Starter kit

Where to start
Register to mediawiki.org and subscribe to wikitech announce. Now you are connected.

If you're not familiar with the wiki environment, these links can help you get comfortable: A contributor can perform several tasks. Its better to start on the tasks that you find interesting. Consider these first tasks, based on your interests:
 * Help:Navigation.
 * How to Edit (with the new VisualEditor) or Edit source (old school)

Fixing Bugs
Finding bugs and debugging them is the best way to start your contribution. Its makes the contributor more familiar with the code-base. Bugs can be found manually. However, this method is quite time-consuming. Thus, browser tests are run which automatically find the bugs. This is also known as Quality Assurance.

Bug Management
 * Bugs that need a feature description
 * Project:WikiProject_Bug_Squad
 * Bug days

Also check out the Project:Calendar to find ways to get involved.

User page and preferences
After registering, you get a user page that is 100% public. Introduce yourself! Suggested fields are:
 * real name
 * location
 * interests
 * languages
 * motivation to be here.

If you want a picture, check Help:Images. Minimal / no design is recommended. Wikipedia explains more.

You may also use the User Info Template.