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Global Lead of WordCamp Asia 2023: AKA the flagship event with the longest planning period in the WordPress history…

Naoko Takano

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My WordPress Journey

2003-2024

User

Community Manager

Freelance�Web Designer

Book Author

Automattic�Customer Support

Localization Manager

Contributor

👧   👦

Full-time�Contributor

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Five for the Future

WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program

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Open Source Project Manager

Sponsored by Automattic

Increasing contributor engagement

  • Five for the Future (5ftF)
  • WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program

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Have you seen…

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WANT for Contribution

You see people who want to contribute more to the WordPress project.

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LACK of Contribution

There are many tasks, but contributors are not able to work on them.

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JOY of Contribution

You have contributed something meaningful, and it feels great.

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Embrace the WANT 🤗

Prevent the LACK 🛑

Increase the JOY 🥰

Increasing contributor engagement:

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How to connect “the desire to contribute” to lead to results

Art of Community by Jono Bacon

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Current State of the �Five for the Future

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Five for the Future

An initiative promoting the WordPress community’s contribution to the platform’s growth.

https://wordpress.org/5

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Pledges by Organizations & Individuals

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20%

The percentage of the active self-sponsored contributors who pledged

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60%

The percentage of the active company-sponsored contributors

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21%

The percentage of the organizations making impactful contributions

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We have so many individuals and companies with desire and motivation to contribute.

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But the desire and motivation alone is not enough.

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Why can’t we connect the WANT with the JOY of contribution?

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Contributors get stuck at:

  • getting started
  • sustaining the activities
  • making impacts

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  • Connect
  • Understand
  • Engage
  • Perform
  • Lead

https://wp.me/p2TTRR-3eI

Photo by Cesar Cid on Unsplash

Contributor ladder

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What blocks us?

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Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Possible Blockers

  • Lack of resources
  • Lack of a clear direction
  • Lack of collaboration
  • Burnout

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Unblocking �the successful

contribution

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Provide or find resources

  • Time
  • Skills
  • Peers and Mentors

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  • Online/offline
  • Open to guests
  • Organized by internal community team

Yoast Contributor Day

Next edition: April 18, 2024

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  • Teach new hires skills
  • Contributing is part of their training process

rtCamp Learning Courses

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  • Regularly held internal day for contribution
  • Employees take up various contribution of their choice

WebDevStudios

Five for the Future Friday

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  • Opportunity for contributor to work with a mentee
  • Mentors learn leadership & mentoring skills from other mentors

WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program

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Share/find a clear direction

  • Stay informed
  • Ask questions
  • Set priorities

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Collaborate

  • Communicate well
  • Work in the open
  • Help others

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“There’s more and more to know in the world, and you can only have so much in your head [...] So the share of stuff you know as an individual is declining in any field.”

– Benjamin Jones, Kellogg School of Management

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“None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.”

Mother Teresa

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Avoid burning out

  • Rest & Self-care
  • Delegate
  • Long-term thinking

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  • Provide resources
  • Share/find a clear direction
  • Collaborate
  • Avoid burning out

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So, what makes us “Impactful”?

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An open source contribution becomes impactful when it offers a meaningful enhancement, leading to the project's long-term advancement and growth of its ecosystem.

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An open source contribution becomes impactful when it offers a meaningful enhancement, leading to the project's long-term advancement and growth of its ecosystem.

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Five for the Future

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Let’s build the future of WordPress better together.

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Q&A

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Open Source is one of the most powerful ideas of our generation.”

Matt Mullenweg

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Find me to talk about�contribution, impact, and mentorship

@naokomc on X/Twitter

nao on WordPress.org

getinvolved@wordpress.org