It first started out as a discussion on the WordPress Hackers mailing list concerning the addition of email notifications to the core of WordPress to keep administrators abreast of new versions of WordPress as they were released. The discussion became long winded but a response by Lynne Pope provided one of those why didn’t I think of that moments.

Change the sample data – instead of, “this is a post”, provide some meaningful information. With a link to subscribe to WP-Announce. Make an entry announcing that WP-Announce is being used, so this will show in the dashboard feeds. Bloggers will quickly pick up on this and news of it will spread.

Needless to say, her idea sparked a series of kudos with other suggestions for what to include in the sample data. Then, in a WordPress development chat regarding the topic that was discussed on the hackers mailing list, it was agreed that the best course of action would be to not only revive the WP-Announcements mailing list, but to also change the Hello World! post in WordPress to something more useful. A fellow by the name of Demetris took it upon himself to create a draft of what the sample data should be. The discussion surrounding the change including links to see drafts and revisions were included in ticket number 11008. The ticket has been open for two weeks and in today’s developer chat, Demetris published a link to his draft which you can view here. There was a unanimous decision to include the sample post data into the core of WordPress starting with version 2.9. If the sample data needs editing, it will be done throughout the beta process before the stable release.

There you have it. A time line of events that happened in quick succession which provided a small change with huge benefits without having one line of code written. Let me know your thoughts in the comments with regards to the new sample data that will be provided in any new installation of WordPress starting with 2.9.

In this post, I’m going to highlight a number of different ideas, comments, and blog posts that came out of the discussion.

First, we have Matt Mullenweg who shares his thoughts on the idea that WordPress is a thankless community. This was a question and answer session at WordCamp Montreal where someone in the audience must have been reading WeblogToolsCollection.com. Who ever asked Matt this question, thank you! The question was asked at 33:40.

Donnacha of WordSkill published a comment that I thought captured the essence of what I was trying to get across.

Yeah, a dollar – that’s a days pay for some people in this world.

One of the key points of the Open Source movement, and it is something that is a risk of being lost in this mad rush towards commercializing the WordPress eco-system, we are meant to be working together to lift up all humanity, not just privileged Westerners.

IF A PLUGIN IS WORTH A DOLLAR, surely we should be sending hundreds to the folks who contributed to the WordPress core?

… but they would laugh, possibly even be insulted, because their efforts are about something much bigger than grubbing a few lousy tips.

Thank plugin authors, link to them, credit them, try to be helpful on their forums, install WordPress for a neighbor. If they request donations, sure, buy them a beer, but don’t forget that this project used to be about something higher, and certainly don’t criticize other users who either cannot or don’t want to donate

We had a number of people write about this particular subject on their own blogs and I’d like to highlight a few posts that I think make for a great read.

Code Is Poetry
Scribu turns the tables and thanks his users
Extending thanks outside of WordPress
Thanks to all the developers, you rock!
Academic Sandbox looks at this issue from a generational point of view

I have one more link that features an idea that I have really gotten behind called Donate Friday. DonateFriday exists to socially show some love to plugin or theme authors every Friday. The way it works is you choose a theme or plugin author to donate to, place their name and a link to their plugin or theme in the tweet, and then add in the #donatefriday hashtag so that it can be tracked. I’ve participated in this event twice and it’s a cool way to not only show some love, but to spread the word of plugins you take value in. If you want to see it in action, check out the hashtag search on Twitter.

Last but not least, I wanted to point you in the direction of a Codex article which discusses how to contribute to WordPress because much of the same material can be applied to theme and plugin authors. But the most interesting part of this page is the section describing the donation of money which is what I’ll leave you with to ponder.

The WordPress Community exists because everyone takes part in some way, by giving their time, energy, and sometimes even money, because they believe in the valuable services WordPress provides. We invite you to join the community in whatever way you feel is appropriate, and giving money to WordPress Theme and Plugin authors and developers who give so freely of their creativity and expertise by offering their services for free to all WordPress users is a good place to start.

If you use a WordPress Theme or Plugin and your WordPress blog depends upon it, contact the author and find out how you can give back and support their continued efforts. It takes a lot of time and energy to create and then support their Themes and Plugins, keeping them updated as WordPress changes and bugs are found. Many take donations or appreciate it when you blog about their Plugin or Theme. Others offer their Plugins and Themes as experiential portfolios – you play with it, you like it, you hire them. Most clearly indicate how they appreciate compensation for their hard work – give back to WordPress by giving back to them.

The more the WordPress Community supports the programmers, developers, testers, and challengers, the stronger and better WordPress becomes. Sometimes that means donating money, sometimes it means saying thank you.

Just remember, every contribution counts, no matter what it looks like. It takes every one of us to make WordPress better.

If you are a female WordPress developer and you live on the West Coast, preferably around San Francisco, CA get in contact with Jane Wells as soon as possible. You may end up with the opportunity to present at WordCamp San Francisco.

Participate In The WP Forum

The official WordPress forums which can be found here http://wordpress.org/support/ were set up for users to help other users. Everyone that posts on the forum is doing so voluntarily. The forum is one of the places to go if you require support while using the WordPress.org software. The forum could always use more users familiar with WordPress.

Blog About WordPress

This is one of the easier ways in which you can generate buzz about WordPress, blog about it. Not only will this raise awareness, but it gives you another avenue in which to share your experiences or knowledge regarding the software.

Create A WP Plugin

This one is a no brainer. Generally, plugins are answers to problems and most likely, there will be more than one user who has the same problem as you.

Share Your Ideas On The WP Idea Site

Many people still don’t realize that their is an extended part of WordPress.org which houses all of the ideas which have been submitted by users. WordPress.org Ideas Page. These ideas can then be rated on a 5 star system. You can also throw in your two cents for specific ideas. It’s been said by Matt himself that the core dev team takes a look at the ideas section and if there is enough demand for certain ideas, the chances are good (Not Definite) that the change would come along in a future version of WordPress.

Donate Money Towards The WP Project

Now, you might scoff at the idea of donating cash towards the WP.org project, but the fact of the matter is, most of the money involved with Automattic is used for WP.com. The WP.org project is free to use, free to host, is just about as free as free gets. However, donations towards the project do go towards useful things such as contests, legal costs, domain registrations, developer rewards ect. You can donate to the WordPress.org project by visiting the WP.org Donate Page.

Purchase Products Through The WP Store

WordPress does have it’s own shop filled with wares branded with the WordPress logo. The store offers up hoodies, mugs and T-shirts. Not only does wearing branded apparel showcase your joy/love for WordPress, but the money goes right back into the WP.org project.

Create And Share WordPress Themes

Not much explaining I have to do here. If you create a theme, share your work to the masses. One of the biggest reasons WordPress is successful is due to the large amount of variety and creativity found within themes.

Contribute To The WP Codex

The Codex is the ultimate knowledge base for WordPress. Just about everything involved with WordPress has in some form or fashion been documented within the Codex. Ok, not everything has been documented, but that is where you come in. The Codex could always use new contributors and it’s very easy to do. Click here to figure out how to contribute to the Codex.

Conduct WordCamps/Meetups

One thing about WordPress, it has an awesome community. Chatting online, posting in the forum, commenting on blog posts is all fine and dandy, but there is nothing like meeting other WordPressers face to face. Conducting a WordCamp or WordPress Meetup in your local area is a great way to gather individuals together with a commonality, you all use WordPress.

Create Your Own WP Forum

Sure, there might be a well established WordPress forum already in use but that doesn’t mean you can’t create one of your own. As far as I can tell, the more people discussing and talking about WordPress, the better.

Create Gravatars For The WP Community

While this might not directly effect the WP project, it will help indirectly. Some of us are not graphic designers and so, the help of others to create spiffy looking gravatars which are appearing everywhere on the web is a blessing in disguise.

Report Theme Piracy

While there is a large amount of inspiration within the WordPress themeing community, some folks just can’t seem to find a way to differentiate themselves, so they copy a successful theme from the codebase all the way to the CSS. Now, this is one of the touchier methods of helping out WordPress as the GPL rule comes into play. But if you see people selling premium themes which you know they are not eligible to be doing, report them to the proper people.

Leave WordPress Credits Inside Of Themes

One thing I see too much of is the removal of the WordPress credit link located at the bottom of most themes. Sure, you don’t need to have this link presented in your theme but one way of supporting WordPress is by leaving this link in tact, showcasing your love for WordPress.

Spread The Word Through Your Favorite Medium

Whether it be through Twitter, blogging, yahoo, IM, email, forums, spread the word about WordPress. One thing that really impresses me is that WordPress.org has not spent a dime on advertising. Everything has been through word of mouth. Let’s continue that trend!

Wear Apparel With The WordPress Logo On It

This sort of overlaps with purchasing items through the WP Store, but showing off your love for WordPress at your local Starbucks with your big handled WordPress mug is priceless.

Participate In The WP-Hackers Mailing List

This is mostly for you coders out there. Participating in the WP-Hackers Mailing List is a sure fire way to get into the techy development discussions which help to shape WordPress. I don’t participate, I merely read the daily digests and have realized that most of the stuff presented in the mailing list is way over my head. However, these guys are always brining up points/counter points and it’s an interesting read at times.

Submit Bug Reports To The Trac

An integral part of the development of WordPress resides around the Trac. There is an article specifically related to reporting bugs within the codex entitled Reporting_Bugs The more people who report bugs, the better off the project will be. Of course, what really benefits WordPress is those of you who submit patches to fix those bugs.

Participate In The Beta Testers Mailing List

This mailing list can actually be used by the general publish without needing a Ph D. in coding. The mailing list is called WP-Testers Mailing List New releases are announced as well as discussed within this mailing list. If you are one of those people who downloads release candidates or beta releases, make sure to join this list so you can report and discuss your findings.

Report Security Hazards To The Proper People

If you happen to be a coder and come across something that you think may pose a security risk, the best thing for you to do is to send an email to security at wordpress.org It is standard practice to notify the vendor (the WordPress developers, in this case) of a security problem before publicizing so a fix can be prepared and public damage due to the vulnerability minimized.

Create A WordPress Centric Podcast

Maybe writing isn’t your thing, perhaps video isn’t either but you discover audio is no problem. As it stands, there are a limited number of WordPress centric podcast that exist on the net today. I’m talking about ones that come out with new episodes on a regular basis. One of the way you can share your knowledge of WordPress is through audio and right now would be a good time for you to launch that podcast.

Create WordPress Related Graphics And Share Them With Others

Another way to show your love for the WordPress project is to create a graphic and openly display it on your blog. Or you can display graphics already made and showcase them on your website, perhaps even linking them to WP.org. On the WordPress.org website, there is a page which contains already made buttons that you can use.

Participate In The WordPress IRC Channel

I’ll admit, the IRC channel is not for the faint of heart. Generally, this is where the more advanced WordPress user’s hang out but occasionally, there is a good discussion that takes and this is where you can get in direct contact with a number of folks who contribute to the WordPress.org on a regular basis. For information on to get inside the IRC channel, check out this Codex Article.

Translate WordPress Into A New Language

Although WordPress has already been translated into a number of languages, there are still more translations that could be done. The codex has an article entitled ‘Translating WordPress‘ which covers in detail on how you can translate WordPress and the Codex into other languages.

Participate In The Development Planning

Even if you are not a coder you can still join in on the development planning for WordPress. Most feature requests end up as endless mailing list debates where the message is hard to keep track of. Please read the article within the Codex entitled Development Planning to figure out how you can participate in this process.