New Contributor

[Gunnar Hjalmarsson]

Hi again, Jon, and welcome to this list. :)

On 2022-03-15 01:24, Jon Duncan wrote:
> Hi everyone!
> 
> I was recently added to the ubuntu-doc-contributors team.  The
> welcome e-mail suggested that I would need some hints about how to
> get started.
> 
> I'd like to learn how I can start contributing.

To advise you about that, you first need to tell us which kind of 
documentation you would like to work with. The tools, the workflow, and 
the people you need to interact with differ.

Off the top of my head there are at least these types of documentation:

1. Ubuntu Desktop Guide
-----------------------
That's the guide for users of standard Ubuntu with the GNOME based 
desktop. It's accessed if you click the "Help" button in the dock, and 
also published at <https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help>.

2. Flavor specific documentation
--------------------------------
The official Ubuntu flavors (Kubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, etc.) provide 
documentation for respective desktop environment.

3. Ubuntu Server Guide
----------------------
The guide for maintainers of Ubuntu servers. It's published at 
<https://ubuntu.com/server/docs> and also made available in PDF format.

4. Community Help Wiki
----------------------
The wiki at <https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CommunityHelpWiki> is a 
collection of help pages provided by individuals and teams over the 
years. While there is no individual or team who masters all the contents 
there, the wiki still needs some moderation kind of attention. For 
instance there is a need to update some pages, and also drop obsolete 
pages somehow, so the users find the relevant and useful content more 
easily.

5. Tutorials
------------
At <https://docs.ubuntu.com> you find a collection of tutorials which 
cover specific topics.

6. Application specific documentation
-------------------------------------
Many more complex programs ship application specific documentation to 
help the users get started and discover the various features and 
options. Such documentation may be installed together with the program 
and/or published on the web.

> Other than this list, are there any other internal tools that I will
> need to use to track or collaborate between other team members?

There is the #ubuntu-doc channel on the irc.libera.chat server. But 
nobody in the team watches it 'always', so it's not a great way to 
establish contact. OTOH, if you agree in advance to use IRC at a 
specific time, #ubuntu-doc is useful for real time conversation 
including meetings.

> Are there any particular parts of the documentation that need
> attention?

There is always room for improvement of all documentation. :) (Sorry for 
stating the obvious.)

TBH I have no firm opinion. Myself is most focused on the Ubuntu Desktop 
Guide, and would be able to point at a few things there. But I think you 
should let your own preferences be decisive together with your 
experience profile.

Looking forward to hearing from you again.

-- 
Cheers,

Gunnar Hjalmarsson
https://launchpad.net/~gunnarhj