It all begins with the “Ideas Page”. This is where you compile a list of possible GSoC projects for your organization. The Ideas Page is a major piece of your organization’s application to Google. It also serves as a recruiting and selection tool for GSoC contributors and mentors alike.

Depending on how your organization operates, the source of material for your Ideas Page may come from an existing list of projects maintained by your community year-round, from potential mentors as they are recruited, or from the org admin. Regardless of how it is generated, an Ideas Page should have the following:

  • Brief descriptions of projects that can be completed in ~90 hour, ~175 hours or ~350 hours of your GSoC contributor’s time (and labeled appropriately).
  • For each project, a list of prerequisites, description of programming skills needed and estimation of difficulty level (easy, medium, hard).
  • If your organization plans to focus on mostly student level potential GSoC contributors for all projects that is fine, but please state it explicitly on your Ideas Page. Or if a given project idea is geared more toward a student level or a more advanced developer please state it clearly in the project idea so there is no confusion for applicants.
  • A list of potential mentors.
  • It must NOT be a link to your bug tracker.

The best pages include links to more detailed descriptions and related materials for each project. They might even include actual use cases!

While the Ideas page doesn’t have to be ‘beautiful,’ cluttered and ugly won’t be attracting many participants to apply to your org either. Make it clean, which could mean more line breaks or some bold, bigger fonts when appropriate. Blocks of text are not welcoming.

Keep in mind that this page is often the first view of your organization by Google and potential GSoC contributor applicants. A link to your bug tracker does not an Ideas Page make. Put your best foot forward. In addition to a basic list, you might also consider providing links to relevant resources for mentors and GSoC contributors, particular FAQ entries, the timeline, etc. You might include a section on communication, giving specific advice on which mailing lists, channels and emails to use and how to use them. If your organization puts together an application template for GSoC contributors, you should include that on your page as well. Think of your Ideas Page as the GSoC portal to your organization.

Pro Tip: Maintain an Ideas Page year-round to continually recruit new contributors and cultivate community involvement.

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