As with many open source projects, contributing to WordPress is an essential part of the further development and success of the popular content management system. Last but not least, WordPress.org says: "Contributing is the heartbeat of every community". Today, I'll show you how you can make a big contribution to the WP community with just a little effort.

Many people are unaware that WordPress.org is an open source project that is maintained and developed by thousands of volunteers worldwide. These volunteers, who contribute to WordPress in many different ways and thus make an important contribution to the overall project, are also known as WordPress Contributors.

If you now think that only selected people with certain skills are allowed to join WordPress, I can only say: far from it! The possible areas of responsibility are so wide-ranging that really everyone can find something to do their own little individual part, even without any programming knowledge. But more on that in a moment.

Why contribute to WordPress at all?

There are many reasons why contributing to WordPress is a great thing: through your efforts, you can gain and share new knowledge, gain expertise in a specific area, strengthen community cohesion and, of course, meet new people from the WP community. 

WordPress is now used by over 30 percent of the world's top websites. So your contribution, however small it may feel, can have an impact on 30 percent of the internet - if that's not an incentive!

But no matter what your personal motivation is for contributing to WordPress - in the end, what counts is that you are doing something for the benefit of the community. After all, the hard (and above all unpaid) work of the many contributors ultimately helps to ensure that you can continue to work with WordPress.

For this reason, we would like to encourage you with this article to help shape the future of WordPress and contribute to the open source project.

In his blog post "Five for the Future", WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg appeals to WP companies to make about five percent of their resources available to work on WordPress.

#1 Contributing to WordPress: Find your niche

If you go to WordPress.org, you'll see all the areas and teams you can get involved in. As you can see, there are an incredible amount of opportunities - from working on the core to support, marketing and sustainability.

Unfortunately, writing about each of the 18 teams would go beyond the scope of this article. I will therefore focus on the areas in which you can make a valuable contribution even without programming knowledge.

Support

If you have been working with WordPress for a while, you have probably already acquired valuable knowledge that you can pass on to others. The WordPress support forums are particularly suitable for this, as the questions posted there are answered by volunteer supporters. Even if you only answer simple questions at first, you are already making an important contribution to the community!

Before you start answering questions, it's best to read the WordPress Supporter's Guide first.

Documentation

WordPress is constantly evolving and there are always new features or innovations that need to be documented. As a member of the Documentation Team, you can, for example, help to improve the WordPress manuals, codex etc. and create new documentation.

Community

WordPress has a strong community that organizes regular events all over the world. These range from small local gatherings (known as WordPress Meetups) to two-day international conferences, such as WordCamp Europe. You can not only attend WordCamps as a participant, but also support them as a sponsor, volunteer, speaker or as part of the organizing team. Our experience report from the WordCamp Retreat Soltau gives you a little insight into how a WordCamp can run. The retreat format "WordCamp in the countryside" had a (very successful!) premiere in Soltau and will probably be repeated. But before I start raving about WordCamps, let's get back to contributing 😉.

TV

Most WordCamp talks will be recorded to make them available to everyone later. However, before they can be published on WordPress TV, there are still a few steps to be completed, for which volunteers are needed. After all, the footage not only has to be recorded, but also moderated, edited and, if necessary, post-edited. Once a video has been published on WordPress TV, you can also help with transcribing or translating the session.

By supporting the TV team, you are helping to make the latest WordPress knowledge available to as many people as possible.

How to transcribe or translate videos for WordPress TV is explained in the following video:

Polyglots

The Polyglots team is working to ensure that WordPress is available not only in English, but in as many languages as possible. If you speak another language in addition to German and English, you are in particularly good hands with Polyglots. But even if you can "only" translate into German, there is plenty to do - countless plugins and themes are not yet available in German and therefore not usable for everyone.

In the Polyglots manual, you will learn step by step how to get started with translations in WordPress.

Accessibility

The Accessibility Team ensures that WordPress itself and the content on WordPress.org are equally accessible for all people. This applies, for example, to WordPress users with physical disabilities, for example with regard to the accessibility of the Gutenberg editor.

In the area of accessibility, you can test new features or versions for accessibility, write documentation or check themes with the accessibility tag, for example, even without programming knowledge. It is also helpful if you create awareness for this important topic through blog posts or even presentations.

"Contrary to what some people think we're not all techies, and we feel that everyone who is connected with accessibility has something useful to contribute." - WordPress Accessibility Manual

WordPress education

Of course, you can also contribute to WordPress without being a member of an official WP team: For example, by writing about general WordPress topics on your blog, sharing your WordPress knowledge at workshops, speaking at events or simply spreading the word about WordPress and telling other people about it. This way, you can help even more people get to know, understand and love our favorite CMS.

#2 Contributing to WordPress: The technical framework conditions

Now that I've introduced you to a few areas, it's time for the basic "technical requirements". But don't worry, this is only about the tools you need to communicate with other contributors.

Step 1: Create a WordPress.org account

If you want to contribute to WordPress, the first thing you should do is set up an account on WordPress.org. Think about a good username, as you won't be able to change it later.

You will receive profile badges for your contributions in the respective areas, which are awarded by the corresponding teams. Using Morten Rand-Hendriksen as an example, you can see what the profile of an active WordPress contributor can look like.

Step 2: Register in the international WP Slack group

The most important communication channel in the entire WordPress community is Slack. The messaging tool is used to coordinate the various teams, hold meetings, plan WordCamps and make joint decisions. Slack makes it possible for anyone around the world with internet access to contribute to WordPress and have a say.

After you have logged in to WordPress.org, go to make.wordpress.org/chat. There you can enter your email address under "joining the WordPress team on Slack".

After you have registered for the international WordPress Slack community, your Slack email will be[your username on WP.org]@chat.wordpress.org. This is important in case you forget your password.
Now you can browse through the various areas and topics in Slack under "Channels" and take part in meetings and discussions. You can find the name of the Slack channel for a specific workspace and the time of the meetings on the corresponding team page on WordPress.org.

Step 3: Register in the German WordPress Slack group

If you want to get involved in the German-speaking WordPress community, you should also register in the German Slack group "DE - WordPress". You can find step-by-step instructions here.

For example, if you register as a volunteer at a WordCamp in Germany, a separate channel will be opened so that everyone can exchange information and discuss the schedule before the event.

Of course, the German Slack community is also an ideal place to meet people with the same interests and make new contacts outside of contributing. If you search for #meetup in the channel list, you will find WordPress enthusiasts in your area.

#3 Contributing to WordPress: Learning by doing

Now you know the different areas in which you can work without programming knowledge and how to get in touch with the different teams. If you're still a little shy and don't want to jump straight into the action, start by reading the Slack channels of a few teams that interest you. That way you can find out what they are currently working on and where your help might be needed.

Once you have decided on an area, I recommend that you take part in the regular Slack meetings and simply ask if anything is unclear. No one will expect you to know the contribution processes already, especially as these differ to some extent in the various teams.
Now there's just one step left: get started! Because, as with many things, "learning by doing" is also the order of the day when it comes to contributing.

Conclusion

I hope I've been able to show you that there are an incredible number of areas in WordPress that you can get involved in. It may take you a while to find your passion and "your" WordPress team, but that's not a bad thing. After all, you can still learn a lot and find out your strengths if you try out several areas.

And who knows, maybe you'll even give a WordCamp talk in the future - like Birgit Olzem or Carole Olinger - about how you became an active member of the WordPress community. With this in mind: Happy Contributing! 🙂