Contribute Your Code on Drupal.org, Part 6: Review Process

Previously we talked about connecting and checking that you are connected to your sandbox project, uploading your project and checking it against Paraview. 

Now, in Part 6, we're going to look at getting your theme reviewed. This is perhaps the trickiest and slowest part of the whole contribution process, so pay close attention. We're going to help you do everything possible to ensure a speedy and successful application submission. 

Once you are certain that your module or theme is in good order, you can submit it to Drupal.org for approval.

This approval process is a one-time deal. Once you have been granted approval for a project you need not go through the approval process again for future projects. Experienced developers can approve their own projects.

Because of the nature of the system, reviews can drag on which you should endeavor to avoid. No one is paid to review projects so they can take some time. When someone does come across your project and attempt to review it you should make it as easy for them as possible in order to ensure a swift result. 

Once you have submitted the project for a review you will get a message from the "PA Robot" which will make some suggestions for you:

The Drupal review process has some elements that will seem strange to newcomers. For example, one of the best ways to promote your project to the front of the line is to do the review bonuses.

The review process bonus helps you to understand what is required of a project. As you identify potential issues in other users projects, you gain knowledge that could also help you improve your project.

To receive the bonus you must complete at least 3 adequate reviews of other people's work.

Once you have completed these reviews, you can add links to these reviews onto your project application. You can also add the "review bonus" tag to your project, as in the image below: 

Once you have successfully completed these steps you should find your Project on this review list. 

You can also ask for people to look at your project. I would recommend. When we were trying to get approved, we didn't realize how pro-active we needed to be.

Try and find a channel on IRC or Slack that will have Drupal developers capable of assisting you with your review, and politely ask for assistance. 

In our next post, we will talk about the obstacles we faced during review. We'll talk about those obstacles, how we handled them and what was suggested. This was by the far the most painful part of the process, so stay tuned for Part 7.

About the author

Daniel is a web designer from UK, who's a friendly and helpful part of the support team here at OSTraining.