WordPress® All-in-One For Dummies®

Contributing to WordPress

WordPress is a project driven by its user base, and contributing to the WordPress project is easier than you might think. Contributing code to the core WordPress software is only one way of participating in the WordPress project. You do not need to be a coder or developer to contribute to WordPress. Here are several ways you can contribute to the project, including, but not limited to, code:

• Code: One of the more obvious ways users can contribute to WordPress is by providing code to be used in the core files. The WordPress project has several hundred developers who contribute code at one time or another. You submit code through the WordPress Trac at http://core.trac.wordpress.org. Within the Trac, you can follow current development and track changes. To contribute, you can use the Trac to download and test a code patch or look at reported bugs to see whether you can offer a fix or submit a patch. Required skills include, at the very least, PHP programming, WordPress experience, and MySQL database administration (but not an exhaustive list, mind you).
• Testing: Earlier in this chapter, we mention the wp-testers mailing list you can join to test beta versions of WordPress and report your own user experience, known as testing. WordPress developers monitor this mailing list and try to fix any true bugs or problems.
• Documentation: Previously, we discuss the WordPress Codex, which is the user documentation for WordPress. Anyone can submit documentation to the ...