Preptember: Preparing for a Successful Hacktoberfest

In recent years, Hacktoberfest, the annual celebration of open source software, has faced some significant challenges. The event has been impacted by spam, low-quality contributions, and participants who haven't taken the time to understand project guidelines or respond to feedback. This has led to frustration among maintainers and a negative perception of the event in some circles. The influx of new contributors, while exciting, has often overwhelmed project maintainers who find themselves spending more time managing poor contributions than advancing their projects.

However, we firmly believe that with proper preparation and the right mindset, Hacktoberfest can be an incredibly rewarding experience for everyone who opts in. That's where Preptember comes in. By dedicating the month of September to preparation, we can address these challenges head-on and set the stage for a more positive and productive Hacktoberfest.

The Critical Importance of Preptember

Preptember isn't just about getting ready for a month-long event; it's about creating a sustainable, respectful, and productive open-source ecosystem. Here's why it's so important:

1. Building Sustainable Communities: By preparing projects and contributors in advance, we're not just setting up for a successful October, but for long-term engagement in open source. Well-prepared projects are more likely to retain contributors beyond Hacktoberfest.

2. Reducing Maintainer Burnout: One of the biggest challenges in open source is maintainer burnout. By ensuring contributors are well-prepared and projects are set up for contributions, we can significantly reduce the stress on maintainers during Hacktoberfest and beyond. You can read more about this here.

3. Enabling Respectful Collaboration: Preptember encourages both maintainers and contributors to consider each other's perspectives. This mutual understanding is key to fostering a respectful, collaborative environment in open source.

The Preptember Challenge

Our Preptember Challenge is a call to action for both maintainers and contributors. We're inviting everyone interested in participating in Hacktoberfest to join us in preparing throughout September. Here's how you can get involved:

For Maintainers

If you're planning to opt into Hacktoberfest, now is the time to set your project up for success. This means:

1. Reviewing and updating your project documentation
2. Creating clear contribution guidelines
3. Preparing good "first issue" tags for new contributors
4. Setting up templates for issues and pull requests

By doing this work upfront, you're not only creating a better experience for contributors but also setting yourself up for a more manageable and rewarding Hacktoberfest.

Additional Resources

• Becoming a Maintainer Course
• Virtual Coffee's Repository Checklist

For Contributors

Preparing to be a good open source citizen is necessary. This involves:

1. Learning about open source etiquette and best practices
2. Familiarizing yourself with Git and GitHub
3. Reading project documentation thoroughly before contributing
4. Understanding how to write good issues and pull requests

By taking these steps, you're showing respect for maintainers' time and effort, and positioning yourself to make meaningful contributions.

Additional Resources

• Intro to Contributing Course
• Hacktoberfest Participation

The Long-Term Impact of Preptember

The benefits of Preptember extend beyond Hacktoberfest. By working on good habits and practices, we're contributing to the overall health of the open-source ecosystem. Contributors who learn to prepare properly are more likely to become valuable long-term members of open-source communities. Maintainers who invest time in setting up their projects for contribution are more likely to see increased engagement and support throughout the year.

Join Us in Preptember

Whether you're a seasoned open source contributor or just getting started, we invite you to join us in this Preptember Challenge. By taking the time to prepare, we can all contribute to making Hacktoberfest a positive and productive experience for the open source community.

Let's use September to learn, prepare, and set ourselves up for an amazing open source celebration in October. Are you ready to take on the Preptember Challenge? Let us know in the comments!