You do not need experience to take part. Newcomers see the software with fresh eyes, and that is useful to everyone.
Contents
- Learning with free tools
- Safe first contributions
- Building a public portfolio
- The Student partner level
- Asking without fear
Learning with free tools
| Resource | Why it suits learners |
|---|---|
| Exponential on SQLite | "No database server needed: SQLite is the default" (Student and education partners) |
| Getting started and the admin tour | A first site in an afternoon |
| Exponential Basic | A small CMS "for everyone, educational purposes, personal use" (Who is the Exponential Foundation?) |
| Extension development | A path from user to developer |
| The help itself | Free documentation you may copy into your notes (Free documentation) |
| Courses | The trainers' section has course material (Trainers: start here) |
Safe first contributions
| Contribution | Needs |
|---|---|
| Fix a typo or an unclear step on a help page | A GitHub account |
| Translate interface messages into your language | A second language |
| Answer a question you solved yourself last week | Patience |
| Confirm a bug on your test installation | A test installation |
| A small code fix with a test | PHP, Git, patience with review |
Your first contribution walks through them.
Building a public portfolio
"Real contributions are the best portfolio a student can have: a merged pull request is public proof of skill" (Student and education partners). Keep a list of your merged pull requests, translations and help pages (Tracking your contributions).
The Student partner level
The partner program has a Student level "For students, universities, or learning institutions", at $25 a month as published on 18 October 2026, with "sandbox access, educational resources, and training support"; what "sandbox access" includes is not described (Student and education partners). It is optional: everything else on this page is free.
Asking without fear
- No question is too basic; the code of conduct protects you from mockery (The code of conduct).
- Say that you are learning; people adjust their answers.
- Show what you tried (Asking a good question).
- If you used an AI tool to write code or an answer, check it and say so (
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).
Related pages
- Paths through the community
- Welcoming newcomers
- Trainers: start here
- Newcomer FAQ
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
Become an Exponential Partner. Partners share their information, provide funding, contribute back and develop the products with us, and that is how Exponential grows. A partner website and dashboard are planned for mid-2027: please become a partner today to speed up our growth rate and land new features faster. Start with Partners: start here and How to apply.