Redesign php.net? We hear you. Let’s start small and ship something great: a refreshed PHP 8.5 release page. The 8.0-era page built with community contributors and JetBrains set the tone for 8.x. It’s held up, but 8.5 is a good moment to modernize: modern, clean, fast, inspiring.
We’re opening a design contest and you, the community, will help choose the winner. Read on for how to enter.
Prizes
- 🥇 Grand prize: USD $1,000 sponsored by JetBrains
- Honorable mentions (credit in the footer of the page)
What we’re looking for
A modern, lightweight design for the PHP 8.5 release page that:
- Keeps things simple: vanilla HTML/CSS, minimal/no JS, no new build tools or frameworks.
- Mobile-first & fast: responsive layouts, small assets, system fonts.
- Localizable: works with multiple languages, avoids text baked into images.
- Content-first: use existing 8.5 content as data.
- On-brand: feels at home on php.net; tasteful, unobtrusive visuals.
- Maintainable: straightforward markup that future contributors can edit.
Nice-to-have: a visual approach that can evolve for future releases (e.g., PHP 9.x).
What to submit
Please submit designs first (we’re not judging big code drops):
- Mockups or prototype (Issue to php/web-php).
- A short rationale (why this layout, how it meets the criteria).
- You can also link to PR with the implementation.
Keep the code small and clean. We won’t review large generated codebases.
How to submit
Create a GitHub Issue in the php/web-php repository using Design Contest template:
Include:
- Link(s) to mockups/prototype
- 3–5 screenshots (desktop/mobile)
- Rationale (300–600 words)
- Your name (and teammates, if any)
See a pinned contest tracking issue with all entries for easy browsing.
Timeline (UTC)
- Submissions open: Oct 1, 2025
- Deadline: Oct 22, 2025, 23:59
- Shortlist announced: Oct 23, 2025
- Community vote: Oct 23–Oct 30, 2025
- Winner announced: Nov 1, 2025
How we’ll pick the winner
- Jury (40%): php.net maintainers Sergey, Luffy, Derick, Sara + design advisor Sergei Elin (JetBrains) evaluate against the criteria below.
- Community vote (60%): single-vote mechanism.
- Tie-breaker: jury decision.
Scoring criteria:
- Clarity of content hierarchy
- Responsiveness & mobile UX
- Performance & simplicity (no deps, readable markup)
- Fit with php.net look and tone
Rules & licensing
- Your submission must be your original work and free of restrictive third-party licenses.
- By entering, you agree your design (and any code you provide) will be licensed under the same terms as the php.net website (web-php repository) and may be adapted as needed.
- Team entries are allowed (max 1 entry per person/team).
- Judges and organizers cannot participate.
- We may decline to award if no entry meets the bar.
- Participants must be 18 years or older.
- Submissions from participants in restricted or sanctioned territories will not be considered.
Questions
Please ask in the pinned Contest issue in php/web-php. We’ll keep answers centralized and public.
Let’s make the PHP 8.5 release page a joy to browse – clear, fast, and friendly for everyone!
🐘💜
The PHP Foundation
