User:Pavithraes/Sandbox/MediaWiki documentation improvements project guidelines

Overview
We're working on improving the MediaWiki Action API documentation pages, 20 pages at a time. This guide is to help new contributors get started.

Outreachy project: 232816

Basics
Before you begin, make sure to read the project description and the MediaWiki Action API to clearly understand the context of this project.

Verify that you have the following set up:
 * Git
 * Github account
 * MediaWiki account
 * Phabricator account

Select an API page
The Phabricator task description would contain a list of Action API pages (microtasks) that you could work on. From the list, choose an Action API page and add your name in the Work in progress column.

To do so:
 * 1) Make sure that you're logged in to Phabricator.
 * 2) 'Subscribe' to the task.
 * 3) Click on the 'Edit task' option and add your name next to the selected page.

Note:
 * The Subscribe and Edit task options are available on the right-side on desktop view and in the hamburger menu on the top-right on mobile/tablet view.
 * Select only one page in the beginning. You can work on a diffeernt page after your improvements have been reviewed and merged.
 * Phabricator uses remarkup.
 * If all microtasks have been claimed, please inform the mentors(@jeropbrenda) on Zulip, new microtasks will be added soon. In the meantime, you can look into contributing to other open Phabricator tasks. See the 5th point here: #Finally

Create a sandbox page
Avoid making changes to the API pages directly. Instead, create a page in your Sandbox by replacing username with your MediaWiki username and pagename with the name of the page you want to create in the URL: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:username/Sandbox/pagename

Duplicate template content
The MediaWiki Action API template is used to maintain consistency among the pages and to provide useful links to users. Fill your Sandbox page with the content from this template.

To do so:
 * 1) Go to: API:Documentation template.
 * 2) Click on 'Edit'->'Edit source' in the top bar.
 * 3) Copy the content of the source.
 * 4) Go to your Sandbox and click on 'Edit'->'Edit source'.
 * 5) Paste the copied contents in your Sandbox page.
 * 6) Scroll down and select Show preview to preview your page before saving.
 * 7) Write a Summary and click on 'Publish page' to save the page.

Improve the API page
You can now start improving the API page in your Sandbox. Go through the content on the original page, check the accuracy of the content and add it to the template in your Sandbox.
 * We encourage you to stick to the template. If you feel the need to add/remove any section from the template or make any other changes, make sure to discuss it with your mentors first.
 * To fill the 'Parameter history' section, check the history of the original page. (Click on 'View history' in the top bar and compare different versions.)
 * You can also refer to the auto-gererated docs, MediaWiki Release notes and MediaWiki Api Announce mailing list (archives).

Examples
For your reference, here are a couple recent API pages that we modified using the new template:
 * API:Geosearch
 * API:Parsing wikitext

Contribute sample code
Contribute sample codes for the API page (that you selected) to this repository: MediaWiki Action API Code Samples. Make sure to read the contribution guidelines before beginning.

When you're done

 * 1) Reach out to your mentors (@jeropbrenda) on Zulip to get feedback on your contributions.
 * 2) Try to incorporate the feedback recieved.
 * 3) After getting a green signal, coordinate with your mentors in getting your changes integrated with the actual page on MediaWiki.org.
 * 4) Lastly, add your name next to the project in the “Done” column in the Phabricator task description.
 * 5) Now, you can choose another API page to work on, or look into contributing to other open tasks. If your patches get merged, you can record them in your application. Here are some useful links:
 * 6) * How to contribute
 * 7) * New Developers
 * 8) * Good first bugs
 * 9) * Good first bug - Phabricator project

MediaWiki pages

 * Use the 'table of contents' to jump to different sections within the same page.
 * Use the 'Seach MediaWiki' bar on the top-right for searching MediaWiki pages.

Using Zulip
 See: Zulip user guide


 * The Outreachy-19 discussion take place on: https://wikimedia.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/outreachy19.
 * Learn about Zulip streams and topics: https://zulipchat.com/help/about-streams-and-topics.
 * Learn how to format messages on Zulip: https://zulipchat.com/help/format-your-message-using-markdown.
 * Make sure to always use respectful, friendly and inclusive language on the chat platform.

Using Phabricator
See: Phabricator/Help


 * Subscribe to the task:T232816 to get notified when changes are made to the task.
 * Learn about the markup language used on Phabricator: |Remarkup Reference.

Help
If you have any questions or need help, you can reach out to the Wikimedia community over:
 * Zulip
 * IRC
 * Mailing list
 * Discourse

Guidelines:
 * Always use friendly and inclusive language while communicating.
 * Try to frame specific and clear questions.
 * Folow the Code of conduct strictly.