Do you know the WP BootCamp? It is an initiative of the WordPress community to help develop associative or public causes. The event brings together WordPress experts from all professions and invites them to work on a common project. The mission 2019? Conduct an audit of the CNRS Web Kit. Our WordPress architect, Alexandre Sadowski, participated from September 20 to 23. He tells us about his experience, the time of a weekend in the sun.
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What's the point of participating in a WP BootCamp?
Alexander Sadowski: « Contributing to a charitable cause is the main motivation. The second is to be able to exchange and discuss further with the WordPress experts present. This is especially possible during relaxing moments as before the conference by the pool or during the welcome barbecue. Or during the surprise visit of the beautiful Palace of the Princes of Monaco and the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. These discussions can focus on technical topics such as face-to-face engines, organizational ones such as planning tools, or human ones such as difficulties recruiting developers. »
How's the event going?
AS: « Every year, the event takes place over 4 days in a place that can accommodate about 15 people, close to an airport and a train station to simplify travel. For this 3e edition, the organizing team had rented a nice villa in the heights of Juan Les Pins in the South-East of France. »
What were the challenges of the project you worked on?
AS:« We were briefed from breakfast. The pitch was as follows: CNRS developed a comprehensive Web Kit by ATOS for CNRS researchers wishing to present their research on a website. The goal of the bootcamp was to audit this device. This Web Kit is a turnkey installation to install on internet hosting. It contains WordPress, open source plugins, media, a database configured with plugin settings, etc. A custom theme has also been developed and implemented for this kit. »
How did the collaborative audit work go?
AS: « We made small teams of 3-4 people each with a specific audit theme: design / content / legislation, SEO, development / security. Each team was able to work on its theme and take as many notes as possible on the improvement axes to be brought to this kit in order to meet WordPress standards, but also the web standards. The 2e working day, we fine-tuned our audits and compiled our notes to write a comprehensive and detailed audit that we exposed to the other teams. »
What is the concrete result of this Bootcamp?
AS: « This audit will be presented to the CNRS, in order to explain the returns and improvements to be made. All participants will be cited for their expertise and the work done during this weekend. The CNRS will be able to contact the participants to get them to work on the Kit. »
What do you remember at the end of this experiment?
AS: « I was delighted to attend this event. The audit topic was really interesting and exchanges with community experts were always as rewarding. The weekend format allows you to take the time to work, discuss and exchange quietly. Do it again! »
