Why does it matter whether the rules for contributing stay put? On This Week in WordPress 310, I said changing rules make it harder to win the internal buy in companies need to fund contributors. I joined Nathan Wrigleycolleague, Michelle Frechettecolleague and Marc Benzakein for the live panel, after a weekend in state parks with no phone signal.
🎙️ Episode details
- Show: This Week in WordPress 310, “Taco shaped hole,” from WP Builds
- Host: Nathan Wrigley
- Panel: Michelle Frechette, Marc Benzakein and me, Courtney Robertson
- Live: Monday, October 7, 2024. The podcast followed on October 8.
- Topics: funding contributors and stable rules, WordPress 6.7 testing, Git Updater, and checking on people in a storm’s path
- Show notes: This Week in WordPress 310 on WP Builds, with news links and a transcript
The captions are YouTube’s automatic captions, cleaned for repeated lines and names but not checked against the audio. WP Builds also publishes a full transcript on the show notes page.
🧪 Testing WordPress 6.7
I shared the Help Test WordPress 6.7 post and explained release parties: a Slack chat in the core channel where, once a release starts, you can say it’s starting but not that it’s out until it’s done. Also, betas can take an hour or more.
I also gave credit to Git Updater, by Andy Fragencolleague. At The Events Calendar, it let me switch between a plugin’s beta and stable versions while I moved between writing knowledge base docs and answering support tickets.
🌀 Checking on people in a storm’s path
With a hurricane heading across Florida, I pointed listeners to a map on Marcus Burnettecolleaguemet‘s WP World site that shows WordPress people by location, so you can check on friends in the area.
🧾 Why stable rules matter for funding contributors
When the rules for contributing feel like they can change without notice, the case for funding contributors gets harder to make inside an organization. I said that from experience, because I had made that case myself.
🧪 What can you take from this episode on funding contributors?
- Companies: stable contribution rules make funding contributors easier to justify inside an organization.
- Testers: follow the Help Test post for each release; it lists what needs eyes.
- Plugin developers: a beta toggle saves time when you support and document at once.
Also, more conversations like this one live in my podcast and speaking archive.
🗓️ Archival note
This panel streamed live on October 7, 2024, and WP Builds published it the next day. I added this post on November 9, 2026, from the publisher’s automated transcript. I reviewed the transcript, not the recording.