Medusa Hackathon 2022: Participation Tips and Guidelines
Tags: opensource, programming, webdev, news
Published: 2022-10-03 10:57:52

On Saturday, we kicked off the [Medusa Hackathon](https://dev.to/medusajs/medusa-hackathon-sign-up-win-merch-and-prizes-up-to-1500-during-hacktoberfest-4h45) where developers can participate by creating something awesome using Medusa and win up to $1,500 and cool swag!

This post gives you some tips on where to start, some project examples, and what guidelines you need to follow when you participate.

## Examples of Projects

Although the possibilities are endless with Medusa, we know it can be hard to find ideas sometimes. This section includes some general ideas and examples for projects to create with Medusa for the Hackathon.

### Live stores

Building a live ecommerce store is all what Medusa is about! One way to participate in the Hackathon is to deploy a live Medusa store, and add in your own touches, including using existing plugins, storefronts, or making your own!

Some examples from previous blog posts on building a store with Medusa, integrating plugins, and deploying it:

- [Create a Medusa store with Medusa, Next.js Storefront, and Chatwoot](https://medusajs.com/blog/chatwoot-ecommerce/).
- [Implement Customer Profiles in the Next.js Storefront](https://medusajs.com/blog/next.js-ecommerce-store).
- [Deploy Medusa to AWS](https://medusajs.com/blog/aws-elastic-beanstalk/).

### Ecommerce Storefronts

Medusa provides bespoke ecommerce infrastructure. Part of this means the solution is headless, which allows you to implement any type of storefront you want with your preferred frontend framework.

Medusa currently has two starter storefronts: one with [Next.js](https://docs.medusajs.com/starters/nextjs-medusa-starter) and one with [Gatsby](https://docs.medusajs.com/starters/gatsby-medusa-starter).

If you are experienced with other frontend frameworks, want to customize our existing storefronts, or have a better design in mind for our existing storefronts, you can use that as your Hackathon project.

Some examples from previous blog posts on building storefronts with Medusa:

- [Nuxt.js Storefront with Medusa](https://medusajs.com/blog/nuxt-js-ecommerce-platform-stripe/).
- [Remix Storefront with Medusa](https://medusajs.com/blog/remix-ecommerce/).
- [Vue.js Storefront using Vue Storefront UI with Medusa](https://medusajs.com/blog/create-vue-js-ecommerce-store-with-medusa-vue-storefront-ui/).

### Ecommerce Apps

Similar to the previous project type, you can connect any type of mobile app with the Medusa server to create an Ecommerce Mobile app.

An example from a previous blog post:

- [React Native app with Medusa](https://medusajs.com/blog/creating-react-native-ecommerce-app-with-medusa/).

### Plugins

Medusa allows developers to integrate additional features using plugins. Plugins can be used to add new features or integrate Medusa with third-party services.

Some examples from previous blog posts and existing plugins in our documentation:

- [Add Wishlist in Medusa](https://medusajs.com/blog/how-to-create-a-wishlist-with-medusa/)
- [Strapi integration with Medusa](https://docs.medusajs.com/add-plugins/strapi)
- [Slack Integration with Medusa](https://docs.medusajs.com/add-plugins/slack)

### Admin Panel

Medusa provides an [admin panel](https://docs.medusajs.com/admin/quickstart) that allows merchants to manage their store’s settings, products, orders, and more.

You can either build a new admin panel with more features and a cool design, or you can add to the existing one.

### Core Customization

Since Medusa is an open-source platform, you can take it apart and change it into anything that you need. You can customize its architecture, entities, or business model.

Some examples of core customizations can be:

- Create a subscription business model.
- Create a marketplace business model.

### Be creative

Creativity is at the core of every Hackathon. For the Medusa Hackathon, we’re excited to see all the creative projects that you can come up with.

Some example of a creative project with Medusa is [Medusa.Express](https://www.medusa.express/), which allows merchants to easy share product links with one-page checkout functionality.

## I still need more ideas

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing on our blog different examples of Medusa submissions including customizing storefronts, adding integrations, creating ecommerce apps, and more.

Be on the lookout for these articles. You can follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/medusajs) and [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/medusajs), or join our [Discord community](https://discord.gg/medusajs) to always be informed of new articles.

## Where do I start?

If you have some ideas but are unsure how to implement them with Medusa, or you are still learning about Medusa, this section shares some resources on where you can get started!

### All Project Types

- [Medusa server Quickstart guide](https://docs.medusajs.com/quickstart/quick-start).
- [Beginner Guide to Medusa](https://medusajs.com/blog/beginner-guide-to-node-js-ecommerce-platform-understanding-the-medusa-server/).

### Live Stores

- [Configure your Server](https://docs.medusajs.com/usage/configurations).
- [Server deployment guides](https://docs.medusajs.com/deployments/server/).
- [Storefront deployment guides](https://docs.medusajs.com/deployments/storefront/).

### Ecommerce Storefronts and Mobile Apps

- [Medusa’s Storefront API Reference](https://docs.medusajs.com/api/store/).
- [Medusa JS Client Overview](https://docs.medusajs.com/js-client/overview).
- [How to Implement Cart Functionality](https://docs.medusajs.com/guides/carts-in-medusa)?
- [How to Implement Checkout](https://docs.medusajs.com/advanced/storefront/how-to-implement-checkout-flow)?

### Plugins

- [What are Plugins](https://docs.medusajs.com/advanced/backend/plugins/overview)?
- [How to Create a Plugin](https://docs.medusajs.com/advanced/backend/plugins/create)?
- [Existing Plugins](https://www.notion.so/1a0ada9903874e0185d0b8ce0591b359) (You can still re-implement community plugins if you have a better implementation or additional features to add!)
- Guides for specific plugin types:
    - [How to Create a Fulfillment Provider](https://docs.medusajs.com/advanced/backend/shipping/add-fulfillment-provider)
    - [How to Create a Payment Provider](https://docs.medusajs.com/advanced/backend/payment/how-to-create-payment-provider)
    - [How to Create a Notification Provider](https://docs.medusajs.com/advanced/backend/notification/how-to-create-notification-provider)

### Admin Panel

- [Medusa’s Admin API Reference](https://docs.medusajs.com/api/admin/).
- [Medusa JS Client Overview](https://docs.medusajs.com/js-client/overview).

### Core Customization

- Conceptual Guides such as [Entities](https://docs.medusajs.com/advanced/backend/entities/overview), [Services](https://docs.medusajs.com/advanced/backend/services/overview), [Subscribers](https://docs.medusajs.com/advanced/backend/subscribers/overview), and [Migrations](https://docs.medusajs.com/advanced/backend/migrations/overview).
- [Local Development guide](https://docs.medusajs.com/usage/local-development) using Medusa’s dev CLI tool.
- [Services Reference](https://docs.medusajs.com/references/services/classes/authservice/)
- [Entities Reference](https://docs.medusajs.com/references/entities/classes/Address)

## What are some guidelines I need to follow?

Your README page must properly showcase what your project is and how to install and use it. You can check out [this guideline repository](https://github.com/medusajs/hackathon-oct2022-guidelines/blob/main/README.md) for more details on what your README must include.

## How do I submit my project?

To submit your project, reply with the link to your repository in [this discussion thread](https://github.com/medusajs/medusa/discussions/2280). Your repository must follow the guidelines to be accepted.

We have a [Hackathon repository](https://github.com/medusajs/hackathon-oct2022) that groups together all repository submissions. This repository will be regularly updated by our team to include submissions that are proven to follow our guidelines.

## I have more questions or I need help during the development

If you have any more questions or you need help while creating your project, you can join our [Discord community](https://discord.gg/medusajs). On this Discord server you can:

- Ask questions related to the Hackathon on the `qa-hackathon` forum.
- Join teams or find project ideas on the `teams-n-projects` forum.
- Get any help during your development on the `help` forum.