Enhance contribution process with existing tools for all repos

[alinkedd]

GitHub offers a variety of features to assist with the contribution process. Based on current community behavior and common best practices, I would like to list some actionable points to formalize and enhance the contribution policy.

To enforce existing contribution guidelines (like this):

• Add GitHub templates for bugs/issues/questions as part of the codebase to all repos (https://docs.github.com/en/communities/using-templates-to-encourage-useful-issues-and-pull-requests/about-issue-and-pull-request-templates)
• Direct vulnerabilities to an external source:
  • Configure the issue template chooser (https://docs.github.com/en/communities/using-templates-to-encourage-useful-issues-and-pull-requests/configuring-issue-templates-for-your-repository#configuring-the-template-chooser)
  • Create distinct security policy file (https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/getting-started/adding-a-security-policy-to-your-repository)
• Enable discussions for community conversations (https://docs.github.com/en/discussions/guides/best-practices-for-community-conversations-on-github)
• Clarify (and highlight) the code suggestion process, including that PRs will not be accepted until code contributions are welcomed, so people won't get frustrated if PR is closed and their code/idea is either not used or used without crediting the author. After seeing a few PRs get merged, I suggest requiring commit signing (https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/managing-commit-signature-verification/about-commit-signature-verification) and considering the integration of a CLA (Contributor License Agreement) to avoid legal disputes in the future.

To enhance navigation throughout the project using the current diia-setup-howto repo:

• Pin it (https://docs.github.com/en/organizations/collaborating-with-groups-in-organizations/customizing-your-organizations-profile#pinning-repositories-to-your-organizations-profile) to make this repo the visual entry point.
• Add a README file containing:
  • Entry-level information and a navigation index
  • A link to the contributing file
  • An abstract scheme of how it works
  • Other useful information
• Add a common contributing file here as well

Other handy tools/techniques to consider:

• Specify supported writing languages for issues (English/Ukrainian) in the contribution guidelines
• Clarify where global issues (not repo-related but system-wide) should be created to have them in one place - e.g., here in the diia-setup-howto repo or maybe make it a discussion
• Add descriptions (About section) to repositories to ease navigation
• Use a system of issue labels (https://docs.github.com/en/issues/using-labels-and-milestones-to-track-work/managing-labels) - e.g., to visualize status, highlight duplication, etc.
• Add a code of conduct to all repos (https://docs.github.com/en/communities/setting-up-your-project-for-healthy-contributions/adding-a-code-of-conduct-to-your-project)

@DiiaOpenSource

[kyemets]

GitHub offers a variety of features to assist with the contribution process. Based on current community behavior and common best practices, I would like to list some actionable points to formalize and enhance the contribution policy.

Good point 👍