Welcome to Contributor Day!
Contributor Day will take place on 8 June.
We’re delighted to see that you’re interested in joining Contributor Day at WordCamp Europe 2023! Contributor Day is on 8 June and runs all day.
We’re doing everything to make sure you have a great time! In the meantime, here’s how you can sign up – and below you can find all the information you need to have a successful Contributor Day. See you there!
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What is Contributor Day?
Contributor Day is a whole day dedicated to creating an opportunity for WordPress users to come together and contribute to the open source WordPress project. WordPress relies on people like you pitching in to exist (and thrive!) – and you can make a difference, even in just one day. Whether this is your first time contributing or are a veteran, we hope that you’ll continue to support the project as part of Contributor Day, and beyond!
Contributor Day is a fun event giving you a chance to participate in activities such as translating, writing documentation, bug fixing, testing and so much more!
If this is your first time contributing, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered – keep reading so you’re prepared to make the most of the day! Contributor Day offers you an opportunity to learn how to contribute to WordPress, sharpen your skills by collaborating with other members of the community, get to know us a little more, and just have an all around great time. So it’s a day of fun and connection but you might still be asking yourself…
What is contributing?
Contributing to an open source project, like WordPress, means actively participating in its development, improvement, and maintenance. This can involve technical tasks and non-technical ones, which could include:
Technical tasks
- Test and report bugs on the WordPress core software, themes, and plugins
- Write and submit patches for bug fixes or new features to WordPress core or plugins
- Design or develop a WordPress theme or plugin and share it on WordPress.org
- Work on the WordPress mobile apps – contribute to the code, improve the UX and test
Non-technical tasks
- Write or improve documentation for WordPress
- Help translate WordPress into your local language – you can translate documents, videos (and / or add subtitles), for example
- Participate in the WordPress support forums and help other users solve problems
- Help, create or improve the WordPress lesson plans and related materials for instructors
- Contribute to promoting WordPress
- Take photos for the Openverse and/or help curate these
- Organise or participate in local WordPress meetups and WordCamps
… and many other things! Head over to https://make.wordpress.org/ to learn more about the various teams and what they do.
Why should I consider signing up?
The reasons are countless, but here are a few:
If you use (and love!) WordPress like we do, you know it literally relies on each and every contribution to be the awesome tool that powers over 43% of the web. So the number one reason you’d want to sign up and bring your best is because without contributors like you, WordPress wouldn’t be what it is today.
But there’s more, of course! You also get to:
- Meet other contributors, make new friends and expand your professional network
- Use your skills for good, learn (or test out) new skills.
- Have an amazing time – get energised by the buzz of the contributor community!
What can I expect?
Overall, you can expect to have a great day while helping make your favourite open-source software even better. More specifically:
- You can expect a lot of buzz in the room. Contributor Days are known to be dynamic events, with energy flowing in all directions!
- You can expect guidance to make sure you are able to give your best.
- You can also expect a variety of options to contribute – and all the flexibility you need. If you want to contribute with your strengths – that’s great! If you’d rather pursue a new interest – also great – You can even switch during the event, if you find yourself at the wrong table!
How can I contribute?
There are two ways to connect. You can contribute in person, if you’re joining the event in Athens, or remotely, of course!
Contributing in person
If you’re joining us in person, thank you for stepping up to bring your best to the table, literally! We’re all committed to making sure you have a great event – here’s all you need to know:
- Location: Megaron Convention Center, Athens [Venue Information]
- Date: 8 June 2023
Please keep in mind that in order to attend and participate in our Contributor Day, you’ll need to have your Contributor Day ticket. Please see the registration section for further information.
Schedule
- 08.30 Registration
- 09.15 Opening and welcome
- 10.00 Contributing to WordPress
- 12.15 Group photo
- 12.30 Lunch
- 14.00 Contributing to WordPress
- 16.30 Teams summaries and wrap-up
Please plan to arrive an hour before the event so you can register and mingle. Our team will be there to guide you to find your way from Registration to the Contributor Day room.
Contributing remotely
To know that you’re willing to join us even though you cannot make it to WordCamp is precious to us, thank you!
- Location: you’ll be joining us from the comfort of your living room, or maybe a local cafe, or anywhere else you like to work – but, more specifically see you in Slack, in the #contributor-day channel. Once there, you can join the channel for the team(s) you plan to join – and, naturally, we’ll have someone there to guide you throughout the day!
- Date: 8 June 2023
Schedule
- 09:30 Welcome on Slack channel
- 10:00 Meet with the teams on their own channels
- 12:00 – 14:00 Lunch break
- 14:00 – 16:30 Further contributing
Join us in the #wceu Slack channel https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C1HRSGE2X at 9:30am and to learn about what will be happening during the day, and at 10:00 contributors will be able to join their Make team Slack channel
How can I prepare for Contributor Day?
- Sign up for a wordpress.org account. This account can be used for all contributing activities.
- Create a gravatar.com account. If you’d like to use an image/avatar on your WordPress Profile go to gravatar.com and create an account using the same email.
- Join the international Make WordPress Slack team.
- For this you need an invite so, while logged in with your wordpress.org account, visit the WordPress + Slack page and click the link to receive the invite via email.
- From the email login to the Slack team. For your email address, use {username}@chat.wordpress.org where {username} is the user name you picked for wordpress.org. If possible, pick the same username for Slack.
- Search for #contributor-day channel
- If you don’t already use Slack you can access it here.
- Get ready to plug in!
Contributor Day Teams
When you register for the event, you’ll be able to pick your team. Or you can pick it later. You can even pick it on the day – and, if need be, you can also course correct on the day itself!
You’ll have a choice among these teams:
Core
The core team contributes to the background code for WordPress.
Join this table to write new code, update existing code, or even fix bugs.
This is for you if you know PHP, HTML, JavaScript or CSS – there are tasks for all levels.
Core Contributor Handbook
Design
The design group focuses on designing the user interface.
Join this table to work on mockups, design and user testing.
This is for you if you’re into design and UX.
Mobile
The mobile team builds the iOS / Android apps.
Join this table to write code, fix bugs, or help with design, UX, and testing.
This is for you if you know Java, Objective-C, or Swift (any level) or design, UX, and testing.
Accessibility
The a11y group provides accessibility expertise across the project.
Join this table to help make WordPress and all our resources accessible.
This is for you if you’re passionate (or even just interested) in accessibility.
Polyglots
WordPress is used all over the world and in many different languages.
Join this table to help translate WordPress into your own language.
This is for you if you know other languages and have an interest in translation.
Support
Answering a question in the support forums or IRC is one of the easiest ways to start contributing. Everyone knows the answer to something!
Join this table to lend a hand in the forums.
Documentation
Good documentation lets people help themselves when they get stuck.
Join this group to help create or improve documentation.
This is for you if you have a knack for writing.
Themes
The Theme Review Team reviews and approves every Theme submitted to the WordPress Theme repository.
Join this table to sharpen your own Theme development skills.
Plugins
Join this table to keep up with the latest updates, find resources, and learn about any issues around Plugin development.
This is for you if you are a Plugin developer.
Community
Join this table if you’re interested in organising a meetup or a WordCamp.
There are groups working to support events, to create outreach and training programs, and generally support the community.
Meta
The Meta team makes the WordPress.org site, provides support, and builds tools for use by all the contributor groups.
Join this table if you want to help make WordPress.org better.
Getting started at Contributor Day
Other software Docker, Composer, and Node/NPM. Experience with WP Env is helpful. Code editor like SublimeText or VSCode.
Training
The WordPress training team helps people learn to use, extend, and contribute to downloadable lesson plans for instructors via learn.wordpress.org.
This is for you if you enjoy teaching people how to use and build stuff for WordPress.
Test
The Test team patrols the flow across the entire WordPress ecosystem on every device.
Join this table to test, document, and report on the WordPress user experience.
TV
The TV team reviews and approves every video submitted to WordPress.tv.
Join this table to work on video and captioning and subtitling of published videos.
Marketing
The Marketing team promotes WordPress to current and future users and contributors.
Join this table to help create and amplify campaigns to support the growth of the WordPress project.
CLI
WP-CLI is the official command line tool for interacting with and managing your WordPress sites.
Join this table to help with making the command line interact better with WordPress.
Hosting
The hosting team works to improve WordPress’ end-user experience across hosting environments.
Join this table if you’d like to help out making sure WordPress works well on the most diverse sets of hosting stacks.
Tide
Tide is a series of automated tests run against every plugin and theme in the directory and then displays PHP compatibility and test errors/warnings in the directory.
Join this team to help with making sure WordPress’ extra code base is tested better.
Openverse
Openverse is a search engine for openly-licensed media.
Join this table to help create new features and new media types and develop WordPress integrations to share Openverse with the entire WordPress community.
Photos
The Photo Directory team moderates every photo submitted to the WordPress Photo Directory.
Join this table to work on improving the directory itself, and provide resources and documentation to educate, encourage, and facilitate photo contributors.
Core Performance
The core performance team is dedicated to monitoring, enhancing, and promoting performance in WordPress core and its surrounding ecosystem.
Join this table to help with making WordPress core faster, more scalable.
Code editor like SublimeText or VSCode
Register for Contributor Day
Registration has now closed
Registration was open between 15 March 2023 to 26 May 2023
Workshop for Kids
One of the goals of WordPress is to give a voice to everyone, no matter what the age. We’re introducing WordPress to future generations with a brand-new session during Contributor Day at WordCamp Europe.
During the workshop, kids will have the opportunity to create their own website using WordPress. In three hours, with the help of volunteers, they’ll have a chance to set up a website, choose a theme, and learn how to create different content types.