I wish more open source projects had a way to support them besides for working on the code base. I usually don't know the languages they use or don't want to invest the time to learn their framework. I'll gladly give the project $20, though.<p>What are some ways to support open source projects besides writing code?
Pretty much always you can "give them a $20", every medium+ sized project has some kind of support program going or accepts donations.<p>However, if they don't or someone doesn't have a $20 to throw at open source, there are a lot of ways to help. Just to mention a few (assuming you are at least an active user):<p>- help less experienced users (answer community questions, reported issues etc.),<p>- improve documentation (documentation is never finished),<p>- share your knowledge about a tool (write an article, tutorial),<p>- take part in tests and report bugs,<p>- apply your skills (design, writing, community management etc.) to aid project's needs,<p>- create (and maintain) a useful "resource" (e.g. list of example projects, plugin reviews).<p>There are many ways that often go "unnoticed" or rather... no one may officially pat you on the back for it, but it helps.
Documentation! See this recent thread for example:<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13437252" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13437252</a><p>Or generally anything that helps user experience: documentation, improving web site/documentation design, testing, finding bugs and making high quality bug reports, evangelizing the project to users who need it but aren't aware, becoming a expert user of the project (which will almost certainly lead to bug reports, suggestions for improvements to features and documentation, etc.) and triaging tickets, answering questions in the support forum, etc.
I don't have a lot if time to provide anything to most of the open source tools I use so I've setup monthly donations to them that my company matches. Some of the developers have wish lists as well that you can get them stuff from.<p><a href="https://esheavyindustries.com/2016/02/have-some-extra-cash-help-make-your-life-easier/" rel="nofollow">https://esheavyindustries.com/2016/02/have-some-extra-cash-h...</a>
Totally support www.opencollective.com, those guys are awesome.
Documentation always helps
There needs to be a piecemeal way of supporting such projects, take a look at hit record.org for creative stuff and also I am part of a team thats building a platform to do exactly what you request. Launching Feb 8th. Check out www.crowdraising.co