03 / Documentation
Mattermost Developer Contribution Guide
A developer contribution guide that gives a new contributor somewhere to start, then tells them what to do next.
Context
Open-source projects often know their own workflow so well that the documentation forgets to explain it. Contributors need the project context, entry points, workflow, and standards in one path.
The problem
A command list is not a contribution guide. The reader needs to know how the pieces fit and what the project expects.
Work involved
I authored the original guide around contributor workflow; the public page has since been revised.
Approach
- Organized the guide around a contributor's first questions, not the maintainers' internal map.
- Made contribution steps explicit and tied them to project standards.
- Kept the language direct enough to use while working.
What this work shows
Good developer docs reduce the amount a contributor has to guess. This guide shows instructional writing, workflow design, editing, and open-source collaboration.
Technical or communication skills involved
Outcome
A public guide that connected project context, contribution steps, and standards. The current public page has since been edited.