A representative of a company that decided to participate in Five-for-The Future, asked me for reading material for new contributors. I sent the following information.
Hi [first name], thanks for connecting via DM. I am thrilled that [Company] intends to participate in the Five-for-the-Future program by contributing back to the WordPress open-source project.
TL;DR
- Below is a list of reading material for your team, and I am sure [the person on the team already contributing] can fill in first gaps afterwards.
- The core team’s space is https://make.wordpress.org/core. The team reps are @audrasjb and @marybaum
- The Core team holds new contributors meetings every other Wednesday, usually run by @sergey or @desrosj.
- The best way to get started after reading through the few documents is to look for “Good First Bugs” labels, select one and create a PR on GitHub.
Reading list. Before you start.
- Contributor Handbook
- Guide to contribute to Gutenberg
- Navigating the Community. Definitely a must for people new to the WordPress open-source community, and to learn where Gutenberg begins and Core starts.
Connect with other contributors
- #core Channel
- New contributor meetings (every other Wednesday at 19:00 UTC.
- Regular dev chats / meetings every Wednesday at 20:00 UTC
- #core-editor
- meetings take place Wednesdays at 14:00 UTC
- Discussions on GitHub
Start contributing
- Select from “Good First Bugs” list on GitHub for Gutenberg and on Trac (rest of Core)
- Gutenberg also has a Good First Review list, if that’s a good start.
- Get stuck? Consult documentation
- Upload your code to GitHub via a PR (Gutenberg + WordPress ) and get guidance on approach and code review from the rest of the team.
- Post into the #core-editor or #core channel to ask for assistance
The core team is not the only team, people can contribute to, though. There are roughly about 20 teams, a contributor could join. The list is on make.wordpress.org
So far my note to the inquirer.
About Open-Source
On Learn.WordPress.org I only found a few training videos that are more general in nature:
Conclusion
In my experience, new contributors are always welcomed very warmly, and patiently helped through their first PRs. For that communication, GitHub seems to be the best place to learn, and connect with other contributors. As any developer has a different style and expertise, tackling one of the Good First issues, is the best way to get started.
If your company would like to participate in Five for the Future with multiple contributors, please also connect with Josepha Haden Chomphosy, executive director and point person for Five for the Future initiative.
What do you find missing. What else would be helpful information for a contributors, sponsored or not?