Writing about the community
This page is for reporters who want the human side of Exponential: the people who use it, answer questions, translate it and send code. It tells you where the community is, what is documented about it, and how to write about people fairly.
Contents
- Where the community is
- Who contributes
- How contributions are handled
- What is not documented
- Finding and quoting people
- Angles
Where the community is
| Place | What happens there |
|---|---|
| Forums | Questions and discussions |
| Telegram | "Share Exponential! Telegram Community Support Chat" |
| Discord and Slack | Listed on https://exponential.earth/about/project (Official channels and social accounts) |
| eZpedia | The community encyclopedia, since 2006 |
| Projects | Community projects and extensions |
| GitHub | Code, pull requests and the issue trackers |
Who contributes
- Since December 2023, pull requests have come from the accounts of se7enxweb, netgen, brookinsconsulting, mugoweb, individual contributors and
others (
git log --grep="Merge pull request", cited on Who is 7x?). - Before 2016, 194 different commit authors appear in the history.
- Companies whose open source work is used are credited by name (Crediting Netgen, Mugo Web and CJW Network).
- Translators maintain administration translations (the current totals are at the top of the languages page) (Languages in Exponential).
How contributions are handled
Every pull request is merged. While it is open, its author squashes it and rebases it onto main as the reviews ask;
once it is merged, main's history is never rewritten (How the project grows;
Story: every pull request is merged). Contributions stay under the GPL
(CONTRIBUTING.md).
What is not documented
- The number of community members, forum users or chat participants.
- Conferences or meetups.
- An official ambassador or creator program.
Do not estimate these (What the sources do not say).
Finding and quoting people
- Ask in the forums or the chat whether anyone would talk to you; say who you are and what you are writing.
- Quote people with their consent and in their own words; say how they relate to the project (user, contributor, partner, employee of 7x) (Attributing statements).
- A community member does not speak for 7x or the Foundation unless asked to.
- Respect privacy: no personal details beyond what people choose to share (Privacy in your coverage).
Angles
| Angle | Start from |
|---|---|
| A community that outlived its product's original company | Story: a code base kept alive |
| Translators bringing a CMS to right-to-left languages | Story: languages and right to left |
| A wiki running since 2006 | https://ezpedia.exponential.earth/ |
| Merging every pull request | Story: every pull request is merged |
Related pages
- Story: the community
- The community channels
- Growing the community
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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