Outreach programs/Recommended steps for participants

Introduction
MediaWiki is the free and open source software that powers Wikipedia, its sister projects and thousands of wikis all over the world. It is written in PHP, primarily uses the MySQL and MariaDB database servers and jQuery as the client JavaScript library. MediaWiki is supported by the Wikimedia movement. You can learn more about the differences between MediaWiki, Wikimedia, Wikipedia and Wiki here. By working with us, you're contributing to.

Application process steps
If you are considering to apply, follow the steps in the order in which they are listed:

 Understand Wikimedia's technical areas There are a lot of technical areas in which you can contribute (e.g. Gadgets, Extensions, Skins, Bots, etc). Knowledge of these areas will help you a lot in choosing a project.  Choose a project that best suits your interests and skill set Browse project ideas on the MediaWiki program page or on the Possible-Tech-Projects workboard in Phabricator (Wikimedia's task management system).   Express your interest in working on a project by commenting on the corresponding task on Phabricator. Ask intelligent and explicit questions ("Could you tell me more about this?" is a bad example), do your research thoroughly, don't expect spoon-feeding.   Communicate with project mentors Discuss with them your ideas for implementation and learn about their availability and willingness to mentor.  Learn basic skills required for development If you are planning on contributing to a project that involves MediaWiki codebase, learn how to start hacking here. The Hands-on suggestions section on the same page includes information about how to get involved in other projects.   Fix small bugs for projects listed here. This help candidates understand the skills required for a project and mentors whether the candidate has these skills. You could also ask mentors to point you to some bugs.  Read a few good proposals that were accepted for the previous round. Here they are: example 1, example 2, example 3.   Submit your proposal on Wikimedia's Phabricator using the [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/maniphest/task/edit/form/1/?&title=Insert%20project%20title%20here&description====Profile%20Information%0AName%0AEmail%0AIRC%20nickname%20on%20Freenode%0AWeb%20Profile%0AResume%20(optional)%0ALocation%20(country%20or%20state)%0ATypical%20working%20hours%20(include%20your%20timezone)%0A%0A===Synopsis%0A-%20Short%20summary%20describing%20your%20project%20and%20how%20it%20will%20benefit%20Wikimedia%20projects%0A-%20Possible%20Mentor(s)%0A-%20Have%20you%20contacted%20your%20mentors%20already?%0A===Deliverables%0ADescribe%20the%20timeline%20of%20your%20work%20with%20deadlines%20and%20milestones,%20broken%20down%20week%20by%20week.%20Make%20sure%20to%20include%20time%20you%20are%20planning%20to%20allocate%20for%20investigation,%20coding,%20deploying,%20testing%20and%20documentation%0A===Participation%0ADescribe%20how%20you%20plan%20to%20communicate%20progress%20and%20ask%20for%20help,%20where%20you%20plan%20to%20publish%20your%20source%20code,%20etc%0A===About%20Me%0ATell%20us%20about%20a%20few:%0A-%20Your%20education%20(completed%20or%20in%20progress)%0A-%20How%20did%20you%20hear%20about%20this%20program?%0A-%20Will%20you%20have%20any%20other%20time%20commitments,%20such%20as%20school%20work,%20another%20job,%20planned%20vacation,%20etc,%20during%20the%20duration%20of%20the%20program?%0A-%20We%20advise%20all%20candidates%20eligible%20for%20Google%20Summer%20of%20Code%20and%20Outreachy%20to%20apply%20for%20both%20programs.%20Are%20you%20planning%20to%20apply%20to%20both%20programs%20and,%20if%20so,%20with%20what%20organization(s)?%0A-%20What%20does%20making%20this%20project%20happen%20mean%20to%20you?%0A===Past%20Experience%0ADescribe%20any%20relevant%20projects%20that%20you%27ve%20worked%20on%20previously%20and%20what%20knowledge%20you%20gained%20from%20working%20on%20them.%20Describe%20any%20open%20source%20projects%20you%20have%20contributed%20to%20as%20a%20user%20and%20contributor%20(include%20links).%20If%20you%20have%20already%20written%20a%20feature%20or%20bugfix%20for%20a%20Wikimedia%20technology%20such%20as%20MediaWiki,%20link%20to%20it%20here;%20we%20will%20give%20strong%20preference%20to%20candidates%20who%20have%20done%20so%0A===Any%20Other%20Info%0AAdd%20any%20other%20relevant%20information%20such%20as%20UI%20mockups,%20references%20to%20related%20projects,%20a%20link%20to%20your%20proof%20of%20concept%20code,%20etc pre-populated application template here].   Discuss your own project idea with a possible mentor If you couldn't find anything interesting in our project ideas, you could reach out to a possible mentor here. </li> </ol>

Accepted participants
If you get accepted, here is what we will encourage you to do to have a successful project:


 * Write weekly reports
 * Stay up-to-date with your goals as outlined in the timeline
 * Communicate regularly with mentors and keep them updated about your progress and challenges
 * Submit evaluations on time
 * Attend any program-related meetings we host
 * Follow any guidelines we share to involve you in our community and process.

Stay tuned!

 * Join the wikitech-l mailing list to receive Wikimedia technical news, including program updates. You can select the digest mode and read just the summary, or take part in discussions already.
 * Some MediaWiki updates are also on the Wikimedia Foundation technology blog, Twitter and Facebook.
 * Ask us almost anything on the Freenode IRC channel.