This page contains the details of a technical writing project accepted for Season of Docs.
Project summary
- Open source organization:
- Zulip Open Source Team Chat
- Technical writer:
- drrosa
- Project name:
- Refactoring of ReadTheDocs and API Docs
- Project length:
- Standard length (3 months)
Project description
I will focus on two areas and work on them in parallel. One of them is to improve the quality of zulip.readthedocs.io so that new contributors run into less confusion and doubts along the way. Ideally, the result will be a clear and concise path from a first-time contribution to becoming familiar with how Zulip works. I also plan to work on zulipchat.com/api, api.md, and openapi.md to make the process of documenting additional endpoints easier to understand. Both parts are likely to involve updating/simplifying content, decluttering articles, adding missing developer documentation, and also writing/testing code.
The project will consist of four phases. The first phase will include small familiarization projects, preparatory tooling, and a better understanding of current documentation needs. The purpose of the second phase will be to structure, specify, and prioritize work within the context of Zulip’s goals this fall season. Then I'll move on to the implementation phase of the project. I will be going back and forth with mentors and the rest of Zulip's developer community for feedback. The final phase will be to look back, revise where needed, and write the project report.
I suspect some priorities and tasks are likely to change throughout the work period as a result of what everyone else is working on; including decisions made by the core developers. I expect that learning how to adapt well to such changes will be a necessary aspect of having a successful GSoD experience. It's possible that at some point it will make sense to postpone proposed ideas for later on. Generally speaking, I will be focusing on making sure my work brings value to the overall success of the Zulip open source project.