Leonardus Nugraha: Documenting Moments and Advancements

Leonardus Nugraha, or Leo for brief, is Hostinger’s own Content Specialist for the WordPress category. Hailing from Bogor, Indonesia, which is understood for its lush botanical garden, Leo is drawn to photographing his wealthy surroundings. But there’s also one other thing he enjoys documenting – the advancements of WordPress.

Read on to find out how Leo entered the world of WordPress and have become a part of its documentation team.

Getting Into the Business

Leo first dipped his toes into WordPress at university, where he studied business management. Throughout the IT in Business course, he needed to create an eCommerce website from scratch. Amongst the varied content management systems available, Leo opted for WordPress.

“That was the primary time I learned about website constructing. We came upon easy methods to get a website and hosting, install WordPress and WooCommerce, add products, and integrate payment gateways. The experience introduced me to a wider WordPress ecosystem besides the WordPress.com I had known,” Leo reminisces.

Although he drifted away from WordPress after the project, this experience got here in handy when Leo joined Hostinger as a content author in 2020.

Besides crafting articles about WordPress, his team uses the CMS for publishing. “I needed to familiarize myself with the nuances of WordPress over again, from content publishing to understanding web optimization intricacies,” Leo adds.

By 2021, his role had evolved, focusing more on WordPress content. This propelled him to dive deeper into the platform’s technicalities. “I began to learn more about WordPress customization, maintaining with latest versions, and following its development,” he shares.

Leo’s educational background, which incorporates a Master’s degree in International Business from Monash University Malaysia, also equipped him with key skills in digital marketing for his involvement in a world open-source project.

“In my major, there was a robust emphasis on collaboration and project management,” he says. “Collaborating with diverse groups and understanding different cultures during my studies has prepared me for my journey as a content marketer and a WordPress contributor.”

Diving Into WordPress Documentation

If you desire to create good content a few platform, you need to use it. While it’s true, it wasn’t enough for Leo – he went the additional mile by diving deep into the guts of WordPress and contributing to its Documentation team. His transition from a user to a contributor reflects not only his commitment, but additionally the open and welcoming nature of the WordPress community.

The spark for this journey was lit shortly after Leo began writing extensively about WordPress. As an open-source platform, WordPress heavily relies on its community of contributors. When the Five for the Future initiative surfaced, Hostinger decided to participate in it.

“My manager asked me if I desired to take part in this initiative. I used to be desperate to contribute, and since I’m a WordPress content specialist, I naturally gravitated towards the Documentation team,” Leo says.

“I started learning in regards to the Documentation team from the Contributor Handbook,” Leo recalls. “It’s pretty difficult at first. But then my manager introduced me to Milana Cap, the Documentation team representative, and she or he guided me through it.”

Leo then took a GitHub issue to learn easy methods to create proper documentation for the primary time. It was a brand new document request, which he found to be enjoyable. “I loved crafting latest documents. It’s someway more exciting than doing updates,” he laughs.

Becoming more engaged in Documentation contribution, Leo began attending the team’s weekly meetings. He’s been volunteering to facilitate the assembly every now and then. He keeps expanding his participation by continuously learning latest tasks within the team, comparable to helping to onboard latest contributors within the Documentation table in the course of the Contributor Day in WordCamp US 2023.

“It’s fun to be on the Documentation team’s table during Contributor Day. Besides with the ability to work in-person with people I normally only interact with on GitHub and Slack, there are a number of cookies to try,” he says.

The cookies he mentions are the Docs team’s tradition during Contributor Days – Milana brings various cookies to munch together in the course of the event. “Within the Docs team’s Slack channel, we often give kudos – a approach to say someone is doing a superb job – by giving a cookie emoji. So we bring it to life during Contributor Day at our table. After all, we share them with other teams as well,” Leo remarks.

And to reply a typical query, Leo clarifies that one doesn’t must be a technical expert to contribute to the team. “There are two varieties of documentation: end-user and developer. For end-user documentation, when you use WordPress and understand its workings, you need to give you the option to put in writing the docs. It’s mainly about guiding other users to navigate contained in the platform. Nevertheless, creating developer documentation needs technical knowledge to a certain extent.”

Rolling as a Documentation Team Member

The work of WordPress’s Documentation team involves more processes than solely writing the guidance. “The Docs team goals to be sure that each feature is accurately and comprehensively explained. For instance, let’s take WordPress Blocks. When creating documentation in regards to the feature, we explain what it’s and detail easy methods to use its and its features. If any visual representations can be found, we’ll include them within the documentation, in order that end-users can understand it higher,” Leo explains.

Here’s the method to craft a documentation article that Leo often goes through:

1. Scour the Documentation Team GitHub repository for issues you desire to work on, then assign yourself to the problem.
2. Start drafting. You may do it in Google Docs, or directly on the WordPress back end if you might have access.
3. When writing, you may test the feature, but be certain to seek advice from the GitHub ticket that explains what the feature is.
4. Once the draft is prepared, reviewers will step in to make sure the content aligns with style guides and formatting requirements. They may also make edits if mandatory.
5. When it gets reviewed, the documentation may be published.

Leo also mentions that the Docs team repeatedly updates the present documentation. “In every WordPress release, the Documentation release squad will check the present documentation and see what updates should be made. This is applicable for each end-user and developer documentation.”

He then explains that these updates are likely to be made in the course of the Release Candidate period. There may also be updates outside the discharge cycle, if minor changes are applied or any errors found.

As for now, there are 4 foremost categories for end-user documentation on the WordPress Documentation website – WordPress overview, technical guides, support guides, and customization. Meanwhile, the developer documentation is categorized based on more specific topics comparable to code reference, plugins, and the block editor.

It’s essential to notice that developer documentation is different from developer notes. Developer documentation covers broader technical points of WordPress, comparable to one of the best coding practices and easy methods to interact with various APIs. Meanwhile, a developer note comprises the main points of technical changes in an upcoming WordPress release, and what developers must learn about such changes.

While Leo has never touched on developer documentation, he did work on the developer notes for WordPress 6.3. “I gathered notes about latest features, code changes, and its utilization. Then I categorized them, and published them in the course of the release cycle,” he elaborates.

To bring structure and direction, there’s a biweekly meeting throughout the Docs team. The session involves team updates, work progress, and brainstorming, while the triage meeting focuses on assigning GitHub issues to contributors. “So if there’s a high priority documentation, or if there are backlogs, we just post within the triage meeting and ask who desires to work on it,” Leo explains.

He then mentions that the Docs team also carries out a web-based Contributor Day every fourth week of the month. The event is available in the shape of a three-hour Zoom session. Leo adds, “It’s a straightforward entry point for newcomers, and infrequently includes onboarding calls in a separate break room.”

Beyond the Lines, Behind the Lens

Like many WordPress enthusiasts, Leo at all times looks forward to attending WordCamps.

“My first WordCamp was WordCamp Gresik 2022, an area WordCamp in Indonesia. There have been around 200 attendees, only one conference day and one contributor’s day. It gave me the thought of what WordCamp is,” Leo recalls.

At WordCamp Gresik, besides attending presentations, he joined the Polyglots Team’s table. “There was no Documentation table, so I believed it will be great to explore other teams,” Leo adds. He unexpectedly became a General Translation Editor there, broadening his contribution horizon.

One in all the things Leo loves essentially the most about WordCamps is the chance to network with other WordPress enthusiasts and professionals. As a component of the Hostinger team, he also gets to interact with our Managed WordPress hosting customers. “Engaging with fellow WordPress users and industry people expanded my understanding of the worldwide WordPress community,” he expresses.

Leo also enjoys volunteering for WordCamps, especially as a photographer. “My first experience volunteering for WordCamp was in WordCamp Asia 2023, where I volunteered as a photographer. I’ve at all times had a passion for photography, so this let me merge my hobby and contribution while having fun with the event,” Leo states.

While his strong side is landscape and architecture photography, Leo is keen on capturing candid moments at WordCamps. “I like candid shots, people in spontaneous interactions. They capture the WordCamp spirit authentically,” he says.

Although not an lively member of the Photos Team, Leo has made his mark by uploading a few of his photo works to the Photo Directory.

Reflecting on WordCamp memories, his thoughts at all times return to WordCamp Asia’s first day. “It was surreal, meeting and connecting with the worldwide WordPress community face-to-face. These interactions, dinners, and after-parties have carved unforgettable memories,” Leo concludes.

In essence, Leo’s journey within the WordPress community just isn’t nearly contributions. It’s about connections, passion, and memorable moments that span across continents and pixels.