WordPress meta contributors have just logged an important milestone in their efforts to explore replacing Slack communication with Matrix, an open source federated chat system. The team hosted a meeting on the Meta Slack channel and the corresponding #meta:community.wordpress.org Matrix room simultaneously, enabled by the project’s new Slack/Matrix bridge. The bridge allows users to follow the…
WordPress and Matrix contributors are proposing a new Meta team subproject that would explore replacing Slack communication with Matrix, an open source federated chat system. Matrix already powers a variety of communication tools, including Element, the most mature Matrix client – a universal chat app that is often described as “a Slack alternative.” In 2020, Automattic…
In this episode, John James Jacoby and I discuss an article published by Vox on how Slack is not improving productivity, especially in large team environments. We highlight what’s new in WordPress 5.2.1, why libraries are important to the communities they serve, and new security features in WordPress 5.2. At the end of the show,…
In this episode, John James Jacoby and I discuss Automattic’s quest to create a new service tailored to journalists. We discuss what’s next for Cory Miller as his chapter at iThemes ends later this month. Near the end of the show, we talk about recent leadership changes in the WordPress project and share our opinions…
In this episode, John James Jacoby and I discuss what’s new in Gutenberg 3.4 and share our recent experiences with the editor. We talk about Facebook’s decision to shut down its API for apps to publish to user’s profiles on their behalf. This leads to a side rant of our user experience with Facebook and…
Slack announced today that it has acquired HipChat from Atlassian. The friendly rivalry between the two competing group chat platforms will be laid to rest as Slack plans to retire HipChat and Stride. Atlassian will receive a stake in Slack’s business in exchange for shutting down its chat collaboration services and migrating all of its…
Generating Slack team invitations can become rather tedious when you’re managing a large group of people – particularly when the team is open to almost anyone. In the case of a company or organization, a Slack admin can use the feature that permits anyone with an email from a specified domain to be accepted on…
Not long after the WordPress project adopted Slack as its primary form of communication, David Bisset started using it to help organize WordCamp Miami 2015. The application added real time communication for organizers, speakers, volunteers, sponsors, and the public. He found it to be a helpful addition to the WordCamp’s conference communication tools. As a…
Slack, which is used by thousands of people world-wide to communicate, recently suffered a security breach. According to Slack, the breach occurred during a four-day period in February. Hackers gained access to a central database used to store user names, email addresses, and one-way encrypted (“hashed”) passwords. In addition, the database contains information that users…
After months of requests, Slack has released a standalone app for Windows. Until now, those on Windows machines could only use Slack through a browser. The app is fast and provides a similar user experience to its Mac counterpart. It works on Windows 7 and above, including the Windows 10 preview. Instead of using a…
In a matter of months, Slack has managed to become the favorite communication tool for thousands of businesses, boasting more than 250,000 daily active users, with roughly 30% of them paying for the service. The company recently acquired $120 million to fund further growth and is now valued at $1.1 billion dollars. While Slack helps…
WordPress recently adopted Slack as its primary communication tool for contributor teams, largely replacing IRC. When trac tickets are mentioned in Slack, they are automatically linked up, which helps contributors reference and connect discussions. So far, the app has been enthusiastically received, especially since it offers a far more mobile-friendly option for asynchronous communication. WordPress-related…
Today Matt Mullenweg delivered his annual State of the Word address at WordCamp San Francisco, with roughly 1,000 WordPress enthusiasts and contributors in attendance and hundreds more watching via livestream. Before jumping into the results of the survey, Mullenweg announced that this would be the last event held at Mission Bay conference center. Touch the…