Title: [OLD] HelpHub development
Author: Jon (Kenshino)
Published: June 13, 2016
Last modified: April 23, 2026

---

# [OLD] HelpHub development

## In this article

 * [Contributing Code](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#contributing-code)
 * [The workflow of getting started](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#the-workflow-of-getting-started)
 * [Installing VVV](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#installing-vvv)
    - [Overview](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#overview)
    - [Installing and Configuring VVV](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#installing-and-configuring-vvv)
    - [Using Your Local Development Environment](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#using-your-local-development-environment)
 * [Using GitHub to Contribute Code to HelpHub](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#using-github-to-contribute-code-to-helphub)
 * [Development Guidelines](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#development-guidelines)

[↑ Back to top](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

**Note: This project was completed. Thank you for your contribution.**

Development is being managed through [GitHub](https://github.com/Kenshino/HelpHub).
Guidelines for development are fleshed out in the repo readme, but if you would 
like to get involved there then please pingPing The act of sending a very small 
amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response
from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack 
users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something
along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.” @milana_cap (zzap in SlackSlack
Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/).
The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/))
in the [#docs channel on Slack](https://wordpress.slack.com/messages/docs/).

To setup HelpHub development environment on your local computer, please refer the`
CONTRIBUTING.md` in above [repository](https://github.com/Kenshino/HelpHub) or [Contributing to the Docs Team (HelpHub)](https://github.com/Kenshino/HelpHub/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md).

The latest code from the repository’s master branch will be uploaded to the staging
site regularly.

We use ZenHub for project management, see [https://github.com/WordPress/HelpHub/issues/79](https://github.com/WordPress/HelpHub/issues/79)
for help on using it.

## 󠀁[Contributing Code](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#contributing-code)󠁿

Like any other website, HelpHub requires design and development work. Your contributions
in these areas can assure that HelpHub is as performant and usable as possible.

To facilitate the work of many volunteer developers, HelpHub uses [Varying Vagrant Vagrants (VVV)](https://varyingvagrantvagrants.org/)
so developers can easily create a local WordPress environment. Follow the steps 
in this section to create your development environment and contribute code to the
HelpHub project.

## 󠀁[The workflow of getting started](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#the-workflow-of-getting-started)󠁿

First thing to start contributing is to set up your local environment. You can choose
whichever environment works for you, the main thing is to have fresh WordPress install.
You can also follow our [VVV setup below](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#installing-vvv).

Once you have WordPress install in your local environment ready, fork [GitHub repository](https://github.com/WordPress/HelpHub),
clone your fork to local environment and import database and widgetWidget A WordPress
Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets
in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets
were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design
and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. settings. 

Follow instructions in [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/WordPress/HelpHub/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md)
file. If you run into problems, get error messages or find the instructions incomplete
or incorrect then this is the opportunity for your first contribution. 

If you know how to fix the problem and what’s missing or is incorrect, edit document
in your fork and create pull request to HelpHub repo. Do this even if you are not
sure if your fix is completely correct or applicable to every OS. We will review
it and ask for changes if needed.

If you don’t know how to fix the problem, please ask for help in #docs channel or
send direct message to @milana_cap (zzap in Slack). Once the problem is fixed it
would be great if you could update the GitHubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers
online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and 
modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories
require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’
where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed
before being merged by the repository owner. [https://github.com/](https://github.com/)
document. 

Now you are ready for first development task.

## 󠀁[Installing VVV](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#installing-vvv)󠁿

### 󠀁[Overview](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#overview)󠁿

The objectives of the procedure described here are to:

 1. create a local WordPress installation where you can do development and design work
    and
 2. contribute that work to the HelpHub project.

This process uses [Vagrant](https://www.vagrantup.com/), which allows you to create
a sandboxed development environment on your computer. Vagrant provides an environment
that isn’t specific to WordPress (or any other application), so you’ll also use 
[VVV](https://varyingvagrantvagrants.org/) to configure your Vagrant environment
specifically for WordPress development.

### 󠀁[Installing and Configuring VVV](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#installing-and-configuring-vvv)󠁿

 1. **Install Vagrant. **Download Vagrant from [this site](https://www.vagrantup.com/downloads.html)
    and install it on your machine.
 2. **Install Virtualbox. **Download VirtualBox from [this site](https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads)
    and install it on your machine.
 3. **Install Vagrant plugins. ** You will need 2 vagrant plugins to run VVV, install
    them using: `vagrant plugin install vagrant-hostsupdater vagrant-triggers`.
 4. **Install and Launch VVV.** [Follow the VVV setup instructions here](https://varyingvagrantvagrants.org/docs/en-US/installation/)

### 󠀁[Using Your Local Development Environment](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#using-your-local-development-environment)󠁿

VVV is now running locally, which means you can access several versions of the WordPress
application and the WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run
WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. source code. Click the links
below to explore your VVV environment.

 * [http://vvv.test](http://vvv.test) Your VVV home page. Links to local dev sites
   and admin tools.
 * [http://local.wordpress.test/](http://local.wordpress.test/) for WordPress stable.
 * [http://local.wordpress-trunk.test/](http://local.wordpress-trunk.test/) for 
   WordPress trunk.
 * [http://src.wordpress-develop.test/](http://src.wordpress-develop.test/) for 
   trunk WordPress development files.
 * [http://build.wordpress-develop.dev/](http://build.wordpress-develop.test/) for
   the version of those development files built with Grunt.

You can use your IDE to change any of the files in the environment, developing features
and bugfixes and testing them locally. To learn how to contribute your changes back
to the HelpHub project, see the next section.

## 󠀁[Using GitHub to Contribute Code to HelpHub](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#using-github-to-contribute-code-to-helphub)󠁿

If you’re interested in contributing to HelpHub as a developer or designer, you 
can assign yourself an [issue from the GitHub repo](https://github.com/Kenshino/HelpHub/issues)
and contribute code to fix a bug or add a feature.

 1.  **Fork the project.** Create a fork of the HelpHub source code from [https://github.com/Kenshino/HelpHub](https://github.com/Kenshino/HelpHub).
     This fork is where you’ll commit any changes that you intend to contribute to 
     the HelpHub project.
 2.  **Create a local environment.** See “**Installing and Configuring VVV**” above.
 3.  **Backup wp-content.** In your development environment, rename wp-content to something.
     Later, you will need the current theme contents to access the Administration Screen.
     
     For example, if you have installed VVV under `~/vagrant-local`.`$ cd ~/vagrant-
     local/www/wordpress-develop/public_html/src``$ mv wp-content wp-content-original`
 4.  **Clone your fork locally.** Clone your fork of the HelpHub repo as a wp-content.
     `
     $ git clone https://github.com/[githubusername]/HelpHub.git wp-content`
 5.  **Copy back your current theme.** If your environment is new one, it must be “
     Twenty Seventeen”.
     `$ cp -r wp-content-original/themes/twentyseventeen wp-content/
     themes/twentyseventeen`
 6.  **Switch your theme to HelpHub.** From Web browser, access [http://src.wordpress-develop.dev/wp-admin (Administration Screens)](http://src.wordpress-develop.dev/wp-admin)
     and switch your theme to HelpHub.
     After that you may remove your old theme files
     or wp-content-original folder you made in above Step 3.
 7.  **Import the HelpHub data.** HelpHub’s source code includes a database export (
     helphub.wordpress.{DATE}.xml). Import this data into your local WordPress site
     to add a snapshot of the content.
     For more detail info, refer [CONTRIBUTING.md in the GitHub repo](https://github.com/Kenshino/HelpHub/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md).
 8.  **Make your changes in VVV.** Develop and test your feature or bugfix in your 
     VVV clone.
 9.  **Commit your changes.** Commit your revised code to your HelpHub fork.
 10. **Create a pull request.** Request to merge your commits into the HelpHub repo
     from your fork.

## 󠀁[Development Guidelines](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/helphub/helphub-development/?output_format=md#development-guidelines)󠁿

To make the site usable, and to keep our codebase manageable, we’re committed to
these guidelines and standards.

 * **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)** HelpHub should be usable by all, including users with
   physical and cognitive disabilities, and those using assistive technologies. 
   Our work must not create any obstacles or limit the access of these users. We
   embrace tools and processes that facilitate creating an accessible HelpHub, and
   we value design and testing that maximize accessiblity.
 * **Responsive Design** We’re committed to designing, building and maintaining 
   a site that is usable on devices of varying sizes and platforms.
 * **Standardized Code** We adhere to the [WordPress Coding Standards](https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/best-practices/coding-standards/).
   We aim to create code that is consistent and readable. The 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., CSSCSS CSS is an acronym for cascading
   style sheets. This is what controls the design or look and feel of a site., 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. [https://www.php.net/manual/en/index.php](https://www.php.net/manual/en/index.php)
   and 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](https://www.javascript.com/)
   created by the WordPress community should always follow the appropriate coding
   standard.

First published

June 13, 2016

Last updated

April 23, 2026

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