MidCamp 2025: Contributing to Drupal with Purpose and Passion

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend Day 3 of MidCamp 2025 at DePaul University in Chicago, and it was an inspiring day!. MidCamp, a three-day event in Chicago, brings together Drupal community members for learning and collaboration. Attendees engage in sessions, trainings, and networking opportunities, benefiting from knowledge-sharing and peer connection.

The keynote speaker on Day 3 was Tearyne Almendariz, of NLBC Works and Github, and Vice-President of Midwest Open-Source Alliance, who presented a fascinating talk about meaningful and intentional contribution to Drupal. Contribution Day provides the opportunity to learn new skills, gain experience, and contribute to Drupal, and is open to everyone looking to connect and collaborate. 

Her message is clear: anyone, whether brand new to Drupal or a seasoned developer, can make a meaningful impact. This is what open source is all about.  

Tearyne emphasized that contribution makes you a more integrated part of the Drupal community, a space built on collaboration, generosity, and shared purpose. A quote she shared explains it beautifully.   “We drink deeply from the wells we did not dig. Somebody made this. Every drop counts.”  This resonates with me. It’s a reminder that every contribution, no matter how small, sustains and strengthens the tools and communities we rely on.  

So How Can You Contribute?  

Tearyne emphasized that contributions beyond code are vital and often overlooked, such as refining documentation, helping triage issues, or making Drupal more welcoming. These efforts are just as essential as technical work. There are myriad ways to contribute to Drupal, and here is an outline with links to get started: 

For Developers  

• Fix Bugs or Add Features  

• Work on issues in the Drupal.org issue queue.  

• Start with issues tagged "novice" or "good first issue".  

• Create or Maintain Modules/Themes  

• Contribute your own custom modules or themes.  

• Help maintain existing contributed projects.  

• Review Code  

• Participate in peer-reviewed code reviews.  

• Core Contributions  

• Join the Drupal Core Mentoring team.  

• Help with Drupal core issues, especially during DrupalCon contribution sprints.  

 For Non-Developers  

• Documentation  

• Help write or edit Drupal documentation.  

• Improve READMEs for contributed modules or themes.  

• Design & UX  

• Contribute to the design and usability of Drupal interfaces.  

• Participate in the Drupal UX team.  

• Project Management  

• Help organize community initiatives or manage tasks within issues.  

• Testing  

• Test patches and report results.  

• File bug reports with clear reproduction steps.  

Community & Outreach  

• Answer Questions  

• Help others on Drupal Slack, Drupal Answers StackExchange, or the Drupal forums.  

• Host or Attend Meetups  

• Join or organize local Drupal meetups or camps.  

• Speak or Write  

• Give talks at events or webinars.  

• Write blog posts, tutorials, or case studies.  

• Mentoring  

• Help new contributors get started, especially during events or online.  

Company Contributions  

If you work for a company that uses Drupal:  

• Allocate team time for contribution (code, QA, design, docs).  

• Sponsor community events or development sprints.  

• Promote and credit employee contributions.  

Getting Started  

• Create an account at Drupal.org.  

• Visit the Contributor Guide.  

• Join the Drupal Slack to connect with others.  

Start Small, but Start Now  

If you’re unsure where to begin, Tearyne encouraged starting with manageable tasks like reporting bugs, updating issue queues, testing both input and output, and reviewing changes or writing clear descriptions. One great piece of advice for beginners she called out is to steer clear of long-running issues with a lot of discussion, as they can be complex and difficult to parse.  

Contribution Tools and Resources  

She highlighted helpful tools to lower the barrier to entry:  

• DrupalForge – spin up pre-configured Drupal sites (check out the MidCamp-ready environment!)  

• DrupalPod – a browser-based tool for contributing quickly and easily  

• DDEV – a favorite for local Drupal development  

• SimplyTest.me – instantly test modules and patches without a local setup  

Another great tip: your Drupal.org profile can act as a living resume of your contributions. It’s a great way to showcase your work, whether it's code, documentation, mentoring, or community engagement.  

Accessibility, AI, and the Future  

Tearyne encouraged the community to always consider accessibility, not just for users, but also for contributors. Making it easier for new people to get involved strengthens Drupal as a whole.  

A fun and memorable part of MidCamp was the “Choose Your Own Adventure” ChatGPT bot, an AI-powered interactive experience. It was a great example of Drupal’s creativity, but it came with a caution: If you use AI, you must disclose it. Lack of transparency could result in getting banned.  

This serves as a reminder that ethics matter, especially as AI becomes more integrated into our workflows.  

Giving Back to Move Forward  

At Breakthrough Technologies, we believe open source is one of the most powerful accelerants for innovation in the digital world. It allows us to build platforms with advanced functionality faster, more flexibly, and more cost-effectively than closed or proprietary alternatives. Rather than starting from scratch, we stand on the shoulders of a global community.  We leverage shared tools, modules, and expertise to focus our efforts on what matters most: creating meaningful, tailored solutions for our clients. 

Open source empowers us to adapt, extend, and improve software to meet specific needs without restrictive licenses or vendor lock-in. It fuels collaboration, transparency, and a culture of shared problem-solving. And when we contribute back—through code, design, documentation, or mentorship—we’re not just giving back; we’re investing in the continued growth and resilience of the tools we rely on. 

That’s why attending events like MidCamp 2025 is so important, not just to stay current, but to stay connected and to contribute.  

Perhaps the most inspiring takeaway was the idea that the more you give back, the more you get back. Whether it’s the knowledge you gain, the connections you make, or the impact you have, contributing enriches both the community and you.  

MidCamp 2025 was an amazing day in Chicago, full of insights, connections, and appreciation for the incredible Drupal community. If you’ve ever thought about getting involved, now is the time. Because yes, every drop counts.