As an open source, free software project, WordPress depends on the contributions of hundreds of people from around the globe — contributions in areas like core code, documentation, answering questions in the support forums, translation, and all the other things it takes to make WordPress the best publishing platform it can be, with the most supportive community. This year, we’re happy to be participating as a mentoring organization with two respected summer internship programs: Google Summer of Code (GSoC) and the Gnome Outreach Program for Women.

Google Summer of Code

GSoC is a summer internship program funded by Google specifically for college/university student developers to work on open source coding projects. We have participated in the Google Summer of Code program in the past, and have enjoyed the opportunity to work with students in this way. Some of our best core developers were GSoC students once upon a time!

Our mentors, almost 30 talented developers with experience developing WordPress, will provide students with guidance and feedback over the course of the summer, culminating in the release of finished projects at the end of the program if all goes well.

Students who successfully complete the program earn $ 5,000 for their summer efforts. Interested, or know a college student (newly accepted to college counts, too) who should be? All the information you need about our participation in the program, projects, mentors, and the application process is available on the GSoC 2013 page in the Codex.

Gnome Outreach Program for Women

It’s not news that women form a low percentage of contributors in most open source projects, and WordPress is no different. We have great women in the contributor community, including some in fairly visible roles, but we still have a lot of work to do to get a representative gender balance on par with our user base.

The Gnome Outreach Program for Women aims to provide opportunities for women to participate in open source projects, and offers a similar stipend, but there are three key differences between GSoC and Gnome aside from the gender requirement for Gnome.

1. The Gnome program allows intern projects in many areas of contribution, not just code. In other words, interns can propose projects like documentation, community management, design, translation, or pretty much any area in which we have people contributing (including code).
2. The Gnome Outreach Program for Women doesn’t require interns to be college students, though students are definitely welcome to participate. This means that women in all stages of life and career can take the opportunity to try working with open source communities for the summer.
3. We have to help raise the money to pay the interns. Google funds GSoC on its own, and we only have to provide our mentors’ time. Gnome doesn’t have the same funding, so we need to pitch in to raise the money to cover our interns. If your company is interested in helping with this, please check out the program’s sponsorship information and follow the contact instructions to get involved. You can earmark donations to support WordPress interns, or to support the program in general. (Pick us, pick us! )

The summer installment of the Gnome Outreach Program for Women follows the same schedule and general application format as GSoC, though there are more potential projects since it covers more areas of contribution. Women college students interested in doing a coding project are encouraged to apply for both programs to increase the odds of acceptance. All the information you need about our participation in the program, projects, mentors, and the application process is available on the Gnome Outreach Program for Women page in the Codex.

The application period just started, and it lasts another week (May 1 for Gnome, May 3 for GSoC), so if you think you qualify and are interested in getting involved, check out the information pages, get in touch, and apply… Good luck!

Google Summer of Code 2013 Information
Gnome Summer Outreach Program for Women 2013 Information

WordPress News

In the blink of an eye, summer is coming to an end. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was planning out all my summer activities as I eagerly awaited the start of long, sunny days and warm nights.

Before we approach the official end of summer on September 21, our Google Maps team thought it’d be fun to see how those of us in the Northern Hemisphere have spent the dog days. To do this, we reviewed the summer search activity on maps.google.com in several countries between the end of May and the beginning of September. Within each country, a look at some of the top-rising searches and the often-searched landmarks on Google Maps gives us a sense of how people around the world spent their summers.

We’re honored that people rely on the comprehensive and accurate imagery in Google Maps to research, plan, preview and digitally experience distant as well as local destinations across the globe. Take a look and click through for a larger image:

North Americans sought out the best local beaches to help cool off from the summer heat. In comparison, many more people from Spain, Italy and France searched for community swimming pools. In cooler areas of the U.K. the rising Google Maps searches included many indoor activities such as squash, bars and going to the gym. And, as expected, travel was a clear choice for the summer, as indicated by a surge in searches for lodging in almost every region.

Many popular destination searches were located outdoors. National parks and Hawaiian islands were the most popular searches in the U.S., while local parks, zoos, gardens and playgrounds topped Canada’s and Europe’s list. Major landmarks such as the Empire State Building in New York City, Niagara Falls in Canada, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Taj Mahal in India also topped the list of often-searched places in Google Maps. And of course, with the Summer Games drawing in international audiences, Wembley Stadium and the Olympic Stadium were two of the most searched for locations throughout the U.K. this summer.

Check out the destinations that captured people’s attention this summer and see how your interests compared to others around the world. We hope you enjoy this look back to remember the fun places we all went with Google Maps this summer, and we can’t wait to help you find your next adventure!

Posted by Manik Gupta, Sr. Product Manager, Google Maps

(Cross-posted on the Lat Long blog)

The Official Google Blog

Technology creates tremendous opportunities to improve people’s lives. But to make the most of them, we need to focus—or we end up doing too much and not having the impact we strive for. So last fall we started a spring clean, and since then we’ve closed or combined more than 30 products. Today we’re announcing a few more closures. Here’s a summary of the changes we’ll be making:

• The Google Mini has been an important part of our Enterprise Search offering since it was first introduced in 2005. It’s had a good run, but beginning July 31 we’re discontinuing the product because its functionality can be better provided by products like Google Search Appliance, Google Site Search and Google Commerce Search. We will of course continue to provide technical support to Mini customers for the duration of their contracts, and will reach out to them shortly with more details.
• Google Talk Chatback allowed websites to embed a Google Talk widget so that they could engage with their visitors. It’s now outdated, so we’re turning off Chatback and encouraging websites to use the Meebo bar.
• Google Video stopped taking uploads in May 2009. Later this summer we’ll be moving the remaining hosted content to YouTube. Google Video users have until August 20 to migrate, delete or download their content. We’ll then move all remaining Google Video content to YouTube as private videos that users can access in the YouTube video manager. For more details, please see our post on the YouTube blog.
• On November 1, 2013, iGoogle will be retired. We originally launched iGoogle in 2005 before anyone could fully imagine the ways that today’s web and mobile apps would put personalized, real-time information at your fingertips. With modern apps that run on platforms like Chrome and Android, the need for iGoogle has eroded over time, so we’ll be winding it down. Users will have 16 months to adjust or export their data.
• We’ll soon be retiring our Symbian Search App to focus our efforts on our mobile web search experience. We encourage you to go to www.google.com and make it your homepage or bookmark it. Switching from the app to the web experience will enable users to make the most of the web-wide improvements we make for search all the time.

Closing products always involves tough choices, but we do think very hard about each decision and its implications for our users. Streamlining our services enables us to focus on creating beautiful technology that will improve people’s lives.

Posted by Matt Eichner, General Manager, Global Enterprise Search

The Official Google Blog

In the northern hemisphere, summer is just around the corner and U.S. National Travel & Tourism Week, recognized every year in May, officially marks the start of the biggest travel season of the year in the United States. Here are a few quick tips from us to make planning, traveling and sharing your summer adventures a bit easier.

Plan flights and hotels with just a few clicks: Flight Search & Hotel Finder

Begin your trip by finding, comparing and booking domestic or international flights from the U.S with Flight Search. Search for airports or cities, e.g., [flights to JFK] or [flights to New York City], at google.com and flight results will immediately appear below. Select the time and price that work best for you or click “more results” to further filter your search.

You can use our Hotel Finder experiment to find your perfect hotel based on price, time, proximity to landmarks and user images and reviews. As you glance over specific hotels, add the ones you might be interested in to your own personal shortlist. Click the red “Book” button to go ahead and make the reservation.

Live like the locals: Maps, Translate and Goggles

If you’re in need of a local guide, Google Maps for Android can help. Find driving, transit, walking and biking directions, voice-guided navigation and nearby places to eat, shop and play. We just added a few more improvements to the app, including walking directions for indoor maps (U.S. and Japan) and Google Offers near you (U.S. only) so you can discover great deals on the go. Street View technology is also taking you indoors on your mobile—view interiors of participating businesses and museums so you know what to expect before your visit. And of course, you can always use the Street View feature in Google Maps to preview vacations spots around the world, from public landmarks and gardens to amusement parks, zoos and other popular attractions that have partnered with us to get their locations online.

If you’re traveling to a region where you don’t speak the language, use the Google Translate app to bargain with a local vendor or tell a taxi driver where you need to go. You’ve also got Google Goggles at your disposal—one click and you’ll know exactly what you are ordering on a menu. Get it for both your Android and iOS devices.

Keep your memories, even if you lose your device: Google+ Instant Upload

The Instant Upload feature, part of the Google+ app on Android and iOS, ensures that any photo snapped along the way will be instantly saved to the cloud for safekeeping in a private album, no matter what happens to your phone. Once uploaded it’s easy to go into your Google+ photos via the mobile app or your computer, view photos “From Phone” and then easily choose to share to the circles you want. In the case above, I took some sunrise pictures, sorted them on my computer when I got back from my trip and then shared them with my family (if you’re wondering how I shot that panorama above, here’s a tip—if you have the latest Android operating system you can take beautiful panorama pictures by clicking panoramic mode).

For a live, firsthand look at how you can use Google to plan your summer vacation, join us for a Hangout on Air at 10:30am PT tomorrow, Thursday, May 10, on the Google +page. We’ll have some in-house experts on hand to show you how to use Google to take your dream vacation.

Of course, we don’t want to make it too easy on you. Part of the joy of traveling is being adventurous and encountering the unexpected. We hope these tools help make your travels more informed and enjoyable, without losing the thrill of spontaneity or that hidden gem you may find when you take a wrong turn. Bon voyage!

Posted by Dave Kim, Product Marketing Manager, Google Maps

The Official Google Blog

It’s only Spring Break for most college students, but summer vacation will be here before you know it. Instead of getting stuck babysitting your little sister or mowing your neighbor’s lawn, apply for Google Summer of Code and spend the summer of 2012 earning money writing code for open source projects.

Google Summer of Code is a global program that gives university students a stipend to write code for open source projects over a three month period. Accepted students are paired with a mentor from the participating projects, gaining exposure to real-world software development and the opportunity for future employment in areas related to their academic pursuits. Best of all, more source code is created and released for the use and benefit of all.

For the past ten days, interested students have had the opportunity to review the ideas pages for this year’s 180 accepted projects and research which projects they would like to contribute to this year. We hope all interested students will apply! Submit your proposal to the mentoring organizations via the Google Summer of Code program website from today through Friday, April 6 at 19:00 UTC.

Google Summer of Code is a highly competitive program with a limited number of spots. Students should consult the Google Summer of Code student manual for suggestions on how to write a quality proposal that will grab the attention of the mentoring organizations. Multiple proposals are allowed but we highly recommend focusing on quality over quantity. The mentoring organizations have many proposals to review, so it is important to follow each organization’s specific guidelines or templates and we advise you to submit your proposal early so you can receive timely feedback.

For more tips, see a list of some helpful dos and don’ts for successful student participation written by a group of experienced Google Summer of Code administrators, our user’s guide for the program site, Frequently Asked Questions and timeline. You can also stay up-to-date on all things Google Summer of Code on our Google Open Source blog, mailing lists or on Internet relay chat at #gsoc on Freenode.

To learn more about Google Summer of Code, tune in to the Google Students page on Google+ next Monday, April 2 at 3:30pm PT for a Hangout on Air with open source programs manager Chris DiBona. He’ll be talking about Google Summer of Code with other members of the open source team at Google. Submit your questions about the program between now and next Monday using the hashtag #gsochangout, and Chris and the open source team will answer them live during the Hangout On Air.

Good luck to all the open source coders out there, and remember to submit your proposals early—you only have until April 6!

Posted by Carol Smith, Open Source Team

The Official Google Blog

Lie down and remember that dream you had about something that seemed impossible—now imagine waking up and looking around to realize you were never sleeping. From strawberry funnel cakes to five-story cruise ships and hangouts with Larry Page, my summer of Building Opportunities in Leadership and Development (BOLD)—a Google summer internship program—never looked, tasted or sailed so well. Every day this summer I’ve jumped out of bed and into my real-life dream, working on products that I believe will change the world and contributing to a melting pot of proactive teamwork.

BOLD, one of Google’s student and diversity initiatives, brought 100+ undergraduates from all over the U.S. to Google in 2011. The program began in 2008 as a way to expose historically underrepresented students to the technology field. Whether it be sharing tofu with co-founder Sergey Brin or rubbing elbows with some of the world’s brightest minds at the Google Science Fair, Google interns worldwide have collected a plethora of unforgettable moments.

Being an intern here is much more than making coffee and photocopies. As one of Google’s largest sources of full-time hires, internship programs contribute to the company’s diversity, culture and future. Sure, I’ve made a few coffees during my internship—caramel mocha cappuccinos to be exact, from the espresso machine in the microkitchen. But my summer at the Googleplex was a packed, 11-week adventure within the Global Communications & Public Affairs apps and enterprise team. My projects ranged from working with my manager on the Google+ Project launch to staffing press at the inaugural Google Science Fair. Other BOLDers worked on major products like Android and YouTube, and even launched newbies, like Games in Google+. We attended weekly workshops, talks about technology and skill-building seminars led by company leaders like director of online sales and operations Stacy Brown-Philpot and chief legal officer David Drummond.

I was even able to scratch my creative itch for event coordinating and community service. On my second day at Google, I painted hallways alongside my team for a community GoogleServe project at middle school in San Francisco. Soon after, I coordinated a weekly intern discussion series with a few amazing mentors from the Black Googlers Network.

To share a few other perspectives beyond my own, I caught up with Brandon Jackson and Eoin Hayes from the BOLD and Online Media Associate Program (OMAP) bunch. I asked them to share a few of their experiences this summer:

• Brandon, a two-time BOLD participant and rising senior at Stanford, worked with the technology human relations team, focusing on transitioning new Googlers to the company. He told me: “BOLD represents family. The program coordinators find some of the brightest, most intellectually curious and warm hearted students in the world. Coupled with inspiring mentors and an incredible university programs team, BOLD is a community that never stops looking out for each other.”
• Eoin, a master’s student at London Business School who worked with the OMAP AdSense team in Dublin, said he not only gained deep product knowledge during his internship, but also leadership and management skills. A highlight was his visit to Google’s headquarters with four other international interns.

Although my internship officially ends today, my professional development is just beginning. I have a new perspective on life and career options after college, like having had a refreshing sip of “Googlemonade” in the Sahara of post-college stress. As a senior this year, I’ll be serving as UC Merced’s first Google Student Ambassador and I can’t wait to connect my college to all of Google’s collaborative learning resources and leadership opportunities.

This summer was an unforgettable cruise and I will never forget those who set sail with me. If you’re interested in student opportunities at Google, visit the Student blog.

Posted by Shavone Charles, BOLD intern

The Official Google Blog

For the past several years, WordPress has been a proud participant in the Google Summer of Code program (aka GSoC). We’ve been accepted as a mentoring organization again this year, and are looking forward to working with a select handful of talented college students who are interested in developing for WordPress. Student applications are currently being accepted, and the deadline to apply is April 8. Are you a college student/developer looking for a summer challenge (or do you know one)? If so, read on to find out how you (or your friend) can make $ 5,000 developing for WordPress this summer. (Best. Summer. Job. Ever.)

GSoC Logistics:

• 175 mentoring organizations (including WordPress)
• Highly competitive and prestigious program (in 2010, 5539 proposals were submitted by 3464 students, and 1026 were accepted)
• You must be enrolled in an accredited college/university
• Coding period is May-August
• Successful completion of project = $ 5,000
• GSoC FAQ answers all your questions

WordPress logistics:

• Mentors include WordPress core developers, plugin authors (including BuddyPress and bbPress), mobile app developers, and WordPress professionals.
• Projects are limited only by your imagination and ability.
• Previous GSoC students have gained responsible roles in WordPress core development, like Dion Hulse and Andrew Nacin (core committers), and Daryl Koopersmith (wrote the internal linking feature in 3.1 and much of the custom menus feature in 3.0).
• This year, in addition to accepting project proposals for the main WordPress web app, we’re also encouraging applications for projects with the WordPress mobile apps (iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Phone 7), for community-developed plugins like BuddyPress and bbPress, and even standalone plugins that could become community projects. Check out our Codex page on GSoC 2011 for some ideas to get you thinking.
• Last year we mentored 15 students, and hope to take on about the same number this year.

If you’re a college student/developer, we encourage you to apply. If you’re a professor or a teacher of graduating high school seniors, encourage your students! If you just want to help us spread the word, download the WordPress GSoC flyer and post it on campus bulletin boards in your town. Remember, April 8 is the deadline to apply!

WordPress News

Looking for something fun to do during your summer vacation? Why not check out a WordCamp! WordCamps are locally-organized casual conferences of, by, and for WordPress users, developers, and enthusiasts just like you. The focus of a WordCamp is to foster face-to-face connections and collaboration among the local WordPress crowd, but there are usually some out-of-towners there as well. Here are the WordCamps that have been approved so far for the summer:

April 16: WordCamp Seattle in Seattle, WA. This weekend! After taking a year off, WordCamp Seattle is back with tracks for bloggers, designers, and developers. This year they’ll feature a lineup including presentations by both local speakers and visitors like core committer Andrew Nacin, as well as an Ignite session of lightning talks at the end of the day.

May 5: WordCamp Vancouver (Developer Edition) in Vancouver, BC. This one-day WordCamp is aimed purely at developers working on the WordPress platform, and will not have content aimed at bloggers (as previous Vancouver WordCamps have). I predict we will start seeing more of these types of niche WordCamps moving forward, because they will mean smaller, more intimate events that allow more collaboration (and make it easier to find venues!). Note that we’re working with the organizers to get the tickets to a more reasonable price, so keep your eyes open this week if you’ve held off on buying a ticket because of the price tag.

May 7: WordCamp Switzerland in Brugg, Switzerland. This one will cover a wide range of topics, including getting started with WordPress, advanced development topics, BuddyPress, and an inside look at running a WordPress-based business.

May 14: WordCamp Orange County in Orange, CA. Already sold out! Orange County had their first WordCamp last year, and the organizers have put together another great event this time around.

May 14: WordCamp Paris in Paris, France. One of the last true unconference-style WordCamps, the Paris group will plan their schedule the morning of the event like they do at BarCamps. WordCamp Paris had one of the best WordCamp t-shirts ever a couple of years ago. And it’s in Paris in the spring.

May 21–22: WordCamp Raleigh in Raleigh, NC. Repeat organizers from the Raleigh WordPress Meetup Group are just starting to select speakers and put together their plans, but if it is anything like last year, the venue will be packed with WordPress professionals (and maybe there will be cookies). I’ll be attending this one, as will Nacin.

June 4–5: WordCamp Reno-Lake Tahoe in Reno, NV. Organized by a WordPress core UI group contributor, WordCamp Reno-Lake Tahoe is taking place in Reno and has a packed schedule full of visiting experts.

June 11–12: WordCamp Kansas City in Overland Park, KS. With publisher, designer, and developer tracks, Kansas City’s WordCamp will have a little something for everyone, presented in large part by local speakers.

June 17–19: WordCamp Columbus in Columbus, OH. WordCamp Columbus has a new organizer this year and is bringing the focus more firmly onto WordPress (and less on social media). Their 3-day event includes an entire day for newbies, and another for non-profits, a nice addition to the usual blogger/developer tracks.

July 9–10: WordCamp Montreal in Montreal, Quebec. This group consistently puts on a great every year. If you register now, you can still get a $ 10 discount and get both days for only $ 30 (with sessions in both English and French to reflect the bilingual nature of the city). Montreal plays host to a number of festivals throughout the year, and this weekend is no different, including festivals for the arts, comedy, tango, and even circus arts.

July 16: WordCamp San Diego in San Diego, CA. First WordCamp in San Diego! They have talking about this for over a year, and are now starting to really ramp up the planning. They’re finalizing their venue right now, and I would expect a great roster of speakers.

July 16-17: WordCamp Portsmouth in Portsmouth, UK. The annual WordCamp UK that moves from city to city each year alights this year in Portsmouth. This one is notable because Mike Little, co-founder of WordPress, is part of the organizing team.

July 23–24: WordCamp Boston in Boston, MA. Another one just about to lock down some details and get starting with speaker selection, etc. An easy train ride from so many places, and not in the middle of winter this year!

July 30-31: WordCamp Chicago has new organizers and is a new venue this year. A call for speakers, supporters, and volunteers will likely be posted sometime next week.

WordCamp Portland is looking for a venue before deciding on a date this year, as it has outgrown the space it’s used the past two years, but hopes to happen in September. If you would be interested in donating a venue to this popular event, please contact them.

We’ll hold off on posting fall events until later in the summer since there a lot in the planning stages now. To get the most up-to-date information, visit WordCamp Central.

Hope to see you at a WordCamp soon!

WordPress News