I was at WordCamp Seattle a couple of weeks ago and I heard Andrea Middleton talk about contributing to WordPress in her keynote speech. It was a very inspiring talk. Anyone who heard her probably left the room inspired to contribute to the WordPress community.
While I was at the WordCamp, I had conversations about organizing meetups and WordCamps, and I heard the same issues that I faced as a meetup and WordCamp organizer. Many people are energetic, want to help out and eagerly offer suggestions. But, when it comes to action, not many show up. People want to learn WordPress, but not many are willing to give back to the community. They have ideas and interesting topics for meetups, suggestions on how to improve the documentation and much more. But, unfortunately, they do not want to put in the time to make those ideas a reality.
So, I thought I would share my thoughts on contributing to WordPress and what you get back in return (yes… you do get something great in return).
Usually when someone is interested in contributing, they are given this website to go to for more information – https://make.wordpress.org/. It is an amazing website with lots of information. But, it also says “If you want to get involved in WordPress, this is the place to be”. Very nice. But, it does not tell you why you should get involved with WordPress and I think there is a good reason for that too. It is very difficult to summarize it into one line.
Why do we need to contribute to WordPress?
WordPress is an open source software which means it is being maintained by users like you and me. Many users around the globe are pitching in their time to make WordPress what it is and working towards improving it all the time. So, if you have ideas about how WordPress should be in the future, you need to join the people who are doing it and pitch in your ideas and work to make those ideas come true.
WordPress is not owned by one company who decides what goes into the next release. It is guided by teams from around the world – teams made of people who use WordPress on a daily basis. There are some companies that sponsor to contribute to WordPress. Many people who contribute do so in their free time.
So, why do these people spend so much of their time and energy volunteering when they could be using the same time to work on their business? The answer is simple. They do it because they care. They care about WordPress. They care about the community that has been built around WordPress. It is a community made up of people around the world. They care about bringing the nice things to people. They believe in supporting the open source projects.
According to Matt Mullenweg, contributing to open source, and particularly the WordPress project, is “probably one of the best learning opportunities on the Internet.” That is so true. Contributing helps you learn more about WordPress. You will feel good about the fact that you helped millions of people who are using WordPress. You will make connections with people who share the same kind of passion.
How do I get started?
This was the first question on my mind more than the why. There are a number of ways to contribute. You can answer support questions, submit patches for bugs, edit documentation, help with translation and more. These are few of the ones listed on https://make.wordpress.org/ which also gives you more information on how to get involved.
Here is some information to get you started:
- The first step is to create an account at https://wordpress.org/.
- The second step is to join the WordPress team on Slack – https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. You will need an invite to be able to join. Just follow the instructions on the page to get an invite. All the team meetings and conversations happen on Slack.
- Then go to this site – https://make.wordpress.org/. There is a big list of things where you can contribute.
- Click on the area you would like to work. For example, let’s select ‘Support’.
- Once you are on the support page – you will see all the posts related to Support. You can subscribe to the posts to keep track. There is also a link to the ‘Support Forums’ which will give you more information.
- Once you are on the support page – https://wordpress.org/support/welcome/, there are lists on the sidebar that you can go into to see the topics. Once you see a question that you can help with, just type in your answer. You need to be logged in to be able to reply to the topic.
If you are not happy with any of the documentation, or if you think the docs need to be updated, you can go in and edit the docs yourself. If you think you want WordPress in your language, feel free to go ahead and translate it or help with translation. If you have a patch to fix a bug, go ahead and submit it. You can be a WordPress plugin or theme reviewer and many more.
The easiest way to start contributing is through support. It makes sense, too. Whether you are new to WP or have been using it for a long time, you will always have a question in mind. Support groups are one of the best places to find answers. So, while you are looking for answers, if you come across some question you know the answer to, you can just jump in and answer that.
Another way to contribute is through Meetups and WordCamps. WordPress meetups are a great place to meet people who share the same passion. Meetups bring local WordPress users together under one roof. As a meetup organizer, you are providing the space and the opportunity for people to connect and helping build the local WordPress community.
I got my first few clients after I started going to Meetups. As a new freelancer, meetups gave me not only the place to have interesting conversations, but also a place where I could get my questions answered. After attending a few meetups, I started organizing a monthly help desk meetup. A lot of people showed up on some days and there were only a couple of people the other days. But, every month there were at least a couple of people who needed help with something that they could not figure out even after following some tutorials. It felt really good to be able to help people. I wish I had that kind of help when I was new to WordPress.
It also gave me the confidence that I was good at what I do. I am kind of an introvert who is not very comfortable up on stage or talking in front of more than 3- 4 people. So, being an organizer and standing up in front of more than 10- 15 people was already a tad bit out of my comfort zone. But, the more I did it, the better I was. So, there is always something you get in return. Meetups became a very big part of life, and when I moved out of Seattle this summer, I missed them.
WordCamps are much bigger than meetups. They are WordPress conferences organized entirely by a group of volunteers. WordCamps bring people together from different states and countries as well. These usually happen in big cities and are one or two-day events (on the weekends).
Being a speaker, volunteer or a sponsor at WordCamps are all good ways to give back to the community. Being involved in organizing a WordCamp is no easy task but, it is fun. I was the volunteer wrangler for two WordCamps at Seattle and I was the co-lead organizer for one year. I learned so many things that would not have learned otherwise. I made some amazing friends by being part of the organizing team. More than anything it felt so good to put together an event that big. This year when I went back to Seattle, it was actually very weird to just be an attendee. It was nice, too, as I actually got to go to some of the talks. But, I sure missed helping out.
Here is an article from Matt Mullenweg where he talks about companies dedicating 5% of their people to improve WordPress. I think that is a good rule of thumb and can apply to individuals too. If not 5%, you can do whatever works for you. You can help in any way you can and spend how much time you want to. Every little thing counts. So, as you are making business and personal goals for the new year, please do also considerate to donate some of your time to give back to WordPress.