Large open-source PHP project announces call for contributors
The PHP developer community has received an important announcement: one of the largest open-source projects running on PHP is officially opening applications for new contributors. We are talking about Drupal — one of the most powerful and flexible content management systems (CMS), which has remained a flagship of open-source development for many years. The project, which has thousands of active installations worldwide, invites developers of all levels to join its development.
Why is this important?
Drupal is not just a CMS. It is an ecosystem used by government websites, large corporations, and educational institutions. For example, the websites of the White House (USA), NASA, Harvard University, and many other organizations run on Drupal. Currently, the project team has set ambitious goals: to improve core performance, implement support for new web development standards, and expand capabilities for developers.
For the PHP community, this is a unique opportunity:
- Level up your skills — working with Drupal requires a deep understanding of OOP, design patterns, and modern PHP practices.
- Join an international community — you will communicate with top developers from around the world.
- Enhance your portfolio — contributing to such a project looks impressive on a resume.
What tasks await contributors?
The project is seeking help in several areas. Here are the main fields where your participation is needed:
- Core development — fixing bugs, optimizing database queries, refactoring legacy code.
- Creating and maintaining modules — extending functionality through APIs and plugins.
- Testing and QA — writing unit tests (PHPUnit) and functional tests.
- Documentation — translating and updating documentation into Russian (currently one of the most requested tasks).
- UI/UX — improving the admin panel and client-side interface.
Beginners are especially welcome: there is a mentorship program where experienced developers help you make your first commit.
How to join?
You can join the project through the official repository on GitHub. Here is a step-by-step guide:
- Go to the Drupal project page on GitHub:
github.com/drupal/drupal. - Study the
CONTRIBUTING.mdsection — it describes the rules and requirements for pull requests. - Choose a task from the
good first issuelist — these are specifically marked for beginners. - Join the official chat on Slack or Discord — they will help you with any questions.
Also, pay attention to the annual DrupalCon conference, which features workshops, hackathons, and networking sessions. In 2024, the conference will be held in a hybrid format, so you can participate remotely.
What do contributors get?
In addition to the moral satisfaction of contributing to open source, project participants receive:
- A contributor certificate from D