Added content to About pages

README.md

@@ -11,11 +11,22 @@ Live demo: [medlabboulder.gitlab.io/democraticmediums](https://medlabboulder.git
 
 Democratic Mediums is a participatory project that depends on community contributions. Please share your expertise by helping to make this resource more useful for others.
 
-To contribute, you'll need to fork the project on GitLab and submit a merge request once you have made your changes. The website is built with [MkDocs](https://www.mkdocs.org/), a simple but powerful static site generator for Markdown files. All site content is located in the docs/ directory, roughly organized as it appears on the site itself.
+To contribute, you can fork [the project on GitLab](https://gitlab.com/medlabboulder/democraticmediums) and submit a merge request once you have made your changes. The website is built with [MkDocs](https://www.mkdocs.org/), a simple but powerful static site generator for Markdown files.
 
-If you prefer to use the GitLab online editor, you can navigate to the file you want to edit, click "Edit," and GitLab will offer to create a fork for you. Add a commit message summarizing your suggested change and then click "Commit changes."
+All site content is located in the [docs/ directory](https://gitlab.com/medlabboulder/democraticmediums/tree/master/docs), which in turn is organized roughly as it appears on the site itself.
+
+**The easiest way to contribute** is to use the website's integration with the GitLab online editor:
+
+* Navigate to the page you want to edit on the Democratic Mediums website and click the edit button (a small pencil icon)
+* Sign into GitLab with an existing account or create a new one
+* GitLab will offer to create a "fork" for you, which is a copy of the site in your GitLab account—do so!
+* Edit the page as you wish; to edit multiple pages, it may be easier to use GitLab's "Web IDE"
+* Add a "commit message" summarizing your suggested change and click "Commit changes"
+* Fill out any additional information you want in the merge request form and submit it
+* Your merge will be approved, if appropriate, as soon as possible
+
+Please let us know if you have any questions at [medlab@colorado.edu](mailto:medlab@colorado.edu). If you prefer not to use GitLab for contributions, you can also simply email suggestions there.
 
 ## To do
 
 * Load initial Mediums pages
-* Information here and on the website on contributing

docs/about/basics.md

@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 # Basics
 
-To come.
+The future of governance is being made in social movements, networked protocols, and unsettled governments around the world. What tools will they have to work with?
 
-<!--
-* Rationale
-* MEDLab
-* Personnel
--->
+**This is a collaborative directory of democratic mediums—patterns for decision, deliberation, and noise.** It brings lessons from political, corporate, and community governance into conversation with the people inventing the next generation of institutions with permissionless networks and radical markets.
+
+The directory collects discrete governance techniques that can be adapted, combined, and modified for new institutional designs. It draws on research and experience to help designers make informed decisions about which tools will best serve their communities.
+
+Democratic Mediums is a project of the [Media Enterprise Design Lab](https://cmci.colorado.edu/medlab/) at the University of Colorado Boulder, led by [Nathan Schneider](https://www.colorado.edu/cmci/people/media-studies/nathan-schneider).

docs/about/contribute.md

@@ -1,3 +1,19 @@
 # Contribute
 
-To come.
+Democratic Mediums is a participatory project that depends on community contributions. Please share your expertise by helping to make this resource more useful for others.
+
+To contribute, you can fork [the project on GitLab](https://gitlab.com/medlabboulder/democraticmediums) and submit a merge request once you have made your changes. The website is built with [MkDocs](https://www.mkdocs.org/), a simple but powerful static site generator for Markdown files.
+
+All site content is located in the [docs/ directory](https://gitlab.com/medlabboulder/democraticmediums/tree/master/docs), which in turn is organized roughly as it appears on the site itself.
+
+**The easiest way to contribute** is to use the website's integration with the GitLab online editor:
+
+* Navigate to the page you want to edit on the Democratic Mediums website and click the edit button (a small pencil icon)
+* Sign into GitLab with an existing account or create a new one
+* GitLab will offer to create a "fork" for you, which is a copy of the site in your GitLab account—do so!
+* Edit the page as you wish; to edit multiple pages, it may be easier to use GitLab's "Web IDE"
+* Add a "commit message" summarizing your suggested change and click "Commit changes"
+* Fill out any additional information you want in the merge request form and submit it
+* Your merge will be approved, if appropriate, as soon as possible
+
+Please let us know if you have any questions at [medlab@colorado.edu](mailto:medlab@colorado.edu). If you prefer not to use GitLab for contributions, you can also simply email suggestions there.

docs/index.md

@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 # Start here
 
-The future of democratic governance is being made in social movements, blockchains, cooperatives, and governments around the world.
+The future of governance is being made today. What tools do we have to work with?
 
-**What tools do they have to work with?**
-
-# Democratic Mediums is a directory of patterns for decision, deliberation, and debate.
+# Democratic Mediums is a directory of patterns for decision, deliberation, and noise.