WordPress is a unique platform. It creates opportunities for the contributors to give back and at the same time makes this experience a fulfilling one for everyone involved. Events such as Contributor Day at WordCamps across the globe enable the contributors to be empowered through collaborations and by helping each other.
WordCamp Asia 2023 is set to provide contributors with a platform to collaborate and improve WordPress as well as shape the future of open-source. Your participation is what matters, and it makes all the difference. We present to you the fourth and final series of contributor stories.
I started my career with WordPress in 2014. In the initial stage, I was just using Visual builders. But when I worked on multiple clients, I needed to learn about extending WordPress default stuff. At that point, I learned about WordPress hooks, Theme development, and Plugin development. In my 8 years of experience, I have mostly worked with WordPress VIP agencies and WordPress websites.
I have yet to go to any Contributor Day. But I would love to participate. If I get an opportunity, I would like to learn things first and then contribute from my side. As a young gun and quick learner, I trust I can make it within the first day.
I learn new WordPress things via social media and employer slack channels. I always stay updated with WordPress updates and news from WordPress gurus.
In the modern days, I love to work with Gutenberg and block-based themes. That is something most important to me nowadays.
#ContributorStory
‘Contributing in Core is not difficult.’
My contribution journey with WordPress started just after I completed my diploma in engineering about 8 years ago by publishing a plugin just for fun. At that time, I was actively involved with a local community named “RR Foundation” and helped newbies answer their questions about WordPress. After that, I haven’t taken part in any contribution.
Three years ago, I decided to contribute to the Theme Review team. After reviewing two themes I’ve lost my consistency again 🙁 From July 2022, I’m trying to be actively involved in contributing. Between July 2022 – Nov 2022, I contributed to the following areas
- WordPress Support Forum
- Polyglots
- Photo Directory
- Pattern Library &
- Contributed to the WordPress Core (6.1)
I thought core contributions took time. It needs to be corrected, and we can contribute by improving the documentation already there or by enhancing the coding standards of the existing code and many more ways.
Until today, the local community was the only thing I got connected with contributing to the WordPress Community. I’m eager to connect with the global community, so I’ve started actively using Twitter, joined the WP Slack channels, and will attend WCAsia 2023.
Anyway, I love WordPress, and it’s my daily routine. The level of extensibility in WordPress is one of the reasons I like it so much. Hopefully, I can contribute more in the coming days and encourage everyone to start contributing to improving WordPress.
#ContributorStory
‘First online and offline contributor day.’
I’ve been to two Contributor Day. My first one is the documentation team online Contributor Day. Before attending the docs Contributor Day, I contributed to the block editor handbook for several months. Although we only met and talked to each other via Zoom call, it was really delightful to work with fellow contributors. During that Contributor Day, I worked on four GitHub issues.
On the second Contributor Day, I attended WordCamp Gresik. This time, I contributed to the polyglot team for the Indonesian locale. It was a whole different experience to work in the same room with around 100 contributors in the same room. Moreover, I’m really thrilled that the polyglot table leader added me as General Translation Editor for the ID locale.
These experiences boosted my motivation to contribute more to WordPress, knowing that I can help the community and positively impact the biggest open-source CMS in the world.
#ContributorStory
‘Contributing to the online future.’
I attended 2 Contributors Days so far in WordCamp Europe 2022 and WordCamp US 2022. Both events were valuable as I got the chance to work on optimizing one of the leading WordPress SQL queries and gain knowledge that will improve our client’s WordPress experience in general.
It was a very inspiring experience to be surrounded by so many talented contributors in one place, working for an online future together.
Furthermore, we aim to make Google Analytics, Search Console, and Adsense easy to integrate by pre-installing the Google WordPress plugin, which was presented during WordCamp US. It’s great that we were able to raise the problem and get the attention of lead WordPress Core developers, now together, we will make WordPress a faster CMS!
#ContributorStory
‘My journey from being a Non-GPL author to loving WP.org contributions.’
My journey started about four years ago by creating a WP plugin on a popular marketplace. Although I had some idea about WordPress.org repo and uploading your work for free/open-source, I always wondered about its motivation and couldn’t see myself there, but I was open to the idea. Well, the time came soon enough.
My plugin started growing, and soon I found someone selling a WP business with a free wp.org plugin. I liked the idea. For the first time, I saw the impact of the repo. People downloaded WP.zip and then used a free plugin to build exceptional businesses. It was an incredible feeling.
With a team in place, we started answering questions and helping people achieve success with a simple plugin. We also saw extraordinary growth in upselling our pro plugin, which eventually helped build our company into what it is today. WordPress completely changed my life and the lives of the 30+ team members we have.
I am super excited about the ‘block’ future of WordPress, I think this is a great time to be a contributor. I generally keep myself updated via WP Tavern, and WordPress, make a slack community and follow amazing people on Twitter & YouTube. See you there soon!