Before we dive into the mechanics of writing and publishing documentation, let's look at some important points that will help ensure your success in your documentation efforts.
Be Bold!
Although it might seem a bit trite at first glance, the most important part of writing documentation is writing. There's no need to ask permission before writing... just start writing! We also use technology to keep track of all the changes that happen in our guides, so don't let your fear of ruining something keep you from moving forward. If you do somehow manage to mess things up, we can always roll back to a previous version.
Don't Let the Tools Scare You
The Fedora documentation group uses a number of different tools, but please don't be intimidated by the tools. A bit of practice and mentoring may be necessary to get proficient with the tools. In the meantime, just write in a text editor of your choice, and the text can always be converted into the proper format at a later time, either by you or by another member of the Fedora Documenation team. Too many times, we see people stop contributing when they feel uncomfortable with the tools. If the tools scare you, please keep writing and let other members of the team deal with the tools.
Don't be afraid to ask for assistance. The Fedora documentation team is more than willing to help you both with writing and with learning the tools and workflow. If you're familiar with the IRC chat system, please join the #fedora-docs channel on the Freenode network. We also have a mailing list where we discuss various issues related to documentation. For more information on the joining the mailing list, visit https://lists.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/docs.
