"samanthaperezrojas – Portafolio WPCredits"

Reporte Final del Proyecto

Final Project Report – WPCredits

Final Report – Connecting with Confidence

1 Introduction

Hello everyone!

My name is Samantha Perez Rojas, and I am a Computer Systems Engineering student at Universidad Fidélitas in Costa Rica. Throughout the WPCredits course, I had the opportunity to contribute to the WordPress community while also developing my own project, Connecting with Confidence.

The purpose of this report is to summarize my experience, the contributions I made, the challenges I faced, and the knowledge and skills I gained during this project. This experience allowed me to understand how an open-source community works and how every contribution, no matter how small, can have a positive impact on thousands of people around the world.

2 Teams and Projects I Contributed To

During this project, I contributed to the WordPress Photo Directory Team.

My main goal was to create and submit original photographs that could be freely used by the WordPress community under the project’s guidelines. I focused on producing images that could be useful for websites, blogs, and digital content while respecting quality standards and licensing requirements.

As part of my contribution, five photographs were accepted into the WordPress Photo Directory.

These photographs included:

  • Two photographs representing negative emotions through body language, showing people from behind with frustrated postures.
  • One photograph of a sloth.
  • One landscape photograph featuring a waterfall.
  • One photograph of a modern building with a glass roof.

Each image was carefully selected and edited before submission to meet the project’s quality expectations.

3 Learning Resources

Before submitting my photographs, I reviewed the official documentation provided by the WordPress Photo Directory. These guidelines helped me understand the technical and legal requirements for accepting photographs.

I also used the following resources:

  • WordPress Photo Directory Guidelines.
  • Make WordPress Photos Handbook.
  • WPCredits course materials.
  • The guidance provided by my professor during the course.
  • Advice shared by the WordPress community through the official documentation and previous contributors’ experiences.

These resources helped me better understand image composition, copyright requirements, licensing, and the review process.

4 Challenges and Solutions

This project was more challenging than I expected.

One of the biggest difficulties was that several of my photographs were rejected before they were finally accepted. At first, I did not fully understand all the submission requirements or why certain images did not meet the quality standards. Instead of giving up, I carefully read the reviewers’ recommendations and the official guidelines, made improvements, and submitted new photographs until they were approved.

Another challenge involved designing my WordPress portfolio. I experienced problems while editing the HTML code of my website, which caused formatting issues and affected the appearance of some pages. I solved these problems by reviewing the code, testing different solutions, and applying the recommendations provided by my professor.

Although these challenges required additional time, they helped me become more patient, detail-oriented, and confident when solving technical problems.

5 My Contributions

The following photographs were successfully published in the WordPress Photo Directory:

These five accepted photographs represent my direct contribution to the WordPress Photo Directory and are now available for anyone to use according to the project’s licensing policies.

Visual Evidence: Published Photographs

Photograph representing negative emotions through body language
Landscape – Waterfall
Photograph of a sloth
Architecture – Glass Roof
Second photograph representing negative emotions through body language
Nature – Sloth
Landscape photograph featuring a waterfall
Body Language – Frustration
Photograph of a modern building with a glass roof
Body Language – Perspective

6 Key Takeaways from the WPCredits Course

The WPCredits course taught me much more than how to contribute to WordPress.

One of the most important lessons I learned is that open-source projects depend on collaboration, patience, and continuous improvement. Every contribution is reviewed carefully, and feedback should be seen as an opportunity to learn rather than as criticism.

I also learned the importance of following official documentation, respecting community standards, and paying attention to details before submitting any work.

Finally, this course helped me understand how large communities organize their work and how contributors from different countries collaborate toward the same goal.

7 New Skills Acquired

During this project, I developed both technical and personal skills.

Technical Skills

  • Using the WordPress Photo Directory submission process.
  • Understanding Creative Commons licensing and copyright requirements.
  • Improving photography composition and image quality.
  • Creating and managing a professional WordPress portfolio.
  • Solving HTML formatting issues on a WordPress website.

Soft Skills

  • Problem-solving.
  • Time management.
  • Patience and perseverance.
  • Receiving and applying constructive feedback.
  • Attention to detail.
  • Independent learning.

These skills will be valuable in both my academic and professional career.

8 Personal Reflection

Participating in WPCredits was a valuable learning experience.

At the beginning of the project, I believed that contributing to an international open-source community would be very difficult. However, as I progressed, I realized that the available documentation, community resources, and guidance from my professor made the process much more approachable.

The repeated photo rejections were frustrating at first, but they motivated me to improve my work instead of giving up. When my photographs were finally accepted, I felt proud because they represented the result of persistence and continuous learning.

This project also helped me improve my confidence when facing technical challenges and showed me that learning often comes from making mistakes and correcting them.

Overall, WPCredits was an enriching academic experience that strengthened both my technical knowledge and my personal development.

9 Optional Resources

Project Name: Connecting with Confidence

Portfolio Website

https://samanthaperezrojas.blog/

WordPress.org Profile

https://profiles.wordpress.org/samanthaperezrojasspr/

Published Contributions

Thank you for reading my final WPCredits project report.