Managing community-driven documentation - how to herd doc-writing cats through motivation and a pinch of automation

Description

Free software projects, community-oriented online services and grassroots technological organizations often rely on volunteer-based documentation, both as regards writing end-user guides and localization. This can produce inconsistencies in style and approaches and, in the end, compromise the usability of the tools or services described in the documentation. There are solutions, like publishing guidelines, enabling volunteer contributions only through git pull requests, or hiring coordinators and reviewers.

During this discussion, we will exchange reflections and tips on the best practices for volunteer-based documentation, so as to start a conversation on how to improve this process in free software projects and in efforts that rely on limited funds but on a strong community of eager volunteers.

Depending on the number of participants, the discussion can take place in one group or be split in smaller groups that will refer to the other participants during the last 10 minutes of the discussion.

  • Conference: Write the Docs EU
  • Year: 2017

About the speaker

Floriana Pagano