Season of Docs/2020

Wikimedia is applying as a mentoring organization for Season of Docs 2020. Learn application process steps, selection process and responsibilities of a mentor below:

Read information for participants Read information for mentors

Program timeline

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April 13 to May 4, 2020	Organizational application period
May 4 to May 10	Google reviews and approves organizations
May 11	Organizations are announced
May 11 to July 8	Technical writer exploration and application
July 9	Technical writer application deadline
August 16	Accepted projects announced
August 17 to September 13	Community bonding
September 14 to December 10, 2020 or March 12, 2021	Doc-development through project finalization
January 6, 2021 or March 15, 2021	Results announced

Project ideas

These ideas are examples. The final project may be a combination of one or a few of these ideas. We will work with the individual technical writer to determine which project will be best suited to them and this round of GSOD.

Technical Documentation

Toolforge and Cloud VPS technical documentation has been undergoing improvements for the last year or two. Many of the documents associated with this project have been updated and improved. Some still need updating, and there are gaps where additional documentation is needed -- especially first-line documentation for those new to Wikimedia Cloud Services

Project goals

Our goal is to make it easier for users new to Cloud Services to onboard quickly, learn how the system works and perform essential tasks, so they can start participating with Cloud Services. For this project you would:

Update existing and create new first-line documentation for Cloud Services. Assist in compiling and writing a set of first-line documentation (walkthroughs, tutorials, and best practices) for experienced developers who are new to Toolforge and Cloud VPS.
- Some examples of tasks related to this can be found here: phab:T230440
Identify processes and workflows in need of visual documentation. Draft charts and diagrams to accompany written technical documentation. This would be mainly for Cloud Services documentation.
Assist in the scripting and production of video tutorials for new Cloud Services contributors.

What you'll learn

A writer who takes on this project can expect to learn about:

Identifying the needs of a variety of technical audiences
Creating visual documentation
Creating video tutorials
Working on wikis

Audience research and user experience

Project goals

While we know that good technical documentation is essential to our community of volunteer developers, there is still a lot that we do not know about our audiences and their needs.

This project is meant to help us gain a better understanding of who is using technical documentation on MediaWiki and Wikitech, how they are responding to the current documentation, and what their wants and needs are for better technical documentation. The results of this project will help us build a technical content strategy that works for our users and delivers real value to them.

Design and conduct a survey for technical documentation users on Wikimedia projects.
Use the findings to create a report of your findings and recommending improvements.
Design and draft a set of technical documents based on this user research.

What you'll learn

A writer who takes on this project can expect to learn about:

User research and survey design
Synthesizing research and reporting findings
Crafting research-based technical documentation
Working on wikis

Improving processes

Project goals

For this project, you will concentrate on improving processes for new technical contributors and technical documentarians on Wikimedia projects.

Improve the technical onboarding process. Help to standardize technical onboarding documentation for staff members and new contributors.
Improve technical documentation review processes. Technical documentation on Wikimedia projects is often not reviewed for quality or accuracy. There is a nascent technical document review process that needs further development and support. In this project, you would help to clarify and refine the process, create supporting material, and work with the technical community to help implement this system.

What you'll learn

A writer who takes on this project can expect to learn about:

Process analysis
Writing step by step instructions
Technical document review systems
Working on wikis

Mentors

Wikimedia will be working with 1 technical writer this year, and the mentors are:

Contact

Please feel free to reach out to us with questions. We like to work in the open and together with our community. Following are the best methods to reach us with questions and for official announcements.

Zulip - https://wikimedia.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/gsod20
Google Group - technical-documentation wikimedia.org

Zulip is the best way to contact Wikimedia's Google Season of Docs admins.