Contribution

What is contribution?

Contribution events were previously referred to as code sprints or sprints. In 2018, the Drupal Europe Organization team changed the terminology to "contribution" to be inclusive of all types of contributions and energy levels. The Drupal Project adopted the change in 2019.

A contribution event is a get-together for collaborative work on a project. Contributions to a project can include organizing events, designing a user interface, translating text, writing documentation, reviewing other contributions, finding or verifying bugs and submitting reports, or writing code among many, many tasks.

Who should come?

Everyone! We need: project managers, bug reporters, designers, QA testers, marketers, people to help write documentation, front-end and back-end developers, etc… If you are not sure where to get started, we have mentors to assist you.

We welcome participants from all experience levels, backgrounds, genders, races, sexual identities, religions, ages, and abilities. We particularly welcome community members from marginalized groups. The world is diverse, and we can only make the best Drupal experience for everyone with your inclusion.

Why contribute?

Contribution is an important part of Drupal's growth, and provides great opportunities to get involved in building Drupal itself. Contributions at DrupalCon are your chance to get started with in-person training and mentoring from friendly, experienced contributors. If you've already started to work on contributions, come meet other contributors, hang out in person, and work on manageable tasks in the Drupal issue queue. There are many ways to contribute at DrupalCon, please come and collaborate in person with hundreds of other Drupal community members!

Contribution Credits and Recognition

Drupal values a wide range of contributions. To recognize these efforts, the Drupal project uses an issue credit system that tracks contributions from individuals and organizations. Whether you’re writing code, improving documentation, giving talks, or performing security reviews, your efforts are acknowledged. Contribution credits not only highlight the hard work of individuals but also showcase the support of organizations actively engaged in the Drupal ecosystem. This system fosters ongoing collaboration and celebrates the community's collective achievements in advancing Drupal.

How can marketers contribute?

Great question! You do not need a developer background to contribute. This year, we're placing a special focus on marketers with our marketing track, and we're extending this focus to contribution. We need marketers to assist with creating Drupal-branded marketing, evaluating content for Drupal.org and beyond, writing content, brand evaluation, and more. 

Which contribution event is for me?

 

General Contribution

If you have experience with Drupal issues and maybe already picked a team/topic, General Contribution is for you. You can join one of the many groups, including: Drupal 9, documentation, migrate, media, front-end, Promote Drupal and more. Stay tuned for the list of topics (we are retiring the signup spreadsheet). General Contribution does not have formal mentoring available, but if you have questions, there are many friendly people to help or work with you - collaboration is the idea! 

Mentored Contribution

If you are already familiar with the tools we use such as the issue queue or a local development environment, if needed, but could still use help choosing issues and navigating the process, “Mentored Contribution” is for you.

Learn while helping to improve Drupal! Plenty of mentors will be available to help you get started. If you are new to contribution, this is a great place for you after you have completed the First-Time Contributor Workshop. 

Contribution Sprint Mentor Team at DrupalCon Barcelona 2024

Photo by Paul Johnson

First Time Contributor Workshop

Those who are new to the process and tools of contributing to Drupal, you are invited to attend one of the “First Time Contributor Workshops”. Many people will be new to contributing and different opportunities arise based on experience level.

Get up to speed with community tools: Drupal.org, issue queues, communication channels, and if needed, installing Drupal 9 locally. Our mentors are excited to get you ready to tackle real issues.

Contribution Sprints at DrupalCon Barcelona 2024

Photo by Paul Johnson

What to bring?
  1. An interest in Drupal contribution
  2. A laptop if you want. Not all ways to contribute require one, though, and we encourage people to “pair up”!
I will need a development environment, how do I set that up?

If you know you will need a development environment for your choice of contribution activity, you may come to the First-Time Contributor Workshop on Tuesday or Thursday to set one up. You are also encouraged to set up your development environment on your own if you prefer. Visit the documentation guide on setting up a local development environment.

Some useful references for development activities:

Get connected

Visit www.drupal.org/join-slack to join:

  • #mentoring
  • #drupal-contribution-group
  • #contribution-events
  • #support