Google Summer of Code

Google Summer of Code + Mautic Logos

This page contains information about Mautic’s participation in Google Summer of Code (GSoC). Please feel free to contact us via Slack below for clarifications and more information.

What can I do today?

Today you should read through the ideas for projects, and start working on your application. Get familiar with Mautic, make some contributions so you're familiar with the workflow, and get to know the community. Join the Slack channel (#gsoc-discuss) and post any questions you have there, after reading this page fully and also reviewing the project proposals.

Student Information

Do you want to contribute to one of the world’s first Open Source Marketing Automation platform? GSoC could be your chance. Please refer to the information below.

If you’re interested in working on a mentor-submitted idea, read the ideas document and about the project and the related technology. Please note this is a rolling document which we maintain year-round. There is no need to contact the mentor unless you have a specific question about the project. Don’t send an "I’m interested" email or Slack message - please respect their time.

If you’re interested in proposing your own project start looking around the Mautic Project for a mentor and suggest your idea in the Slack channel (#gsoc-discuss).

You may also wish to start working on the Mautic-specific parts of the application, see below for more information. Carefully review the student responsibilities section.

Why spend your summer working on FOSS?

When you work in the open on free software, you create a body of work that follows you for the rest of your life. Rather than a coding assignment done by thousands of other students and relegated to the bottom of the drawer at semester’s end, working in FOSS is a chance to contribute to a living project.

Working in FOSS gives you a chance to:

  • Work with real-world, large codebases.
  • Collaborate with real engineers and other professionals.
  • Contribute to something meaningful while learning and earning.
  • Learn tools and processes that are just like what you are going to use if you work in technology after graduation.
  • Make friends and contacts around the globe.
  • Attract attention that can lead to an internship or job after graduation.
  • Create lifetime connections and associations.

Why work with Mautic?

Our project is relatively young and has a small but active contributor base - you have the chance to really make a difference to our community and project. We are a welcoming, friendly and diverse community.

People who contribute in our community and do good work are noticed. They get hired for jobs from it. Experience and reputation in the Mautic Project communities can be influential in your career in many ways.

You should know that contributing to FOSS doesn’t require you to have super programming skills, or super-anything else. You just need be interested, curious, and willing to become comfortable being productively lost. This is the state of learning. You learn by finding your way around and figuring things out with the support of your mentor and the community.

Student Responsibilities

You are the key ingredient for your project’s success. This project is important to you, your mentor, and the entire Mautic Community.

Your responsibilities include:

  • Communicating early and often with your mentor.
  • Updating every week about what you’re learning, how you’re doing, challenges and successes. This is key way to keep the entire Mautic Community informed.
  • Working with your mentor on realistic achievable milestones that provide for regular deliverables and feedback.
  • Attending the brief student calls, as announced
  • Being accountable for your success and your actions

Student Application

Please read and follow the student application process below.

Google Summer of Code Application Process

Interested in applying for Google Summer of Code with Mautic? Here is how you do that!

The following are specific guidelines for students to use to submit an application for the GSoC program through the Mautic Project. Please go through these carefully and follow them. Applications must be complete by the deadline. Late applications cannot be accepted.

Important

  • Timelines are set by Google for the entire program. Follow the timeline.
  • Applications are due in Google’s system by April 2 2024 - 18:00 UTC.
  • Applications must be filed in the Google system. No other material can be read or accepted.
  • The final application is required to be submitted as a PDF.

Student Application Process

Learn

Before you do anything, learn about the program and about Mautic. Our mentors do not have the time to explain to you what Mautic is, how it works or how to get set up locally - all of that is already well documented. Check out the Contribution Guidelines.

These links may be helpful:

Communicate

Begin communicating with the community. Our community members can help you understand the existing project proposals. If you’re going to try and propose your own project, this is a great way to understand the needs of the project and find a mentor.

  • Join us on Slack at #gsoc-discuss
  • Join the Product Team chat in #t-product
  • Get involved with our weekly Open Source Friday sprints by testing bug fixes and new features

Don’t forget to contact mentors on projects that interest you to learn more. If you’re going to propose a project you must have a mentor at the time of proposal.

Apply

Student applications open on March 18 2024 - 18:00 UTC.

The application process consists of 3 steps:

  1. Create an account on the Forums and Slack
  2. Join the #gsoc-discuss and #t-product channels on Slack
  3. Submit the application/proposal including all requirements in the next section at the Google Summer of Code Site. We strongly encourage you to not submit your final PDF until you get feedback about the proposal from your mentor(s).

Help is available! Share your application in progress and get feedback. The mentors can help verify your understanding of the project and provide guidance on whether your plan is good.

If you are submitting an original proposal you must find a mentor. Proposals without mentors will be rejected. Sharing your proposal is key to doing this.

If you don’t want to share your proposal publicly consider using something like a Google Doc and sharing a link with the mentor/reviewers.

Google Summer of Code Application and Supplemental Material Requirements

In addition to the information Google requests, the Mautic Project requires you to submit the following information:

  • What project are you applying to? Seriously consider choosing a project for proposal from ideas list. While it is possible to propose your own project, it is often more successful for you to select one that is already proposed by a mentor.
  • Contact Information - List your Name, Email Address, Blog URL, and any additional contact information you think we need. We tend to email so be sure you’re reading your email.
  • About You - Consider these questions
    • Do you have any past involvement with the Mautic Project or another Open Source project as a contributor? What kind of contributions have you made (code and non-code)? Please share any public contributions you have made (urls, etc.)
    • What are you studying? Why?
    • What motivates you to do your best? How do you stay focused? Briefly describe how you organize your work.
  • Why Us? - Consider these questions
    • Why do you want to work with the Mautic Project?
    • Do you plan to continue contributing to the Mautic Project after GSoC? If yes, what project(s) are you interested with?
  • Why This Project? - Consider these questions
    • Which specific project interests you? If you are proposing your own project, do it here. If you are proposing the project, explain why it benefits the community.
    • Have you contacted the mentor(s) listed for the project?
    • What relevant experience do you have for this project?
    • What do you want to gain from this project?
    • Describe this project in your own words. What does it mean to you? What do you think the final deliverable is?
  • Why should we choose you over other applicants?
  • Propose a rough schedule for this project. Ideally you will have regular deliverables throughout the entire period.
  • What are you specific plans from May to September (eg: Exams in university, internships, vacations..etc). We need to know if there are periods of time where you are likely to be unavailable. We are better at accommodating these periods if we know of them in advance.

You must submit a PDF version of all of the information you prepare with your application using the Google site. The PDF should consist of the information from the supplemental application requirements section below. It should also contain any custom project you are proposing, if any. We are not allowed to consider students who do not submit this PDF. Students will not be judged on the visual layout of their PDF, however all information must be readable.

Keep communicating

We cannot overstress the importance of communication. Keep talking, and listening, to the discussion group, to the sub-projects relevant to your proposal and to potential mentors. Be patient, as mentors and other contributors are often very busy people.

This page is adapted from the excellent guide from the Fedora Project under CC-BY-SA 3.0

Found errors? Think you can improve this documentation? edit this page