As an open source contributor, making meaningful contributions to open source repositories can be overwhelming at first, especially during Hacktoberfest. The sheer amount of information and the complexity of certain issues can make Hacktoberfest seem a bit discouraging. However, a great way to contribute and help the open source community, while also contributing in a way that meets your skillset and grows your coding abilities lies in non-code contributions. What are some specific ways we can make helpful contributions to open source without writing code?
In this article, we will learn about 10 ways to get involved with no-code open source contributions!
1. Documentation
One of the biggest ways to contribute to large projects you love, without needing to contribute large amounts of code and understand the entire codebase, is through improving documentation. Almost every project has some part of documentation that is inadequate, or could be improved on further. By contributing to documentation, you are helping other users understand more about what the project is doing, while making a valuable contribution and learning more about the codebase! You can make many of these types of contributions during Hacktoberfest!
Example:
facebook
/
docusaurus
Easy to maintain open source documentation websites.
Docusaurus
Introduction
Docusaurus is a project for building, deploying, and maintaining open source project websites easily.
Short on time? Check out our 5-minute tutorial ⏱️!
Tip: use docusaurus.new to test Docusaurus immediately in a playground.
- Simple to Start
Docusaurus is built in a way so that it can get running in as little time as possible. We've built Docusaurus to handle the website build process so you can focus on your project.
- Localizable
Docusaurus ships with localization support via CrowdIn. Empower and grow your international community by translating your documentation.
- Customizable
While Docusaurus ships with the key pages and sections you need to get started, including a home page, a docs section, a blog, and additional support pages, it is also customizable as well to ensure you have a site that is uniquely yours.
Installation
Use the initialization CLI to create your site:
npm init docusaurus@latest
…
2. Examples
Another way to contribute to no-code open source is to create or flag examples that leverage certain tools and libraries. For every library, you can create examples showcasing how these tools can be integrated into your projects. This is beneficial to the open source community because it shows users and collaborators how to use the open source tool. You can even contribute to repository lists containing examples usages of different tools or languages!
Example:
medusajs
/
nextjs-starter-medusa
A performant frontend ecommerce starter template with Next.js 15 and Medusa V2.
Medusa Next.js Starter Template
Combine Medusa's modules for your commerce backend with the newest Next.js 15 features for a performant storefront.
Prerequisites
To use the Next.js Starter Template, you should have a Medusa server running locally on port 9000 For a quick setup, run:
npx create-medusa-app@latest
Check out create-medusa-app docs for more details and troubleshooting.
Overview
The Medusa Next.js Starter is built with:
Features include:
- Full ecommerce support:
- Product Detail Page
- Product Overview Page
- Product Collections
- Cart
- Checkout with Stripe
- User Accounts
- Order Details
- Full Next.js 15 support:
- App Router
- Next fetching/caching
- Server Components
- Server Actions
- Streaming
- Static Pre-Rendering
Quickstart
Setting up the environment variables
Navigate into your projects directory and get your environment variables ready:
cd nextjs-starter-medusa/
mv .env.template .env.local
Install dependencies
Use Yarn to install all dependencies.
yarn
Start developing
You are now ready to start up your project.
yarn dev
Open
…3. Tutorials
By creating tutorials or guides about how to use the open source tool, users can hit the ground running with using open source tools or projects. Examples include creating a quick start for deployment, creating advanced tutorials, or popular use cases of an API. Tutorials can significantly improve the amount of users to a project, and help contribute to its success. Writing tutorials is a great way to contribute to open source, while also teaching others about valuable open source tools.
Example:
wingkwong
/
leetcode-the-hard-way
LeetCode The Hard Way - From Absolute Beginner to Quitter. Join Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Nqm4jJcyBf
Welcome!
About
Welcome to "LeetCode The Hard Way," the ultimate resource for those looking to improve their skills in data structures and algorithms! Our website is dedicated to providing comprehensive tutorials and detailed solutions to some of the most challenging problems in LeetCode. Whether you're a student looking to ace your next exam or a professional seeking to level up your coding skills, our tutorials and solutions are designed to help you succeed. Our content covers a range of popular programming languages, so you can learn and practice using the language of your choice.
From basic data structures to advanced topics, we've got you covered. At "LeetCode The Hard Way," we believe that learning should be fun and engaging. With plenty of LC problems and examples to work through, you'll have the opportunity to apply what you've learned and test your skills. So why wait? Start exploring our tutorials and…
4. Translations
Translations are a great way to help users from other languages understand and use a codebase. By translating documentation, tutorials, or articles, one can broaden the useability of a tool, and introduce people of other languages to the world of open source. Translations are a great way to hone your language skills while making a valuable contribution to the community.
Example:
Chinese developers
#3894
💭 Description
There are million developers in china，Whether to consider opening a Chinese website for them. VPN and En glinsh Doc are difficult for me
👀 Have you spent some time to check if this issue has been raised before?
- [X] I checked and didn't find similar issue
🏢 Have you read the Code of Conduct?
- [X] I have read the Code of Conduct
5. Articles
Writing articles (like this one) is also a fantastic way to contribute to open source! Through writing articles, one can gain experience in explaining topics, and appealing to open source audiences. Articles provide valuable information to the open source community, and are especially beneficial during Hacktoberfest.
One way to contribute to Hacktoberfest is through writing articles for Aviyel! Learn more about it here.
6. Artistic Design
If you are good at artistic design or UI/UX, you can contribute art or design implementations to the repository! Some ideas include images, GIFs, or backgrounds! Even giving issues or suggestions on ways to improve a tool or site can go a long way to help the open source community! Using your skillset creatively towards open source is a great way to get started in Hacktoberfest, and no-code contributing in general.
7. Code Layout
Using a proper style guide in formatting your code and files is very important in maintaining a good open source repository. As such, providing useful feedback on ways to improve the ways files are packaged or written can greatly benefit the readability of a repository. This can be done through issues and pull requests, without having to write code.
8. Workshops/Talks
Creating or attending workshops and talks can be a great way to interact with the open source community, and learn more about no-code contributions. You can connect with other no-code contributors, and learn about repositories that require no-code contributions. Finally, you can gain valuable experience from mentors who have lots of experience in open source. In fact, Aviyel has some great talks about contributing to open source! Learn more here!
9. Conferences
If you are ambitious and want to learn more about open source, attend an open source conference! You can meet like-minded members of the open source community, and attend workshops and talks, as mentioned above. You can build valuable connections, and make no-code contributions together! Some examples for Hacktoberfest 2022 can be found here!
10. Mentorship
Finally, if you are a no-code open source contributor, the best way to get involved or give back to the community is through mentorship. You can guide contributors through ways to make meaningful contributions and pull requests to repositories, give tips and tricks, and recommend good repositories for open source contributions! Start by joining Discord servers, open source communities, and even talk to your friends about helping them navigate the beautiful world of open source!
Conclusion
Now that you know 10 valuable ways to get involved with the open source community without writing any code, why not try some of these ideas out? Remember, as long as you're actively interacting with open source and having fun, you're helping shape the community, and making an impact in no-code open source!
Top comments (1)
omg so informative thank you!!