[documentation] Contributors to docs need more public recognition

[Steve Dondley]

Everything you write backs up my point precisely, actually, that we
need to be better about giving credit. Because we give credit to
people all the time just by displaying their name!  How do I know chx?
By three letters "chx". How do I know who you are? By the letters
"webchick". When I see those letters attached to the the forum posts,
in IRC, and in patches, I know that that person does good work. That's
solely how you built your reputation in the community by attaching
your work to the moniker "webchick"!

Giving credit to others, and going out of your way to give credit to
others, builds the project. I find it hard to believe you would argue
otherwise.

On Mon, May 26, 2008 at 12:33 AM, Angela Byron <drupal-docs at webchick.net> wrote:
> Angela Byron wrote:
>> Steve Dondley wrote:
>>> Great point.
>>>
>>> Which sparks an idea: Why not give document pages  ownership like we
>>> do projects? Why should documentation get what amounts to 2nd class
>>> karma status? Might be a more comprehensive change but it could also
>>> be very worthwhile.
>
> As if I didn't type enough in my previous reply...  ;)
>
> I also don't buy this "2nd class karma status" bit at all. I see
> handbook contribution on exactly the same level as core patch contribution.
>
>  From index.php:
>
> ---
>
> $return = menu_execute_active_handler();
>
> ---
>
> That's the single line that makes Drupal do anything. Do you know who
> wrote that line of code? Probably not. Does it really matter? No. What
> matters is that Drupal is a kick-ass piece of software.
>
> Similarly, our goal as docs team members should be to make the handbook
> a kick-ass piece of documentation. It doesn't matter who started a page,
> or who spent the most time on it, or who fixed the most typos. Improving
> the handbook has direct benefits for /everyone/ involved in the Drupal
> ecosphere.
>
> Btw, it turns out, the person who wrote that line of code is chx
> (actually, it was originally written long before, and chx was the last
> person to refactor it, but nonetheless...). I couldn't begin to list the
> lines of code in Drupal that belong to chx, or that chx has touched. I
> don't think even chx could do that. :)
>
> But yet, somehow everyone knows that chx contributes an enormous amount
> of code to Drupal core. And somehow chx comes across as someone
> knowledgeable about Drupal. And when chx says something, people listen.
> It's because of his *actions*, not because of the *credit* given to
> those actions. The credit for core commits is actually /harder/ to
> determine than those for handbook pages; there's no nice revisions page
> showing you a list; you have to go sifting through cvs annotate and cvs
> log to figure out this kind of stuff.
>
> But by all means, add "Contributed 10-Step Form API tutorial" to your
> Drupal resumé (just as I'm sure chx has "Re-wrote the Drupal menu
> system" on his, and I have "Wrote the Form API Reference" on mine).
> There's nothing wrong with being proud of the work you've done, and
> communicating to clients and business partners that you're committed to
> improving Drupal's documentation.
>
> -Angie
> --
> Pending work: http://drupal.org/project/issues/documentation/
> List archives: http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/documentation/
>



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