WP Credits — Final Project Report

WordPress Polyglots Team  

Introduction

Hello! This is my final report for the WP Credits course. Over the course of this programme I had the opportunity to contribute to the WordPress open-source project as part of the Polyglots Team. This document summarises the work I carried out, the challenges I encountered, what I learned, and where I plan to go from here. I hope it is useful to anyone thinking of joining the WordPress contributor community.

Teams and projects I contributed to

Polyglots TeamTranslation

I contributed to the WordPress Polyglots Team, whose mission is to make WordPress available in as many languages as possible. My work focused on translating strings from English into Spanish, reviewing existing translations for accuracy and consistency, and learning how the GlotPress translation platform works within the WordPress ecosystem.

Learning resources and mentorship

I relied on the official WordPress Polyglots Handbook as my primary guide.

I was fortunate to receive direct guidance from a mentor:

Isota mentor

helped me navigate the GlotPress interface, understand the translation workflow, and submit my first approved translations.

Challenges and solutions

Learning the platform and editor

The main challenge was getting comfortable with the GlotPress editor and the overall translate.wordpress.org workflow. Navigating the interface, understanding translation statuses, and knowing when to flag strings for review took time. I solved this by practising regularly.

Understanding translation conventions

WordPress has specific style guides for each locale. Learning when to keep technical terms in English and when to translate them required reading the Spanish locale guidelines carefully and studying existing approved translations as examples.

My contributions

My contributions consisted of Spanish translations and reviews submitted through translate.wordpress.org. Screenshots of each translation are included in the corresponding posts on my website.

Key learnings from the WP Credits course

Open-source contribution is more accessible than it looks. You do not need to be a developer to contribute meaningfully. Translation work is just as important as writing code.

Community matters. The Polyglots Slack channel and the support from my mentors made the difference between giving up when stuck and pushing through.

Consistency beats intensity. Small, regular contributions add up. Showing up week after week builds both skills and reputation in the community.

New skills gained

Technical

GlotPress editor
translate.wordpress.org workflow
Translation style guides
String context analysis

Soft skills

Asynchronous collaboration
Receiving feedback on my work
Reading documentation in English
Working in a global community

Personal reflections and next steps

What surprised me most was how welcoming everyone was. I expected it to be intimidating to contribute to such a large project, but the community made it easy to get started.

The process of learning to use the platform from scratch was challenging, but that struggle is also what made the eventual contributions feel rewarding. Seeing a translation go from “waiting for review” to “approved” is a small but satisfying moment.

Going forward, I plan to:

• Continue submitting Spanish translations regularly.
• Work towards becoming a Translation Editor for the Spanish locale.
• Help onboard new contributors to the Polyglots team through the WP Credits programme.