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List:       drupal-documentation
Subject:    [documentation] Contributors to docs need
From:       drupal-docs () webchick ! net (Angela Byron)
Date:       2008-05-26 4:33:22
Message-ID: 483A3D92.7060500 () webchick ! net
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Angela Byron wrote:
> Steve Dondley wrote:
>> Great point.
>>
>> Which sparks an idea: Why not give document pages  ownership like we
>> do projects? Why should documentation get what amounts to 2nd class
>> karma status? Might be a more comprehensive change but it could also
>> be very worthwhile.

As if I didn't type enough in my previous reply...  ;)

I also don't buy this "2nd class karma status" bit at all. I see 
handbook contribution on exactly the same level as core patch contribution.

 From index.php:

---

$return = menu_execute_active_handler();

---

That's the single line that makes Drupal do anything. Do you know who 
wrote that line of code? Probably not. Does it really matter? No. What 
matters is that Drupal is a kick-ass piece of software.

Similarly, our goal as docs team members should be to make the handbook 
a kick-ass piece of documentation. It doesn't matter who started a page, 
or who spent the most time on it, or who fixed the most typos. Improving 
the handbook has direct benefits for /everyone/ involved in the Drupal 
ecosphere.

Btw, it turns out, the person who wrote that line of code is chx 
(actually, it was originally written long before, and chx was the last 
person to refactor it, but nonetheless...). I couldn't begin to list the 
lines of code in Drupal that belong to chx, or that chx has touched. I 
don't think even chx could do that. :)

But yet, somehow everyone knows that chx contributes an enormous amount 
of code to Drupal core. And somehow chx comes across as someone 
knowledgeable about Drupal. And when chx says something, people listen. 
It's because of his *actions*, not because of the *credit* given to 
those actions. The credit for core commits is actually /harder/ to 
determine than those for handbook pages; there's no nice revisions page 
showing you a list; you have to go sifting through cvs annotate and cvs 
log to figure out this kind of stuff.

But by all means, add "Contributed 10-Step Form API tutorial" to your 
Drupal resum? (just as I'm sure chx has "Re-wrote the Drupal menu 
system" on his, and I have "Wrote the Form API Reference" on mine). 
There's nothing wrong with being proud of the work you've done, and 
communicating to clients and business partners that you're committed to 
improving Drupal's documentation.

-Angie

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