On 08/23/10 17:20, Jean Lockwood wrote:
Clayton,
i signed up a couple of weeks ago to become part of the documentation
effort for OOo. I said at the time that I wouldn't be able to begin
being /productive/ until sometime next month, but I have been reading
all of the email that has been sent to me.
*And* one thing seems to stick out. There is no one entity responsible
for welcoming new volunteers and helping them become familiar with the
way the group works. Everyone (including me) is asking just how to get
started.
That entity is usually Jean Weber, or myself. We share the project lead
responsibilities
/*SO*/, perhaps my best contribution to the effort right now would be to
compile a 'New Writer's" guide that would explain exactly how the
project is organized, who's 'in charge' of each element, and provide
examples of just how to become a part of the project.
I shall continue to check out all of the links in the email I've
received, but for me, it would have been a big help to have had an idea
of exactly how the project is structured.
I'd appreciate your feedback, as well as the reactions of others in this
group.
Setting up mentoring for the new project members is something high on my
list of things - it's getting a section at the conference presentation
next week... so I hope that means it'll be a primary goal in the coming
months.
For various reasons, the doc project has had very few new members until
recently (the last 6 to 8 months).... for example a change (or two) in
project leads meant that the Moderation queue on the mailing list was
unintentionally ignored for far too long. The Moderation queue is often
the first point of contact for people interested in volunteering to help
out. Now, Jean and I are monitoring that list, and we've had a nice
influx of new members... but, as Jean pointed out, due to the
restructuring that we've been trying to do, the mentoring aspect
(including info on what new members can do to come up to speed) has
fallen to the side.
Jeanlock... there's a lot we all (as a group) can do to help set up info
for new users. We can have a Wiki page, an ODT doc, people can be
volunteer mentors... and whatever else we can think of. The goal should
be a clear set of steps for a new memeber... for example
- subscribe to authors and dev mailing lists
- set up a wiki id
- set up an oooauthors id
- review a style guide and Wiki editing guide
- sign up for Wiki mentoring if they aren't familiar with Wiki editing
It would be nice if we could provide a clear list of what's available to
be worked on... we have some of this now in the Wiki, but it's difficult
to find, and difficult to understand.
Project assignments - projects that are available that can be assigned
to new members along with one of us long time members who can help and
mentor as the new member comes up to speed...
There's more circling around in my mind... :-) but it would be good to
see us build some of the foundation for this first.... with input from
whoever wants to help out with getting this established.
C.
--
Clayton Cornell [email protected]
OpenOffice.org Documentation Project co-lead
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