Hi Prastut,

MediaWiki (The software Wikipedia uses), is open source, so we accept
contributions from anyone willing to contribute. There is no need to
be part of GSOC or OPW. The main thing that such programs provide, is
a little bit of money, and a lot of structure, which some people find
helpful in getting involved.

There's some basic information on how to get involved at
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/How_to_become_a_MediaWiki_hacker . What
the best thing for you to do at the start depends on what sort of
skills you have, and where your interests lie. A common good starting
point is to find a really easy bug, and try to fix that. There's a
list of bugs that some people think are on the easier side at
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/maniphest/query/o1M_232KG9W4/#R ,
and some more ui-ish ones at
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/search/query/I3ZF1q6NBul0/#R (Be
warned, that anyone can mark a bug easy, so sometimes hard bugs get
mislabeled as easy, so don't be afraid to try a different bug if the
first one you pick seems harder than it looks).

Another good approach with open source, is to find something that
bothers you about the software currently, and try to fix it (The
"so-called" scratch an itch approach).

I also strongly encourage you to (if you're not already) subscribe to
wikitech-l mailing list. This is the general mailing list for
mediawiki development. I also encourage you to frequent the #mediawiki
irc channel on irc.freenode.net. People at #mediawiki can be very
helpful if you run into any problems, and you can learn a lot from
just passive listening.

Cheers,
bawolff

On Tue, Jun 9, 2015 at 7:40 AM, Prastut Kumar <kr.prastut@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Wikimedia Team,
>
> I am Prastut Kumar, a CS undergrad hailing from India and currently pursuing
> my Bachelors in Computer Science and engineering from VIT University,
> Chennai Campus.
>
> Wikipedia has always been a source of knowledge for people like me hailing
> from nations where information, valuable information cannot be found.
>
> "Knowledge shared is knowledge earned".
>
> Most of the time, while browsing through wiki, I have always thought of
> donating but couldn't due to economic reasons. But as I was going through
> GSOC voila! I found wikipedia there and also having separate design section!
> I wish to contribute to the design and aesthetics of the wikimedia project
> and gain essential skills to pursue my career as a web developer-cum-UI/UX
> expert.
>
> I know, I know GSOC has started. But there might be some opportunities which
> would still be open for a guy like me. I should make this very clear that I
> am solely contributing for the sake of contributing, not with any
> expectations attached to it.
>
> My question to you guys is, from where do I start contributing? How do I
> begin?
>
> Regards
> Prastut
>

> _______________________________________________
> Design mailing list
> Design@lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/design
>

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