First Draft of Contributing Guidlines

docs/htdocs_contrib.txt

+Introduction
+============
+This document is for people interested in contributing to the Synchronet
+Documentation Project (http://wasteland-bbs.com/syncdocs/).
+
+Synchronet and it's related Source Code and Documentation is freely available
+and is continuing to be developed as an Open Source project.
+
+Active contributors are currently needed to help with the conversion and
+updating of the Synchronet Documentation.
+
+If you are interested in contributing to this project please contact :
+syncdocs@wasteland-bbs.com
+
+Availability
+============
+CVS access to the Documentation and Modification History is Available at :
+cvs.synchro.net:/cvsroot/sbbs/
+
+Example Command Line to Checkout the Current Documentation Files :
+cvs -d :pserver:username@cvs.synchro.net:/cvsroot/sbbs login
+(Enter your Password)
+cvs -d :pserver:username@cvs.synchro.net:/cvsroot/sbbs checkout docs
+
+Web-based CVS access is available at :
+http://cvs.synchro.net/cgi-bin/cvsweb.cgi
+
+Instructions for Working with CVS
+=================================
+First, you should contact the address above if you not already done so to
+obtain your CVS Username and Password for CVS Access.
+
+New members of the documentation team should first obtain the latest copy
+of the documentation files from the CVS repository as described above.
+
+It is important that you keep your local copy of the CVS files updated and
+always start your current editing session with the most recent CVS image.
+
+Example Command Line to Update the Documentation Files Locally :
+cvs -d :pserver:username@cvs.synchro.net:/cvsroot/sbbs login
+(Enter your Password)
+cvs -d :pserver:username@cvs.synchro.net:/cvsroot/sbbs update docs
+
+If you make changes to the project you should upload your changes in a timely
+fashion to ensure an organized and efficient version control system.  All
+changes should be *thoroughly documented* when uploading to the repository.
+
+Please refer to the CVS Documentation for information on how to obtain and
+use the CVS Features and Functions (http://www.cvshome.org)
+
+If you're looking for a GUI front-end for CVS management try these :
+http://www.wincvs.org
+http://www.lincvs.org
+
+If you have any questions on using CVS with the Synchronet Documentation :
+syndocs@wasteland-bbs.com
+
+Working with the CVS Files Locally
+==================================
+The bulk of the HTML Conversion and Formatting work is currently being done
+on Windows 98/2000 with FrontPage 2000. This eases the editing and formatting
+of the large amount of data in the docs project.  The CVS image should be
+portable to other platforms and editors as well.
+
+If you have problems or notice any incompatibilities please contact :
+syncdocs@wasteland-bbs.com
+
+FrontPage 2000
+--------------
+To get started with FrontPage 2000 the easiest thing to do is create a new
+web and point it to your local cvs directory of the docs project.  This will
+convert your local cvs directory into a FrontPage Web and create the
+necessary files and directories required by FrontPage.
+
+To do this follow these steps :
+
+1) Download the CVS image if you haven't already.
+2) Open Frontpage 2000 and select File->New->Web from the Menu
+3) Select "Empty Web" and enter the path of your local cvs image into the
+   Web Location Dialog Box (e.g. c:\cvs\sbbs\docs).
+4) Hit OK to Create the Web
+
+** NOTE: If Frontpage asks if you want to overwrite anything, say NO.
+
+After creating the FrontPage Web you should now have a local Frontpage Web
+containing the documentation project.  You can now start to work with the
+files and contribute to the project.
+
+** IMPORTANT: FP2000 has many features that require a Web server and FP2000
+              Server Extensions.  DO NOT use these features within the
+              Documentation Project.  Compatibility between all platforms
+              should be maintained to prevent problems with other systems.
+
+** IMPORTANT: FP2000 has many files and directories it uses to manage a Web.
+              These files SHOULD NOT be included your CVS uploads, and only
+              the Documentation Project files themselves should be uploaded
+              to the repository.  If you are unsure which files are needed
+              when uploading to the repository, please refer to the CVSweb
+              (http://cvs.synchro.net/cgi-bin/cvsweb.cgi) to see which files
+              are currently checked-in to CVS.
+
+Working with other HTML/Text Editors
+------------------------------------
+Working with the documentation files with other editors should not be a
+problem, but there are a couple things to remember.
+
+1) DO NOT use any features exclusive to your editor or editing environment.
+   Efforts must be made to ensure cross-platform viewing and editing.
+
+2) DO NOT upload files to CVS generated for or by your editor of choice.
+
+** Only approved HTML tags should be included in the Documentation Project. **