GSoD 2019 Project Ideas: Proposed Projects: We need your Input & Mentors

Hey Everyone

As we are preparing our proposal submission for the GSoD based on your suggestions we have developed the following project ideas which we would like the community to provide input.

These projects are going to be put forward to technical writers who will be applying to work with organizations such as OpenMRS to help improve their user documentation.

We are therefore asking community members to please review the proposed projects and provide comments where applicable.

GSoD 2019 Project Idea 1: Developing User Friendly Github Documentation for REST API

GSoD 2019 Project Idea 2: Developing sustainable approaches to avoiding entropy in OpenMRS documentation

GSoD 2019 Project Idea 3: Review and Refactor existing Wiki to be more User profile driven

GSoD 2019 Project Idea 4: Developing a Suite of Volunteer Guides

We are also appealing for volunteer to be mentors on the proposed projects to work with the technical writers . The main roles of the mentors would be to:

  1. Provide more context to the project problem 2hrs
  2. Brainstorm potential ideas to resolve the project problem 1.5 hrs
  3. Agree on Project Solution Approach 0.5hrs
  4. Meet with technical writer at agreed intervals to review and discuss writers progress (4-6 meetings , duration to be decided between mentor and writer)
  5. Approve of completed documentation project

More detailed explanation on roles and responsibilities of mentors can be found here

The main OpenMRS 2019 GSoD page can also be found here

Please provide your comments on this talk thread

I’d be willing to help with either, but if forced to choose, I would prioritize getting our REST API well documented. Can we assume students will have basic technical skills? For example, it will be a lot easier for someone who can make & understand basic REST calls (e.g., using Postman).

Thanks @c.antwi. I agree with @burke 's view of the writer having basic technical skills required for each project otherwise it will be a big hustle for both the writer and the mentor trying to figure out on where to start from.

personaly i would also want to volunteer as a back up mentor with @burke on getting our REST API well documented , that is if we are going to be having a primary and back up mentor in this case also , as it is in GSOC.

Can we assume students will have basic technical skills?

This is where Season of Docs seems to be set up a bit differently than GSoC or GCI. From what I can tell, the technical writers are not students and already have some experience. Here is what GSoD provides as guidance in their Technical Writer Guide about technical writers and mentors:

"Season of Docs mentors are not necessarily technical writers, and they may have little experience in technical communication. They’re members of the open source organization who know the value of good documentation and who are experienced in open source processes and tools.

The relationship between you and your mentors is a collaboration. You bring documentation experience and skills to the open source organization. Your mentors contribute their knowledge of open source and code. Together, you can develop technical documentation and improve the open source project’s processes."

On the application, I believe there is a question about the specific skills and/or experience that we would like the technical writer to have. I think we should be up front and open about our ideal skill set. @tendomart @gcliff, can you tell us more about this part of the application?

Hello @jennifer in regards to the above question, besides the technical writing skills, the students should also have some basic knowledge about the project ideas that they have chosen to undertake for example REST API documentation… we will also need some more assistance from @c.antwi @burke @dkayiwa @raff on this

Thanks @jennifer

The specifications we expect from the Technical writers are, but not limited to the following :

As a Technical Writer we expect you to Provide :

  • Recent technical writing experience: Up to three entries where you can list your most recent technical writing roles or work experience. If you have open source documentation experience, include it here too. Summarize your role, the responsibilities of the role, and the work you completed. You can provide dates where relevant.
  • A link to your resume or CV: (Optional.) The URL of a publicly accessible version of your resume or curriculum vitae (CV).
  • A link to your work samples: (Optional.) The URL of a publicly accessible portfolio of writing samples, or individual links to examples of your work.
  • Anything else you’d like to add: (Optional.) Any information you want to add this application. For example, your interest in technical documentation, why you want to participate in Season of Docs, or other relevant experience.

More Information can be found at the Application Hints Page

Is there any places for new ideas? I would like to suggest an idea regarding GSoC, GCI, GSoD, and etc.

Title : OpenMRS guidelines for Open source competitions

Contents :

  1. OpenMRS Admin guidelines (Restricted)
  2. OpenMRS Mentor guidelines (Open)
  3. Student guidelines (Open)
  4. Past list of students, mentors, and projects - along with Statistics (Open)

Most of the contents are outdated in existing Docs, and new guidelines are still not added to there. So it would good enough to bring this as a GSoD project to update those.

@suthagar23 Thats a great suggestion that would fall under GSoD project Idea 4 : Developing a Suite of Volunteer Guides.

Could I ask you to be the mentor for this project?

@dkayiwa Could I ask you to choose a project to be a mentor ? , then I will be a mentor for whichever project is remaining.

Thanks

@c.antwi the link to the last project on the wiki, does not look correct.

Hi , I am Shubham Kumar , an open source developer from India. I am willing to participate in GSOD with OpenMRS this year as a technical writer. Can someone guide me how to contribute to community for GSOD??

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hello @sk9331657 your welcome and thanks for showing interest in this kindly go through this and that, it will give you a quick start

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