Hi! @Makis , @fsimonis
I’m Dhanashri, a 3rd year Computer Science Engineering student. I’m interested in the Website Modernization project for GSoC 2026.
What I’ve done so far:
I built the website locally and contributed merged PRs successfully closing open issues:
#730 — Re-added QR codes for printed pages using client-side generation (#656)
#732 — Sort news cards by publication date, introduced dedicated CSS class (#402)
#737 — Fixed search results being cut off by enabling scrolling (#403)
For the entry test, I added a dark theme toggle (CSS custom properties + localStorage persistence) and a contributors footer section (GitHub API) to the landing page. Both directly address the goals mentioned in the project description. I plan to refine and improve this further before the final submission.
Live demo: https://precice-modernized.netlify.app/
Motivation:
GSoC’s official guide states they’re looking for people who are new to open source, I’m an experienced developer but a first-time open source contributor, and I see this as the perfect opportunity to enter the open source world with proper mentorship.
Why this project:
The project has clear, practical goals dark theme, Bootstrap upgrade, Hugo migration, and the mentors have been transparent about what they need. The project is well-scoped and matches my skills.
Availability:
No other commitments during the coding period. This will be my primary focus.
Git and GitHub experience:
Experienced with Git and GitHub workflows (branching, rebasing, PRs, code review) but this is my first time contributing to open source.
I’d appreciate any feedback on my contributions so far, and guidance on what I should focus on next to strengthen my application. Thank you!
Thank you for the useful contributions, @Wdhanashri, and sorry for the late feedback here. We already discussed a bit in the PRs, which have all been merged.
Have a look at our guidelines while preparing your proposal: Next steps in GSoC
Thank you for the feedback and for merging the initial PRs! It has been a great experience getting to know the website’s architecture through those contributions. I’m writing to let you know that I have officially submitted my GSoC 2026 proposal.
In light of the community’s high activity recently, I decided to work independently on the proposal to avoid adding to your workload. I also reduced my Pull Requests to ease the review burden. During this time, I focused on gaining a deep understanding of the codebase and conducted an architectural audit, as I believe a high-impact, structural migration plan provides more value for the project’s long-term health than a high volume of incremental patches during this busy period.
While the proposal includes a detailed 12-week timeline, please consider it a baseline; I am completely flexible and would be happy to adjust the phases or technical priorities to better align with the team’s vision if selected.
Beyond the website, I’ve also been diving into the core library to better understand the “content” I’ll be documenting. I currently have two PRs on precice/precice #2463#2468 focused on refactoring C++ ownership semantics in the io and mapping packages. I believe that understanding preCICE’s inner workings as a coupling library allows me to modernize the website with a much deeper appreciation for the technical needs of its users.
Looking forward to the possibility of working with you all this summer!