Patch Testing Scrub Guide

This guide helps moderators run Patch Testing Scrub sessions. Use the structure and example phrases below as a reference to assign tickets to everyone in attendance.

Pre-Session Preparation

Before the session:
1. Review and have TracTrac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.https://core.trac.wordpress.org/. ticket queue open and ready (Patch Testing Tickets). Also, prepare a shortlist of tickets to assign
2. Check for any recent WordPress releases, betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. releases or release candidates to announce
3. Note the scheduled start time and be prepared to monitor the thread throughout

Session Structure & Script

1. Opening / Welcome (Start Time)

Announce meeting start:

/here We are starting today’s <patch-testing-scrub>

Welcome message

Hello everyone 👋

Share any relevant announcements (e.g. a new WordPress version, a beta release, a release candidateRelease Candidate A beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge.)

Before we start, WordPress 7.0 RC 2 is now available for testing. Feel free to try it out and share your feedback.

Invite Participant

If you’re around, we’d love your help with testing and sharing reports.

Call for testers

If you’re ready to start patch testing, please reply in this thread so I can assign you a ticket. 🧵

2. Assigning Tickets

When a participant replies and is ready to test

Thank you @[YOUR_USERNAME], for joining us today. You can start working on #[TICKET_NUMBER]

When assigning a follow-up ticket to someone already testing

@[USERNAME] Thank you for adding a report. You could give this a try #[TICKET_NUMBER]

Tips for choosing tickets

• Prioritize tickets that have a numbered milestone (e.g. Milestone: 7.1) then Future release tickets.
• Match ticket complexity to the participant’s experience level where possible.
• Avoid assigning the same ticket to two people simultaneously unless it needs multiple test environments.

3. Monitoring the Session

Acknowledge test reports as they come in

Great work @[USERNAME], thanks for the report!

If a participant finishes early and wants another ticket

Thanks @[USERNAME]! Here’s another one you can try: #[TICKET_NUMBER]

4. Closing

When ready to wrap up

Well, this marks the end of today’s </patch-testing-session>

Reassure participants they can continue

Feel free to pingPing The act of sending a very small amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.” me if you need to comment on anything, and also if you have not finished with your patch testing, you can continue for as long as you want, and ping me if you have any trouble finishing.

Thank all participants by their SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/ username

Thanks @[USERNAME1], @[USERNAME2], and @[USERNAME3] for coming today. 🎉

Quick Reference Meeting FlowFlow Flow is the path of screens and interactions taken to accomplish a task. It’s an experience vector. Flow is also a feeling. It’s being unselfconscious and in the zone. Flow is what happens when difficulties are removed and you are freed to pursue an activity without forming intentions. You just do it.

1. Opening & Welcome (2-3 min)
2. Assign Tickets (40-50 min)
3. Monitoring Session(ongoing throughout the session)
4. Closing (2-3 min)

Total Duration: ~55-60 minutes

Moderator Tips

Assigning & Tracking Tickets

• Keep a running list of who has been assigned which ticket.
• Check reports promptly: when someone posts a test report, acknowledge it and offer a new ticket quickly to keep momentum going.
• Have a backlog ready: prepare more tickets than you expect to need so you’re never scrambling for assignments.
• Balance the queue: try to have a mix of easy and complex tickets so participants of all experience levels can contribute.

Encouraging Participation

• Welcome newcomers warmly: first-time testers may be nervous; a friendly acknowledgement goes a long way.
• Use @usernames: always mention participants by username so they feel seen and so the thread is easy to follow.

Handling Common Situations

If a participant is stuck on a ticket

• Offer to help them tackle the ticket if you have the knowledge and expertise to test the ticket.
• If you are unable, you can offer to swap them to a different ticket.

If a ticket has already been tested by someone else

• Check whether a second test report would still be valuable.
• If not, assign a different ticket.

Time Management

• Start on time (scheduled time)
• Typical session length: 55-60 minutes
• Monitor the thread: keep an eye on replies throughout
• Close gracefully: give a clear end message so participants know when the hosted portion is done, even if testing continues

Facilitating with the TestFlow PluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party.

Instead of running the session from this guide manually, you can use the TestFlow plugin to conduct the entire scrub in a guided and assisted way. It displays the session’s phases with approximate durations, runs a timer, helps you copy each message to the clipboard, and provides a ticket tracker so you can easily assign tickets to the participants.

What it does

TestFlow turns the script and tips above into an interactive session screen: a running timer, one-click Copy buttons for every message in this guide, and a live tracker that assigns tickets to participants and copies the assignment message automatically.

Where to get it

Try it instantly via WordPress Playground — no installation required. You can also download it from WordPress Plugin Directory and install it as a regular plugin. See the proposal and discussion for background and status.

Screenshot

How to use it

1. Activate the plugin, then go to TestFlow > Patch Testing Scrub in the admin sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme..
2. Before the session, fill in the fields listed below, so the tracker is ready as soon as people reply.
3. Click ▶ Start to begin the session timer (it turns red past 50:00).
4. Work through 1. Opening: click Copy next to each message (Announce Start, Welcome, Invite Participants, Call for Testers) and paste it into Slack in order. Use the optional Announcement field to add a custom note, e.g. a new release candidate.
5. In 2. Assigning Tickets, assign a participant a ticket from the tracker — the assignment message is copied to your clipboard automatically, ready to paste.
6. In 3. Monitoring the Session, use Copy on the “Acknowledge Report” and “Another Ticket” messages as participants post reports and need follow-up tickets. The Participant / Assigned Tickets table and Your Clipboard panel let you confirm who has what before you paste.
7. Use Edit if you need to customize any message template, and Reset to clear participants, tickets, and the timer between sessions.

Fields you’ll need to fill in

• Participants (one per line): the Slack/WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ usernames of everyone you expect to join, e.g. username1. You can keep adding names here as people show up mid-session.
• Tickets / Issues (one URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org per line): the Trac ticket or GitHub issue/PR URLs you plan to assign, e.g. `https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/65403`. Prepare more than you think you’ll need so you’re never scrambling for the next assignment.
• Announcement (optional): free-text field on the Opening step for one-off news, e.g. WordPress 7.0 RC 2 is now available... — it gets folded into the opening message preview and copy.

Tips

• Fill in Participants and Tickets / Issues before you click Start, so the tracker is ready as soon as people reply.
• The messages in TestFlow mirror the script in this guide, so you can still improvise or paste your own text when needed.
• Session data (participants, tickets, timer) persists in your browser, so an accidental refresh won’t lose your progress.
• Reset: clears participants, tickets, and the timer for a fresh session.
• Edit: opens the message templates so you can tweak wording per step.
• Start: begins the timer, which turns red past 50:00 as a wrap-up cue.
• Session script (1. Opening, 2. Assigning Tickets, 3. Monitoring the Session, 4. Closing): each step has labeled messages (e.g. Announce Start, Welcome) and a Copy button that puts the ready-to-paste text on your clipboard.
• Participants / Tickets lists: the two text areas where you seed attendee usernames and ticket/issue URLs before and during the session.
• Participant / Assigned Tickets table: fills in automatically as you assign tickets, so you always have an at-a-glance record of who’s working on what.
• Your Clipboard: shows the exact text last copied, letting you double-check the message before pasting it into Slack.
• Resources & Links: quick jump-off links to this handbook guide, Trac Needs Testing, and the GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc.
  https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ Needs Testing/PRs queries, so you don’t have to leave the screen to find more tickets.

Resources & Links

Essential Pages

• Trac Patch Testing query: here

Example Full Opening Sequence

[18.00] Moderator: /here We are starting today’s <patch-testing-scrub>

[18:02] Moderator: Hey everyone 👋

[18:02] Moderator: Before we start, WordPress 7.0 RCRelease Candidate A beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge. 2 is now available for testing. Feel free to try it out and share your feedback.

[18:02] Moderator: If you’re around, we’d love your help with testing and sharing reports.

[18:02] Moderator: If you’re ready to start patch testing, please reply in this thread so I can assign you a ticket. 🧵

[18:05] Moderator: Thank you @participant1, for joining us today. You can start working on #65007

[18:08] Moderator: Thank you @participant2, for joining us today. You can start working on #65031

[18:22] Moderator: Thank you @participant3, for joining us today. You can get started on #64762

[18:35] Moderator: @participant3 Thank you for adding a report. You could give this a try #65005

[19:00] Moderator: Well, this marks the end of today’s </patch-testing-session>

[19:00] Moderator: Feel free to ping me if you need to comment on anything, and also if you have not finished with your patch testing, you can continue for as long as you want, and ping me if you have any trouble finishing.

[19:00] Moderator: Thanks @participant1, @participant3, and @participant2 for coming today.