NaBoMaMo

What is NaBoMaMo?

National Botmaking Month. It's like NaNoGenMo, which is itself like NaNoWriMo, inasmuch as all three are creative challenges which take place during the month of November. All three are international, so Na is a bit of a misnomer, but InBoMaMo is even more of a mouthful.

Botmaking? What's that?

Bots (from 'robot') is used here as the term for the (often) small, (sometimes) simple and (occasionally) silly software denizens of platforms like Twitter and Slack. Bots do all manner of things, from telling the time (or not) to toying with the fundamental forces of the universe to generating Disney karaoke. For an idea of the great variety of (Twitter) bots out there, check out @botALLY's Following list.

Sounds fun! How do I participate?

Easy: make a bot during the month of November. Make a few! Or, if you're really keen, shoot for a bot a day across the entire thirty days… 😱 If you like, share your process, progress or finished projects on Twitter with the #NaBoMaMo hashtag.

I meant, like, how do I make a bot?

Oh, good question! There are a whole bunch of tools and techniques for doing so, running the gamut from beginner-friendly webapps to bespoke codebases – a great place to start is Nora Reed's cheapbotsdonequick.com primer. For more, try the botpad archive, Botwiki's list of tutorials, or ask around on the #botALLY hashtag on Twitter – we're a friendly bunch!

And where do I sign up?

Inside your own heart. ❤️

Can I work in a team/on an existing bot/in Brainfuck/…?

Are you having a good time? Are you causing anyone else to not have one? If the answers are yes and no respectively then sure, go for it!

Isn't there already a lot on in November?

Yep! 😁

Whose fault is this?

This site is by Tully Hansen, a bot aficionado from way back (like, since 2014).