update contributor guide

docs/contribute/index.md

@@ -10,20 +10,29 @@ Whether you're a technical writer or you've only edited Elastic docs once or twi
 
 ## Contribute to the docs [#contribute]
 
-* Simple bugs and enhancements --> [Contribute on the web](on-the-web.md)
-* Complex or multi-page updates --> [Contribute locally](locally.md)
-* Test migrated content --> [Migration guide](../migration/guide/index.md)
+The version of the docs you want to contribute to determines the tool and syntax you must use to update the docs.
+
+### Contribute to Elastic Stack version 8.x docs and earlier
+
+To contribute to earlier versions of the Elastic Stack, you must work with our [legacy documentation build system](https://github.com/elastic/docs). This system uses AsciiDoc as it's authoring format.
+
+* For **simple bugfixes and enhancements** --> [Contribute on the web](on-the-web.md)
+* For **complex or multi-page updates** --> See the [legacy documentation build guide](https://github.com/elastic/docs?tab=readme-ov-file#building-documentation)
+
+### Contribute to Elastic Stack version 9.0 docs and later
+
+* For **simple bugfixes and enhancements** --> [contribute on the web](on-the-web.md)
+* For **complex or multi-page updates** --> [Contribute locally](locally.md)
 
 ## Report a bug
 
 * It's a **documentation** problem --> [Open a docs issue](https://github.com/elastic/docs-content/issues/new?template=internal-request.yaml) *or* [Fix it myself](locally.md)
 * It's a **build tool (docs-builder)** problem --> [Open a bug report](https://github.com/elastic/docs-builder/issues/new?template=bug-report.yaml)
-* It's a **migration tooling** problem --> [Open a bug report](https://github.com/elastic/docs-builder/issues/new?template=bug-report.yaml)
 
 ## Request an enhancement
 
 * Make the **documentation** better --> [Open a docs issue](https://github.com/elastic/docs-content/issues/new?template=internal-request.yaml)
-* Make our **build tool (docs-builder)** better --> [Open a docs-builder issue](https://github.com/elastic/docs-builder/issues/new?template=enhancement.yaml)
+* Make our **build tool (docs-builder)** better --> [Start a docs-builder discussion](https://github.com/elastic/docs-builder/discussions)
 
 ## Work on docs-builder
 

docs/contribute/locally.md

@@ -1,13 +1,31 @@
 # Contribute locally
 
 Follow these steps to contribute to Elastic docs.
+
+* [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
 * [Step 1: Install `docs-builder`](#step-one)
-* [Step 2: Clone the `docs-content` repository](#step-two)
+* [Step 2: Clone a content repository](#step-two)
 * [Step 3: Serve the Documentation](#step-three)
-* [Step 4: Open a PR](#step-three)
+* [Step 4: Write docs!](#step-four)
+* [Step 5: Push your changes](#step-five)
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+To write and push updates to Elastic documentation, you need the following:
+
+1. **A code editor**: we recommend [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/download)
+1. **Git installed on your machine**: learn how [here](https://github.com/git-guides/install-git)
+1. **A GitHub account**: sign up [here](https://github.com/)
 
 ## Step 1: Install `docs-builder` [#step-one]
 
+There are two different ways to install and run `docs-builder`:
+
+1. Download, extract, and run the binary (recommended)
+1. Clone the repository and build the binary from source
+
+This guide uses option one. If you'd like to clone the repository and build from source, learn how in the [project readme](https://github.com/elastic/docs-builder?tab=readme-ov-file#docs-builder).
+
 ::::{tab-set}
 
 :::{tab-item} macOS
@@ -27,7 +45,7 @@ Follow these steps to contribute to Elastic docs.
    ```
 
 3. **Run the Binary:**
-   Use the `serve` command to start serving the documentation at http://localhost:3000. The path to the docset.yml file that you want to build can be specified with `-p`:
+   Use the `serve` command to start serving the documentation at http://localhost:3000. The path to the `docset.yml` file that you want to build can be specified with `-p`:
    ```sh
    ./docs-builder serve -p ./path/to/docs
    ```
@@ -51,7 +69,7 @@ Follow these steps to contribute to Elastic docs.
    ```
 
 3. **Run the Binary:**
-   Use the `serve` command to start serving the documentation at http://localhost:3000. The path to the docset.yml file that you want to build can be specified with `-p`:
+   Use the `serve` command to start serving the documentation at http://localhost:3000. The path to the `docset.yml` file that you want to build can be specified with `-p`:
    ```sh
    .\docs-builder serve -p ./path/to/docs
    ```
@@ -75,7 +93,7 @@ Follow these steps to contribute to Elastic docs.
    ```
 
 3. **Run the Binary:**
-   Use the `serve` command to start serving the documentation at http://localhost:3000. The path to the docset.yml file that you want to build can be specified with `-p`:
+   Use the `serve` command to start serving the documentation at http://localhost:3000. The path to the `docset.yml` file that you want to build can be specified with `-p`:
    ```sh
    ./docs-builder serve -p ./path/to/docs
    ```
@@ -84,22 +102,28 @@ Follow these steps to contribute to Elastic docs.
 
 ::::
 
-## Clone the `docs-content` Repository  [#step-two]
+## Clone a content repository [#step-two]
+
+:::{tip}
+Documentation lives in many repositories across Elastic. If you're unsure which repository to clone, you can use the "Edit this page" link on any documentation page to determine where the source file lives.
+:::
 
-Clone the `docs-content` repository to a directory of your choice:
+In this guide, we'll clone the [`docs-content`](https://github.com/elastic/docs-content) repository. The `docs-content` repository is the home for narrative documentation at Elastic. Clone this repo to a directory of your choice:
 ```sh
 git clone https://github.com/elastic/docs-content.git
 ```
 
 ## Serve the Documentation [#step-three]
 
-1. **Navigate to the cloned repository:**
+1. **Navigate to the `docs-builder` clone location:**
    ```sh
    cd docs-content
    ```
 
-2. **Run the Binary:**
-   Use the `serve` command to start serving the documentation at http://localhost:3000. The path to the `docset.yml` file that you want to build can be specified with `-p`:
+1. **Run the Binary:**
+   Run the binary with the `serve` command to build and serve the content set to http://localhost:3000. Specify the path to the `docset.yml` file that you want to build with `-p`.
+
+   For example, if `docs-builder` and `docs-content` are in the same top-level directory, you would run:
    ```sh
    # macOS/Linux
    ./docs-builder serve -p ./migration-test
@@ -110,9 +134,16 @@ git clone https://github.com/elastic/docs-content.git
 
 Now you should be able to view the documentation locally by navigating to http://localhost:3000.
 
-## Step 4: Open a PR [#step-four]
+## Step 4: Write docs [#step-four]
+
+We write docs in markdown. See our [syntax](../syntax/index.md) guide for the flavor of markdown that we support and all of our custom directives that enable you to add a little extra pizazz to your docs.
+
+## Step 5: Push your changes [#step-five]
+
+After you've made your changes locally,
 
-Open a PR. Good luck.
+* [Push your commits](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/using-git/pushing-commits-to-a-remote-repository)
+* [Open a Pull Request](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request)
 
 ## Step 5: View on elastic.co/docs
 

docs/docset.yml

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ external_hosts:
   - github.io
   - github.com
   - elastic.dev
+  - visualstudio.com
 exclude:
   - '_*.md'
 subs: