Getting Started at a Contributor Day

This guide is intended to help you get started at a contributor day. It includes a schematic outline of what the group does and how to quickly get started. If you need any help, talk to the contributor day organizer, or ask your question in the #docs channel on Slack.

This is a work in progress, so don’t be afraid to amend the document or leave comments, particularly if you’re at a contributor day and find that we’ve missed something.

• Weekly Office Hours: Thursdays 17:00 UTC
• Where: The #docs channel on Slack

The Docs team is responsible for WordPress’ user and developer documentation, in the administration screens, in the Codex, and in other sections of WordPress.org.

Group responsibilities #Group responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Docs team are:

• to update the release-notes at the Codex after each WordPress release
• maintenance on HelpHub and DevHub
• to maintain the inline documentation (along with core)
• to produce and maintain the Theme Developer Handbook

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Current Projects #Current Projects

The Docs team currently has a number of active projects. More info about current projects.

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Common Tasks #Common Tasks

As a member of the Docs team, some common tasks that you’ll carry out are:

• writers & developers – updating the DevHub and HelpHub to keep parity with the latest WordPress version
• writers & developers – updating the WordPress admin help
• writers & developers – writing and updating tutorials
• writers – helping other teams with documentation that they might need
• developers – contributing to Inline Docs
• developers – developing tools for use by the Docs team (e.g. code reference, docs tracker)

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Prior Knowledge #Prior Knowledge

Prior knowledge that you’ll find helpful for working on docs is:

• some familiarity with WordPress, though keep in mind that writing docs is an excellent way to learn
• good English language skills
• knowledge of theme development for working on the Theme Developer handbook
• knowledge of plugin development for working on the Plugin Developer handbook
• for writing documentation, the ability to write clear, concise documentation
• development skills (PHP, CSS) if interested in building tools

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Tools #Tools

• A local install of WordPress is helpful, though not essential.

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Essential Reading #Essential Reading

• For writing or editing the handbooks, the Handbooks Style and Formatting Guide.
• For contributing to Inline Docs, the PHP Documentation Standards.
• Wikiformatting for editing the Codex.
• To contribute to Developer hub, the developer.wordpress.org specifications, and the handbook.

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First Steps #First Steps

1. Sign up for a WordPress.org account.
2. Decide which project to work on from the list above.
3. Once you’ve decided, do one of the following:
   • Theme Developer Handbook – See this post and contact @Kenshino next
   • Inline Docs – you’ll need a local SVN checkout of WordPress trunk. The first steps for contributing to core has information about this, see Core Contributor Handbook. Once you’re set up, check out the landing page for more information on documenting the hooks.
   • Developer Hub – this requires a complex setup. Find steps in the handbook. If you are having trouble please contact @drewapicture in the #docs channel on Slack. Alternatively, you can check out the meta trac tickets and comment on them if you have suggestions.
   • HelpHub – Take a look at the Helphub handbook and contact @Kenshinoin in the #docs channel on Slack if you need help

If you wish to work on the handbooks, contact someone in #docs on Slack to give you editor capabilities. The following people are usually around: @drewapicture, @Kenshino, @wizzard.

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Tasks #Tasks

Some easy tasks for a first time contributor to get started at a Contributor Day are:

• identify a Theme Developer Handbook page to work on or edit
• identify any user documentation that needs some work or rewriting – HelpHub handbook
• update the inline docs