Comments on: Be Kind, Educate

By: Jacob Santos · Why I’m not ready to leave the WordPress Community

Jacob Santos · Why I’m not ready to leave the WordPress Community — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:19:16 +0000

[...] I become bored with it. My history with joining the WordPress Community is the exact opposite of Mark Ghosh, in that I entered the community after many years of programming and many failed projects, [...]

By: Joe Hall

Joe Hall — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:38:46 +0000

Every now and then you run across something on the net that really sticks out as both profound and all encompassing of the true spirit of the internet. This post with your amazing description of the WP community definitely falls into that category. Bravo! And, God Bless WordPress!

By: Edde

Edde — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:26:29 +0000

How eloquently put. I couldn’t agree more.

Let me just use the opportunity to say thanks to you and Lorelle for your useful contributions to the WordPress community. The rest has already been said by you and Rod, who was kind enough to write down what I was about to add.

By: Lorelle

Lorelle — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:41:20 +0000

Wow! I loved this before I even got to the part about me! I’m stunned. Thank you for the kind words.

When you took over Weblog Tools Collection, Matt was very clear that you would have to prove your worth before he’d allow the site back into the community fold. You proved your worth immediately and have continued to set the standards SO HIGH, my friend, from day one.

Thank you for all you do and all you give back to us, the WordPress Community. I want to be more like YOU!

By: Marina

Marina — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:33:09 +0000

Amazing post!!!! I’m not used to leave “author-fan-like” comments, but this time you deserve it A LOT.
I’ve moved from blogger because of the “lanky kid from Texas with a lot of ideas and some fantastic leadership skills” at a Wordcamp in Argentina, and there is no way that I could be more grateful to him for making me do this change.
The minute you perform the “5-minute installation” (in fact, less than 5 minutes) you instantly become a part of a community, where blog-dummies like me could seek and give advice any-time, any-where and any-languaje.
Now I’ll take YOUR advice, I’ll be kind and I’ll try to educate more

By: Elaine

Elaine — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:38:06 +0000

loved your post.. i’m an ex computer programmer, and the course of study was so difficult that people dropped like flies, nervous breakdowns, even cancer… 49 people started, 9 graduated.. the first day in that college, i sat in fear in the cafeteria, waiting for my muscles to be able to move again but alas i was a business/mainframe programmer, and can’t help y’all with anything, i do love wordpress tho, i think it’s a shining star of what the internet should be.

By: Rod

Rod — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:26:49 +0000

I agree, there is a great “open-handed” spirit in the WordPress community, just like in most other open-source communities, which is what I love about the movement. Open-source software really does make the world a better place, and I find I’m more appreciative of the software because it’s kind of like a gift, rather than something I’ve gone out and purchased. This altruistic nature of OS software really does remind me too, that there is a lot of good in people.

By: mercime

mercime — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:41:59 +0000

Wow, that was profound. Didn’t expect that, and that’s what made this reading so special. Thank you for sharing.

By: aristy

aristy — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:03:43 +0000

Oh, very deep post. Good one sir.

By: Alejandro Urrutia Daglio

Alejandro Urrutia Daglio — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:15:08 +0000

Excellent post Mark, as you and other said, the strenght of WordPress is on every little improvement that everyone made as “WPers”, plugin, theme developement, hacking, supporting, sharing makes that everyone of us could grow on different fields.

By: Tal galili

Tal galili — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:08:18 +0000

Your words touched me. Thank you!

By: mosey

mosey — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:05:20 +0000

As the other comments have pointed out, this is an excellent post! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts - I think it’s just as good and powerful as “Price of Freedom” by Matt Mullenweg (which was actually in response to one of Mark Ghosh’s posts: “Turning the other cheek“)
Sometimes, it can be frustrating replying to posts on the forums, and this is inevitably reflected in the reply. But after reading this article, I feel I should really try to be more patient with people - both on the Forums but also in real life.

By: BillH

BillH — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:12:24 +0000

Excellent post. We all need to remember that we were all once noobs. We can’t be too good or too “high and mighty” that we can’t spare a few minutes to help a noob get what we might consider a simple question answered. After all, that “noob” may come up with the next cool plugin for WordPress that everyone simply HAS to have!

By: El frasco de los centavos | Trikinhuelas

El frasco de los centavos | Trikinhuelas — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:19:16 +0000

[...] a un artículo de Mark Gosh en Weblog Tools Collection sobre la comunidad WordPress) Tags: WordPress [...]

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:29:05 +0000

What can I say? GREAT POST!!!

@LISA:

In my opinion, your comment is the code of conduct for every WordPress user.

By: Yemoonyah

Yemoonyah — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:56:50 +0000

Beautiful post.
As an artist who for now still belongs to the starving artists guild, Wordpress made a huge impact on my life when I discovered it.It gave me the possibility to show my art to the world without having to invest any money I don’t have.
With all the available themes and plugins I was able to set up a site with which I can even sell my creations and I as soon as I make some money the developers will get their well earned donations.
As I know there are a lot of other talented artists out there without any means,I started to post articles on how to use the internet in general and especially Wordpress to set up your own art business.
My boyfriend tells me I have the WP fever and he is right. I love Wp!

By: Dhruva Sagar

Dhruva Sagar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:16:50 +0000

What can I say, it is absolutely true, each and every word you said.
The beauty of wordpress isn’t just in the software, but it lies in the community it has built over the years!
I pledge to do the same my friend. I have been using wordpress for over 2 years now and I recently am planning to shift to a new domain. Not going to be good for SEO of my site, but I’ll love to start from scratch.

By: countzeero

countzeero — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:27:07 +0000

I couldn´t help but grin as I opened my Dashboard this morning and see a news feed entitled “be kind, educate”. This simple phrase stuck with me last night as we discussed the “implications” of certain comments on a WeblogTools post on the plug-in updating mechanism. I am a professional Graphic Designer with many years of experience and although I have only been using wordpress for a little over 3 months I already feel like “Part of The Family”. Wordpress and more importantly the Wordpress Community has enabled me to move my emphasis as a Designer into whole new fields, all of the sudden I “understand” php and sql, I approach webdesign with a new enthusiasm and optimism beyond just producing “pretty” websites with flash and embedded media. I am madly enthusiastic about Wordpress and hope to become a valued and respected member of this community, I believe that keeping your “three little words” at the forefront of my activities and contributions will help me become just that. Thanks.

By: More Wordpress Plugins (and Two Notes of Gratitude) | afewgoodpens.com

More Wordpress Plugins (and Two Notes of Gratitude) | afewgoodpens.com — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:41:46 +0000

[...] Be Kind, Educate [...]

By: xxxevilgrinxxx

xxxevilgrinxxx — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:20:38 +0000

Your post could as easily be applied to so many different kinds of forums. Excellent advice all around, for anyone that has to deal with a large amount of people, especially online.
But since we’re here talking about Wordpress….
what do I pledge to Wordpress?
- in the forums I’ll ignore the negative, unhelpful posts that make my hackles rise and settle on the ones I can learn something from
- whatever small bits of information I’ve managed to squirrel away, I’ll offer when I can
What can Wordpress pledge to me?
- to remain open source
- to keep loving what they do, and passing that on