I haven’t contributed to WordPress.
There. I said it. I’m already starting to feel a little better, knowing that my secret is out. I’m admitting it and getting it off my chest. Now, when I say I haven’t contributed to WordPress, I mean that I haven’t really worked on core because that’s what first comes to my mind. But there’s a twist.
You don’t have to contribute code.
There are so many different ways to contribute to WordPress and I learned just that at WordCamp Minneapolis 2015 from Nikhil Vimal (@TechVoltz), whose presentation can be found here.
Code
Obviously, you can still contribute to WordPress by writing code. If that’s something you’re interested in, you should check out https://make.wordpress.org/core/. There, you’ll find all of the information you would need to get started on creating bug reports, fixing bugs, adding documentation, creating patches, testing, etc. All of the good things that happen when developers come together, you can be apart of. They used to have an IRC channel, but now the core team has moved over to Slack for real-time conversations. Join in on that, and find out where you might be needed.
Mobile
WordPress also had a mobile app, so if you’re an iOS or Android developer, there is still a place for you to make some open-source contributions.
Accessibility
Everyone that has ever been involved with WordPress knows it has a bit of a reputation for not being as accessible as it could be. Making it more accessible, means that WordPress would be much easier to use for vision impaired individuals. Special tools exist to make using the internet easier for vision impaired individuals, but those tools need help. By developing for accessibility, WordPress can reach a wider audience, and give more people access to this powerful platform we all love so dearly.
Languages
English speaking people aren’t the only ones that use WordPress. It’s used all over the globe, and as such, it needs to be translated. If you can speak more than one language, you can help translate WordPress and spread the good word about it even farther.
Community
I’m writing this blog post because I attended a WordCamp. It was awesome, and I definitely recommend going to one if you get a chance. If there are none in your area, maybe you should try organizing one. It’s possible to get help with this undertaking as well. Or you could always just plan a meetup.
Support
In my personal opinion, this is probably one of the most important, and easiest ways to contribute to WordPress. By answering someone else’s questions, you can solve real problems and see real results, almost immediately. Without the support forums, WordPress wouldn’t be what it is today. So go make an account at wordpress.org and start helping people.
Etc.
I could probably make one blog post a day for the next two months about different ways that you could contribute to WordPress, but you probably don’t want to read that. Really, what you need to do, is just participate. In any and every way you can think of. Build themes, make plugins, answer questions, document code, blog about WordPress, chat in the Slack channel, go to WordCamps and volunteer, etc, etc. There are just so many ways that @TechVoltz and I can’t cover them all. Just get out there, and do something.
