8 Worthy Hacktoberfest Projects You Can Contribute To
Exploring 8 real-world open-source projects anyone can participate in, whether you are a beginner or advanced developer.
Finding projects to participate in during Hacktoberfest can be difficult and time-consuming and in today's video, we are going to be taking a look at 8 real-world opensource projects anyone can participate in.
I found all of these projects and sooooo many more in the official Hacktoberfest Discord server.
If you would prefer the video format of this article you can get that here:
Otherwise in no particular order let's get started.
1️⃣ Javascript Memory Game
First up is this awesome little card game many will know as pairs or memory. The awesome thing about this project is that I often find building games while you are learning really helps to solidify and push the boundaries of your knowledge and in this project, the game is being created in several different flavours such as Vanilla JS, Svelte and React, so plenty of opportunities.
Looking at the pull requests the maintainer is actively processing pull requests and has been creating a bunch of issues to encourage collaborations.
A bunch of them have already been assigned to someone to work on, but there are a couple of good ones to pick up. We can always create a new issue and asked to be assigned to it. Just make sure to provide enough detail about what you would like to implement.
2️⃣ Python Chess Engine
Next up is this Chess engine written in Python. Everyone loves a game of chess right? And just like the first project, there is plenty of opportunity to learn new things while working on a fun game with others.
Again the maintainer is actively managing PRs and has created a bunch of issues, although at this stage they have mostly been assigned to other people. But that’s fine we can search through the repo and find something to contribute and create a new issue. The maintainer has also mentioned they are looking for help with documentation and testing providing even more avenues to collaborate.
3️⃣ Javascript Discord Bot
Being one of the earliest projects I can remember, Discord bots are probably one of my favourite things to develop due to the fun, engaging and visual way of developing.
This project utilised Discord.js to create a bot that will gather and present data from public APIs and they have some interesting commands already like:
- Showing a random cat fact which uses the meowfacts API
- Showing a random breaking bad quote using the Breaking Bad API
- or even this random dog pic command which reminded me of the Random Duck pic api I used for an easter egg in ZTM’s Discord bot.
There are hundreds of API’s out there you could use to implement you own command into this bot.
4️⃣ Python Typing Test
Number four on the list is this quirky typing test CLI tool made with Python. With a deserts and sand theme, the project provides users with a way to test their typing skills in the command line, proving them with a word per minute and an accuracy score.
This project provides an opportunity to everyone to participate because even if you are not familiar with Python to create new features or fix a bug, then you can create some texts that the user can be tested on providing they are within the parameters set out here in the contributing.md file.
5️⃣ Python Script Library
Number 5 on the list is a beginner-level Python Script Library. The aim is to create a collection of small but awesome Python scripts, so you can even bookmark this repository and come back to it later, perhaps when your working on your own project like a text based RPG and you need a rock paper scissors game.
6️⃣ Scratch Tools Extension
Number 6 on the list is a community-run browser extension that helps kids with the popular Scratch coding website. To me this is what opensource is all about, the ability to create a positive impact on the community, and this project delivers that. I mean having the ability to inspire and incourage the next generation of developers who will go on to build awesome things is no small thing.
They don’t have many issues open at the time of recording. But the team behind the extension are keen for contributors to get involved so have a look around, find something you think would be an awesome addition to the extension and create a new issue to discuss it with them.
7️⃣ NoMoreDomains Extension
Number seven on the list is yet another Chrome Extension, aimed at helping those with a domain addiction.
NoMoreDomains, when enabled blocks the user from visiting domain registrars websites and redirects them back to Google. With future plans to redirect to a NoMoreDomains website which has yet to be built there are plenty of opportunities for those interesting in contributing to a HTML, CSS and JS project.
8️⃣ 404 Page Library
And finally number eight on the list is this incredible 404 template project. Where you can create 404 page templates utilising HTML, CSS, Javascript and TS Particles.
If you check out the preview link you can see the possibilities are endless, making it another great project that everyone can participate in.
I really hope you have found this list useful and have found some new projects to participate in, but while scrolling through the projects channel in the Hacktoberfest Discord server, I realised there are just too many great projects to share in one so make sure to check out the channel and if you have and recommendations please leave a comment, I’d love to check them out.