I’ve Made WordPress Better (And You Can Too!)

I did it.

WordPress, as many of you know, is an open-source project. The WordPress community maintains it. Anyone can report a bug directly into the development tracking tool (Trac), anyone can submit a patch. It’s great. I’ve been wanting to contribute to core (as the “core” WordPress software is known, as opposed to plugins, themes, etc) for a while now. For various reasons, I haven’t dug in, found/claimed an issue and solved it.

Until now.

I am the latest contributor to the WordPress core.

Contributors in the past has done great things.Koop made the new media manager happen. Nacin and Mark Jaquith have made WordPress do half of the things it does now, if not more. I don’t mean to brag or belittle their contributions; however, I think I top all of that.

Get ready to see the most important contribution to core in 2013 and likely for years to come:

I understand if you don’t understand something this complex.

Yes. I made my entrance into the fraternity of core contributors by changing the copyright date in a file that no one has likely read since it was edited in 2011.

So, I was being hyperbolic…

Obviously, I realize my contribution is extremely, extremely minor in the scheme of things, but that’s partly the point. The WordPress universe is wide enough that anyone who wants to become a contributing member of the WordPress community can do so. Whether it is something like helping out in the forums, reporting a bug against core, a plugin, or a theme, organizing a WordCamp or local MeetUp group, helping with unit tests on new code, writing a plugin, to contributing patches (of whatever size), or rising up to being the next Nacin, there is something that you, at any level, can do.

I’ve helped a little in the StudioPress and WordPress.org forums, I’ve written a plugin and helped with another, reported a couple of bugs (both weren’t bugs in the end, but not the point) and now made a tiny improvement to the codebase. For me, my next goal is to a make a more substantial contribution to the codebase within the next couple of releases. After that, there will be a new goal.

I’ve made the WordPress community better and so can you. What’s your goal in the community?