There are many ways to participate in BOINC.
Donate computing power
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Participate in BOINC using Science United. Sign up for science areas, and you'll automatically compute for current and future projects in those areas.
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Or you can download BOINC from the BOINC web site and pick specific projects.
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For more info, see the User Manual and Web resources
Report bugs
Instructions for reporting bugs are here.
Testing
Help test new versions of BOINC by becoming an Alpha tester
Use the boinc_alpha email list, and the Github issue tracking system. The boinc_alpha list is where new versions (for testing) are announced.
The best way to contribute is by joining the BOINC Alpha Test project. You can also submit bug reports on Github.
Software development
You can help develop, maintain, and debug BOINC. Various technical skills (C++, PHP, CSS, SQL, WxWidgets) are required for different parts of BOINC; details are here.
Use the boinc_dev email list for general discussion, and Github issues for specific bugs and feature requests.
Some BOINC projects may also need technical help; contact them using the boinc_projects email list
Documentation
Use the boinc_doc Google group.
Review, update, improve, and extend the BOINC documentation. Although both user and project documentation are in Wiki form, they're not publicly editable because of problems with spammers.
Translation
Many parts of BOINC are translatable: the BOINC Manager and Android GUI, the BOINC web site, the generic part of BOINC project sites, and the project-specific part of some project's web sites. You can volunteer to translate this text into non-English languages.
Use the boinc_loc email list.
To contribute
Post a request on the email list to do translation for a language of your choice.
Support
You can provide "customer support" to new BOINC participants: answering their questions about volunteer computing and the various BOINC-based projects, helping them download and install BOINC, and helping them fix whatever problems they encounter. There are two customer support systems: the message boards on the BOINC web site, and an online system where users can contact you personally via Skype or email.
Use the BOINC message boards, and the boinc_helpers email list.
You can jump right in by answering questions on the BOINC message boards. If you're willing to provide online (one on one) support, register to be a BOINC help volunteer.
Publicity
Help generate publicity for BOINC.