The Contributor Pathways project is an index of ways to start contributing to WordPress. With dozens of teams, and hundreds of tools and processes across the project, it can be hard for new contributors to know where to begin or which team to join. We wanted to fix that.
So we’ve collected dozens of proven ways to contribute, grouped by skill rather than by team.
What makes a good guide?
Each pathway guide should point to the right teams and materials, plus give a quick overview of a specific way to contribute.
A good guide:
– Includes where to connect, a reference link, and an overview of instructions
– Is scoped to a specific outcome, limiting any forks or detours
– Explains what “done” looks like and what happens next
– Links to team resources rather than duplicating them
– Outlines a current and proven way to contribute
Guides are not the same thing as tools or handbook pages, and shouldn’t be the source of truth for a given process. If a guide points to a handbook page that’s out of date, please update the handbook page first (or flag that it needs updates), then adjust the guide so it aligns.
How to contribute
Write or improve a guide — Follow our guide for writing guides. We even have an AI prompt template. To improve a guide, click “Edit” while logged in, make your changes, and submit a PR.
Walk through a guide — Our biggest need. Here’s how to help.
Share an idea or report a problem — Open an issue.
Help with maintenance — This project lives in a GitHub repository and syncs to this handbook. The goal is community-owned maintenance with centralized feedback. If you’d like to help maintain this project, introduce yourself in #core-program.
Earning a badge
We have a badge for pathways contributors! You can earn it by testing and improving guides, creating new ones, or mentoring others through a pathway. Open the current badge tracking issue for details on what qualifies and how to submit your work.
Where this is headed
We’ve got dozens of beginner guides, and would like more intermediate level “reviewer” type pathways based on what teams need. Join the discussion in #core-program on SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/.