Getting started on MDN

We are an open community of developers and writers building resources for a better Web, regardless of brand, browser, or platform. Anyone can contribute and each person who does makes us stronger. Together we can continue to drive innovation on the Web to serve the greater good. It starts here, with you.

Every part of MDN (from the code that makes the site work to the documentation, code samples, and demos) is created by a community of developers and writers. Everyone has something to offer, and we hope you'll join us!

3 Simple steps to MDN

MDN is a wiki, where anyone can add and edit content. You don't need to be a programmer or know a lot about technologies. There are plenty of things that need to be done, from simple tasks such as proofreading and correcting typos to the complex ones such as writing API documentation. This guide will get you started and help steer you toward finding ways you can help improve MDN's content.

Contributing is easy and safe. Even if you make a mistake, it's easily fixed; if you don't know exactly how things should look, or your grammar isn't all that great, don't worry about it! We have a team of people whose job it is to make sure that MDN's contents are as good as possible. Someone will be along to make sure your work is tidy and well-written. Share what you know and follow your strengths, and trust in the rest of the community to help make your work even better.

Step 1: Create an account on MDN

To begin your contributions to MDN, you need to have an account on MDN. For details, please see how to create an account. Note that you'll need a GitHub account before you can create an MDN account, since we use GitHub for authentication at this time.

If your task involves creating new pages, please see "Getting page creation permissions" in How to create and edit pages for important information about how to get permission to add new pages; for security reasons, new accounts don't have this ability by default.

Step 2: Pick a task

Now that you are logged in, read the descriptions of different task types in the list below, and decide which one most appeals to you. You can pick any task you like and begin your contribution.

Step 3: Do the task

Once you've decided what kind of task you want to do, find a specific page, code example, etc. to work on, and just do it!

Don't worry about doing it perfectly; other MDN contributors are here to help fix errors that slip through. If you have questions as you go, see the Community page for info on mailing lists and chat channels where you can get answers.

If you want to experiment with editing on MDN before doing something "for real", we have a Sandbox page for you to play around in. Please limit your experiments to this page. Please don't make unneeded changes to content pages just to see what happens; that's making a mess for others to clean up or, worse, confusing readers who are just trying to learn something or look something up.

When you're done with your chosen task, feel free to pick another item, or see below for other things you can do on MDN.

Possible task types

There are multiple avenues you can take to contribute to MDN depending on your skill set and interests. Even though some tasks may be daunting, we do have lots of simple activities available. A lot of them need only five minutes (or less!) of your time. Below, along with the task and its short description, you will find the approximate time that each type of task typically takes.

Option 1: I like words

You can help us review or edit existing docs, and apply correct tags to them.

Set the summary for a page (5-15 minutes)
Do editorial reviews (5–30 minutes)
Write a new entry in the Glossary (15 minutes-1 hour)
Write an article to help people learn about the web (1-3 hours)

If you are reviewing articles or writing new ones, we ask you to please review the Style Guide. This will help to ensure that articles are consistent.

Option 2: I like code

We need more code samples! You can also help build our site platform, Kuma!

Convert code samples to be "live" (30 minutes)
Read the Getting Involved Guide (30 minutes)
Set up a Kuma build environment (1 hour)
Send your code patch to the Kuma codebase (1 hour)

Option 3: I like both words and code

We have tasks that require both technical and language skills, like writing new articles, reviewing for technical accuracy, or adapting documents.

Tag JavaScript pages (5 minutes)
Promote MDN on your own website (5 minutes)
Do technical reviews (30 minutes)
Write a new article on a topic that is currently needed (1 hour or more)
Create an interactive exercise to help people learn about the web (1 hour or more)
Fix a documentation bug from the MDN category in Bugs Ahoy (1 hour or more)

Option 4: I want MDN in my language

All localization and translation work done on MDN is done by our amazing community of volunteers.