Becoming A WordPressBeta Tester

WordCamp Columbus – June 2011

Who Am I?

• Kim Parsell

• Born & raised right here in Ohio

• WordPress user/developer/tester since 2008

• Author of the WP Hide Dashboard plugin

Show of hands, how many here are:

• WordPress users only?

• Developers that use WordPress to build sites for others?

Now, how many of you have:

• Upgraded your WordPress install & it broke? (Yes, we've all had that happen, & we hate it when it does.)

• Tested a new version of WordPress before it was released (beta, RC)?

Hmmm, not too many hands on that last one....

Credit: Jane Wells aka @janeforshort

Beta Tester Benefits:

• Preview all the cool new features coming in the next release.

• Test your plugins & theme to make sure they'll work right once you upgrade.

• Developers, you can detect possible conflicts with client sites, begin working on solutions before the next release, not after.

• Plugin & theme authors, you can troubleshoot potential bugsor conflicts, & prepare your next release.

Some WordPress numbers:

• WordPress project leaders: 6

• Extended core team: 8

• Core contributors:- Version 3.1: 180- Version 3.2: 101 (so far)

For those keeping score, that's roughly 120-200 people working on a new release.

Compare that to:

• 30+ million users with:- Thousands of hosting server configurations- Millions of possible theme/plugin combos

• Potential for issues & conflicts: HIGH

The dev team & core contributors work hard, but they cannot test every possible server configuration, or plugin/theme combination.

They need help from people like you.

How do I get started?

• Set up a separate WordPress install on your server to use for testing. (Running bleeding edge code on your live website isfor experienced users only.)

• Grab latest stable version (3.1.3) & install it in a subfolder, such as: http://yourdomain.com/testwp/

• Go to Settings/Privacy & check “block search engines” to keep your test install from getting indexed.

Now the fun begins

• Install the WordPress Beta Tester plugin, by Peter Westwood: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/

• Activate the plugin, go to the settings page (Tools/Beta Testing) & select Bleeding edge nightlies.

• To grab the latest code, click on the upgrade link & press the Update Automatically button.

• Your test install just went from WordPress 3.1.3 to WordPress 3.2-RC1. Congratulations, you are now running bleeding edge WordPress code.

Take it for a spin

• Kick the tires, honk the horn, test the turn signals, play with the radio.

• In other words, put it through the paces.

• Write posts, make test comments, upload media, add links, embed video, etc.

• Do what you normally do with WordPress & see if you can break it.

Update your test install daily

• Each night, a new version of the trunk code is zipped up & made available for download to testers.

• Log into your test install, click the link in the footer, & update to the latest.

• Take a spin through everything to make sure all is still working properly.

Oh my word, it's broken. Now what do I do?

• You may have found a bug.

• Document what you were doing when it broke – details matter here, so include as much as possible.

• Document the error message you got or the unexpected result you received.

• Try to duplicate the error - do the same thing again, see if it happens twice.

Yep, it happened again

• Try deactivating all of your plugins, switch back to the default theme, & try it one more time.

• Did it still give you an error? If so, then you've possibly founda WordPress bug.

How Do I Report It?

• First, read the WordPress Codex article on Reporting Bugs: http://codex.wordpress.org/Reporting_Bugs

• Follow instructions carefully in 4.1 – Before You Report A Bug – to ensure that your problem really is a bug.

• If you're new to beta testing, join the wp-testers mailing list,& send an email with the details of your issue. Others will be happy to help you sort out whether it's a WordPress bug or not.

Houston, We Really Do Have A Problem

• It truly is a bug, & nobody else has reported it yet. Time to submit a Trac ticket.

• Log into Trac using your wordpress.org forum username & password. No account? Sign up at the forums & get one.

• Fill out the form, providing as much information as possible so someone else can reproduce the issue.

• Include your forum username in the CC: field. Click Preferences at top of Trac to include email address you want notifications to go to.

• Submit the ticket, and...

Credit: Will Davis aka @williampd

Just kidding.

The dev team & core contributors do closely monitor Trac for new ticket submissions, & activity on existing tickets.

• You will need to monitor the ticket (remember the CC field?) & provide any feedback requested.

• If a patch is submitted, you'll need to test it & let them knowif it fixes your issue. Lather, rinse, repeat until the ticket is resolved.

What is this patch you speak of?

• A patch is a file that lists changes to be made to program files in version-controlled software.

• WordPress is managed via Subversion & uses Trac, an easy web-based project management & bug tracking system.

• Yellow – the 2 files being compared• Red – the lines to be removed• Green – the lines to be added

How do I create a patch?

• The first thing you'll need to do is download & install a Subversion (SVN) client.

• For Windows users, TortoiseSVN is the hands-down easiest SVN client to use, & it's free: http://tortoisesvn.net/

• For Mac users, there are several options:- Versions: http://versionsapp.com/- Cornerstone: http://www.zennaware.com/cornerstone/- SmartSVN: http://www.syntevo.com/smartsvn/

• Next, you'll need to download a copy of the latest trunk code via your chosen Subversion (SVN) client.

• Create a folder on your computer called wordpress-3.2-svn-trunk. Open that folder, right-click & choose SVN Checkout.

• You'll be presented with the checkout window. Enter the URLof the wordpress.org SVN repo in URL repository field.

• The files will begin downloading to that folder.

• Open the folder & find the file you need to change. Open it in your favorite plain-text editor. Do not use a rich-text editor such as Word or OpenOffice to edit the files.

• Make the changes necessary, then save the file.

• You'll notice that the green checkmark has changed to a red exclamation point. That means the file has been changed & is no longer in sync with the repo version.

• Time to make the donuts...errr, the patch file. Right-click,go to TortoiseSVN, and select Create Patch.

• A pop-up window will show you the list of changed files. Make sure the file(s) you want to include in the patch are checked, then click OK.

• You'll be prompted to save the file. Create a folder called patches, then type in filename you want to save it as. I usethe format ticket#.patch.

• The TortoiseUDiff editor will open & show you the patch fileyou just created.

• You can then attach the patch to the bug ticket you createdin Trac so it can be reviewed by the dev team & possibly committed.

• Now wasn't that easy?

But I can't code...

• That's okay too! You don't have to be able to code to be a beta tester.

• You can still test & report bugs, display issues in the admin interface, the default theme (currently Twenty Eleven), even typos, punctuation & capitalization errors.

• Find them, fix what you can, submit a Trac ticket with a patch or without.

Bringing It Home

• Beta testers != WordPress Whiners Club

• Beta testing WordPress is a privilege & a responsibility.

• Be constructive & thorough with your feedback.

• Treat the dev team, core contributors & other testers with respect – you'll get the same thing back from them.

• Don't be discouraged if your ticket is closed as WONTFIX.Read their reasons, learn, keep on testing.

• Be encouraged when your ticket is marked FIXED. You just helped make WordPress better!

Resources:

• http://codex.wordpress.org/Contributing_to_WordPress#Testing_WordPress

• http://codex.wordpress.org/Reporting_Bugs

• http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-beta-tester/

• http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-testers

• http://wordpress.org/download/svn/

• http://wpdevel.wordpress.com/

Where you can find me:

• Follow me on Twitter: @kimparsell• Find me at: http://kpdesign.net/

Thanks for flying with WordPress today!

We're working on the next WordPress release, &we need people to test it.

To help find bugs in the code so we can fix them.

To check the new admin user interface for issues, & the new Twenty Eleven theme too.

Because we want WordPress to be awesome, &work properly for everyone.

But we need more testers...MOAR TESTERS!

You're going to help us, right? :)