Have a project idea you want to put into action? Or an existing project that needs development or support? The do-a-thon is a great opportunity to receive support and contributions from collaborators around the world.
| Project Name | What's this project all about? | Help Needed |
|---|---|---|
| {{Project Name}} | {{Project Summary}} | {{What aspects of the project need support during the do-a-thon? }} |
1. Make sure your project is related in some way to Open Research or Open Education.
We go through a simple review process to make sure all the challenges for the do-a-thon are related to Open Research and Education. If you'd like to learn more about these issues, perhaps watch some of our videos introducing the issues.
2. Fill out our project submission form.
Access the form here. This tells us a bit more about your project and what kind of support you're looking for. It only takes 5-10 minutes!
3. Wait for e-mail instructions on how to share your project on Github.
After you've filled out the form, you'll be emailed instructions on how to share information about your project so others can discover it and contribute! Github is a platform for open source, collaborative working. We'll be using it as a space to manage do-a-thon projects and challenges. Specifically, we are doing this through Github "issues". Each issue will act as a mini discussion thread for each task you want to collaborate on. Please follow the email instrutions carefully so your project includes the correct meta-data, which will allow others to find it easily!
If you don't already have one, you'll need to create a Github account (top tips: try and use your name as your username, you only need the free plan, and you can skip step 3).
4. Your project will now be discoverable on our Do-a-thon Projects page.
Now, others will be able to easily find your project and contribute!
Be a respectful facilitator and project lead. As a project lead, we ask you pay special attention to our Code of Conduct and be welcoming, enthusiastic, and patient with contributors. And of course - remember to thank them for their contributions!
Write clear contributing guidelines. Be specific about how people can help and get in touch. Is there particular skills or expertise you're looking for? If your project is regionally based in a non-English-speaking region, let people know in your contributing guidelines what language you and contributors will primarily be communicating in.
Keep in mind that there are people participating both in-person and remotely!. If you're at the in-person meeting in Toronto: Be as inclusive as possible to those outside the room. In your guidelines, give clear instructions to those participating in the do-a-thon remotely on how they can keep up to date and contribute. If you're leading your project remotely: use your contributing guidelines to let people know that this is a remote project, and that you'll be communicating with contributors online! Let other participants know what the best way to get in touch with you, where the work will happen, and where any updates or outputs will go.
Update — and check — the Github issue frequently to keep people up to speed. Make sure to document whatever conversations or progress is happening somewhere online. If the conversation is moving off the original Github thread (e.g. onto a Google Doc or Slack), be sure to include a link to wherever that's happening in the original issue, in case new folks want to join your project!
Still have question about this before the do-a-thon starts? Send an email or feedback to Joe[at]sparcopen[dot]org.