Contributing guidelines, also called Contribution guidelines, the CONTRIBUTING.md file, or software contribution guidelines, is a
text file
A text file (sometimes spelled textfile; an old alternative name is flat file) is a kind of computer file that is structured as a sequence of lines of electronic text. A text file exists stored as data within a computer file system.
In ope ...
which project managers include in
free and open-source software
Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a license that grants users the right to use, modify, and distribute the software modified or not to everyone free of charge. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term encompassing free ...
packages or other open media packages for the purpose of describing how others may contribute
user-generated content
User-generated content (UGC), alternatively known as user-created content (UCC), emerged from the rise of web services which allow a system's User (computing), users to create Content (media), content, such as images, videos, audio, text, testi ...
to the project.
The file explains how anyone can engage in activities such as formatting code for submission or submitting
patches.
The existence of the file in a package should increase the chance of a project receiving crowdsourced contributions.
But in many cases, the received contributions do not follow the instructions in the file.
Having a contributions file greatly contributes to the success of projects which depend on user contributions.
References
{{reflist
External links
Setting guidelines for repository contributors GitHub
Wrangling Web Contributions: How to Build a CONTRIBUTING.md Mozilla
Filenames
User-generated content
Community health files