Document onboarding process

[MoralCode]

This is derived from a conversation in a private slack group, but sharing here because it makes a good list of "guideposts"/touchpoints/buffet/little path lights along the journey from newcomer to confident augur contributor

IMO it should be in docs somewhere (readme, readthedocs, or some combination) but doont know where right now and am throwing it out there. In a loose order:

• Join the community, learn how things work
  • join slack: https://chaoss.community/kb-getting-started/
  • read various chaoss getting started docs (code of conduct, info you find interesting on the chaoss website, practitioner guides etc)
  • make sure you also check out the CONTRIBUTING.md file in the repo. it contains other important information on how to contribute, including our AI contribution policy (or at least it will once #3371 is done)
  • find the calendar and attend some meetings to learn about the community (recommended: newcomer hangout, community call, software WG, data science WG)
  • watch the back-catalog of meeting recordings on the CHAOSS youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CHAOSStube
• Run Augur
  • peruse the docs at https://oss-augur.readthedocs.io/en/main/, especially the docker setup
  • get augur running on your machine (there will soon be a youtube video on the chaoss youtube showing how to set up augur in 10-ish minutes)
  • if you get stuck because the docs are confusing or outdated let someone know on slack, open an issue, or raise a PR to fix it!
• Look through good first issues in the augur repo. You could even potentially try the first timers only label too.
  • if you are feeling like giving augur development a try, see if you can solve a small issue.
  • if you think you found a problem you want to solve that doesn't have an issue, file an issue and talk to us about it so we can confirm what the issue is! and how it should be fixed
• Need help?
  • ask us on slack, ask during a meeting, or comment on your issue/PR if your question is about a specific issue or PR. We would love to help you get back up and running as fast as possible (and help make sure others dont have the same issue)
• Want more challenging issues?
  • Check out issues tagged with things like challenging first issue for more challenging but still newcomer-friendly issues, or maybe dive in and try and find other issues with tags like documentation or simpler refactoring tasks that may be lurking amongs large ones in the tech debt label.
  • ask on slack for something to work on - share your skills and interests so we can help guide you to something you may like!

[iGufrankhan]

I think the best approach is to create a new documentation page: docs/new-contributor-guide.md

Then update README.md New Contributor Guide .i think this right solution

[issue] noticed that the “Current Maintainers” listed in index.rst (ReadTheDocs) does not match the correct list in CONTRIBUTORS.md and also the contributors of 2025 not updated in index.rst

in CONTRIBUTORS.md.

Current Maintainers

• Sean P. Goggins — @sgoggins
• Adrian Edwards — @MoralCode
• Andrew Brain — @ABrain7710
• Isaac Milarsky — @IsaacMilarky
• John McGinness — @Ulincys

---

BUT IN index.rst Current maintainers

• Derek Howard <https://github.com/howderek>_
• Andrew Brain <https://github.com/ABrain7710>_
• Isaac Milarsky <https://github.com/IsaacMilarky>_
• John McGinnes <https://github.com/Ulincys>_
• Sean P. Goggins <https://github.com/sgoggins>_

I can update the documentation so that the maintainer list in ReadTheDocs matches the accurate list from index.rst.

Please let me know if I should proceed with these updates.

[iGufrankhan]

@MoralCode I added a new contributor guide to the docs and linked it in both the README and index.rst. Please let me know if you'd like any changes.

[MoralCode]

@MoralCode I added a new contributor guide to the docs and linked it in both the README and index.rst. Please let me know if you'd like any changes.

Where can I access the files that you added?

[issue] noticed that the “Current Maintainers” listed in index.rst (ReadTheDocs) does not match the correct list in CONTRIBUTORS.md and also the contributors of 2025 not updated in index.rst

Filed new issue for discussing this #3445

[iGufrankhan]

@MoralCode The files I added/updated are located here:

New Contributor Guide: docs/new-contributor-guide.md ---->this is new file added

README update: README.md

for the RST -->

Documentation update: docs/source/index.rst ---> this is index.rst update with current stats

[MoralCode]

new-contributor-guide.md leads me to a 404 error.

We also have a CONTRIBUTING.md file already that I think would be a better place for this rather than creating a new file for getting started guidepost type ideas that should ideally be among the first things people see (since it should provide people of nearly any level some way to identify where they are and find a way to level up their contributions).

I'd be happy to review a pull request with any changes you'd like to propose!

[iGufrankhan]

@MoralCode Thanks for the clarification! The 404 happened because the new file hadn’t been committed yet. Since you recommend keeping contributor guidance inside CONTRIBUTING.md, I’ll move the onboarding guide into that file instead of creating a new one.

Would it be okay if I also add an image showing how to find the “good first issue” and “first-timer issue” labels? I think it would make the onboarding process clearer for new contributors.

I also updated the index.rst with the current stats — just want to confirm that this is okay as well.

[iGufrankhan]