Season of Docs brings technical writers and open source projects together for a few months to work on open source documentation. 2019 was the first year of Season of Docs, bringing together open source organizations and technical writers to create 44 successful documentation projects!

So, Google Open Source has announced the 2020 edition of Season of Docs!

Docs are key to open source success

Survey after survey show the importance of good documentation in how developers choose and use open source:

72% of surveyed developers say “Established policies and documentation” is a key decision factor when choosing open source
93% of surveyed developers say “Incomplete or outdated documentation is a pervasive problem” in open source
“Lack of documentation” was the top reason developers gave for deciding against using an open source project

How does it work?

Here are some steps:

Google publishes the list of accepted mentoring organizations, along with their ideas for documentation projects.
Technical writers choose the project they’d like to work on and submit their proposals to Season of Docs.
Technical writers work with open source mentors on the accepted projects, and submit their work at the end of the period.
Google publishes the list of successfully-completed projects.

Want to know more?

Here are some guides to get you started:

Technical writer guide: Interested in developing open source documentation as part of the Season of Docs program? This guide is for you.
Organization administrator guide: This guide shows you how to manage your open source organization’s participation in Season of Docs.
Mentor guide: Want to mentor a technical writer’s project for your open source organization? This guide is for you.

The results of Season of Docs 2019.

More info on Season of Docs 2020 you can find here: Season of Docs.

Ann Green, Content Manager at ClickHelp.com — best online documentation tool for SaaS vendors