Elastic Contributor Program FAQ

How do I submit a contribution?

You can submit a contribution using the Elastic Contributor portal. If you are looking for step-by-step guidance visit the submission page.

Who validates the submissions?

The Elastic Community team and other contributors in the program will be validating each submission before points are awarded. Each contribution must be validated by the Elastic team or by 3 (three) different community members. You will not be allowed to validate your own submission and you can validate each contribution only once. For more guidance see how to validate a contribution.

In what languages can I validate submissions?

When you set up your profile you can indicate the languages in which you are proficient. You will have access to contributions made in the same language(s) as you set on your profile. If you speak more than one language, you may validate contributions in multiple languages.

What types of contributions are accepted?

We currently are accepting organized events, presentations, written content, videos, translations, answering technical questions on discuss.elastic.co and Stack Overflow, and Elastic code contributions.

What criteria do I have to meet for a submission to be accepted?

Each type of contribution must meet a set of criteria in order to be validated. Visit our rules page to review that criteria.

If I present the same content at different events, can I submit each presentation separately?

Yes! If you present the same presentation at different events to different audiences, you can submit each presentation as a separate contribution. If you present the same content multiple times during one event (to different audiences at different times, for example), you may also submit each presentation separately.

If I am creating a video series, can I submit each video as a separate submission?

No, a video series will only count as a single submission. Please link to the playlist when you are submitting your contribution, not the individual videos.

If I contribute code to an open source project that uses Elastic will this meet the criteria for the code category?

No, this will not meet the criteria for the code category.

However, you could give a presentation or write a blog about the open source project and submit either a presentation or written content contribution.

How do I submit security contributions?

Contributions to the Elastic Security community are very welcome. Please take a look at this blog post to learn how you can make security contributions.

How can I contribute code to Elastic projects?

You can visit the Elastic GitHub repository, and follow the contributing guidelines developed by the Elastic engineering team.

Can you earn more than one point from multiple answers on the same technical question?

No, you can only submit one answer per technical question. Multiple answers on the same question will be declined.

If a duplicate technical question exists on discuss.elastic.co or Stack Overflow, can I receive points for my answer?

Only if the duplicate question was not answered. If the duplicate question was already answered your submission will be declined.

Do points roll over into the next year of the program?

No, points will be reset annually after each submission period.

What happens if there is a tie in the final ranking?

If there is a tie between two or more contributors, we will consider who reached the winning score first, the number of contributions with the highest point value, and the number of contributions submitted.

How many contributors will be awarded?

Each of the three regions will award the top 30 contributors. The top 3 contributors will be awarded Elastic Gold, the following 9 contributors will be Elastic Silver, and the remaining 18 contributors will be Elastic Bronze. In the event there are fewer than thirty (30) contributors in a region, winners in each tier will be decided at Elastic's sole discretion.

Can I exchange my prizes for something else?

No, winners will not be able to exchange their prizes.

Can I dispute a declined validation?

Mistakes happen! If you believe your contribution was incorrectly declined during the validation process, let us know at contributors@elastic.co.

If I organize a meetup and present a lecture at the same meetup, can I score points for both organization and presentation?

Yes! You will need to submit one contribution per category. In this case, one for “Event Organization” and one for “Presentation.”

Can I record a tutorial video and write an article about the same topic?

Yes! You will need to submit one contribution per category. In this case, one for “Video Recordings” and one for “Written Content.”

Can I submit a non-technical video about my Elastic use case?

Yes, as long as you demonstrate how you use the product —and it is not an advertisement.

Can I submit something that someone else has already submitted?

It depends. If you helped write an article, for example, as long as your name is listed as a co-author you can submit it, too. Plagiarized contributions will not be tolerated and will result in removal from the program.

Is there a limit on how many contributions I can make?

There is not a limit on the total number of contributions you can make, however, we do limit the number of daily contributions a contributor can submit for validation on the portal to a maximum of 10. We believe this will encourage contributors to not submit a large amount of contributions all at once, which may lead to an unfair and inaccurate leaderboard.

Can companies or organizations participate?

Prizes and awards are given to individuals, however we’d love for companies and organizations to encourage their employees or members to participate!

What are the submission dates for next year's competition?

Dates will be announced after the end of this year's competition.


Do you have any other questions about the program?
Send an email to contributors@elastic.co