(What other forms beyond code can complement your contribution? How can you improve the outreach and accessibility by considering other non-code related contributions?)
Documentation
I’ve come to realise, both through class and personal experience, just how critical good documentation is to a project’s success. While exploring various projects, I often found myself excited by their concept or purpose. However, poor or unclear documentation often made it difficult to understand or contribute effectively, ultimately leading me to look for other projects with better support and clearer guidance. This reflects a common experience in open-source communities, where the lack of proper documentation can act as a major barrier to adoption and collaboration (Spinellis & Giannikas, 2012)
GitHub’s own guidance on building welcoming communities also highlights that non-code contributions are essential to a healthy open-source ecosystem. Encouraging diverse participation through inclusive practices, like better documentation, multilingual resources, and active community engagement creates stronger, more resilient projects (Tourani, Adams and Serebrenik, 2017).
Translation
Beyond documentation, one highly effective way to improve outreach and accessibility especially through non-code contributions is by translating materials into other languages. This helps break down language barriers, allowing a wider audience to engage with and benefit from the project. In turn, it fosters greater diversity within the community, enriching the project with a broader range of perspectives and ideas. Organisations like Mozilla and the Linux Foundation actively promote localisation efforts to broaden participation and ensure that communities are not restricted by language barriers (Mozilla Foundation 2020, Linux Foundation, 2024).
Videos and tutorials
Other meaningful non-code contributions include creating tutorials, guides, or video walk-throughs that make onboarding easier for newcomers. Maintaining an up-to-date FAQ, curating issue labels for beginner-friendly contributions, or managing community forums and discussions are also impactful. These efforts build a more inclusive and welcoming environment, making it easier for people with varying skill sets and backgrounds to participate meaningfully.
By combining technical and non-technical efforts, we can ensure that a project is not only functional but also accessible, inclusive, and sustainable in the long term.
References
Tourani, P., Adams, B. and Serebrenik, A. (2017). Code of conduct in open source projects. 2017 IEEE 24th International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution and Reengineering (SANER). [online] doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/saner.2017.7884606
Spinellis, D., & Giannikas, V. (2012). Organizational adoption of open source software. Journal of Systems and Software, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0164121211002512?casa_token=B9ZFqzVQZzAAAAAA:nJzO-2YlDNJJIhVYspMpDHHnvvCy_3emR_mPsvqCupsQjh7UmuXdHjsCqofwzXYPL25NIhixap4
Linux Foundation. (2024). Diversity & Inclusivity | Linux Foundation. [online] Linuxfoundation.org. Available at: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/about/diversity-inclusivity.
Mozilla Foundation. (2020). Understanding Diversity, Equity And Inclusion: Taking Action. [online] Mozilla Foundation. Available at: https://www.mozillafoundation.org/sw/blog/understanding-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-taking-action/
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