As an open source contributor, making meaningful contributions to open source repositories can be overwhelming at first, especially during Hacktoberfest. The sheer amount of information and the complexity of certain issues can make Hacktoberfest seem a bit discouraging. However, a great way to contribute and help the open source community, while also contributing in a way that meets your skillset and grows your coding abilities lies in non-code contributions. What are some specific ways we can make helpful contributions to open source without writing code?
In this article, we will learn about 10 ways to get involved with no-code open source contributions!
1. Documentation
One of the biggest ways to contribute to large projects you love, without needing to contribute large amounts of code and understand the entire codebase, is through improving documentation. Almost every project has some part of documentation that is inadequate, or could be improved on further. By contributing to documentation, you are helping other users understand more about what the project is doing, while making a valuable contribution and learning more about the codebase! You can make many of these types of contributions during Hacktoberfest!
Example:
facebook
/
docusaurus
Easy to maintain open source documentation websites.
Docusaurus
We are working hard on Docusaurus v2. If you are new to Docusaurus, try using the new version instead of v1. See the Docusaurus v2 website for more details.
Docusaurus v1 doc is available at v1.docusaurus.io and code is available on branch docusaurus-v1
Introduction
Docusaurus is a project for building, deploying, and maintaining open source project websites easily.
Short on time? Check out our 5-minute tutorial
Tip: use docusaurus.new to test Docusaurus immediately in a playground.
- Simple to Start
Docusaurus is built in a way so that it can get running in as little time as possible. We've built Docusaurus to handle the website build process so you can focus on your project.
- Localizable
Docusaurus ships with localization support via CrowdIn. Empower and grow your international community by translating your documentation.
- Customizable
While Docusaurus ships with the key pages and sections you need to get started…
2. Examples
Another way to contribute to no-code open source is to create or flag examples that leverage certain tools and libraries. For every library, you can create examples showcasing how these tools can be integrated into your projects. This is beneficial to the open source community because it shows users and collaborators how to use the open source tool. You can even contribute to repository lists containing examples usages of different tools or languages!
Example:
Medusa Next.js Starter
Medusa is an open-source headless commerce engine that enables developers to create amazing digital commerce experiences
Prerequisites: To use the starter you should have a Medusa server running locally on port 9000. Check out medusa-starter-default for a quick setup.
Overview
The Medusa Next.js Starter is built with:
Quickstart
Deploy in 5 minutes
Setting up the environment variables
Navigate into your projects directory and get your enviroment variables ready:
cd nextjs-starter-medusa/
mv .env.template .env.local
Install dependencies
Use Yarn to install all dependencies.
yarn
Start developing
You are now ready to start up your project.
yarn dev
Open the code and start customizing
Your site is now running at http://localhost:8000!
Edit /pages/index.tsx to see your site update in real-time!
Payment integrations
By default this starter supports the following payment integrations
To enable the integrations you need to add the following…
3. Tutorials
By creating tutorials or guides about how to use the open source tool, users can hit the ground running with using open source tools or projects. Examples include creating a quick start for deployment, creating advanced tutorials, or popular use cases of an API. Tutorials can significantly improve the amount of users to a project, and help contribute to its success. Writing tutorials is a great way to contribute to open source, while also teaching others about valuable open source tools.
Example:
wingkwong
/
leetcode-the-hard-way
LeetCode The Hard Way - From Absolute Beginner to Quitter. Join Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Nqm4jJcyBf
Welcome!
Introduction
For those who don't know, LeetCode is one of the most well-known platforms where you can practice your programming skills by solving coding questions. Originally this project was my personal learning notebook. Now the goals are to provide
🔶 DSA Topics Tutorials
Learn Data Structures and Algorithms ranged from basic to advanced via LeetCode Problems
🔶 Line By Line Explanations
Unlike most of posts in Discussion, we tend to provide detailed explanations via Line By Line fashion
🔶 LeetCode Community
Join the Discord to discuss Leetcode Topics with the Community in real time
Target Audience
Everyone who wants to improve their programming skills or learn how to LeetCode.
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md.
Outro
GLHF.
4. Translations
Translations are a great way to help users from other languages understand and use a codebase. By translating documentation, tutorials, or articles, one can broaden the useability of a tool, and introduce people of other languages to the world of open source. Translations are a great way to hone your language skills while making a valuable contribution to the community.
Example:
Chinese developers
#3894
💭 Description
There are million developers in china，Whether to consider opening a Chinese website for them. VPN and En glinsh Doc are difficult for me
👀 Have you spent some time to check if this issue has been raised before?
- [X] I checked and didn't find similar issue
🏢 Have you read the Code of Conduct?
- [X] I have read the Code of Conduct
5. Articles
Writing articles (like this one) is also a fantastic way to contribute to open source! Through writing articles, one can gain experience in explaining topics, and appealing to open source audiences. Articles provide valuable information to the open source community, and are especially beneficial during Hacktoberfest.
One way to contribute to Hacktoberfest is through writing articles for Aviyel! Learn more about it here.
6. Artistic Design
If you are good at artistic design or UI/UX, you can contribute art or design implementations to the repository! Some ideas include images, GIFs, or backgrounds! Even giving issues or suggestions on ways to improve a tool or site can go a long way to help the open source community! Using your skillset creatively towards open source is a great way to get started in Hacktoberfest, and no-code contributing in general.
7. Code Layout
Using a proper style guide in formatting your code and files is very important in maintaining a good open source repository. As such, providing useful feedback on ways to improve the ways files are packaged or written can greatly benefit the readability of a repository. This can be done through issues and pull requests, without having to write code.
8. Workshops/Talks
Creating or attending workshops and talks can be a great way to interact with the open source community, and learn more about no-code contributions. You can connect with other no-code contributors, and learn about repositories that require no-code contributions. Finally, you can gain valuable experience from mentors who have lots of experience in open source. In fact, Aviyel has some great talks about contributing to open source! Learn more here!
9. Conferences
If you are ambitious and want to learn more about open source, attend an open source conference! You can meet like-minded members of the open source community, and attend workshops and talks, as mentioned above. You can build valuable connections, and make no-code contributions together! Some examples for Hacktoberfest 2022 can be found here!
10. Mentorship
Finally, if you are a no-code open source contributor, the best way to get involved or give back to the community is through mentorship. You can guide contributors through ways to make meaningful contributions and pull requests to repositories, give tips and tricks, and recommend good repositories for open source contributions! Start by joining Discord servers, open source communities, and even talk to your friends about helping them navigate the beautiful world of open source!
Conclusion
Now that you know 10 valuable ways to get involved with the open source community without writing any code, why not try some of these ideas out? Remember, as long as you're actively interacting with open source and having fun, you're helping shape the community, and making an impact in no-code open source!
Top comments (1)
omg so informative thank you!!