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 listed for each Project Idea:
- Brief description of project (usually 3-5 sentences, can be longer).
- List whether the project is scoped to be a ~90 hour (small), ~175 hour (medium) or ~350 hour (large) project.
- List prerequisites, including a description of programming skills needed
- Include an estimation of difficulty level (easy, intermediate, hard).
- A list of potential mentors.
- It must NOT be a link to your bug tracker.
If your org only plans to accept 1 or 2 GSoC contributors due to the number of mentors you have lined up (or if your org is a new org to GSoC) that is okay but you should state at the top of your Ideas List that is your intention. Otherwise GSoC Admins will think you haven’t put in the time and effort with your ideas when we only see 1 or 2 ideas listed. GSoC Admins will interpret that as your org isn’t prepared to be a GSoC org.
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.