This section gives important, highly useful, and timely advice on some of the most important parts of what makes an open source software project successful. We put them in this section with the goal of helping to attract users, rather than saving, for example, communication or diversity considerations as later steps in the engagement toward contributor.
This guidebook says the way to grow a contributor community is through user adoption. There are a few succinct reasons why.
One is a sheer numbers argument: the larger the pool of people, the more will become interested in participating, then contributing. The more diverse the pool of people, the larger it can be. That is, if only men feel welcome in your project, you have reduced the size of your pool of users/contributors to less than half of the population of humanity.
Expert contributors rarely arrive suddenly and ready to contribute. More people become contributors through a pathway of becoming a user of the software first, then participating in the wider user community, and eventually becoming a starting contributor. After some time (short or long), their expertise is realized within the community. More people who start this pathway means more people will complete it.
Diversity and communication also come at the front of a project. Communication is important for sharing with the world what your software does and why they should use it; and to capture their feedback in effective forums. Diversity and inclusivity are goals that provide strength for innovation, resilience, and long-term sustainability. If your community doesn’t look like this world, it won’t last long in this world.
A way to think of this is: The first time someone sees your community has a formal Code of Conduct and diverse faces in leadership should be the first time they visit your website. The people who most need to see themselves represented in the community already—to know they are going to be safe physically and emotionally in joining—are going to make their decision about how welcoming your community is from the first time they visit your project website. Without these sort of elements visibly part of the culture, these folks are going to be long gone before considering becoming involved as collaborators and contributors.
This section contains chapters that:
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Help you understand the basic elements of an open source project that intends to have a community of users and contributors.
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Explain how to communicate effectively in and around an open source project.
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Give some essential steps to turn interest into users.
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Show you that building a diverse community starts with being inclusive from the beginning, in what every end-user sees and experiences.
This section is useful for you if:
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You want to understand more about the perspective of this guidebook that attracting users is the first part of building a contributor community.
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You are looking for a source or reference for a list of key elements of an open source project, whether you are building one or researching the viability of one, or for another purpose.
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You are looking for some tips and tricks to get more users to your software.
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You have been frustrated trying to attract contributors of one, another, or all types.
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You are convinced you need a more diverse and inclusive community, and are looking for help in making that happen, such as convincing others or starting up programs.
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You are not sure about this "diversity" thing and why it matters for open source software.
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You read the chapter before this one and you like to read a book from start to finish.