Courtney Robertson (@courane01) – WordPress user profile

Bio

Courtney Robertson, an accomplished Open Source Developer Advocate at GoDaddy, a dedicated WordPress Training Team Faculty Member, and a co-founding board member of The WP Community Collective, effortlessly engages audiences with her relatable insights on getting involved and supporting contributors in the open source community. Staying true to her roots as a professional educator, Courtney seamlessly merges her teaching expertise with her passion for technology.

Serving developers, website creators, and open source enthusiasts, Courtney delivers immense value by drawing from her rich background as a computer science educator and full-stack developer. She is driven by a strong commitment to onboarding the next generation of contributors and advocating for sustainable funding solutions for open source developers.

Interests

Away from the screen, Courtney embraces her creative side, whether it’s by playing her 7-string electric violin, exploring the possibilities of 3D printing, hiking through nature, or tending to her abundant vegetable garden. Her multifaceted interests and genuine enthusiasm make Courtney a truly inspiring contributor in the open source community.

WordPress Origin Story

In 2006, I stumbled upon open-source software while teaching high school business, computer, and information technology. I was on the hunt for tools that could serve as an extension of my classroom. That’s when I discovered WordPress as the perfect solution for a blog for my students.

The four freedoms of open source, granted by the GPL, caught my attention and got me thinking about the potential of a new societal framework. As a teacher, it was crucial to have access to no-cost licenses for classroom use. On top of that, most of the software I used never let me peek at their code to study how they worked.

During my early years with WordPress, I found that documentation was pretty scarce. There were no handy five-minute installs back then! While I was comfortable teaching HTML and CSS, PHP was uncharted territory for me. I knew how to work with databases and write queries, but PHP code remained a mystery. It took me years to decipher the code and find helpful training materials. My initial challenge was registering sidebars to add widgets to a website using the Revolution theme, but soon, I became hooked on enhancing WordPress.

Fast forward to 2009, and I found myself attending two WordCamps. WordCamp Mid-Atlantic had just sold out of tickets, but I was eager to be there. I offered to volunteer at the event and ended up checking attendees in at the door, which turned out to be an amazing networking opportunity. A few months later, I attended WordCamp NYC, where I had the chance to chat with Matt Mullenweg.

In 2014, I was back at WordCamp NYC, this time participating in the contributor day. Although I felt intimidated by the discussions about the upcoming REST API, I decided to join the Marketing or Training teams. Having taught marketing as part of business education, I was torn but ultimately settled with the Training team. I learned how to keep attending meetings and began writing lesson plans on using post formats, later adding theme support and designs for developers. By 2015, I became a team rep.

Early in 2016, I had the fantastic opportunity to teach WordPress at a vocational career technical school for high school students. We built and modified websites, and students were assessed through projects and quizzes using WordPress as a learning management system (LMS). They learned to install plugins, rate and review them, and tweak the code to suit their needs. We also experimented with multiple themes.

Later, I joined The Events Calendar, working in support and marketing release communications. I managed the knowledgebase, product pages, and staff training on release changes. While creating technical documents, I got to test new features and report any bugs I found to the developers.

In the spring of 2020, I found myself teaching WordPress in a high school classroom once again. My students were paid interns learning to build websites, and they even presented at WordCamp Philly that summer. I continued with the same bootcamp, instructing a front-end developer curriculum that covered HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, Git, and WordPress. However, I still felt a need for better educational materials and standards for bootcamps funded by government organizations. I knew I needed to get closer to the source.

By 2022, I joined GoDaddy as a Developer Advocate. Now, my work involves contributing to Training and other teams, advocating for WordPress as open source software, sponsoring events, and communicating with developer-oriented customers and our internal developer staff.

My WordPress journey has taken many twists and turns over the years, but it’s helped me acquire the skills I need for my current role. I’m passionate about onboarding contributors and supporting people at all skill levels in achieving their goals. Collaborating across teams and with friends around the globe is what makes it all worthwhile.

Contributions Sponsored

GoDaddy sponsors Courtney Robertson to contribute 35 hours per week to the following teams: Community, Core, Documentation, Marketing, Meta, TV, Test, and Training.

Member Since: April 14th, 2009
Location: Chambersburg, PA USA
Website: courtneyr.dev
GitHub: courtneyr-dev
Job Title: Open Source Developer Advocate, WordPress Teacher
Employer: GoDaddy
Find me on:

Contribution History

Community Contributor
Core Contributor
Core Team
Marketing Contributor
Meta Contributor
Meta Team
Pattern Author
Photo Contributor
Plugin Developer
Sustainability Contributor
Test Contributor
Training Contributor
Training Team
WordCamp Speaker
WordCamp Volunteer
WordPress.tv Contributor

Committed [3423665] to Plugins SVN:
Tag version 1.1.4
6 days ago
Committed [3423664] to Plugins SVN:
Release 1.1.4: Fix theme.json overriding theme settings - remove ...
6 days ago
Wrote a comment on the post AI for WordPress Hosts, on the site WordPress AI:
I am thinking that for lack of responses leading up to the holidays, it would…
6 days ago
Committed [3423300] to Plugins SVN:
Release 1.1.3: Critical performance fix and pattern simplification ...
7 days ago
Created issue #604 in the WordPress/wporg-main-2022 repository:
Replace “WP Briefing — The WordPress Podcast” promo (podcast no longer in...
1 week ago
Created issue #535 in the WordPress/wordpress.org repository:
Replace “WP Briefing — The WordPress Podcast” promo (podcast no longer in...
1 week ago
Committed [3416926] to Plugins SVN:
Tagging version 1.1.2
2 weeks ago
Committed [3416925] to Plugins SVN:
Release v1.1.2: Editor UI improvements and template fixes New ...
2 weeks ago
Committed [3416861] to Plugins SVN:
Release 1.1.1 - Fix critical template chooser issue Fixed: Format ...
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415891] to Plugins SVN:
Fix blueprint.json location - move to assets/blueprints/ subdirectory ...
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415882] to Plugins SVN:
Add WordPress Playground blueprint for live preview Add ...
2 weeks ago
Wrote a comment on the post AI for WordPress Hosts, on the site WordPress AI:
This is an interesting direction, and I appreciate the push to think about AI at…
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415718] to Plugins SVN:
Tagging version 1.0.3
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415717] to Plugins SVN:
Deploy version 1.0.3 to trunk - Fix plugin naming: now consistently ...
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415637] to Plugins SVN:
Tagging version 1.0.1
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415636] to Plugins SVN:
Deploy version 1.0.1 to trunk - Fix plugin naming: now consistently ...
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415435] to Plugins SVN:
Tagging version 1.0.1
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415433] to Plugins SVN:
Deploy version 1.0.1 to trunk - Fix plugin naming: now consistently ...
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415429] to Plugins SVN:
Deploy version 1.0.0 to trunk - Initial release with full XFN 1.1 ...
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415421] to Plugins SVN:
Tagging version 1.0.0
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415420] to Plugins SVN:
Deploy version 1.0.0 to trunk - Initial release with full XFN 1.1 ...
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415411] to Plugins SVN:
Tagging version 1.0.0
2 weeks ago
Committed [3415410] to Plugins SVN:
Deploy version 1.0.0 to trunk - Initial release with full XFN 1.1 ...
2 weeks ago
Committed [3413729] to Plugins SVN:
Tag version 1.1.0
3 weeks ago
Committed [3413728] to Plugins SVN:
Update trunk to version 1.1.0
3 weeks ago
Committed [3407391] to Plugins SVN:
Add plugin assets (icon, banners, screenshots)
3 weeks ago
Committed [3407390] to Plugins SVN:
Tagging version 1.0.0 for release
3 weeks ago
Committed [3407389] to Plugins SVN:
Initial commit of Post Formats for Block Themes 1.0.0
3 weeks ago
Closed pull request #56680 on WordPress/gutenberg:
Update javascript-in-the-block-editor.md
4 weeks ago
Is the 45th person to arrive at WordCamp Canada 2025
2 months ago
Wrote a comment on the post A Month in Core – July 2025, on the site Team Updates:
I find some of this to be disingenuous, especially when contributors are receiving funding from…
5 months ago
Created issue #71006 in the WordPress/gutenberg repository:
Feature Request: Auto-Prompt Rename on Group Block Creation and Keyboard Shortcut for...
5 months ago
Wrote a comment on the post WordPress 6.9 Planning Proposal and Call for Volunteers, on the site Make WordPress Core:
I'd like to help with Release Coordination
6 months ago
Received props from @estelaris in Slack:
Props to @courane01, @mwillman1991, @jigar9998, @zunaid321, @shanemuir, @sukhendu2002, @ravigadhiyawp, @kishanjasani, @kausaralm, @sajjad67, @mukesh27, @benjamingosset, @azharderaiya,…
6 months ago
Is the 61st person to arrive at WordCamp Montclair, NJ, USA 2025
6 months ago
Wrote a comment on the post Five for the Future WCEU25 Chat, on the site WordPress.org Project:
Thanks all who attended and participated in the discussion, and @wesrapyd for facilitating the discussion.
6 months ago
Wrote a new post, Five for the Future WCEU25 Chat, on the site WordPress.org Project:
The future of WordPress contributions calls for redefining contribution types beyond code, addressing burnout with…
6 months ago
Wrote a comment on the post Restoring Trust while Preserving Safety, on the site WordPress.org Project:
I’d like to shift focus toward improving how we handle these situations going forward. That…
7 months ago
Wrote a comment on the post WPTV-to-YouTube Sync Resumes, on the site Make WordPress.org Marketing:
I hope the content can continue if/when a full-time person is back at the helm…
7 months ago
Received props from @JeffPaul in Slack:
Props to @audrasjb @desrosj @michelleames @SergeyBiryukov@joemcgill @Mamaduka @marybaum @karmatosed @estelaris @ryelle @paulkevan @themebeans @richtabor @4thhubbard…
8 months ago
Received props from @JeffPaul in Slack:
Props to@desrosj @michelleames @Mamaduka @joemcgill @audrasjb @michelleames @krupajnanda @Benjamin_Zekavica @narenin @joedolson @marybaum @mkrndmane @courane01 @zunaid321…
9 months ago
Mentioned in [60138] on WordPress SVN:
Help/About: Revert subtle color to actually subtle color on Get Involved.
9 months ago
Mentioned in [60136] on WordPress SVN:
Help/About: Revert subtle color to actually subtle color on Get Involved.
9 months ago
Received props from @francina in Slack:
Props to @desrosj @audrasjb @michelleames @joemcgill @johnbillion @webcommsat @shanemuir @pratikgandhi @iamshubhamsp @noruzzaman @eddystile @dhruvang21 @jigar9998…
9 months ago
Created issue #69718 in the WordPress/gutenberg repository:
Style Book Tabs
9 months ago
Wrote a comment on the post Help Test WordPress 6.8, on the site Make WordPress Test:
+make.wordpress.org/docs/
10 months ago
Wrote a comment on the post Brainstorm & Table Lead – WordCamp Asia 2025 Contributor Day, on the site Make WordPress Training:
👋🏻 Hey Chetan I'd be happy to support any table leads
12 months ago
Wrote a comment on the post Hello, WordPress Community – Let’s Chat!, on the site WordPress.org Project:
Would you like this uploaded to https://wordpress.tv? I'd be happy to do so and create…
1 year ago
Wrote a comment on the post Hello, WordPress Community – Let’s Chat!, on the site WordPress.org Project:
looking forward to watching the replay when it is available.
1 year ago
Wrote a new post, Agenda for November 13, 2024, on the site Make WordPress.org:
This week’s meeting will be held at 21UTC on Wednesday, October 4, 2023, and will be hosting. 👋🏻…
1 year ago