Josep Morán receives the Yoast Care fund for his contribution to the WordPress community

Meet Josep Morán, a cherished member of the WordPress Community Team! His dedication and valuable contributions to the community are the very reason why Patricia Brun Torre nominated him for the Yoast Care fund. Let’s get to know this passionate WordPress enthusiast a bit better.

Nominator Patricia Brun Torre: “Josep is an amazing contributor. He does so much! He’s mainly contributing to Spain and internationally. Currently working on the global Documentation project, he also contributes to the Spanish handbook and many plugin translations. Furthermore, he advocates for contributions and finds new contributors, which is super valuable! Josep also volunteers in some WordCamps and co-organizes meetups. He was a mentee in the first cohort of the Contributor Mentorship program. He became a mentor in the second cohort, training contributors in a specific model between official editions and recreating the style of the Contributor Mentorship Program locally with good results. In addition, he translated 10,000 strings in 90 days, and he’s now part of the 6.6 release squad for documentation. Josep has no sponsors, and contributes in his own time and with his own money!”

Let’s get to know Josep Morán

That’s quite an introduction, Patricia! We would love to get to know Josep even better. That’s why we asked him some questions about his work and passion for WordPress:

Hi, Josep! How do you know about WordPress?

I discovered WordPress through training I undertook in 2022. I pursued this training after suffering from cardiac problems that prevented me from continuing in my profession.

During my recovery, which ended recently, I dedicated my efforts to studying one of my passions: marketing. One day, the professor explained there was a CMS called WordPress.

Two weeks later, thanks to WordPress, I had a small and humble blog created without programming (I don’t know how to do it). And so, my incredible adventure with WordPress began.

Why did you start contributing? Could you share your first contribution with us?

My first contribution was as a volunteer at WordCamp Barcelona in 2023. I had pretty much recovered by then and thought it would be nice to contribute to WordPress; to thank it for providing a CMS that allowed for the easy and straightforward creation of a website.

But I didn’t know about WordPress’s big secret: the community. That group of people who help and interact with each other to organize an event that, at that moment, left me as bewildered as I was about WordPress as a product. Of course, they created a WordPress profile for me with the “stage name” of Josep Morán, and since that day, I’ve been a member of the big WordPress family.

What would you love to do in the future?

After more than two years, my future begins now. My dedication to contributing to WordPress has grown exponentially as I’ve become more familiar with how it works.

Currently, I have reached 20 hours of weekly contribution. I would love to become a sponsored contributor through the Five for the Future Initiative or find a job in WordPress.

It gives me great satisfaction to know that my contributions and those of many others around the world make it possible for many anonymous people to enjoy WordPress and its entire ecosystem.

Currently, I’m primarily involved in the documentation and community teams. I participated in the WordPress Mentorship Program in both editions. First as a mentee, then as a mentor. This recognition comes at a turning point in my life, and searching for a new job according to my new capabilities. It’s undoubtedly a gesture that reaffirms my convictions that WordPress and its community are among the things that have influenced my life the most.

What contribution or moment are you most proud of?

The contribution that has made me happiest is participating in the WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program. It was undoubtedly a very special moment because I had the opportunity to understand WordPress’s vastness from a global perspective.

I was able to do translations, but I found a bug in the core even without knowing about it ?. My mentor offered me the possibility to extend the project for 90 more days under his teachings, and I was delighted to accept.

I concluded that I should continue this role on my own. That decision, which is not documented anywhere, is what makes me feel the proudest. Training people with the eagerness to contribute on my own and getting them to make stable contributions in various teams is undoubtedly what I am most proud of.

Who is your WordPress mentor?

My mentor on WordPress, whom I can now proudly call my friend, is Javier Casares. He is someone with a great deal of knowledge about WordPress and its global functioning. I thank him for his efforts and dedication. He has always motivated me to offer the best of myself. I try to make him and the community proud by contributing more frequently and in different teams.

He taught me many ways to contribute to WordPress globally and locally. Javier always has a moment for me if I encounter any obstacles in any specific aspect. He won’t get rid of me quickly, hahaha… Today, he continues to mentor me even though almost a year has passed since we met, and he has no obligation to do so. This is another demonstration of the greatness of the WordPress secret: its community.

Where can people find you? Online, WordCamps, other meetups?

You can learn more about my involvement with WordPress, my own website, and my account at WordPress. Feel free to reach out to me via X, or Github.

Thank you for this interview, Josep, and for all of your contributions to the WordPress community! Do you know someone like Josep Morán who also deserves to be in the spotlight? Go to our Yoast Care page and nominate them right away.