Letters to an open source contributor ![rw-book-cover](https://thethingwiththestuff.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/6993282777_69778bb283_b.jpg) ## Metadata - Author: [[Andrea Middleton]] - Full Title: Letters to an open source contributor - Category: #articles - Document Tags: [[open source]] - Summary: As mentioned, in September I’m leaving Automattic and my full-time role supporting contributors and programs in the WordPress open source project. (I’ve been overwhelmed by the number o… - URL: https://andreamiddleton.blog/2021/09/07/letters-to-an-open-source-contributor/ ![A moon in a blue background, with flowering branches in the foreground](https://thethingwiththestuff.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/6993282777_69778bb283_b.jpg) As mentioned, in September I’m leaving Automattic and my full-time role supporting contributors and programs in the WordPress open source project. *(I’ve been overwhelmed by the number of people who’ve taken the time to tell me that I’ve had a positive impact on them or on their experience in WordPress. Thank you so much, friends! It means so much to know that I made a difference.)* Also as mentioned: ![](https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1540419273075458048/Q98j9rDL.jpg) [Andrea Middleton](https://twitter.com/andmiddleton) [@andmiddleton](https://twitter.com/andmiddleton) I keep waking up at 4:18am with a list of things I urgently want to tell people. [Posted Sep 3, 2021 at 12:20PM](https://twitter.com/andmiddleton/status/1433766905735618561) One of kinds of “invisible” work I do as a leader in an open source project is to coach or mentor contributors who are new to WordPress, or who are looking to grow in this community/ecosystem. If you’re thinking “I’ve worked with Andrea before, and she never told me what to do!” then it might be that I had feedback that I was waiting for the right moment to share. It’s also possible I was shadowing YOU and hoping to learn how you do cool stuff around WP. Anyway, I have a lot of stored up counsel, that I want to share with a bunch of people before I go on my possibly-forever hiatus. And what do we do in WordPress when we have something to say? Well, we blog about it of course. [![](https://thethingwiththestuff.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/letters-to-a-young-poet.jpg?w=290&zoom=2)](https://thethingwiththestuff.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/letters-to-a-young-poet.jpg)[“Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke”](https://www.flickr.com/photos/99175982@N00/2753733510) by [elycefeliz](https://www.flickr.com/photos/99175982@N00) is licensed under [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/?ref=ccsearch&atype=rich) So please stay tuned for a series of articles, which will include possibly-sassy versions of the advice I generally tailor to individual needs and moments. I hope that sharing my observations about what works and doesn’t work, when trying to accomplish things in WordPress, will result in some assets that help open source contributors, even when I’m not around. As you can see from this title, I’m going to try to humbly [channel Rilke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_to_a_Young_Poet). *Is that even possible?* Stay tuned to find out! Some content could not be imported from the original document. [View content ↗](https://widgets.wp.com/likes/index.html?ver=20220105#blog_id=33386648&post_id=4251&origin=thethingwiththestuff.wordpress.com&obj_id=33386648-4251-63c6ad15966e9&domain=andreamiddleton.blog), Letters to an open source contributor, Andrea Middleton, 01gq018ayp83jzmqb32v2h7mtj.