engaging developers in mozilla docs

Engaging Developers in Mozilla’s Documentation

Janet Swisher (@jmswisher)

Mozilla Developer Network

Why are we here?

What is MDN?https://developer.mozilla.org

What Is MDN?Content

•Web development: reference, tutorials, and guides

•Mozilla APIs

•Mozilla project (building, testing, debugging, process)

• Firefox add-on development

Audience

• Web developers

• Developers using Mozilla code/libraries

• Developers working on the Mozilla project

• Add-on developers

Where content comes from

•Some historical content (e.g., inherited from Netscape)

•New material

•Some paid for by Mozilla

•Some contributed by Mozilla community

•Some from other communities

Documentation process• Using Bugzilla as a documentation planning tool

• Documentation-specific bugs

• Tags on engineering bugs

• Prioritization and delegation

• Tagging for review

Communication channels

• IRC (#devmo on irc.mozilla.org)

• Mailing list/news group/Google group (dev-mdc@lists.mozilla.org)

• Blog posts (http://hacks.mozilla.org)

• Talk pages (under-used)

MDN community meetings

• Every other Wednesday, 10 am PT

• Agenda in Mozilla project wiki

• Discussion in IRC

Wiki Wednesdays

• Target Audience: Mozilla developers

• Blog post, with chunks to topic-specific mailing lists

• Credit given to last week’s contributors

• Special email alias

Doc sprints• First one in-person in Paris, Oct.

2010

• Virtual, late January 2011

• Virtual, early April 2011

• Following this conference

Why people don’t contribute

•They don’t realize it's a wiki

•They don’t want to bother setting up an account

•They’re intimidated by changing “the” documentation

Webdev community

Cooperation with other groups

What could we do better?• “Welcome Wagon”

• 5-minute tasks

• More/better recognition (badges?)

• New contributor map

Take Away

•View your mission as bigger than software.

•Ask for help and reviews in small chunks.

•Talk to developers and contributors through their preferred channels.

• Look for alliances based on your (broad) mission.

Thanks!

• Janet Swisher: jswisher@mozilla.com, @jmswisher

https://developer.mozilla.org/