@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb Absolutely. Thanks for asking. I'll add a thread here.
Meta-caveat: you asked me for specific feedback before on a similar topic, and I put a lot of effort into a thoughtful response. I never heard back. I hope it's different this time.
Meta-caveat: you asked me for specific feedback before on a similar topic, and I put a lot of effort into a thoughtful response. I never heard back. I hope it's different this time.
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb I'm seeing some great replies here already from @BenUNC and @JJJ, but I think this is about your posture and communication as the leader of a community. *You can fix this* without sacrificing your convictions.
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ When you see theories that question your motives from long-time members of the WP community, it's your opportunity to address them. Conspiracy theories happen in a context vacuum. *Don't* mock them. Don't laugh it off. Take responsibility for the lack of context and fill the gap.
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ The main context is see missing is: how does Gutenberg tie into the mission of democratizing publishing? Many of us are fully on board with that original vision of WordPress, but have trouble squaring the Gutenberg effort with it.
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ It's not just about the UI changes, it's that it feels rushed to so many of us. Trusted figures in our community are repeatedly warning that the 5.0 release date is too soon. Even Gutenberg's loudest critics seem to agree it's the right direction, but take issue with the rollout.
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ Either make a change to alleviate these concerns about the rollout, or address the concerns directly and explain the thought process. As @benUNC hinted, the more you say the phrase, "it's ready", the more disempowered the community feels.
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ We're telling you it's NOT ready (because bugs, because a11y, because it's on-by-default, because it requires a wild amount of JS/bundling knowledge, etc.).
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ I've been paying attention to these conversations for a long time, and most of the "pro-Gutenberg in 5.0" rebuttals (especially from Automatticans) amount to "everyone is just afraid of change". It's really disheartening.
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ I am not afraid of change and neither are most of the people expressing concern. I am, however, an experienced product designer of enterprise software and understand the consequences of cheese-moving. Many of the vocal skeptics are similarly knowledgable.
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ You don't have to convince everyone of your viewpoint—you just need to affirm the validity of the concerns and address them directly. Do it in office hours, sure, but do it in public: your blog and your Twitter account. As @JJJ said, responding is *crucial*.
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ Ultimately, even if nothing changes about the rollout of 5.0, you can still repair the biggest rift by re-casting the vision of WordPress in a way that accounts for the apparent urgency of this effort.
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ Acknowledge that there's a community of smart, caring people that drive this thing that powers the web. We all got here by being told WP was community-driven and that we all wanted to "democratize publishing".
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ You did a great job at selling that—if you're envisioning a new era, it's time to do that again. Make it simple to understand and repeat it until we're sick of hearing about it. 🙂
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ If you can't do that, pull back on the forced rollout to show solidarity and spend at least another release listening to the community, publicly. Commit to the a11y audit before rollout and make the Gutenberg activation path less intrusive.
@photomatt @mattmedeiros @cameronjonesweb @benUNC @JJJ I honestly believe your leadership can take this from a divisive effort to a collaborative one that ushers in a new era of WordPress and inspires future open-source projects. If you want to talk more, I'm available.
