How To Contribute To Thunderbird (Without Knowing How To Code!)

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Thunderbird is #opensource. Most people know that. But how do you CONTRIBUTE to Thunderbird? That means knowing how to code, right? NO! How can YOU help make a big difference in the Thunderbird community? We have a few ideas, so keep reading... 👀🧵

A friend of ours, @bashfulrobot, compares a software project to a construction job: "Programming is the carpenter, but you still need the architects, designers, project managers, and permit people to make a construction job come together," he says. It takes an entire community!

Making Thunderbird requires the skills of programmers, graphic designers, translators, writers, financial supporters, enthusiastic fans, quality assurance helpers, bug hunters, & beta testers. Even if you just have an idea to share, you can make a difference!

Still here? Great! We're going to share a bunch of links, and one of them might be a great fit for you. No matter what your skill set is, you CAN help make Thunderbird and its global community better than ever. Keep reading the thread, then let's rock!

Are you a Thunderbird pro? Maybe you want to #PayItForward and volunteer some time to help new users! We even have a private discussion group for our support crew to help each other, so they can better support Thunderbird users. To get involved: wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird/tb-support-crew

Want to help improve Thunderbird by simply using it? Testing is a great way to #contribute and requires no prior experience! Help us catch those bugs before they get loose! Here's all the info you need to get started: wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Testing

Speaking of bugs, capturing and reporting Thunderbird bugs is really important. It's invaluable! And you'll enjoy the satisfaction of helping MILLIONS of other users avoid that bug in the future! We use Mozilla's Bugzilla, a very powerful tool: bugzilla.mozilla.org/

We want the entire world to use Thunderbird. If you know multiple languages, you can help us achieve that! To get involved with localizing the Thunderbird app, go here: developer.mozilla.org/docs/Mozilla/Projects/Thunderbird/Thunderbird_Localization Or join 100 other contributors who help #translate our site! pontoon.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbirdnet/

Know what else is important? Documentation! From beginner tutorials to technical guides, there's always a need for helpful information to be written down and easily found. There are many ways you can contribute to Thunderbird documentation. Start here: thunderbird.net/en-US/get-involved/#documentation

Financial contributions are another way to help. Thunderbird is both free and freedom respecting, but we’re also completely funded by donations! Year after year, the generosity of our donors makes it possible for Thunderbird to thrive. You can donate at give.thunderbird.net.

Do you share our tweets? Do you tell your friends and colleagues about Thunderbird? Then yes, you are contributing! Word of mouth and community promotions are another key ingredient to the Thunderbird (and any open source) project. Enthusiasm is contagious. Keep sharing ❤️

If you DO have coding skills there are so many ways to help! One of those ways is adding new functionality and designs to Thunderbird with Extensions and Themes! Here's what you need to know about making add-ons for Thunderbird: developer.thunderbird.net/add-ons/about-add-ons

And of course we're always looking for contributions to Thunderbird itself from the talented #FOSS developer community! Our Developer Hub has everything you need to start hacking away on Thunderbird: developer.thunderbird.net

Last but not least, @k9mail_app is now part of the Thunderbird family. As we work towards bringing Thunderbird to Android, contributions are encouraged! Find out how you can help the K-9 Mail team here: k9mail.app/contribute We can't wait to hear how you'll contribute!