Hacktoberfest 2023: Everything you need to know

Are you a dedicated advocate of Open-Source, eager to connect with fellow developers and tech aficionados globally?
If your answer is a resounding 'Yes,' you're in the right place.

This article is your passport to the heart of Hacktoberfest. Get to know what is Hacktoberfest, How to participate in it and uncover the exclusive rewards that await. Join me on this journey where we decode the essence of Hacktoberfest and celebrate the spirit of collaboration and contribution. 🚀📚"

What is Hacktoberfest?

Hacktoberfest, a month-long celebration of open-source software, is back for its 10th anniversary! Organized by DigitalOcean in collaboration with GitHub and Twilio, this global event is open to everyone, regardless of skill or experience.

This milestone year calls for your support! Whether it's your first time participating or you're a seasoned Hacktoberfest enthusiast, get ready to contribute to open-source projects. The goal remains the same: positively impact the community by completing four pristine pull/merge requests.

Join us in this exciting journey as we continue to foster collaboration and celebrate the spirit of open source. Here's to a decade of Hacktoberfest, where each contribution makes a meaningful difference!

How to participate in Hacktoberfest?

Whether you’re a student or an experienced professional or a beginner, you’re welcome to participate in this challenge.

Here are the steps:

Navigate to https://hacktoberfest.com/ and click on Register Now!
You'll need to proceed using either GitHub or GitLab, depending on your platform of choice by clicking on initiate
You will be prompted to log in to your GitHub/ GitLab account

After logging in, you will be required to fill out a form with details such as your name, personal email, level of experience, your country etc.

Fill out the form appropriately then click on Register

Congratulations! You are now registered

How to contribute?

Your next task is to find an open-source project on GitHub or GitLab that you are interested in contributing to. You can search for projects by topic or by the hacktoberfest topic.

After identifying a project, Make a pull request (PR) to the project. PRs can be for any type of contribution, such as fixing bugs, adding new features, or improving documentation.

Here are a few steps for making your first PR:

Step 1: Choose any repository available on GitHub. You can search with the tag “hacktoberfest”.

Step 2: Check for the issues present in that repository or raise some issue if you found it’s a requirement.

Step 3: Check whether you’re able to solve that issue with your technical skills or not?

Step 4: If yes, then fork the repository into your own GitHub profile and if not, then search for another repository, until you got an issue that can be resolved by you.

Step 5: Make the required changes to resolve the issue and commit it.

Step 6: If you’re done with all the above-mentioned steps, then you can raise a Pull Request

To successfully complete this challenge, Have 4 Pull Requests accepted by the project maintainers.

Benefits of participating in Hacktoberfest🏆

Unlike the previous years, Hacktoberfest 2023 is different.

Aside from the knowledge you’ll gain, (and the fun you’ll have) you can earn a digital reward kit courtesy of DigitalOcean and Hacktoberfest sponsors and partners. You’ll receive your digital reward once you’ve completed four accepted pull/merge requests.

Also, the first 50,000 participants to have their first Pull Requests accepted will have a tree planted in their name through Tree Nation.

You will also receive badges that can be claimed and shared across your social profiles such as LinkedIn

Kindly note that:

Your own Pull Requests count, even if they’re in the same repository.
Contributions should be in a project with the ‘hacktoberfest’ topic option. And even your PRs also must be labelled for the same. If it’s not, politely ask the maintainer to add the ‘hacktoberfest-accepted’ label.