World Camp Europe, [06:55] which is I dare to say the biggest word [06:58] camp in the universe, there is a very [07:01] big contributor day and you get all [07:03] people. You get all teams in there most [07:07] of the time. There are like one or two [07:10] teams that don't have representative [07:12] there but usually you have all the teams [07:15] and WordPress has a lot of teams like 27 [07:19] teams. So when you get representative [07:22] for each of those teams under one roof [07:27] imagine the IQ the creativity the the [07:32] mass of brains inside of one room. To me [07:36] that's the most beautiful thing in [07:38] contributor day. So contributing from [07:41] home is something you can do every day [07:43] and you know do work with all those [07:46] people but it's online but now when you [07:49] can see them all in one room you can [07:52] have a coffee with them you can share [07:54] chocolate with them or cookie you know [07:56] you can talk to them like personto [07:58] person and get to know them better. [08:01] That's completely different story. [08:04] >> Yeah. And last year I remember there was [08:06] like 800 spots for contributor day. So [08:10] 800 people contributing at the same [08:13] time. And it was so beautiful to [08:15] actually see that. [08:17] >> Yes. [08:18] >> And [08:20] there's 800 people. I am not sure how [08:23] many there will be this year. But are [08:26] they all developers? Is that day only [08:29] for developers? [08:31] >> No. Uh here is the the thing that I [08:35] uh maybe don't like about contributor [08:38] day is [08:40] that you really don't have enough time [08:43] to do any specific work and especially [08:46] when there are 800 800 people in the [08:48] room you don't have focus to to work on [08:52] something deep. That's the first thing [08:54] that you will not actually do a lot of [08:57] things at contributor day. But what you [09:00] can do is you can actually get to know [09:03] what teams are there and as I said there [09:06] is only one team that is actually doing [09:09] the code and that's core team [09:12] >> meta team is building they are also [09:15] doing code but they are building the [09:16] WordPress or and you know ecosystem for [09:19] the whole community but all the other [09:22] teams have more or less to do with code [09:25] and there are teams that don't do [09:27] anything with code like community team [09:30] or marketing team or design team even [09:33] though I have to question that because [09:35] now we can design [09:37] inside of WordPress and then we can [09:39] export that and see the code but also [09:43] you know so many are there and you can [09:46] actually walk around ask each table what [09:50] are you doing what is the main focus do [09:52] you need someone like me like I know [09:55] this and I want to do that and the thing [09:58] is important Important to remember that [10:00] the whole WordPress project is in very [10:04] small percentage [10:06] just code. So it's not just for [10:09] developers. There are so many things you [10:12] can do without knowing anything about [10:15] code. [10:17] >> Yeah. And I also heard from one of the [10:19] community members, [10:21] I don't know if that's true, that the [10:24] original idea of contributor day was a [10:27] special day to introduce people who are [10:30] not specialists into contributing. It [10:33] wasn't about being super developer or [10:36] super specialist. It was like what can I [10:38] do? [10:39] >> Teach me. [10:40] >> Exactly. Exactly. And basically that's [10:43] what you will learn at contributor day. [10:46] Now the problem is that I mean the [10:49] problem WordPress is huge project and [10:52] there are a lot of teams and sometimes [10:54] when you see the name of the team you [10:57] think you know what they do but they [10:59] don't do that like design team or teams [11:02] team or plugins team. You might think [11:06] that plugins team is uh building plugins [11:08] but they're not. They're reviewing [11:11] plugins that are built by other people. [11:13] And at contributor day, if you are [11:15] plug-in outer, you can go there and ask [11:19] questions like how can my plug-in be [11:21] there and how can I made the make a [11:24] better plug-in and all the other things [11:25] that you can uh imagine to to ask them. [11:29] You can ask reviewers there. Also, the [11:32] themes team, they're not building [11:35] themes. There is one theme that comes [11:37] with every new WordPress release and [11:40] that theme is built by community. But [11:42] the rest of the team is reviewing other [11:46] people's themes. Design team is also [11:48] doing something completely different. [11:50] Not the the thing that you think. So you [11:53] should, you know, take a look at what [11:55] themes are there, but also try to read a [11:59] little bit more about what they do and [12:02] then you can decide what you want to do [12:05] and what skills you want to improve. [12:08] Because to me that's the major question [12:12] for everyone who's coming to contributor [12:15] day. What are the skills that I want to [12:18] improve? Maybe those are the skills I [12:21] already use at my work or maybe I just [12:24] want to try to see if I can do something [12:27] else because for example you and me we [12:30] have experience of organizing conference [12:34] that's completely different thing that [12:36] you don't do for money. I don't do for [12:39] money but I know how it looks like to [12:42] organize conference for 3,000 people and [12:44] conference for 200 people and I know [12:47] what are moving parts of that and that [12:50] is not experience I could have in any [12:53] other situation besides WordPress. Yeah. [12:58] >> And besides it's very much different to [13:00] organize a conference without one [13:03] company paying for everything. you still [13:06] have to take the effort to encourage [13:09] people to be your sponsor and so on. It [13:11] is yet another level of this being [13:14] harder than normal company conference. [13:17] >> Yeah. [13:18] >> So there are different tables and you [13:21] already mentioned that you are [13:22] documentation table lead. Can you tell [13:25] me what documentation team does during [13:27] contributor day? [13:29] >> Well, we eat cookies [13:31] >> mostly. [13:33] >> Mostly. Well, uh, usually documentation [13:37] team has, um, a specific set of issues [13:43] that we want to work on. Those are [13:45] usually uh, easy quick issues. said [13:49] already that you don't really have the [13:52] quiet and you don't have the time and [13:54] you just meet new people or you are [13:57] seeing old friends after a year and you [14:00] are not really focused on doing deep [14:03] work for a longer time. So we prepare [14:06] small issues that you can do in you know [14:10] 10 to 30 minutes and just feel that the [14:15] uh that that you have contributed that [14:18] you have completed something and also to [14:20] understand how the process works and we [14:24] usually have that for specific [14:26] contributor day we have instructions how [14:28] to prepare and everything in GitHub and [14:31] there there is a list of all the GitHub [14:34] issues that you can work on. So you read [14:36] them and if something is not clear and [14:39] usually there is something that's not [14:40] clear because we don't know how much [14:44] details someone need especially if [14:47] they're first time there. So I usually [14:50] tell people if you feel that you don't [14:53] understand something, you're not stupid. [14:55] It's us. We didn't explain it well. So [14:58] just yell and we will help you out. [15:01] basically contributor day and what we do [15:04] uh in documentation team. We just want [15:07] to um show you that documentation is not [15:12] that difficult that there are many [15:14] different things like for documentation [15:17] you can also just record videos of using [15:20] WordPress or you can just make [15:22] screenshots which is not writing [15:24] documentation at all but you are you [15:27] know helping documentation team and we [15:29] have some people who are contributing [15:32] only at contributor days and only at [15:35] Fort Campura. And you know they they are [15:37] very experienced because they they are [15:40] there every time but they contribute [15:43] only there and they actually help us [15:45] like if there's someone new they're like [15:47] oh you should read this and do that and [15:50] so you know everybody is helping and I'm [15:52] the one who brings cookies. [15:55] >> You said that it is that the [15:57] responsibility of explaining what the [15:59] table does is on you and if someone did [16:02] not understand correctly well it is on [16:04] you. So [16:07] >> what do you think are the qualities of a [16:10] person to become a table lead? Does this [16:12] person has to be a super specialist in [16:14] the field or like has to have like a [16:17] teaching attitude or something? What are [16:20] the qualities you would like point out [16:22] in those people? [16:23] >> Well, I would say mostly listening. [16:26] listen what people tell you because [16:29] usually [16:30] lead is someone who is u a little bit [16:34] familiar with documentation team. You [16:37] really have to you know at least be at [16:39] some meetings and at least see how [16:42] things work to be able to explain. You [16:44] don't really have to be documentation [16:46] specialist because you are there to tell [16:49] people where are things and how to do [16:52] something and that's usually already [16:54] written. You just have to show them and [16:58] you are there to collect their usernames [17:01] so they get the badge that they have [17:03] contributed and you don't need to go [17:06] further from there but you should listen [17:09] what they tell you and that is I think [17:12] the the [17:14] best quality someone who is representing [17:17] the team can have listen if something is [17:20] not understandable if they go through [17:23] documentation and say this is not logic [17:25] ical at all. You don't say this is how [17:28] we do it in WordPress. You say, "Okay, [17:31] show me why. What what would you do? [17:33] What would you change?" And then maybe [17:36] and I in my experience, you always learn [17:39] something new and you always improve [17:41] something at least one one bit. So [17:43] that's why I want to encourage people [17:46] especially those who even don't know [17:49] what WordPress is. If you can follow our [17:52] documentation that means documentation [17:54] is good and we are done but [17:56] documentation is never done you know so [17:59] there's always uh a place to improve and [18:03] we cannot see that we who are using [18:06] WordPress every day who understands [18:09] things and we don't you know need [18:11] everything to be explained [18:13] we don't need uh documentation to be [18:16] detailed people who don't know how to [18:18] use it need that to be detailed and we [18:22] should listen to them if there's [18:23] something missing or you know there can [18:26] be something improved [18:28] >> and I guess also during this kind of big [18:31] contributor day not only listening but [18:33] also being able to talk to so many [18:36] people at once because there has to be a [18:39] lot of people at one table and everyone [18:41] has questions and everyone has like you [18:43] know [18:43] >> yes [18:43] >> to say something [18:44] >> that's why that's why we have uh all the [18:47] things that we usually repeat. We have [18:51] that written down in uh GitHub issue so [18:55] you can read it and if there is really [18:57] something unclear and you still have [19:00] questions then those are the questions [19:02] that are very specific to you and then [19:06] you know the the amount of talking to [19:09] people is lessened but it's very [19:12] efficient. Then [19:14] >> what else will you say is special about [19:18] being a table lead at this big [19:21] contributor day in comparison to a local [19:24] one because I guess you have experience [19:25] in both? [19:27] Yes. Well, I think I think this is more [19:32] difficult. The bigger contributor day is [19:34] more difficult because you have always [19:38] more people who have maybe two three [19:40] tables and you have to, you know, take a [19:42] look at all of them and usually after [19:45] contributor day at work Europe or, you [19:48] know, any bigger world camp like Asia or [19:50] US, I'm exhausted. I I haven't done any [19:54] work and I'm completely exhausted and [19:57] drained because a lot of that, you know, [20:00] noise and a lot of people and questions [20:03] and all of it is just taking the energy [20:07] out and you really don't have time to do [20:10] any work. But hopefully you at least [20:13] interested one person to come to the [20:16] meeting next, you know, and start [20:18] contributing. The smaller word camps [20:20] usually have people who already know [20:24] what they want to contribute to and when [20:27] they come to documentation table they [20:30] usually know what to do and they are [20:33] mostly contributors already maybe one or [20:37] two persons who are very new and [20:40] depending on where the word camp is I [20:43] like to uh push the local person who has [20:47] more experience to bring them in [20:49] community and I'm just there to provide [20:52] cookies. [20:52] >> You and your cookies I have to come to [20:54] your table for contributor day. [20:57] >> So besides of cookies, how would you [21:00] encourage someone who has never even [21:02] considered going to contributor day to [21:05] actually come? Well, I would suggest uh [21:08] finding one thing to do or one person to [21:12] meet and I would suggest bring a piece [21:15] of chocolate with you that you will give [21:18] to this person that really makes [21:21] impression on you because this is the [21:23] first day of work Europe and you will [21:25] see that person in second two days at [21:30] the actual conference and you will have [21:32] a friend there if you don't know many [21:35] people But I would set some kind of goal [21:39] for it. Maybe the goal is uh find out [21:43] what is this all about. And in in that [21:46] case you can just go from table to table [21:49] and find people to ask questions. [21:52] Usually those are the people who are on [21:55] the stage. So at the beginning of [21:58] contributor day there will be opening [22:00] ceremony and every table lead will be [22:03] brought to the stage and represent their [22:07] team. So you can see who those people [22:10] are and you can find them later and ask [22:12] them questions like what is your team [22:16] doing? What kind of skills do you need? [22:18] What would be the most interesting thing [22:21] in your team? And then move on and go [22:24] from table to table. If you don't know [22:25] what to do there, if you are not really [22:29] into talking to a lot of people, maybe [22:33] find someone and then go with them and, [22:37] you know, have a break and chat a little [22:39] bit, take a rest. There's probably a lot [22:42] of space for, you know, taking rest and [22:45] just go. It's okay. Having to absorb 800 [22:49] people is too much for everyone. So it's [22:52] okay if you will need to go and take [22:54] rest and also you can make your plan [22:58] like what what like I already said what [23:00] skill would I want to learn what would [23:03] be something that would be interesting [23:06] to learn and start doing and maybe you [23:10] you want to switch career maybe you want [23:12] to improve your career take a look and [23:16] see what what are the skills that you [23:18] can get there because I guarantee you [23:22] there are all the skills you can imagine [23:26] you can find there. Even if it's [23:29] managing projects or people you know in [23:32] teams writing all sorts of documentation [23:35] because every team needs documentation [23:37] how to do stuff. So documenting [23:40] processes, workflows, maybe creating [23:42] lessons for other people, maybe reading [23:45] lessons and saying oh this is not good [23:48] or this is good. I learned something [23:49] new. And also you can start organizing [23:53] meetups in your city or you can join if [23:56] there is already meetup in your city you [23:58] can meet them and you can join them and [24:00] help them. So you can also join other [24:04] teams for organizing board camps maybe [24:07] your local board camp or maybe a bigger [24:09] one that is on your continent like camp [24:12] Europe. You can volunteer. You can ask [24:15] questions. Just go and ask questions and [24:18] have a little goal that something to to [24:21] learn and one person to meet. [24:25] >> That's a very very good advice. and you [24:27] shared a very nice insight that honestly [24:30] me personally I haven't thought of which [24:33] is you actually can change your tables [24:36] because at the very beginning of [24:38] contributor day uh there are those teams [24:41] table leads who tell us what table does [24:44] what and I could see that people tend to [24:48] stay at one table and maybe some of them [24:51] are too shy to stand up and go somewhere [24:54] else so it is allowed mode. [24:57] >> Yes. And especially if you don't know [25:00] where to contribute and maybe if it's [25:04] your first day, I wouldn't expect anyone [25:06] to spend the whole day at one table. I [25:10] personally would love to go to other [25:12] tables, you know, and and ask questions [25:15] there or contribute to other teams. And [25:18] when you have more than one table lead, [25:20] then you can do that in in, you know, if [25:23] you're good friends. So, you can switch [25:26] and if you have more people that are [25:28] experienced at your table, they can, you [25:30] know, take over and help new people. But [25:34] I would encourage go around, you know, [25:37] take advantage of having all those [25:39] brains in one room. Don't spend it on at [25:42] one table. [25:43] >> Yeah. And as it comes to changing [25:45] careers, you just reminded me that [25:49] several of my friends came to work camp [25:53] with their company or while working on [25:56] like steady contract and half of them [26:00] decided, oh my god, this community [26:02] community is so great now I will become [26:04] a freelancer. So [26:06] >> yes. [26:07] >> Yeah, this really changes your life. [26:09] >> Yes, it does. It it changed my life. I'm [26:13] professional classical musician and I [26:15] was working in opera house and now I'm [26:19] developer and I can tell you I mean I [26:22] was freelancing for a four or five years [26:26] when I started contributing to WordPress [26:29] but actually when I met community in my [26:33] own city that's what triggered the [26:36] change and that's when I completely [26:38] switched. And are you still a freelancer [26:42] or are you working with some particular [26:45] company right now? [26:47] >> Well, I am both. I am at XWP which is [26:51] agency and they are also sponsoring my [26:54] time at WordPress.org but I'm a [26:57] freelancer through toptal platform and [27:00] I'm also sponsored by uh Kinsta and [27:03] project planner for giving talks and [27:06] doing documentation and everything. I'm [27:08] a little bit of everything. [27:11] >> How do you talk a company into [27:13] sponsoring you to be a contributor or to [27:16] do talks on the name of WordPress? You [27:19] know for me it was I was working [27:23] actually I was volunteering I was [27:25] contributing to documentation for a [27:28] decade for free and then I went to a [27:31] company and said uh if I want to [27:35] continue this somebody has to give me [27:38] some money because this is not [27:39] sustainable. And that was also for [27:42] speaking. I was already speaking a lot [27:45] and you know traveling as much as I [27:47] could and most of the money that I got [27:50] from sponsorships I was investing in [27:53] traveling and preparing talks and [27:56] everything. Uh after a while when that [27:58] really got out of control I went to [28:02] sponsor that I knew that was already [28:05] sponsoring community and I said I need [28:07] help to keep doing this. So in my mind [28:11] it's first you have to show what you can [28:14] give and then will people gladly give [28:18] you money to just keep doing that. So [28:21] it's not the other way around like I'm [28:24] going to be cool when somebody sponsored [28:26] me. No, you really, you know, need to [28:29] put there something and make something [28:31] valuable to community. And if it is [28:34] valuable, community will recognize and [28:37] encourage you to keep doing that. [28:41] >> That's a beautiful thing that first be [28:45] engaged and then ask for something in [28:49] return. Do you have anything to add or [28:52] we haven't mentioned anything important? [28:56] >> Just come to Kraov. It's a beautiful [28:59] city. I loved it. It's so refreshing. [29:02] So, for me personally, being able to [29:05] walk around the whole city and it's so [29:07] green and fresh, I love it. And it's [29:10] Slavic, so what's not to love there? [29:13] >> True. And there are perogi, so you have [29:16] to come to [29:17] >> Yes. Yes. I love them. [29:21] >> So, cookies during contributor day and [29:23] perogi right after. [29:25] >> Yes. [29:26] >> Uh before and after. [29:28] >> Oh. Oh, yeah. That's even better. [29:31] So again, thank you really very much for [29:34] being here and recording this episode [29:36] with me. And to you, the listener in the [29:39] watcher, remember to subscribe. And if [29:42] you got that far into this episode, [29:45] please leave a comment on whichever [29:48] platform you're listening to us, just [29:51] contribute. That's the comment you [29:53] should leave. And this way, we will see [29:56] how many of you lasted till this moment. [29:59] And of course remember to buy your [30:01] tickets toward Camp Europe. And for the [30:04] contributor day they will there will be [30:06] a separate registration. So if you want [30:08] to take part remember to register this [30:11] way you will get not only cookies but [30:14] also a nice lunch during the contributor [30:17] day. So please do come and register and [30:20] thank you for listening. Bye.  📄 **Full text:** ![[Full Document Contents/Articles/#WCEU2026 - Contributor Day - New Skills Unlocked.md|#WCEU2026 - Contributor Day - New Skills Unlocked by YouTube]] ## Highlights - So I imagine you contribute to WordPress a lot during your day. So tell me, how do you contribute? Why do you do that? Ah, well, I contribute mostly with documentation. That's you know, constant since 12th May, 2011. And lately I'm doing more of the administration around the team. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kpxcvbyf3h2ekje05c8ta920)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - No, So here is the thing that I maybe don't like about Contributor Day is that you really don't have enough time to do any specific work. And especially when there are 800 people in a room, you don't have focus to work on something deep. That's the first thing, that you will not actually do a lot of things at Contributor Day. But what you can do is you can actually get to know what teams are there. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kpxcvbz29j4482x7239x1kht)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - You still have to take the effort to encourage people to be your sponsor and so on. is yet another level of this being harder than normal company conference. So there are different tables. And you already mentioned you are documentation table lead. Can you tell me what documentation team does during Contributor Day? Well, we eat cookies. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kpxcvc01ncv3gdtqm6mtadsm)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - contributor day and what we do in documentation team. We just want to show you that documentation is not that difficult, that there are many different things. Like for documentation, can also just record videos of using WordPress or you can just make screenshots, which is not writing documentation at all, but you are, you know, helping documentation team. And we have some people who are contributing only at contributor days and only at WordCamp Europe. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kpxcvc13r4yrckggc9kqwta6)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - and you really don't have time to do any work but hopefully you at least interested one person to come to the meeting next, you know, and start contributing. The smaller WordCamps usually have people who already know what they want to contribute to. And when they come to documentation table, they usually know what to do and they are mostly contributors already. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kpxcvc3pmkbqj79ry7veq46d)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - I'm a little bit of everything. do you talk a company into sponsoring you to be a contributor or to do talks on the name of WordPress? you know, for me, it was I was working. Actually, I was volunteering. I was contributing to documentation for a decade for free. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kpxcvc5577f588vbx207f6e4)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted