At the Documentation Team meeting on October 21, 2025, we started an important conversation: How do we properly recognize contributions and how do we create clear paths for people who want to contribute once, versus those who want to grow into long-term team members?
This discussion surfaced everything from value perception, to badges, to long-term career benefits. Below is a summary of the key questions we’re exploring as we refine a contributor journey that is fair, motivating and future-proof.
What counts as a “valued” documentation contribution?
Not all contributions have the same impact — and contributors know it. We acknowledged that fixing a small typo is not the same as drafting or updating full documentation for a new feature. But where do we draw that line clearly?
We need to define:
- What is considered a regular (ongoing/essential) contribution?
- What is considered noteworthy — something worthy of highlight in a release announcement?
- How do we document these contributions for transparency?
Recognition systems: Props, badges, highlights… or something new?
We asked ourselves:
- Badges are still meaningful, when should we provide the docs contributor badge vs the docs team badge?
- What’s the difference between props on a release and props in the Slack #props channel?
- Should we distinguish clearly between one-time contributors and active team members?
- Should recognition appear more frequently, e.g. monthly or even at every weekly meeting?
- Should we publish recognitions in the Make/Docs weekly updates or Week in Docs posts — similar to other teams?
Several agreed that contributor recognition should happen more often. A one-time contributor should get the contributor badge as small contributions still matter.
Defining growth paths — beyond “show up and help”
We want to answer two different needs:
- I want to contribute once / occasionally — how do I-do that and get recognized confidently?
- I want to grow into a team member or specialist — what path can I follow? What are the levels?
We could create progressive roles — for example, team members take on responsibilities like:
- Maintaining a documentation project or focus on the handbook
- Being the person responsible for HelpHub or DevHub areas
- Assisting with leadership tasks (triage, reviews, release prep)
- Being considered for Team Rep based on initiative over time
We want to do this more intentionally.
There is also interest in offering a structured program — e.g. a 6-month pathway where contributors could earn a recognized professional title, such as Technical Writer (Docs Team) — something they could confidently add to their CV or LinkedIn.
When and where should recognition happen?
We explored timing:
- Should recognition align with release cycles?
- Or would monthly or quarterly acknowledgment be more meaningful and visible?
- Could recognitions be part of each weekly meeting agenda/notes?
- Example: “Contributor Recognitions — username username”
- Should these recognitions also be included in Make blog updates?
We also noted that the WordPress Credits page is only visible if a user manually clicks “upgrade,” not during auto-updates which means that WP release recognition is currently invisible to most users.
Are contributors feeling valued beyond public recognition?
Badges and props are great — but contributors also contribute in invisible ways:
- Running meetings
- Writing meeting notes
- Triaging and reviewing GitHub issues
- Reviewing and updating articles
- Leading Contributor Day tables
We asked: Are these roles recognized equally? Should they be?
And finally — does attending a Contributor Day actually advance someone’s contributor journey?
Answer: Yes — participation at a Docs table currently qualifies contributors to receive the Docs Contributor Badge, provided table leads submit their names.
What’s next?
This is the beginning of a larger effort — our goal is to build a clear, transparent contribution pathway that supports:
- Casual contributors
- Returning contributors
- Aspiring team members
- Professionals seeking career credibility
- Future leaders
We want contributors to feel not just recognized — but valued, supported, and growing.
This conversation will continue, and we invite the wider Docs community to help co-create the next iteration of what meaningful contribution looks like.
With these points in mind, we have one clear action item which is to create a method, perhaps using gamification, to quantify the number of contributions. @milana_cap will review what options are available.
Props to @milana_cap for reviewing this post.