I want to demystify WordPress Contributor Day. I’m currently working on organising and shouting out about the contributor day for WordCamp Manchester, so I thought I would come to WordCamp Europe in Paris and see the biggest WordCamp Contributor Day in Action.
What Is A WordPress Contributor Day?
When I first heard the term ‘WordPress contributor day,’ I imagined it was a day for all the volunteers and speakers to get together. I’m not sure to what purpose; I didn’t think that far. But in case you did have any strange notions like me, here’s what it is. A contributor is anyone who wants to contribute to WordPress.
When I learned this, I thought I would have to know how to code the hard stuff, and I don’t have that level of proficiency, but it wasn’t the case at all. l. There are a dozen or so ways you can be a contributor.
Contribution isn’t limited to WordPress Contributor Day.
Joining the Slack community first is always a good idea. That way, you can see all the different things every day. WordPress Contributor Day isn’t aren’t just limited to WordCamps. If you haven’t already, get yourself a wordpress.org account, and sign up to slack to join the dialogue with thousands of others. Here’s how to do that!
WordPress Core
Although you need to know some code, you don’t have to be an expert. There are contributions available at all levels. You can report bugs, test patches and fix bugs. There are even a list of newbie bugs available for you to look at if you are just getting started. For more reading, see the contributor handbook on WordPress.org.
Design
Has core spooked you a little? Are you more of a front-end type of person? Why not join the design team, where you will be able to shape the design WordPress user interface. Design includes user testing. Developers can make everything work, but it won’t be that great without an intuitive user journey. That’s why thousands of designers have contributed to making the UI what it is today. So you can see just how far WordPress has come. This blog post shows eight years of WordPress Dashboards and how they evolved.
Mobile
The mobile team is suitable for Java, Objective-C or Swift Devel pers. Again, it’s ideal for anyone with an eye for UX design. Mobile also needs testers, especially Android; see the call for testers here.
Accessibility
As you may have guessed, this teamwork on making WordPress as accessible to all as it can be. Teamwork includes coding standards, audits, testing and also the accessibility of the handbook and other reso lack. This group meets weekly on Slack.
Polyglots
You may not know a shred of code, but you may be able to speak and write more than one language. If so, The WordPress Community is near you! Aside from joining in at WordCamps, there is also a global translation day you can join online.
Slack
You can join the forums on Slack. Everyone knows how to do something, so from supporting users to devel pers. Here is a quick start guide to what the support forums are all about.
Themes
If you create themes for WordPress, a team is dedicated to reviewing themes submitted to the theme repository. This group is open to anyone who wants to help out.
Documentation
Everything needs to be documented and in a way that people understand. The documentation team make this possible. This could be contributor documents, developer documentation or the WordPress codex. Again they have their own slack channel and regular meetings.
Training
The community will love to have you if you know how to use WordPress! It doesn’t matter where your skill level lies. There is the need to edit, write, audit, teach and even review lesson plans for co lack. The team meet regularly in Slack.
Meta
It’s the meta team that keep the wordpress.org websites up to date. This teamwork on several projects, so the best way forward is to have a look and see if any of them match your skills and interest.
TV
All things video, A lot of learning, announcements, talks and training is available on WordPress.tv. The WordPress TV Team keep this maintained. If you know anything about video, join this team, but If you don’t, well, they need captioners and translators too.
Flow
As the name suggests, this team are responsible for the whole WordPress experience across all platforms, ensuring the user experience is synchronous, seamless and well flows. Because their description is a little arty, I would join the Slack channel and see what’s involved!
CLI
WordPress-CLI is the Command Line Interface for anyone who doesn’t know. Making installation, automation, staging and deployment much breezier. If you are intrigued, check out their contributing guide for more information.
Marketing
Last but not least, The best product in the world is nothing without an audience. Even WordPress, in all its ubiquitous glory, still looks for ways to reach more people. If you are an ideas person, this group could be for you. WordPress is looking for ways to market to agencies, the end-user, and the community. So many users and developers still don’t realise there is an active community and what they do. Hence this post. So if you have some marketing skills, it could be on the sales side or the data analytics side. This team needs your help!
Not every WordPress contributor day involves all teams, so the best way to get involved with WordPress at any stage is to join the slack group and jump right in!
Andi Wilkinson is a WordPress Developer & UX/UI Designer and Co-founder of web design agency: Made By Factory. We make beautiful and bespoke WordPress websites & polished PPC Campaigns that convert.
