Thanks for the additional information, @jslawinski. @zuzanna and I can talk about the best way to get access to the data needed.
In addition, I think there are some larger questions about metrics and data for us to look at together, as a community:
- What data will help the OpenMRS community tell our story in a compelling way?
- What data will help us attract and direct new contributors so that their experience is satisfying and they stay with the community for the long term?
Answering these questions will help us decide the key metrics for us to track. We may decide that some of the data that we’ve been tracking for the past five years don’t tell as compelling a story as other data. And we’re not limited to the data available from Google Analytics. Others are in Talk, Slack, and github.
@jslawinski, I hear you about those stats I shared. I really had to ask myself: what is that data telling us? What story is it telling? Why are we tracking it? And this post about signups helped me look at those statistics in a new light. I believe at least some of the data we have been tracking tells us how many people took the first step from being a passive consumer of information about OpenMRS and our community to trying OpenMRS out, to then sharing and collaborating with the community.
Even as we consider how our website can help attract new contributors and investors, I’d like to keep onboarding in mind. Having a clearly defined pathway set up so that newcomers can onboard and find ways to contribute or invest that align with their interests goes hand in hand with outreach. We know that newbies come to our community and many leave because they hit a wall. I think your experience with Soldevelo’s internship program highlights the importance of coordinating closely with the community around this critical step.
I’m excited that we’re working on specific documentation that will take that wall down, thanks to technical writers like @rainbow and @madhens, who have been revamping our new developer guide and working on a new volunteer guide. Those are foundational onboarding pieces!