[theme-reviewers] splitting reviewers between queues

Fri Jan 27 16:06:29 UTC 2012

Regarding the "badge" idea: I'm never one to prohibit something that my
provide incentive to others; that said: my general sense of the WordPress
project community/ecosystem is that the general philosophy/ethos is that
contributors contribute primarily for the inherent benefit of
contributing/giving back, rather than for any potential benefit in return.
That is to say: the WordPress "meritocracy" puts far more value in
contribution for its own sake than it does for contribution for the sake of
personal gain.

So, I don't think the idea of "badges" or gift cards/financial incentives
would gain much traction. (The latter would certainly have to come from a
third party, I'm quite sure.)

That said: the "patches welcome" mentality does provide a bit of
inspiration. Recently, someone created a Widget Plugin that allows users to
tout their most recent core patch commits:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-core-contributions-widget/

I wonder if we couldn't pull similar data out of Trac, or out of the WPORG
user profile feed, to create a similar Widget for WPTRT contributions (i.e.
ticket closure count, or something?)

Chip

On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 9:41 AM, Edward Caissie <edward.caissie at gmail.com>wrote:

> An incentive idea would likely help to some degree, but to be quite honest
> a badge system needs to be policed ... as it has been noted there are many
> places you can find themes with "bad" code (base64, SEO spam, etc.) what
> would stop theme authors such as these from simply copying the badge image
> and posting it on their site?
>
> Personally I take very little stock in "badges" as they are simply much
> too easy to forge ... and since it is a perception idea being brought
> forward it would be ripe for these forgeries.
>
>
> Cais.
>
> PS: You might note I am in a "devil's advocate" kind of mood today.
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 9:41 AM, Rankin, Matthew W. (Student) <
> mrankin at my.ccsu.edu> wrote:
>
>> There are many people ( myself included ) who review themes just for the
>> satisfaction of helping out WordPress. However, there are many people out
>> there who need a little more than that to review themes. Even just a thank
>> you and a WordPress badge to post up on their site would go a long way in
>> attracting more theme reviewers and getting more production out of less
>> active reviewers. The idea is fairly straight forward and easy to
>> implement, and has a proven record of success as you can see by looking at
>> many other websites around the web who use similar ideas.
>> ________________________________________
>> From: theme-reviewers-bounces at lists.wordpress.org [
>> theme-reviewers-bounces at lists.wordpress.org] on behalf of Simon Prosser [
>> pross at pross.org.uk]
>> Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 9:09 AM
>> To: theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> Subject: Re: [theme-reviewers] splitting reviewers between queues
>>
>> What incentives? wordpress.org is a free organization and the theme
>> team volunteer the time to review themes in their spare time.
>> They all have regular jobs and lives as well.
>>
>> On 27 January 2012 13:41, Chandra Maharzan <maharzan at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > I haven't reviewed any themes but I do think  this volunteer thing
>> > might need to go at some point. Have a dedicated team who reviews
>> > themes and they get incentives on each theme or something. Otherwise
>> > like a person said above, people are discouraged. I was when I
>> > submitted a theme about a year ago and it was reviewed in a long time
>> > and the same thing is happening now. And I have 2 themes in the repo,
>> > pretty popular ones. I am sure many designers feel like me.
>> >
>> > On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 2:59 PM, Phenomenoodle | Taryn Wallis
>> > <taryn at phenomenoodle.com> wrote:
>> >> Up until about 5 years ago (when I transitioned into web design
>> full-time) I
>> >> was an Organizational Psychologist - things like badges work well as a
>> >> motivational tool for some types of people, and absolutely not for
>> others.
>> >> I'm one of the others :)
>> >>
>> >> If there was a badge, I might consider putting it on my site, but it
>> would
>> >> have zero impact from an incentive point of view. I'm far more
>> internally
>> >> motivated, so external things like badges (or certificates etc) have
>> no real
>> >> meaning to me. In terms of theme reviews, I contribute because it
>> allows me
>> >> to give back to the community and to also learn from the experience -
>> if I'm
>> >> not able to do reviews, it's not because of lack of motivation, but
>> simply a
>> >> lack of time :(
>> >>
>> >> ______________________________
>> >> Taryn Wallis
>> >> Phenomenoodle
>> >> WordPress design & development
>> >> www.phenomenoodle.com
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 8:36 AM, Netzberufler <
>> netzberufler at googlemail.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> I find Badges are a great idea. They should also be included into the
>> >>> WordPress Profile Pages. http://profiles.wordpress.org/users/ or
>> >>> http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/profile/ . BTW why are there
>> different
>> >>> profile pages on wordpress.org?
>> >>>
>> >>> I currently don't review themes cause of my exams but I will begin
>> >>> reviewing again in 2 weeks ;)
>> >>>
>> >>> 2012/1/26 Rankin, Matthew W. (Student) <mrankin at my.ccsu.edu>
>> >>>
>> >>>> Not directly related to this email thread but seems like a good
>> place to
>> >>>> post it. I was thinking about why there aren't more volunteer
>> reviewers and
>> >>>> why many are slow to review themes. I think it may be because it
>> lacks
>> >>>> incentive. So, I had an idea which may attract more reviewers and
>> increase
>> >>>> productivity among current reviewers. My idea is to create a
>> WordPress
>> >>>> badge. Theme reviewers can post this badge on their own websites to
>> say that
>> >>>> they contribute to WordPress. You could even create different levels
>> of
>> >>>> badges so as you review more themes you get higher level badges.
>> It's a
>> >>>> simple idea which has proven effective on many websites around the
>> web. What
>> >>>> does everyone else think of this idea?
>> >>>> ________________________________
>> >>>> From: theme-reviewers-bounces at lists.wordpress.org
>> >>>> [theme-reviewers-bounces at lists.wordpress.org] on behalf of Rankin,
>> Matthew
>> >>>> W. (Student) [mrankin at my.ccsu.edu]
>> >>>> Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2012 12:49 PM
>> >>>>
>> >>>> To: theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> >>>> Subject: Re: [theme-reviewers] splitting reviewers between queues
>> >>>>
>> >>>> I'll do my best to follow your lead Chip. I've just been so busy
>> lately I
>> >>>> haven't had time to do many reviews. But I should be able to fit in
>> one
>> >>>> theme a day.
>> >>>> ________________________________
>> >>>> From: theme-reviewers-bounces at lists.wordpress.org
>> >>>> [theme-reviewers-bounces at lists.wordpress.org] on behalf of Chip
>> Bennett
>> >>>> [chip at chipbennett.net]
>> >>>> Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2012 12:31 PM
>> >>>> To: theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> >>>> Subject: Re: [theme-reviewers] splitting reviewers between queues
>> >>>>
>> >>>> I don't think a paradigm shift is necessary (or helpful) at this
>> point.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> The bottom line is: about 10 tickets per day are submitted. Thus, we
>> need
>> >>>> about 10 tickets per day reviewed and closed, in order to keep up
>> with the
>> >>>> submission rate. We are approaching 100 people who have reviewed
>> Themes. If
>> >>>> every person with ticket privileges reviewed two tickets, we would
>> exhaust
>> >>>> the current queue entirely.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> I've tried to push in the past to get reviewers to consider
>> committing to
>> >>>> a certain minimum level of participation, but as you've noted: it's
>> not
>> >>>> practical. We ARE all volunteers, and all have extremely busy
>> schedules. (I
>> >>>> last saw a "40-hour work week" sometime last summer.) Efforts to get
>> such
>> >>>> commitments inevitably have the opposite effect, as IMX they have
>> only
>> >>>> driven volunteers AWAY from contributing their time.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> That said: I'll do my best to lead by example. I will commit to
>> reviewing
>> >>>> one Theme per day, every day.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Chip
>> >>>>
>> >>>> On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 11:07 AM, Edward Caissie
>> >>>> <edward.caissie at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Although it shouldn't need to be written, but once again it appears
>> a
>> >>>>> reminder appears to be needed ...
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> To the best of my knowledge, every member of the current Theme
>> Review
>> >>>>> Team is a volunteer. Every member also has a "full work load" with
>> many
>> >>>>> simply unable to devote any time to this volunteer activity during
>> that
>> >>>>> scheduled time. Many of the volunteers have other additional
>> WordPress
>> >>>>> related activities that add to their typical "40-hour week" work
>> load. We
>> >>>>> all have lives, too ... so, quite simply, we give what time we can
>> and look
>> >>>>> to the community to contribute some of their time. Wait times, as
>> noted many
>> >>>>> times, are inversely proportional to the amount of volunteer
>> reviewers
>> >>>>> available to do the work.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> We can appreciate the wait time is long and frustrating. This is
>> not the
>> >>>>> only time this topic has been discussed, these are not the only
>> ideas that
>> >>>>> have been considered. Unfortunately until their is perhaps a
>> paradigm shift
>> >>>>> in regards to the WPTRT we may simply be forced to continue to
>> endure and
>> >>>>> forge ahead under these conditions.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Cais.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 11:48 AM, Bruce Wampler <
>> weavertheme at gmail.com>
>> >>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> I would like to add my perspective on the review process.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> I have been submitting one theme - with revisions and slight name
>> >>>>>> modifications - for almost two years now - starting with 2010
>> Weaver,
>> >>>>>> changed to simply Weaver, and now Weaver II.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Because Weaver II is a name change, and represents a total rewrite
>> of
>> >>>>>> Weaver, it has been in the Priority Queue for almost 3 months now.
>> I've just
>> >>>>>> been sitting here waiting my turn.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> But seriously - three months for new themes? The past week, the
>> review
>> >>>>>> rate has been only one new theme reviewed.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> It is important to keep existing themes up to date - but to
>> essentially
>> >>>>>> have the new theme approval rate one a week will do nothing to
>> encourage
>> >>>>>> authors to submit new themes.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> I had good reasons to change from Weaver to Weaver II, and perhaps
>> >>>>>> should have requested it be treated as a revision of the existing
>> approved
>> >>>>>> theme. But I don know if I knew three months ago, that I likely
>> would have
>> >>>>>> done things differently, including the possibility of simply
>> abandoning the
>> >>>>>> WP theme repository.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> But Weaver II represents a cutting edge theme/framework that has
>> (or
>> >>>>>> had three months ago) really new features, including what I think
>> is likely
>> >>>>>> the best mobile support of any WP theme. It is really frustrating
>> to see it
>> >>>>>> languish in the queue.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> I just think a almost three month wait is excessive, and will
>> seriously
>> >>>>>> discourage developers from developing and submitting new themes.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> The discussion of new 3.4 features seems almost silly since if the
>> new
>> >>>>>> queue theme stays at several months, it is likely that there won't
>> be any
>> >>>>>> new themes.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> I believe is really important to keep fresh, new themes with
>> cutting
>> >>>>>> edge features coming in for the future health of WordPress.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Just some thoughts. I believe something needs to be done. I'd
>> volunteer
>> >>>>>> to review some themes, but I have serious ethical concerns about
>> that, as
>> >>>>>> well as a full work load supporting my theme which has become very
>> popular
>> >>>>>> on its own while waiting on the queue.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Bruce Wampler
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________
>> >>>>>> theme-reviewers mailing list
>> >>>>>> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> >>>>>> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> _______________________________________________
>> >>>>> theme-reviewers mailing list
>> >>>>> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> >>>>> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> _______________________________________________
>> >>>> theme-reviewers mailing list
>> >>>> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> >>>> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> _______________________________________________
>> >>> theme-reviewers mailing list
>> >>> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> >>> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> theme-reviewers mailing list
>> >> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> >> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > cmans
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > theme-reviewers mailing list
>> > theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> > http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> My Blog: http://pross.org.uk/
>> Plugins : http://pross.org.uk/plugins/
>> Themes: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/profile/pross
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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>
>
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