Building a portfolio
A portfolio shows what you can do, with evidence anyone can check. For Exponential, the evidence is unusually easy to publish: the software is free, contributions are public, and your study sites run on your own computer. This page helps you put it together.
Contents
What to include
| Piece | Evidence | From |
|---|---|---|
| The capstone | Report, screenshots, a rebuild guide, repositories | Project 10 |
| Two or three study projects | Hand-ins and grades with the rubric | Study projects |
| Merged pull requests | Links to the pull requests | Contributing as a student |
| Issues you filed or helped solve | Links | Bugs you find while learning |
| An extension or theme of your own | A public repository with a README | project 8, Contribute extensions back |
| Translations | Links to the merged changes | Translating as a student |
| Certificates from a trainer | The certificate, as issued | Certifications and certificates |
| Your study journal (selected) | A summary of what you learned | Keeping a study journal |
The education page of the partner program puts it this way: "Real contributions are the best portfolio a student can have: a merged pull request is public proof of skill" (Student and education partners).
Presenting each piece
For each piece, write four lines:
What: <one sentence: what it is>
My part: <what you did yourself; name helpers and team members>
Built on: <Exponential release, PHP version, the features used>
Proof: <links: repository, pull request, screenshots, report>Short and verifiable beats long and vague. Name the release ("Exponential 6.0.15"), because features change.
Honest claims
| Write | Do not write |
|---|---|
| "Built a multilingual site with Exponential 6.0.15 (capstone, self-graded with a published rubric)" | "Exponential expert" |
| "Completed Editors 101 (trainer's assessment, passed)" | "Exponential Certified Editor" |
| "Two merged pull requests to the Exponential kernel" | "Exponential core developer" |
| "Wrote an Exponential extension, published on GitHub" | "Official Exponential extension" |
Official Exponential certifications are planned but not available yet (Certifications and certificates). Use the product names correctly: Exponential, 7x, the Exponential Foundation (Names and history for learners). Do not use logos of 7x, the Foundation or the partner program.
What to leave out
- Passwords, API keys, tokens,
settings/override/files,kickstart.ini. - Host names and addresses of a school's or employer's servers.
- Personal data of anyone, including fellow learners, unless they agreed.
- Content you do not have the right to publish: images, fonts, text.
- Screenshots of a public demo that show other visitors' content.
A portfolio page template
# <Your name>: Exponential work
## In short
<Two sentences: which path, which release, what you can do.>
## Featured: <capstone title>
<four lines as above, two screenshots>
## Projects
- <project>: <one line>, <link>
## Contributions
- <pull request title>, <link>, <merged / open>
## Extensions and themes
- <name>: <one line>, <repository link>
## Certificates
- <course>, issued by <trainer or organization>, <date>, release <x>
## How I learned
<three sentences from your journal>Keep the page in a repository of your own and update it after every project.
Related pages
- Certifications and certificates
- Contributing as a student
- Project 10: capstone, a complete small site
- 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.