WordPress is just a system. It’s an app. But the people who use WordPress and contribute to its ongoing improvement bring their unique experiences to the program. Whether you’re just a WordPress user or a developer building plugins and contributing to the core, there’s a growing community of other WordPress users out there you can connect with. You never know what you might learn by taking WordPress off your screen and bringing it into the world. Here are five ways you can easily immerse yourself in the WordPress community.
1. Having a WordPress Site
Here’s a tip. The easiest way to get involved in the community right away is to simply have a WordPress site. InMotion Hosting makes it fast and easy with WordPress Hosting, a very special hosting package built from the ground up with one purpose: serve the best WordPress experience possible.
2. Attend or Volunteer At WordCamps
WordCamps, as their website explains, are informal WordPress conferences where users and developers get together to discuss ideas, give presentations, and build community. The events are organized locally, so if you don’t have one coming up in a nearby city, you can throw your own. There are small WordCamps and huge WordCamps. It’s an easy way to get involved and meet some people.
3. Visit a Meetup
If you’re not quite ready for a WordCamp, there’s an even easier way to explore the community and start shaking hands and networking. There are free WordPress meetups in most major cities. All you need to do is visit the Meetup website and see what’s happening this week.
4. Build a Theme or Plugin
Are you a coder? Many of the most dedicated WordPress users came from other content management systems like Joomla or Drupal because they liked the flexibility, power, and ease-of-use of the WordPress framework. WordPress makes it easy for those with coding experience to get their hands dirty building themes and plugins.
If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at coding, WordPress is a good way to start. If you have some HTML, CSS, and PHP experience you should check out the WordPress developer handbooks:
5. Contribute To Core
If you’ve started with plugins and want to really take your sights higher, you can contribute code to WordPress Core, the actual package that WordPress users all over the world will be using. There are plenty of guidelines and restrictions, but there’s no better way to learn what makes WordPress tick.
Tell Your Story
The goal of WordPress is clearly stated: to democratize publishing. That means something different for everyone. The definition of that sentiment actually creates some tension in the community. What does it really mean to democratize publishing? It’s something you can puzzle over endlessly or you can roll up your sleeves and start publishing your own story. That’s the best way to get involved in WordPress.
