Becoming a contributor...

Written by Amy Stephen

I have been a member of the Joomla! Community for three years. When I think back on what we have been through as a project, I have mixed emotion about how changes have impacted us. I have worked very closely "on the inside" of the project this past year and I am impressed with the dedication, the intelligence, and the efforts of our contributors. It is a fine group of people and I am proud of my association with this project.

As a member of the Communications Team, I think a lot about how best to encourage the growth of our community.

We will always need to strengthen our contributing community. It is due to the efforts of these volunteers that Joomla! innovates forward. We need people to help in the forums, to write documentation, to find and fix bugs, to write core code, to test, to implement unit testing, to build important, strategic extensions with others, to provide translation services, to organize Joomla! Users Groups and Joomla! Day events, and to contribute funds.

Every group has its rules. These boundaries communicate expectation, and compliance shows respect to the group, which in turn helps keep the group productive and happy. From my perspective, if you want to participate as a contributor on the Joomla! project, there are four basic rules:

1. Respect Joomla!'s license.

2. Respect Joomla!'s copyright.

3. Comply with Ian's rule - "Don't be an ass."

4. Try to give something back.

Not everyone agrees with these rules, and that's cool. We are not all going to agree and each of us must decide whether or not we are willing to comply with the group norms. Joomla! is not the only project to get involved with and finding a good fit is key.

Everyone is free to download Joomla! without cost and without any requirement to contribute. Many of us choose to contribute because we want to be a part of what we believe is a worthwhile and noble project. Those who participate see personal benefit. For some, it might be good for business. For others, it could help with individual growth and learning. Others consider working with the project a fabulous hobby. Others still enjoy the sense of belonging. For most, it's a combination of these reasons.

I hope you consider contributing. I strongly recommend it. If you want to play a bigger part, first consider if you can live within those guidelines. If those rules work for you and you have a desire to get involved, let someone know, we would love to help you find a place you can use your gifts.

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Mark makes this comment

2008-11-19 04:00:49

Very well put! Joomla is a great thing, and I look foward to helping contribute to Joomla.
Vamba makes this comment

2008-11-19 09:24:12

No comment!
Ivo Apostolov makes this comment

2008-11-19 10:37:33

It is interesting to know, who is the ass playing the role of god and deciding if someone is an ass
HarryB makes this comment

2008-11-19 14:36:38

Some say that, over the years, I have occasionally broken Rule 3; however, I do not recall having ever broken Rules 1, 2 and 4.
Amy Stephen makes this comment

2008-11-19 14:46:29

Me, too, HarryB. We can each be an ass from time to time. It's human nature. Learning to adapt is not easy. (I am speaking from experience, here.) And, frankly, adapting is not always the appropriate response. Sometimes, change is needed.

The rule might be better worded, "Don't always be difficult and, if you are feeling particularly owly one day - maybe it's best if you don't show up."

Ivo - that's a good point. We don't always see things the same way and we need to make accommodations for differences in culture, personality and personal goals.

Mark - thanks! Appreciate your willingness to join in and help make Joomla! better!
Joe Sonne makes this comment

2008-11-19 16:47:05

Well spoken Amy. I certainly appreciate the contributions that you and many others have made to Joomla!.
Neri makes this comment

2008-11-19 20:23:23

I am still interested in contributing as part of the communication team, if the offer still stands.
Amy Stephen makes this comment

2008-11-20 01:40:21

Neri - I am pleased to hear that. We are meeting tomorrow afternoon and one of us will be in touch. Thanks!
kannan makes this comment

2008-11-20 10:15:56

Hi team

Its more than a year now i have been with joomla, i would love to contribute to this great project

please let me know where to start

regards

kannan
Amy Stephen makes this comment

2008-11-20 15:00:32

Excellent Kannan! I think the best way to get started is to consider some of the ideas presented on the Contribute to Joomla! page (button on top of this page). Then, if help is needed connecting to the right people, feel free to email me at amy.stephen AT community DOT joomla DOT org with areas of interest. I'll be more than happy to help people find work. Appreciate it, very much!
Nathan makes this comment

2008-11-20 22:44:51

You said the rules of contributing, but you didn't say how. How can I give back to Joomla?
Omar Ramos makes this comment

2008-11-20 22:49:15

Amy, I was just on the following page:

Contribute to Joomla

And it looks like all of the blog links at the bottom of the page are out of the date (you can get to the blogs directly from the community page, but I just wanted to inform someone).
Amy Stephen makes this comment

2008-11-21 04:27:57

Hi Nathan -

Check out the button at the top of this page that says "How to Contribute." There are a number of ways that people can get involved, with links to more information and ways to contact people, if you are interested. If you need help making a connection, feel free to email me at Amy.Stephen AT community DOT joomla DOT org.

In advance, thanks!
Amy

Omar - thanks - got those fixed. Neri - Alex is going to contact you.
Kauselot makes this comment

2008-11-24 06:49:48

I applied for bug squad and apart from reply from Wilco Jansen, that he will forward it to Sam and Antohony, which will get in touch with me as soon as possible. They never did.
Contributed some ideas in the Q&T forum and nearly of them went unanswered.
For simple solution I proposed for Http bug that got introduced in 1.5.7.(resulting from live site sometimes retrieved from configuration and sometimes from web server) all I got was, that this will be fixed in 1.6. (it's a really simple bug - tracker ID 12812).

Call me tin skinned, but this is how people loose their interest.
Amy Stephen makes this comment

2008-11-24 14:37:58

Kauselot -

Yes, it is discouraging to try to help only to feel like three different attempts to do so fell through. Thanks for the note.

- Regarding your patch, there is now a bit more feedback as to the types of issues it presents and reasons it was decided to wait until 1.6.

- Regarding the Bug Squad, a coordinator will contact you later about helping.

- Regarding the Q&T forums, part of the responsibility of the squad is to help the broader community in responding. That might be a good way for you to help out immediately.

Thanks for continuing to make it known that you want to help. It is much appreciated!
Mike makes this comment

2008-11-24 15:45:48

Nice words Amy. I have been with Joomla for a while as well on and off for a while because the 1.0.x i felt was not very user friendly. Also I would like to help out in a way. I am helping with a component but would like to help withsomething in joomla itself if hte offer still stands.

thanks

mike
Elin Waring makes this comment

2008-11-25 16:43:15

For people asking how to help, I think there are lots of ways you can start today. For example, if you answer one question a day (with patience and grace, not grouchiness) in the general support forum not only are you helping an individual you are helping build community. Even asking a question, if it's done in a friendly way helps build the knowledge base that our forums are. A good rule of thumb is that if you have a question and ask it 10 other people have the same question and haven't asked. For both asking and answering follow ups and responsiveness and patience are key. The informal forum helpers in this project are (in fact) our most public face.

Another thing is, whenever you figure something out, hop on over to the wiki and add it. Or if you find the wiki is incomplete or incorrect, fix it. I find that if i do this right away when something is fresh in my mind it's more likely to get done.
Thanh Binh makes this comment

2008-11-26 07:24:50

Joomla is the best place for we contribute .
Thanh Binh makes this comment

2008-11-26 07:27:04

Joomla is the best software. I will learn more to contribute for joomla( I hope )
Thanh Binh makes this comment

2008-11-26 07:27:31

Joomla is the best software. I will learn more to contribute for joomla( I hope )
Michelle Bisson makes this comment

2008-11-27 04:19:33

Thanks Amy for encouraging our members to contribute!

I have a request...
I am looking for 1 or 2 people to help me about 1 hour per week with our Joomla! Amazon Bookstores.. Please send me a PM >>.

Becoming a contributor...

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