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.
Read on to find out more about how you can take part in Contributor Day at #WCEU 2020 Online and help shape the future of WordPress!
What is Contributor Day?
The majority of contributors to WordPress do so remotely online. However, the WordPress community hosts a number of events throughout the year where contributors can meet and work together in person.
While local communities occasionally host standalone sessions, Contributor Days are more often associated with WordCamps, relaxed and enjoyable conferences covering everything related to WordPress.
Contributor Days are designed with everyone in mind, meaning anyone can take part, regardless of their experience, skills or professional background.
They are a good opportunity for those who already contribute remotely online to get together, make friends, and collaborate with each other in person.
The sessions are also an excellent way 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.
Last year WCEU helped 169 new contributors get started and this year we want to encourage even more people to join in!
Who can get involved?
Contributor Days are for everyone. You do not need to be a coder! Whatever your area of knowledge, and whatever your level of experience, you will be welcome.
There will be plenty of expert guidance and encouragement on hand, 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.
What could I do?
There are lots of different ways you can help out at Contributor Day.
Whether you’re a designer, developer, marketer, linguist or have other talents, there will be a team for you!
Here are the areas in which you could contribute at WCEU 2020 Online:
- Accessibility
- Community
- Core
- Design
- Documentation
- Hosting
- Marketing
- Meta
- Mobile
- Polyglots
- Plugins
- Support
- Test
- Tide
- Themes
- Training
- WordPress.tv
- WP-CLI
Don’t be afraid to try something new: we hope to have facilitators for each of these teams at the WCEU 2020 Online Contributor Day whose role will be to welcome, guide and help you get started in your chosen area.
If you’re not sure which team is for you, try out our Contributor Orientation Tool or visit Make WordPress to help you decide which one to join.
Why contribute?
1. Give back to the community
Many individuals and organisations benefit in innumerable ways from WordPress, a software which is both free and priceless at the same time.
If you make your living from WordPress or have a side gig where you benefit from WordPress, then contributing to the project can be your way of giving back, by helping to make WordPress better for everyone.
2. Meet new (and old) friends
Contributor Day is a great place to forge new friendships by meeting other members of the community and bonding over shared interests.
Likewise, if you are already contributing, the day offers the perfect opportunity to catch up with your fellow contributors, especially if you mostly work remotely and by yourself.
It is also a chance to meet in person those experienced contributors who you may have followed for a long time, but who you have only ever encountered on Slack or GitHub.
3. Develop your skills
Coming to a Contributor Day is a great way to get started in the WordPress world.
You will meet friendly experts who will help you get set up, offer encouragement, and guide you onto your chosen contributing path.
Not only will all current and future users of WordPress benefit from your contribution, but you will undoubtedly learn and develop your own skills. It’s a win-win situation!
Sounds good, how do I take part?
Excellent, we’re happy to have you on board!
To take part in WordCamp Europe 2020 Online’s Contributor Day you will need to select that you would like to attend Contributor Day when registering for your WCEU ticket.
Find out more
In the meantime, check out the information on Make WordPress and explore our Contributor Orientation Tool to help you decide which team to join.
And if you are still unsure about whether to come along, take a few minutes to read more about why contributing to WordPress benefits everyone here.