democratic-mediums/docs/about/contribute.md

Contribute

Democratic Mediums is a participatory effort that depends on community contributions. Please share your expertise by helping to make this resource more useful for others.

How to use the platform

To add or edit content, fork the project on GitLab and submit a merge request once you have made your changes. Follow these instructions to take advantage of 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

The website is built with MkDocs, a simple but powerful static site generator for Markdown files. All site content is located in the docs/ directory, which in turn is organized roughly as it appears on the site itself.

Please send any questions to medlab@colorado.edu. If you prefer not to use GitLab, you can also simply email your suggestions there.

Contribution guidelines

Standards for inclusion

The "mediums" included in this directory should aim to capture the most discrete, modular elements of democratic practice. That is, Westminster system would not be a good entry because it is a historical phenomenon that combines many elements. Some of those elements, such as proportional representation and parliamentarianism, however, would be useful to include.

Style

Democratic Mediums is not meant to be exhaustive or encyclopedic. Entries should strive above all for brevity, clarity, and practicality. The model for an entry should be not a Wikipedia article but a technical manual, like API documentation.