Make something amazing with the web

Mozilla Webmaker wants to help you make something amazing with the web. We’ve got new TOOLS for you to use, PROJECTS to help you get started, and a global COMMUNITY of creators — educators, filmmakers, journalists, developers, youth — all making and learning together.

The goal: help millions of people move from using the web to making the web. As part of Mozilla’s non-profit mission, we want to help the world increase their understanding of the web, take greater control of their online lives, and create a more web literate planet.

“Mozillians are people who make things. Moving people from consumption to creation is Mozilla’s goal.”
—Mitchell Baker, Mozilla Chair / Chief Lizard Wrangler

Creating a generation of webmakers

Concretely, Mozilla Webmaker offers:

• 1) Tools. Authoring tools and software, designed and built with our community. From supercharging web video with Popcorn, to exploring and remixing with the X-Ray Goggles, to making your own web pages with Thimble. Like a Swiss Army knife or “superhero utility belt” for webmaking.
• 2) Projects. Practical starter projects, how-tos and recipes, designed to help people at all levels make something amazing. From tweaking your blog template to building apps that change the world.
• 3) Community. Bringing people with diverse skills and backgrounds together. Teachers, filmmakers, journalists, youth. From web ninjas to newbies. Connecting at events, meet-ups and hack jams everywhere.

“Thimble is one of the friendliest, easiest-to-use code editors we’ve seen.” — Webmonkey

“Hackasaurus [X-Ray Goggles] make it easy to see the structure of any web page and remix it.” –MIT Center for Civic Media

“Popcorn could be the next big thing in internet video.” —Wired

Why is Mozilla doing this?

The web is becoming the world’s second language, and a vital 21st century skill. Digital literacy today is as important as reading, writing and arithmetic. Mozilla believes its crucial that we give people the skills they need to understand, shape and actively participate in that world, instead of just passively consuming it.

“Mucking around in HTML is like making bread from scratch or changing a tire. They’re acts of understanding and joy.” –Meredith Stewart, teacher

What’s a “webmaker?”

Anyone who makes something using the open building blocks of the web. If you’re uploading photos or videos, posting to a blog, or using social media, you’re already on the path. We want to help you level up your skills and go further.

You don’t have to be a professional coder or wizard to be a webmaker. In the same way that you don’t have to be a professional baker to make bread, or a professional auto mechanic to change a tire or poke under the hood, you shouldn’t have be be a professional web developer to understand how the web works — or make your own stuff. We want to help you go “beyond upload” to unlock new opportunities for creativity and innovation in your life and work.

“When we gained literacy, we learned not just how to read but to write. And as we now moved into an increasingly digital reality, we must learn not just how to use programs but how to make them.”
–Douglas Rushkoff, author

Shaping the web’s future. Together.

Together, we make technology that is changing the web. Mozilla Webmaker projects like Popcorn are changing the face of web video. Thimble demystifies the web’s language for beginners. Hackasaurus energizes digital literacy and learning.  OpenBadges unlocks  skills and achievements. OpenNews catalyzes web innovation in newsrooms. Hive NYC empowers youth to co-design technology’s future.

That’s what Webmaker is all about: bringing diverse people together to create dynamic new web projects, technology and approaches to learning. We’re passionate about the public potential of the web, and want to empower people to design and build its future.

“The Internet isn’t really a technology. It’s a belief system, a philosophy about the effectiveness of decentralized, bottom-up innovation.” –Joi Ito, Mozilla Foundation Board Member, Director of MIT Media Lab

Is this for me?

Yes! Mozilla Webmaker has tools and projects specifically for:

• Educators. Resources for digital literacy, teaching webmaking basics like HTML and CSS, and guides for hosting your own learning jam.
• Filmmakers. Mozilla Popcorn helps filmmakers, documentarians and multimedia artists make their online videos pop.
  
• Journalists. Knight-Mozilla OpenNews provides fellowships, software and learning for news hackers.
• Youth. Hive NYC is a digital learning lab for youth. Hackasaurus helps youth explore and remix the web.
• Developers and designers. From contributing to Mozilla tools and projects, to designing and building your own next-generation apps to change the world.
• Beginners. Our projects are sorted by difficulty, to help anyone get started making something quickly.
• Experts. Creating experimental apps, demos and web experiences no one’s seen before.

“We must succeed in marrying those who make the stories with those who make the tools.” –Katharina Borchert, Spiegel online

“The common thread between education, journalism and the web for Mozilla is personal empowerment.” —the New York Times

Get involved

Mozilla Webmaker tools and projects are designed, built and tested in the open, through hands-on participation from creative people like you. Here’s how you can get involved:

• Join our weekly Webmaker community calls. All are welcome, each and every Tuesday. Drop in to hear from special guest speakers, get a sneak peek at new work, and share your ideas.
• Join the Summer Code Party. We’re inviting the world to make and learn using Webmaker tools, projects and events this summer. Find an event near you — or create your own.
  
• Sign up for updates. Join our mailing list to stay on top of Webmaker news and milestones.
  
• Get in touch. A one-stop list of all Webmaker communications channels and ways to get in touch. From the Webmaker newsgroup, to public chat rooms, to on-ramps for specific programs.
  
• Check out our FAQ. And add your own questions.
  
• Share your work. Made something amazing with Webmaker? Let us know by tweeting about it using the #webmaker hash tag. Or #mozparty for the Summer Code Party.
  
• Submit your own Webmaker project or how-to. Make or learn something amazing? Show others how to do it as well. Create your own step-by-step how-to, then submit it to the Webmaker project gallery.
  
• Join or create a Webmaker event. Our handy event guides makes it easy — from large scale hack jams to gathering around your own kitchen table.
• Check out our partners. Or get in touch about partnership opportunities.
• Join Mozilla. Make a donation to support Mozilla’s non-profit mission. (And receive a coveted Firefox t-shirt — the only way to get it!)

“Mozilla has grown exponentially, but unlike other technology projects, it knows that its real strength lies in its community.” –ITespresso

“[Mozilla believes] we must raise the hood, examine the engine, get our hands dirty. In short, we must ‘hack’ everything we can get a hold of.” —Libération