Problem: Contributors may need more help. Maybe skill labels, tutorials, etc.
Ideas:
- Tutorials for specific contribution tasks (e.g. new page, widget, browser test, etc.)
- Labels indicating skills (e.g. Elm, Linux, Cloud APIs, etc.)
Follow-up from "Add contributor skills section to contributing.md"
The following discussion from !743 (merged) should be addressed:
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@dmsnell started a discussion: (+3 comments) I may not have a very useful opinion on this, but some initial thoughts:
The table seems to only describe who can't contribute, not who can, because if someone is able they will try and likely not first look to see if they are qualified.
I like what @cmart suggests with language like "For each skill, we might consider a sentence that links the reader to a "learn this skill" resource or two" as that could make this document a jumping point for how to learn. If you get started and find that you don't know what you're doing, then maybe a guide that gives a pointer would be helpful…
## Skills/knowledge domains in use in this project - The project is written in the Elm language. Learn how to [get started](https://elm-lang.org). - Our UI is abstracted on [elm-ui](https://package.elm-lang.org/packages/mdgriffith/elm-ui/1.1.8/), a library which attempts to replace the need to write CSS. - Contributions are submitted through [git](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/what-is-git-and-how-to-use-it-c341b049ae61/) and [Gitlab](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/tutorials/). - We employ [browser tests](link) to automate testing in our project. [This MR](link) is an example of a change adding new browser tests for an existing feature of the site. - Everything in Exosphere is about interfacing [OpenStack](link to open stack tutorial/intro). Learn more about [OpenStack](openstack.org) and [Jetstream2](jetstream2), our partner blah blah. I you hit a roadblock, don't be discouraged! You can reach in our [Slack channel](slack.com) or on [Discord](discord) or ask for help here in an issue or merge request.
This minimal intro could be incorporated in the project README where it will likely get much more visibility than in a doc hidden in the
docs
directory.Overall, I have strong doubts that people look at necessary skills documents, or that they help people. In my experience it has only been a thing where someone was redirected to a skills matrix after asking a human for help and getting that help. I struggle to come up with a situation where someone is asking, "I wonder if I have the skills necessary to work on this project. Oops, OpenStack interactions are an essential skill for working with OpenStack APIs, so I better not do that." In fact, as I mentioned to you @julianpistorius just recently, I'm only starting to get a handle on the OpenStack APIs after having worked with them for more than a year, so in that sense either I shouldn't have been working with them, or they shouldn't be essential skills, or (as is probably more likely the case) skills matrices suffer from a fundamental ambiguity about what "skills" and "required" means.