Help keep it working.
Choose one useful piece of maintenance.
You can contribute experience, careful reading or testing. Start with a task you can finish, follow the project’s instructions, and leave a clear record for the next person.
Four ways to start
Start with a good first issue
GitHub · Coding, tests or developer documentation
WordPress projects on GitHub label some tasks as good first issues to help new contributors get started. Browse Gutenberg’s Good First Issue list or search WP-CLI’s repositories for good-first-issue. The labels identify starting points; the task may still need investigation.
Read the issue, recent comments and the project’s contribution guide. Check whether someone is already working on it, and follow the project’s process before starting. Make one focused change, test it, and explain what you checked in the pull request.
Read the Gutenberg contribution guide or the WP-CLI contribution guide. For WordPress Core itself, follow the Core contributor handbook; Core’s issue tracking uses Trac.
Answer one support question
WordPress experience · No coding required
Choose an unanswered question about something you know. Read it carefully, check the documentation, and offer one practical next step. If you test a solution, explain what you tried. Avoid guessing when you cannot reproduce the problem.
Check a documentation page
Careful reading · Writing or editing
Use a WordPress guide to carry out a real task. Note any missing step, outdated screenshot or broken example. Follow the documentation team’s contribution guide to report the exact page and propose a correction.
Test a reported bug
Testing · A disposable local site
Use a local or disposable test site. Follow the test team’s reporting guide, choose an open report, and try its reproduction steps. Record the WordPress and PHP versions, what you expected, what happened, and whether a proposed fix worked.
A clear “I could reproduce this” or “this patch fixes it in this environment” saves a maintainer time. Keep real customer data out of test reports.
Surveys and polls
From time to time, we will ask about the work of maintaining software: what helps, what gets in the way, and what deserves more attention. Each invitation will explain who it is for, the time needed, how responses will be used, and when it closes.
When a survey or poll is open, its invitation will appear here. Findings and follow-up will be published in the Log.
Another way to help: Thank a maintainer · Fund maintenance.