How and where to start contributing

This page is a work in progress, and we will update it as we go forward.

Welcome to the world of contributions, new contributor! This is a page that is being set up by the WordPress contributor mentorship group to introduce new contributors to the world of contributions. Read on to find out more!

Global

Slack

An easy way to start contributing is participating in the Make SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channels.

If you do not have a WordPress Slack account, please follow the steps on the make.wordpress.org/chat/ page and use your email address in the form of username@chat.wordpress.org, username being your wordpress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ account username (your username is also the one of your profile https://profiles.wordpress.org/username/).

You can also find International Slack spaces to interact with your local community.

Meetings

There are meetings in most, if not all, teams and groups, you can find the calendar on make.wordpress.org/meetings/. Meetings are often in written format, in the corresponding Slack channel. If a video call is planned, it’s announced in the channel.

Courses

A great way to learn is to follow courses on the topic of your choice. You’ll find a set of courses on the “Contributing to WordPress” chapter.

Handbooks

Teams also have handbooks in the form of https://make.wordpress.org/name-of-team/handbook/
For example, the Community Team handbooks are on https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/

Some teams have one handbook, others have several, listed on that main handbook page for their team.

Latest news

WordPress News
You can see a feed of all publications from all teams on https://make.wordpress.org/latest

Introduction to WordPress

Introduction to the WordPress Open Source Project – Contributor Mentorship – cohort 1
Introduction to the WordPress Open Source Project – Contributor Mentorship – cohort 2
WordPress Release Process
February 2024 WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program

How to contribute to a Team?

Overview of all Teams: this is a work in progress, we are going to have short video overviews of each Team and some groups.

Longer onboarding sessions were recorded during the cohorts of the Mentorship program in July-August 2023 for the first cohort and in February-March 2024 for the second cohort. Some videos can also be from presentations at events. [work in progress]

By team

The list of Teams is on make.wordpress.org. Some teams have different activities spanned over several Slack channels, and there are channels for other projects and working groups not listed as a team.

Team sites

All teams also have a site in the form of https://make.wordpress.org/name-of-team/
For example, the Community Team site is on https://make.wordpress.org/community/

On the main page you’ll find a Welcome box at the top, and information in the right sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme., both with the most relevant information.

Core

Core site
Core Handbook
Onboarding video: How to start contributing to the WordPress Core

Design

Design site
Design Handbook
Onboarding video: Community themes onboarding

Polyglots site
Polyglots Handbook
Onboarding videos:
Introduction to WordPress Polyglots Team – cohort 1
Polyglots onboarding – cohort 2
Onboarding – Polyglots Documentation – cohort 2
Polyglots often interact in separate Slack workspaces for their language or region.

Support

Documentation

Documentation site
Documentation Handbook
Onboarding video: Documentation Team onboarding

Themes

Themes site
Themes Handbook
Onboarding video

Plugins

Plugins site
Plugins Handbook
There is a specific application process for contributors to be vetted to contribute to the PluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party review team