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In my humble opinion, as a Drupal developer, contributing back to the Drupal Community is something we should love to do.

Have you ever considered a Drupal with no Views module?

Or thought about a world where there is no Drupal at all? Just think of how much extra time you would be spending writing and fixing code for each individual project. Or how much more difficult it would be for a developer (or site builder) to finish a job on time!

Lucky for us, these days I hope that we have solved the issues of time-consuming development: the answer is open-source, the answer is Drupal. Thanks to collaborative contributions, Drupal is a quality, world-leading resource. I feel excited by the opportunity to get involved and contribute back to Drupal open-source projects, don’t you? The quantity of your contribution doesn’t matter; even your digital experience or expertise isn’t important. Big or small, all that matters is whether you are able to give something back or not.

Once willing to contribute, we all face the questions: How can I start my Drupal contribution? 

The simple answer: check for the next Drupal sprint happening near you, add it to your calendar and get to the sprint! Once there, you can find mentors and, most importantly, ask questions! Some people might say: 'I am not writing code any more' or 'I am not a developer'. Yet they also ask:

But I am using Drupal, so is there a way I can contribute?

Well there is a plenty of room for you to get involved. Here are just some of the ways I am aware of:

  • Register on Drupal.org as a user
  • Confirm as a user on Drupal.org
  • Tell someone about Drupal- spread the word!
  • Join the Drupal Association
  • Attend a Drupal Association meeting
  • Improve documentation - even if that’s just correcting a spelling mistake
  • Marketing - write blog posts, articles, organise events
  • Write Case Studies - explain what Drupal can achieve
  • Follow and share Drupal's social media
  • Mentoring 
  • List someone as a mentor on your Drupal.org profile
  • Speak at Drupal events
  • Test module patches (bug fixes) and quality assurance
  • Report an issue
  • Report spam users on Drupal.org
  • Take and share Drupal-related photographs
  • Organise Drupal events, like Meetups, Sprints and Camps
  • Sponsor a venue for Drupal events
  • Host the reception desk at Drupal events
  • Help on the sessions room
  • Fund or Sponsor Drupal events

Again, it’s not a matter of how we contribute to Drupal, what’s important is to ask yourself: 'Are we/ Am I giving back to Drupal?' Over the past fifteen years, Drupal has celebrated 8 major releases and it is totally incomparable from the first to the latest version. All of this is made possible because of many of our contributions. So whatever your contribution may be, it’s very important to Drupal.


Title image by pdjohnson on Flickr

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