Collaborate

This book is intended to be

A resource for making group decisions which is free, open-source, living, pluralistic, utilitarian, beautiful and fun.

• Free. Financially, energetically and from external dependencies.
• Open-source. Source also available.
• Living. Not tied to any one mortal author (mortal).
• Pluralistic. Eschewing the concept of The One True Way™
• Utilitarian. Vaguely bringing as much use to as many as possible.
• Beautiful. To balance utilitarianism.
• Fun. Because what is the point otherwise?

Ways to contribute

• Get in touch! (See Contributors.)
• Make suggestions, ideas or interesting material. (See Contributors.)
• Send in text, graphics or whole articles. (See Contributors already.)
• Make in-line comments. (Making a Gitbook.com account is easy.)
• Or...

Contribute directly

If you've not heard of github before and you would like to contribute directly, there are a few things to know. This book is composed of separate text files and images which are shuffled together with a bit of wizardry (a.k.a. gitbook) into what you're reading right now. These files (the source of the book) are open to the world on github.com, a web application that makes it possible for people to work on different versions of the same thing simultaneously. When you 'fork' the 'repository' (folder) with the files in it, you basically make a copy for yourself which you can freely edit. If you think you made some excellent changes you can then request I take those changes into the main version - this is called 'making a pull request'.

If this github stuff sounds confusing, it's not so hard - you can do it! Ping me a message and have a look at these 5 minute guides to github generally and forking which should be enough to get you started. Then you may want to look at this guide to gitbook. If you get really into things check out this guide to git. Making a coffee for your friendly, local web-dev-person is a fast-track way!

If you fork repos for breakfast... Right now all pull requests are happily considered. You are recommended to fork the repo using the GUI button which does some extra magic stuff and then clone to your local machine from there. You're cordially invited to chat and even recommended to do so, especially if you have big plans. I wouldn't want you to slave away for hours and then butcher your work.

Content and style guidelines

This book is currently in English. If a release is made and it seems to be useful to people then translation is absolutely encouraged, but right now, in a half-finished state, it would be a waste of translator efforts. Bear in mind that whilst not a first language for many, a lot of people can read English OK: so please be conscious and try to write in a way that first serves what you want to say but is also as accessible to non-native readers as possible. Consider using GLOSSARY.md for more complex words/concepts.

In terms of writing style, there are no particularly unusual requirements... Writing in a way that is clear and concise is favored to help people digest the material; That is not to say you need to write in code form or cut out every useful embellishment, but do say what you mean without waffling. Further, a judicious use of humour and conversational tone is encouraged if it serves the content.

If you make a claim that is not common knowledge, it's great to reference it and if possible use a primary source (i.e. the first person to write it, not the third interpretation.) In the use of sources and graphics, please endeavor to find and use sources that are commons or at least free to the public.

With <3, Doug