Outreach programs/Recommended steps for participants

Introduction
MediaWiki is the open source software that powers Wikipedia, its sister projects and thousands of wikis all over the world. MediaWiki 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. If you are still confused about the differences between MediaWiki, Wikimedia, Wikipedia and Wiki, learn more here. By working with us, you're contributing to

Application Process Steps

 * Get a quick glimpse of technical areas where you could contribute.
 * Browse projects listed on the Possible-Tech-Projects board on Wikimedia's task management system Phabricator. Choose a project that you really like and best fits your skill set.
 * 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. That's the recipe for a perfect intern!
 * Communicate with project mentors, discuss with them your ideas for implementation and learn about their availability and willingness to mentor.
 * Start learning some basic skills required to contribute to MediaWiki development
 * Work on fixing small bugs. 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 one or two really good proposals that were accepted for the previous round.
 * Submit your proposal on Wikimedia's Phabricator using the [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/maniphest/task/edit/form/1/?&title=GSOC%20Proposal%20for%20__&description====Profile%20Information%0AName:%0AEmail:%0AIRC%0AWeb%20Profile%0AResume%20(optional):%0ALocation:%0ATypical%20working%20hours:%0A%0A===Synopsis%0AShort%20summary%20describing%20your%20project%20and%20how%20it%20will%20benefit%20Wikimedia%20projects%0A-%20Possible%20Mentors%0A===Deliverables%0ADescribe%20the%20timeline%20of%20your%20work%20with%20deadlines%20and%20milestones.%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].
 * If you would like to work on your own project idea, communicate with relevant developers first.

Stay Tuned!

 * Follow @mediawiki on Twitter for program updates.
 * Join the wikitech-l mailing list to follow and take part in general technical announcements about Wikimedia.
 * Ask us almost anything on the Freenode IRC channel.