Just a reminder, Google is hosting Q&A sessions via Google Hangouts to answer all the Google Season of Docs organization application-related questions today Monday 20/4/2020 at 17h00 UTC
To join the Hangout click the link below, or copy & paste it into your browser, 5 minutes prior to the start time:https://meet.google.com/nan-pidm-czp.
Send questions in advance!
Please feel free to send your questions in advance via Dory, Q&A tool.
You can edit or remove your Dory post at any time. (If you somehow lose access to the Dory and need help removing your post, please email us at season-of-docs-support@googlegroups.com and we’ll remove it on your behalf.)
Please follow the steps below if you have difficulty joining:
Most of the Technical writers were not familiar with git and git commands.
Most of the technical writers and mentors were on different time zone which made them not to have an interactive session.
Lack of community prioritization in giving feedback to the Technical writers.
The projects appeared to be complicated due to lack of prior knowledge.
Some projects were extremely technical.
Most organizations didn’t have a style guide for their document which gave Technical writers hard time to come up with one.
Suggested solutions:
Communities with git projects, should help the Technical writers to get familiar with git and git commands during the bonding period.
Time zone: Mentor and Technical writers should find a way of having an interactive session irrespective of their time zone.
Community members should prioritize in giving feedback to the Technical writers where need arise.
The communities to come up with a beginner’s guide to help orient the Technical writers on how open source operates.
Extremely technical projects are discouraged since they are not achievable in a short period of time.
Each community to have a style guide before the GsoD season begins those lacking , Google will provide one.
Recommendation:
Every organization to carry out a documentation audit to certain the information they have, what they don’t have and what to be improved.
Documentation guide should be a vailable to guide new volunteers interested in documentation.
While reviewing the proposals of the technical writers, two things should be looked at:
The proposal should be well defined enough to fulfill the set goal and flexible enough to be achieved.
GsoD projects should be well balanced. A Balanced project has a good mentor and a community willing to support and retain the technical writer at the end of GSoD period.
Students selected for GSoC should not be selected for GSoD because of the projects overlap.
Technical writers are required to give 20-30hrs per week.
Opensource organizations are adviced to select 3-5 proposals which are well defined and run for a short period of time to attract more Technical writers especially those who are qualified and have no experience working with opensource.
Umbrella Organizations with many projects to be worked on to email GsoD coordinator for more support.
Having the project tutorials is good to guide the technical writers.
Try to understand people you are working with for some may not be on the same level as you are.
Translation projects are not enouraged since they are hard and not easily achieved
There will be 2020 swag package for 2020 technical writers.