Current phase:
The 2019 Season of Docs program finished on March 6, 2020. See
timeline.
Please read this document carefully. It contains important information regarding your participation in Season of Docs.
Community bonding
The first month of Season of Docs is the community bonding period. This phase is intended to help you get ready to contribute to your mentoring organization when Season of Docs starts in full swing. Talk to your mentor now to understand what they expect from you during community bonding and throughout the program. In turn, let the mentor know what type of help you need to find your way into the open source community of your choice.
Community bonding activities may include:
- Becoming familiar with the community practices and processes. This should involve a mix of observation and participation.
- Participating on mailing lists, IRC, etc. (Not just lurking.)
- Setting up your development environment.
- Small (or large) patches or bug fixes. These do not need to be directly related to your Season of Docs project.
- Participating in code reviews for others. Even someone who isn't familiar with the project can contribute by pointing out inconsistencies, confusing field names or page titles, bad error messages, etc.)
- Working with your mentor and other organization members to refine your project plan. This might include finalizing deadlines and milestones, adding more detail, figuring out potential issues, etc.
- If you are already familiar with the organization, you could be helping others get involved in the community.
- Reading (and updating!) documentation you will need to understand to complete your project.
- Reporting or replicating bugs.
Be sure to read the page about roles and responsibilities so that you know what is expected of you and what to expect from your mentor.
Stipend and registering for payment
If you have chosen to receive a stipend (that is, if you have not opted out of receiving a stipend) you will receive an email with information regarding your stipend amount and how to register in the payments system. For more information, visit the page about technical writer stipends.
Tax forms
Read about required tax forms.
Important dates
See the Season of Docs timeline.
Season of Docs technical writer mailing list
We encourage you to join the Season of Docs technical writer mailing list, an invitation-only list of current and past Season of Docs technical writers. On the list, you can talk to other technical writers across the program and can get guidance on any questions you may have during Season of Docs.
See the details of this mailing list and other discussion channels.