GCI 2014 Wrap Up and GSoC 2015 Kick Off

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Congratulations to Google Code-In Winners

Did you know Drupal recently participated in Google's Code-In contest for high school students aged 13-17 and they contributed over one hundred tasks? For example, did you see the Drupal 8 Installation Guide @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bthkQCkrH30 or the following video on how to create modules for Drupal 8 @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEIUbFoAg0I ? Maybe you plan to use this event template at next user group meetup @ https://groups.drupal.org/node/453328. Learn more about Drupal's GCI efforts from Google @ http://www.google-melange.com/gci/homepage/google/gci2014. These students also contributed to lots of contrib modules such as FB Like Button, Login Destination, Scroll to Top etc. Most importantly it is exciting to note that Drupal gained several Drupal 8 core contributors under the age of 18.

Although we value the contributions of all the GCI participants but since this was a contest, there has to be winners. We are proud to announce our grand prize winners: Getulio Valentin Sanchez Ozuna (gvso: https://www.drupal.org/u/gvso) and Tasya Aditya Rukmana (tadityar: https://www.drupal.org/u/tadityar) who'll be attending an all expense paid trip to Google HQ in Mountain View California.

Google Summer of Code 2015 Announcement

GCI was fun, but now it is time for Google Summer of Code 2015 @ http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/homepage/google/gsoc2015. GSoC is an annual program for university students organized by Google with projects managed by open source organization mentors such as us (Drupal!). Are you or any colleagues available to be a mentor and/or provide a project idea? Please share project ideas even if you're not available to be a mentor in our wiki @ https://groups.drupal.org/node/455978. This is perfect timing for our our community and GSOC as Drupal 8 is almost stable providing plenty of projects to port common modules.

Did you know each accepted organization sends two mentors on an all expense paid trip to visit GooglePlex for the "Mentor Summit"? Organization applications started February 9th and we're currently working on our organization application. We'd like to apply with at least 30 solid project ideas, so if you have ideas for any project that might be suitable for GSoC, add them our wiki @ https://groups.drupal.org/node/455978. If you are unsure whether or not your project idea will be a good fit for GSoC, have a look at the projects from GSoC 2014 @ http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/org2/google/gsoc2014/drupal.

Feel free to contact myself (Slurpee: https://www.drupal.org/u/Slurpee ) or Chandan Singh (cs_shadow: https://www.drupal.org/u/cs_shadow) directly or create nodes in https://groups.drupal.org/google-summer-code for additional information.

If you're a student, you can start by reading our getting started guide for GSoC @ https://www.drupal.org/node/2415225. Below is some useful information which may help you get selected in GSoC this year.

How to be a Drupal GSoC student in 10 Steps


  1. Register an account @ https://drupal.org
  2. Join Drupal's group for Summer of Code @ https://groups.drupal.org/google-summer-code
  3. Find a project on our ideas page @ https://groups.drupal.org/node/455978

    • Add your name as an interested student to project idea
    • Add your project idea summary (with or without a mentor)

  4. Contact mentors listed on project idea via drupal.org contact page

    • If you don't hear back after 48 hours, try creating an issue in issue queue for project and contact org/mentor
    • Contact myself directly via drupal.org contact page @ https://www.drupal.org/u/Slurpee
    • Chat with us in real time on IRC in #drupal-google or specifically during office hours listed below

  5. Complete "Drupal Ladder for GSoC Students" @ http://drupalladder.org/ladders

    • Completing additional ladders will help your application!
    • Creating additional ladders with lessons will help too!

  6. Utilize drupalmentoring.org to find issues to work on with mentors willing to help
  7. Test and reroll patches in issue queue
  8. Write a patch that is contributed into Drupal 8 (making you a "core contributor")
  9. Become a maintainer of the project you're planning to work on by contributing code/patches/tests/documentation
  10. Hangout on IRC in #drupal-google on Freenode helping other students

10 Tips for Students Writing Applications


  1. Follow the Student application template @ https://groups.drupal.org/node/411293
  2. Treat this as a real job, would any software company actually pay you to work on this project all summer?
  3. Demonstrate your ability to contribute to Drupal and that you can immediately start producing code from day one of GSoC
  4. Create a complete project plan broken down by every week of GSoC
  5. Document and diagram the workflow of user experience by creating wireframes/mockups of UI and UX (http://codecondo.com/free-wireframe-tools/)
  6. Research and contact initiatives looking to accomplish related tasks
  7. Plan out your "support contract", do you plan to stay in the Drupal community after GSoC (example, how long will you support/update your code for the community after GSoC?)
  8. Explain your workflow for project, time, and task management (a tool such a Basecamp or Trello?)
  9. Describe your methods, tools, and frequency of communication with mentor for collaboration in a virtual environment (g+ hangout twice per week?)
  10. Request mentors and helpers in #drupal-google to review application via Google Drive with comments enabled prior to application deadline

10 Tips for Mentors Helping Students Write Applications


  1. List a project on our ideas page @ https://groups.drupal.org/node/455978
  2. Review the "Drupal Ladder for GSoC Students" to learn student prerequisites
  3. Update any of the Drupal Ladders to help students learn faster
  4. Respond to interested students that contact you via drupal.org contact page

    • Please respond within 48 hours

  5. Test and review patches from students
  6. Facilitate contact with discussion between student and module maintainer of projects of interested student
  7. Create a project plan and timeline that student agrees on with specific deliverables, understanding you may need to fail student at midterm or final
  8. Review Google's guide on being a mentor in Melange (non-Drupal stuff) @ http://en.flossmanuals.net/gsocmentoring/
  9. Contact Drupal's org admins (Slurpee, slashrsm, cs_shadow) if you have any questions
  10. Hangout in #drupal-google answering student questions

Drupal's GSoC Office Hours (help in real time!)

Mentors are available on IRC in #drupal-google @Freenode thrice each weekday for one hour from March 16th until March 27th. Join us in real time at scheduled times below to chat with mentors in real time to ask questions, request application reviews, or simply hangout.


  • Asia/Australia 04:00 - 05:00 UTC (IST 09:30-10:30)
  • Europe 13:00 - 14:00 UTC (CET 14:00-15:00)
  • Americas 18:00 - 19:00 UTC (PDT 11:00-12:00)

Contributing to Drupal

Did you know many successful students started with zero Drupal experience prior to GSoC? If new to Drupal and willing to contribute, come to participate in core contribution mentoring. It helps anyone without any experience to get started with Drupal contribution development. Google wants to see students contributing to organizations prior to the starting of their GSoC project and this is a chance to demonstrate your skills. Office hours provide a chance for students that have problems with their patches or can't find issues to work on to seek guidance. Create an account at http://drupalmentoring.org before you participate in core mentoring. Drupal core contribution office hours are Tuesdays, 02:00 - 04:00 UTC AND Wednesdays, 16:00 - 18:00 UTC. If you need help outside of office hours, join #drupal-contribute to chat with the community members willing to assist 24/7.

Details about core mentoring office hours @ https://drupal.org/core-office-hours and http://drupalmentoring.org. More information about contributing to Drupal @ http://drupal.org/new-contributors and http://drupal.org/novice.

Final notes from Google to Students

We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications from students to participate in Google Summer of Code 2015. Please check out the FAQs [1], timeline [2], and student manual [3] if you are unfamiliar with the process. You can also read the Melange manual if you need help with Melange [4]. The deadline to apply is 27 March at 19:00 UTC [5]. Late proposals will not be accepted for any reason.

[1] - http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/document/show/gsoc_program/google/gso...


[2] - http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/events/google/gsoc2015


[3] - http://en.flossmanuals.net/GSoCstudentguide/


[4] - http://en.flossmanuals.net/melange/students-students-application-phase/


[5] - http://goo.gl/W5ATLA

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