Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Locate the make.wordpress.org site and handbook for each WordPress contribution team
- Describe the purpose and current activities of at least two contribution teams
- Compare the work of different teams to identify which best matches your skills and interests
- Select a contribution team to pursue based on your review of team resources
- Identify a first contribution you can begin without commit access
Finding the WordPress contribution teams
All contribution teams have a site in the format https://make.wordpress.org/[team-name]/. For example, the Community Team site is at https://make.wordpress.org/community/.
On each team’s page, you will find a welcome message at the top and key information in the right sidebar. These are the best starting points for any team you want to explore.
Some teams span several Slack channels, and there are also channels for other projects and working groups not listed as official teams.
Quick view of all teams and working groups
| Team | What they do | Resources |
| Core | Sets the direction of the WordPress project and develops the software, including performance improvements, bug fixes, and new features. | Core site / Core Handbook |
| Core Performance | Dedicated to monitoring, enhancing, and promoting performance in WordPress core and its surrounding ecosystem. | Core Performance site / Core Performance Handbook |
| Polyglots | Ensures WordPress is available in dozens of languages and many more regions. | Polyglots site / Polyglots Handbook |
| Support | Helps users troubleshoot issues, answers questions in the forums, and ensures everyone can get the most out of WordPress. | Support site / Support Handbook |
| Documentation | Coordinates all documentation initiatives around WordPress, including the handbooks and other writing across the project. | Documentation site / Documentation Handbook |
| Test | Manages testing and triage across the WordPress ecosystem, focusing on user testing of the editing experience and dashboard, replicating bug reports, and supporting a culture of review. Patch testing with this team is your first practical contribution. see Practical: Patch Testing | Test site / Test Handbook |
| Playground | Maintains WordPress Playground, an online tool that lets you run WordPress in a browser without needing hosting or a domain. | Playground documentation and contribution guidelines |
| Community | Supports the WordPress community around the world through event organizing, policy, and project announcements. This is the team behind WP Credits. | Community site / Community Handbooks |
| Training | Helps people learn to use, extend, and contribute to WordPress through Learn WordPress. | Training site / Training Handbook |
| TV | Approves and publishes videos on WordPress.tv and helps WordCamps with video post-production, captioning, and subtitling. | TV site / TV Handbook |
| Photos | Moderates photos submitted to the WordPress Photo Directory and maintains the directory site. | Photos site / Photos Handbook |
| Design | Focused on designing WordPress interfaces and user experience. | Design site / Design Handbook |
| Themes | Reviews and approves themes submitted to the official WordPress Theme directory. | Themes site / Themes Handbook |
| DEIB + Diverse Speakers | Committed to building a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and welcoming WordPress community. | DEIB working group site |
| Accessibility | Works to make WordPress accessible to as many people as possible, both for reading websites and for creating and maintaining them. | Accessibility site / Accessibility Handbook |
| Meta | Responsible for maintaining and managing WordPress.org websites. | Meta site / Meta Handbook |
| Hosting | Works to improve the WordPress end-user experience across hosting environments through industry collaboration and user education. | Hosting site / Hosting Handbook |
Team deep dive videos
To help you decide which team or working group you would like to contribute to, review the onboarding resources below. Most were created for previous WordPress Mentorship programs.
Core
Core
Description
Useful links
Other useful resources
- Five for the Future: Learn about the initiative that encourages contributors to give 5% of their resources back to WordPress
- WordPress on GitHub: The WordPress GitHub organization, where Core and other teams manage code contributions
- Core Trac: The ticket tracker for WordPress Core, where bugs are reported, patches are proposed, and tickets are assigned to upcoming releases
Whichever team you choose, your first hands-on contribution is patch testing in the next lesson. It requires no permissions and earns release credit.
Key Terms
| Term | Definition |
| Make.wordpress.org | The network of team blogs where WordPress contribution teams post updates, decisions, and meeting notes |
| Handbook | A team’s official documentation covering how the team works, how to join, and how to contribute |
| Working group | A focused group within the WordPress community that addresses a specific need but is not a full contribution team |
| WordPress.tv | The video platform for the WordPress community, hosting WordCamp talks and other event recordings |
| Five for the Future | A WordPress.org initiative that encourages contributors and companies to give 5% of their resources back to the WordPress project |
✅ Check Your Understanding
- After reviewing the teams above, which two or three interest you most? What is it about their work that connects with your skills or goals?
- Visit the make.wordpress.org page for one team you are considering. What is the team currently working on, and how would a new contributor get started?