Contributor Days and Contributor Drives

We have been talking about both Contributor Days and Contributor Drives recently and it’s easy to get them confused. So here’s what they are and how they differ.

Contributor Days

The Training Team has held a number of Contributor Days over the years which have been attached to a variety of WordCamps. Contributor Days in general are in-person events usually held the day after a WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. where volunteers come to offer their skills to help with the various WordPress teams. It is possible that these would be one-time contributors and not regular team members. The Training Team has taken advantage of these to do everything from annual planning, lesson plan drafting, copy editing, and style guide discussions. The Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/. for WordCamp US has been a big event for our team for at least the past 3 years.

Contributor Drives

Contributor Drives, on the other hand, are meant for ongoing, routine projects that can make quick, significant contributions directly to the team. The projects for these drives should have a low barrier to entry for new or infrequent contributors, so identifying projects and/or tasks that appeal to a range of skill/experience levels will be very helpful. It is possible that these would be one-time contributors and not regular team members.

Keep in mind that, unlike a Contributor Day, Contributor Drives are shorter events (just a couple hours, depending on the project) that allow contributors to quickly take on and contribute to projects that further the goals of the team. It is possible that these can be virtual as well as in-person events.


If I’ve mis-portrayed anything here or you have further details or ideas, please feel free to leave a comment!