Summary, Dev Chat, July 10, 2024

Announcements

• WordPress 6.6 RC3 was released on July 9. We are in a hard string freeze. Note that the dev-feedback and dev-reviewed workflow is required prior to committing to the 6.6 branchbranch A directory in Subversion. WordPress uses branches to store the latest development code for each major release (3.9, 4.0, etc.). Branches are then updated with code for any minor releases of that branch. Sometimes, a major version of WordPress and its minor versions are collectively referred to as a "branch", such as "the 4.0 branch". (handbook reference).

Forthcoming Releases

Next major releasemajor release A release, identified by the first two numbers (3.6), which is the focus of a full release cycle and feature development. WordPress uses decimaling count for major release versions, so 2.8, 2.9, 3.0, and 3.1 are sequential and comparable in scope.: 6.6

We are currently in the WordPress 6.6 release cycle. WordPress 6.6 is scheduled for Tuesday, July 16. There will be a dry run of the release on Monday, July 15 which starts a 24-hour code freeze of the 6.6 branch.

We’re getting very close to the end of the road for this release cycle, which is exciting! 🎉

Discussion

As we’re at the end of the 6.6 release cycle, we prioritized items for this release.

@marybaum raised a discussion around the coordination of the release post and suggested putting together a shared space where folx can collaborate on sections of the post with shared assets, possibly starting in Figma and then moving to a P2P2 A free theme for WordPress, known for front-end posting, used by WordPress for development updates and project management. See our main development blog and other workgroup blogs. post. This is a new process starting with the 6.6 release, based on our new combination of microsite and About page, but also begins a precedent for 6.7 and beyond.

@marybaum confirmed there are now three main deliverables coming out of that one pool of copy and assets: microsite, About page, and the release post.

@colorful-tones and @ryelle provided links to relevant tickets and issues: this ticket is the main tracking issue, there’s also this one specifically for the about page, and this one for the page on w.org.

@marybaum is going to reach out to others on the 6.6 release squad to help coordinate the above efforts.

@joemcgill highlighted the planning post and call for volunteers for 6.7. @peterwilsoncc also mentioned on the agenda post that the #6-7-release-leads room has already been spun up so folks can start prepping for the next cycle.

@hellofromtonya noted that all of the tech leads for 6.7 are in APAC. @hellofromtonya and @joemcgill suggested checking with them if attempting to move the Dev Chat and release party times would be helpful during this release. @joemcgill said they will reach out to some release squad members for input and possibly put this on a future dev chat agenda. @audrasjb mentioned we also should take into account MC/systems availability during the release cycle for release parties in APAC.

Following the above discussion, @peterwilsoncc mentioned that the main release party’s timing will need to remain unchanged for practical reasons (more contributors available to test) but it would be good to do a few of the betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. releases in APAC. He also doesn’t think any of the tech leads have the level of MC access required to release packages so that would probably need to be organised.

Note: Anyone reading this summary outside of the meeting, please drop a comment in the post summary, if you can/want to help with something.

Props to @joemcgill for proofreading.