Tuesday Trainings: How do I contribute to WordPress?

This year we’ve changed the format of Tuesday Trainings to better get directly at the issues that seem to be on the minds of folks in our community. How are we doing that? Great question. We’re either seeking to answer commonly asked questions or address commonly heard complaints, concerns, and confusions.

If there’s a question you’d like to see answered or a topic you’d like to see discussed, please share it in the comments or email me at support@wordcamp.org with the subject line Tuesday Trainings. Now onto this week’s topic.

This week’s question: How do I contribute to WordPress?

This is a great question… and usually when someone asks how they contribute to WordPress we would jump right in and tell them all about the exciting opportunities to contribute no matter what your specialty or skill level. But sometimes it’s not how you CAN contribute to WordPress that people are asking… it’s actually wondering how DO I DO THIS?

Well this week my goal is to help you learn the HOW TO part of getting involved in WordPress contribution. Not just here on the community team, but across the program. How am I going to do that, you may ask? By sharing resources!

If you’re reading this post on the site (rather than in email) you’re on the Make WordPress Community site. The Community page is just part of an entire network of sites built and connected to keep contributors in the know and welcome new contributors. So let’s start off with a link to the homepage of Make WordPress – this is the gateway to everything. You’ll find a listing of all the teams within the WordPress project with a link to their page, a description of what they do, and the date and time of their next scheduled meeting. Interested in contributing to AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility)? CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.? Marketing? TV? Click the link and you’re transported to a site made to help bring you up to date and ready to contribute. If you click on a few of those and take a look you’ll start to notice something. 

On each site up in the right corner you’ll see ways you can get involved or learn more. They vary from team to team but the one thing you’ll find in each place is the team’s handbook. This documentation has been created by each team and is what you need to know so that you can start contributing. 

What are the teams?

With 19 teams listed on that site there is no way I’m able to tell you about all of them. At least not today. But for the next few weeks I will feature several teams here on Tuesday Trainings to give you a little more information and the teams a little more visibility!

Core

The core team makes WordPress. Whether you’re a seasoned PHPPHP PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. http://php.net/manual/en/intro-whatis.php., HTMLHTML HTML is an acronym for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is a markup language that is used in the development of web pages and websites., JavaScriptJavaScript JavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. https://www.javascript.com/. or CSSCSS CSS is an acronym for cascading style sheets. This is what controls the design or look and feel of a site. developer or are just learning to code, we’d love to have you on board. You can write code, fix bugs, debate decisions, and help with development. 

Design

The design group is focused on the designing and developing the user interface. It’s a home for designers and UXers alike. There are regular discussions about mockups, design, and user testing.

Mobile

The mobile team builds the iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. and Android apps. Lend them your Java, Objective-C, or Swift skills. The team also needs designers, UXUX UX is an acronym for User Experience - the way the user uses the UI. Think ‘what they are doing’ and less about how they do it. experts, and testers to give users a smooth experience on every device.

Accessibility

The a11yAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) group provides accessibility expertise across the project. They make sure that WordPress core and all of WordPress’ resources are accessible.

Questions?

If you’re interested in working on any of these teams, there’s no time like the present. Check them out and see if there’s a fit for you. Come back next week for another set of teams, and if you have any questions, as always, please ask in comments!

#tuesdaytrainings