WordPress is Open Source software designed for everyone. This means that anyone is welcome to collaborate on and contribute to WordPress in a variety of ways.
Similarly, WCEU Contributor Day is open to everyone. You do not need to be a coder!
WordCamp Europe 2020 Online’s Contributor Day will take place on 4 June and we hope to see you there. Whatever your area of knowledge, and whatever your level of experience, you will be welcome.
On the day, we will be running sessions for new contributors to find out more about how they can get involved, with experienced WordPressers on hand to share their knowledge and offer guidance.
So, if you want to learn something new, or develop your skills in a different area, come along to Contributor Day and give it a go.
Do I need to have prior experience?
No, you don’t need any prior contributing experience – anyone can get involved and many new contributors get started at Contributor Days at WordCamps around the world. They are a great way of gaining experience and improving your skills whilst making a meaningful contribution to a widely-used Open Source project.
For those unsure about how they can best contribute to the WordPress project, a Contributor Day also represents an opportunity to dip a toe in the water of the different areas and ways of contributing, and to discover what appeals to you or matches your skillset.
There will be experienced members of the WordPress community on hand to help you throughout the day, especially if you fancy trying out something completely new.
Furthermore, you don’t need to be an expert in the area you choose to contribute to. We welcome all levels of expertise: our facilitators will be able to help you direct your skills towards a specific task or area, to make your contributing effective and fun.
Don’t forget, even the experts started out as beginners!
Do I need to be a developer?
You do not have to be a programmer to take part. There are plenty of other ways in which you can contribute to WordPress and the eco-system surrounding it.
At the time of writing there are 18 teams involved in making WordPress. Here are some examples of tasks that benefit the community, but don’t require a single line of code:
- do you speak more than one language? If so the Polyglots team would love to have you on board to help in translating core, themes, plugins or documentation into other languages. There is much to do in this area
- are you great at explaining complex topics clearly and simply? Then you have a way with words and an ability to communicate and explain things in a way that makes it easy for others to understand. You would be great at writing documentation
- do you have video production skills or a keen eye for design? Both the WordPress TV and Design teams are always on the lookout for new contributors
Visit make.wordpress.org for all the different ways in which you can start contributing to the globalWordPress project. From Community to Testing, from Marketing to Training, there really is a task for everyone!
I am a developer, can I still come?
Of course! There are a number of teams where your skills will be helpful: Core, Meta, Mobile, Testing, WP-CLI, to name just a few.
Do I need to prepare for it?
Though not mandatory, you will get more from the day if you arrive with some idea of what you want to do and if you take a little time beforehand to prepare.
To help you decide on a contributing area, visit the Make website for information about what each team does. You may also find our Contributor Orientation Tool useful.
We will also be releasing a series of onboarding guides to help you prepare ahead of the event.
Our guides will also contain instructions on how to set up your computer with any software that you might need on the big day to help ensure that you can hit the ground running.
Don’t worry if you’re not set up in advance though. There will be experienced contributors on hand to help you on the day so that you can start contributing quickly.
You will be amongst friends and colleagues who only want to see you succeed, and we will do our utmost in the run up to the event to ensure you have the best contributing experience possible.
If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to contact us.
Take part in Contributor Day
So whether you have a way with words, a facility with languages (natural and programming) or an eye for design, we look forward to helping you make your first contribution.
To register for WCEU 2020 Online’s Contributor Day you will need to select the option to say that you would like to attend when you register for your WCEU ticket.