Open Source Projects

Open Source Projects

2021

Intro

My GitHub Profile: fanatiicx

I tried out GitHub a few years ago and found it complicated.

This time around, I put in more effort as I was keen to:

  1. Improve my technical writing skills
  2. Get more involved with the open source community

1. Simple Icons (Design)

I made my first contribution to GitHub by following the steps laid out by the helpful team at First Timers Only.

I landed on the Simple Icons project because of my interest in design. My first contribution here was a pull request (#5995) for the Spond icon. I also shared links to beginner resources for members who wanted to make their first pull request.

2. DX Heroes (Knowledge Base)

DX Heroes was another project I was drawn to. The site stores a knowledge base of developer experience articles (i.e. the user experience from a programmer’s point of view).

My first contribution was a pull request (#372) for writing an article about test cards, followed by a pull request (#375) for an article about vision statements.

3. Cloudflare (CDN)

I’ve used WordPress for a long time. WordPress is an open source software while Cloudflare is a CDN (content delivery network).

I shared some WordPress/Cloudflare troubleshooting tips and my thoughts on merging three websites into one. This process helped me to refine my problem-solving techniques and critical thinking skills.

There was a learning curve to setting up Cloudflare. I noticed some comments in the forum from non-developer users who were extremely frustrated with the help articles. The steps were not clearly laid out or easy to understand to a non-developer crowd.

This is a sample of proposed changes I would make to a portion of an important help page (Email undeliverable when using Cloudflare). I would include more plain language to increase readability and add a visual aid.

ORIGINAL: Flow of text was a bit jumbled; 256 out of 703 found the page helpful.
PROPOSED CHANGES: Improved flow of text, more plain language, and image to clearly show icons.

4. Plausible Analytics (SaaS)

I noticed a comment in the Plausible Analytics issues page requesting more steps for Google Search integration.

I opened a pull request (#124) with screenshots and step-by-step instructions for getting the right keys from Google API Console.

5. TLDR Pages (Command Line)

TLDR Pages is a software documentation project that creates simplified man pages.

I opened a pull request (#6697) for Delve, a debugger for the Go programming language. It’s fun to dig in and focus on the summaries.

Skills

What I have learned so far includes:

  • Studying detailed contributing guidelines to understand what each project is seeking in terms of quality and content.
  • Breaking down concepts to a digestible and understandable format.
  • Communicating with developers for clarification and maintaining a positive sense of teamwork (e.g. remembering to thank developers, maintainers, or members for sharing helpful tips to specific requests).
  • Improving my troubleshooting skills with the software used for Simple Icons (I used Inkscape).
  • Considering user needs and being aware of different levels of technical knowledge.

Project Pages

Links to the open source projects I’ve contributed to.

Simple Icons: GitHub | Website

DX Heroes – Knowledge Base: GitHub | Website

Plausible Analytics: GitHub | Website

tldr-pages: GitHub | Website