Come for the Software, Stay for the Community

Drupal is used, built, taught, documented, and marketed by the Drupal community, which is made up of people from around the world, with a shared set of values, collaborating together in a respectful manner.

You are welcome to use the software and read the documentation as a visitor, but the hope of the Drupal community is that you will join in, find people who share your interests, and grow your skills!

Image courtesy Gábor Hojtsy

A community of 100,000+ stories

Everyone in the Drupal community has a story. We come from many backgrounds, with many skills and many perspectives -- but every month, more than 1500 people come together to improve the Drupal software, translations, documentation, and the community itself. Here are a few examples:

  • Kevin Thull started recording sessions at DrupalCamp Chicago in 2013, and developed a kit for other DrupalCamps to use
  • xjm started out fixing bugs in the TAC contributed module, and is now a Drupal Core maintainer
  • Melissa Anderson started using Drupal, joined her local Drupal user group meetup, and ended up managing the Great Git Migration project
  • And there are many more stories

Ready to join in?

The community is working on a new Contributor Guide to help you figure out how to use your particular skills to contribute to the Drupal project and add your story to the Drupal community. You can contribute as much or as little time as you want -- some tasks may be as quick as a few minutes, and some roles can span years.

Not convinced yet?

In general, people volunteer their time because it is fun, interesting, challenging, and engaging; because it can help them improve their skills or reputation; and because it is meaningful. Here are some thoughts about how contributing to the Drupal project and community fits with those goals:

Synergy
The more we work together, the more we all benefit from having better software, documentation, translations, and community. Reporting or fixing a problem you have found improves the software, documentation, or translation you are using, which helps you and the rest of the community -- and inspires others to contribute.
Practice and improve your skills
Whether it’s coding, user interface design, graphic design, writing, or organizing, if you’re looking for practice, there’s a task for you! There are also opportunities to practice leadership and management skills, such as resolving conflicts, organizing teams of people, and prioritizing work.
Find mentors and teach others
Working with others on a shared project means you’ll have to explain how you do things, as well as ask other people for help. The acts of learning and teaching can be a fulfilling activity for everyone involved.
Meet people with similar interests
The Drupal community spans the globe, and many people form lifelong friendships through their participation in the Drupal community, whether it’s running into each other at conferences or late night online chats about burritos.
Build public artifacts that help you grow a reputation (and a career)
Drupal is an open-source project, so all of work is public, which means you get free examples to take anywhere as a demonstration of what you can do. Many contributors also look at Drupal project contributions when making hiring decisions for Drupal-related jobs.

Browse the Contributor Guide to find out how to use your particular skills to contribute to the Drupal project.

Community Connections

The community organizes itself into topical and geographic groups on https://groups.drupal.org. A few groups also have spaces here:

Here are some other ways to get involved with the Drupal community, and get help with various issues you may have: