A few weeks ago, I published the first version of the WordPress JavaScript Coding Standards to the WordPress Codex. Since then, it’s already been updated with a variety of improvements from several other developers who are much more capable than I am.
However, there’s currently a major overhaul of certain documentation going on. For example, a number of us are working on the Core Contributor Handbook, the Theme Developer Handbook, the Plugin Developer Handbook, and more.
As of today, the WordPress JavaScript Coding Standards are now part of the Core Contributor Handbook.
WordPress JavaScript Coding Standards

The WordPress JavaScript Coding Standards in the Core Contributor Handbook
So what does this mean from a reference standpoint? Generally speaking, nothing other than the fact that you’ll need to update your bookmarks (or favorites or whatever your browser calls them :).
If, however, you’re looking to contribute to the coding standards, there are now two ways in which you can get involved:
- If you’re sure of a change that you’d like to make, then you can use your WordPress.org login credentials. See Helen’s comment for more information.
- If, on the other hand, you have a general question or a point of discussion, please feel free to leave a comment on the article’s page.
Also, I’d like to thank Kim Parsell for migrating the documentation from the Codex to the new handbook, and I look forward to seeing the article continue to be refined.
Remember, the ultimate goal is for us to have a consistent standard by which we’re all writing our JavaScript, so let’s aim to make this document as comprehensive as possible.
Not quite true – your WordPress.org login will work for the handbook and should automatically grant you the role of editor, essentially making it function as a wiki. Comments are good if you’re not sure, though. :)
Thanks for the clarification on this, Helen.
When Kim and I were talking, she had mentioned taking the comment route so I wanted to make sure to promote that in the post.
Given your comment, I’ll make sure to update the post, as well!
I wasn’t aware of that Helen, so thank you for explaining the process. :)
Nope. I logged in to the handbook and I don’t have the ability to edit it. What theme is the handbook using? I’m looking for something similar for internal documentation at work.
Leave a comment on the page or ping Kim and they should be able to get you taken care of.
Also, that theme is Twentyeleven.
And the table of contents functionality? Custom plugin?
Likely just the custom menu widget :).
It looks like it’s parsing the document and finding headlines to build the table of contents and add the anchor links.
The Table of Contents in the left sidebar is nothing more than a custom menu, like Tom said. Pages are added manually, as they are completed. :) I’ll check on what needs to be done to get you access Russell.