Have you always wanted to be more involved with Umbraco but have never really had the time to do it? Perhaps you've also been wanting to try writing documentation?
The Curator 'Internship' is a great way to see if writing and updating documentation is something for you! It's an unpaid internship, where you for 1 year join us, The Documentation Curators, to work with the Umbraco Documentation. You'll get to test your writing skills, play around with your favorite CMS and see what it's like being part of an open-source project - all the while you'll have direct access to some true Umbraco experts!
Intrigued? So keep on reading đ
What is a Curator "Internship"?
- Time limit: 1 year
- Applications once a year in September/October
- Open to anyone
- Participating in curating the documentation, e.g. reviewing PRs, discussing issues, and joining the bi-weekly (fortnightly) online meetings
- Working on a dedicated project matching the interns' experience and interest, supported and mentored by the Curators, e.g. the âGetting Startedâ section or âExamineâ
- Benefits
- Featured in âIntroducing Spring / Autumn internâ blog post
- Learn how to contribute to Umbraco using Github
- Learn Umbraco good practice in a unique way
- Discuss Umbraco implementation with experienced Umbracians and Umbraco HQ
- Be involved!
Some FAQs
When does this internship start?
The internships usually start in October, following the application process. The internship then runs a full year, whereafter the intern together with the Curators decide whether they want to stay on the team going forward.
How many interns are you looking for?
Weâre looking for 2 interns per year.Â
When and how will I be able to apply for the internship?
We will open up for applications at the beginning of September - the exact date will be announced when we get closer - but I think you should start considering if this is something for you already now.Â
As to how: There will be an online form you will need to fill out - this form will be shared on all platforms at the beginning of February.
We expect to keep the application open for 7-10 days. After that, weâll select 2 interns to join us for 6 months.
Iâve never done documentation before - will I be able to apply?
Anyone can apply for an internship as a Documentation Curator - thatâs the whole point of the internship;Â Itâs for everyone.Â
It doesnât matter if youâre brand new to Umbraco, have been writing documentation your entire life or youâre already working for Umbraco HQ. As long as you want to try and work with the Umbraco Documentation, you should apply! We can vouch for the fact that youâll learn something new đ
Why an internship?
We have been approached by a few people over the last two years, offering to help more with the documentation and take on specific sections or tasks. Sadly itâs been really hard to help and support their efforts on a regular basis, coordinating with our ongoing goals and the time available from all of us. We felt an official internship might be a tentative way to encourage and support these bursts of community effort properly. And that, without permanently locking anyone into any lifelong commitments to document.Â
We joked recently when Jesper left to start the Package team that heâd just finished his internship with the Documentation Curators⌠so maybe, well maybe we should try this officially.
What kind of work will I be doing as an intern?
That entirely depends on you! We will have a list of tasks and projects that you could throw yourself into, but if you have a project or idea for the documentation that you would like to work on during your internship, with our support, we are open to your suggestions!
Oh, and youâll of course also get to join our bi-weekly Curator meetings, where we talk about documentation related issues, pending PRs and much more.
How much work do you expect me to do?
Itâs an internship, not a full-time job. We expect to âsee youâ at our fortnightly meetings (every two weeks), but otherwise, the commitment is very flexible in terms of how many hours youâre able to put into contributing. The main thing, of course, is that you have fun! đ
And that you feel youâre getting something out of being a part of a community team - whether that be personally or professionally.
Internship - does that mean I will get paid?
No. This is an unpaid internship, and itâs entirely on a volunteer basis.Â
Umm - Whatâs in it for me?
Oh, plenty! Let me list some of the benefits for you:
- Youâll contribute in a focussed way to an open-source project and be lauded for your efforts
- Youâll get support and mentoring from the Documentation Curators
- You will get to go to a team gathering in Odense
- It will look great on your CVÂ
- And last but not least, karma will look after you, somehow...
Projects and ideas for the "Internship"
Help get the current Documentation up-to-date for Umbraco 8
Even though Umbraco 8 was released close to 2 years ago (February 2019), a lot of articles in the Documentation have yet to be updated.
We would to get some help on this! There are a bit less than 100 articles that still needs to be verified and possibly updated for Umbraco 8 as well.
Using https://our.umbraco.com/documentation/Contribute/file-naming-conventions, this should be a pretty straight forward task.
Define a new structure for the "Getting Started" documentation
Currently, the entire "Getting Started" section of the Umbraco Documentation is a bit, well, messy is a word that has been used by some.
The section contains information about everything from server setups to upgrading to a specific version to setting up custom logging. Perhaps this doesn't all qualify as articles that fall under the "Getting Started" category.
At our Curator meetings, we've talked about creating "User Journeys" instead, creating "Getting Started" documentation for people who are completely new to Umbraco and still have some articles for people who are experienced, but still rely on a quick guide on how to set up the Umbraco project initially.
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Start working on a "Demo site" / Starter Kit
Wouldn't it be kinda neat to have an Umbraco site or a Starter Kit with examples and demos of the things, features and work-flows you can find in the Documentation?
In the Curator team, we've been talking about creating something like that for a long time. As we also have a lot of other things that needs attention, we would love it if someone would make the first move on this and get the ball rolling.
We will of course be available for feedback and for discussions whenever you need it!