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DOC Increase prominence of starting from existing issues #31660

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Jul 23, 2025
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DOC Increase prominence of starting from existing issues #31660

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1551ce2
Tweak contributing docs
betatim Jun 25, 2025
ba9d8e8
Set expectations for documentation contributions
betatim Jun 26, 2025
754b02a
Apply suggestions from code review
betatim Jun 26, 2025
f0358af
White space
betatim Jun 26, 2025
16555a9
Explicitly mention code contribs
betatim Jul 23, 2025
cfab194
Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/contrib-expectations' into contr…
betatim Jul 23, 2025
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whitespace
betatim Jul 23, 2025
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19 changes: 8 additions & 11 deletions CONTRIBUTING.md
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Expand Up @@ -7,17 +7,14 @@ The latest contributing guide is available in the repository at

https://scikit-learn.org/dev/developers/contributing.html

There are many ways to contribute to scikit-learn, with the most common ones
being contribution of code or documentation to the project. Improving the
documentation is no less important than improving the library itself. If you
find a typo in the documentation, or have made improvements, do not hesitate to
send an email to the mailing list or preferably submit a GitHub pull request.
Documentation can be found under the
[doc/](https://github.com/scikit-learn/scikit-learn/tree/main/doc) directory.

But there are many other ways to help. In particular answering queries on the
[issue tracker](https://github.com/scikit-learn/scikit-learn/issues),
investigating bugs, and [reviewing other developers' pull
There are many ways to contribute to scikit-learn. Improving the
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I think that we should keep mentioning code contribution as a possibility. The current proposition feels to me like code contribution are not a thing anymore. We could write something like

Suggested change
There are many ways to contribute to scikit-learn. Improving the
There are many ways to contribute to scikit-learn besides code contributions. Improving the

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I like the fact that the first sentence states "there are many ways to contribute" without trying to make a list of all the possibilities.

For me the "improving the library itself" in the next sentence means "code contributions", but maybe we should change it to ".. than improving the code of the library itself."?

More of a philosophical point: I think there are many people who think that contributing means coding and so few who think of anything else as a way of contributing. Combine that with the fact that we have a backlog of PRs in need of review that will last till the end of time and I'd not be unhappy if a large fraction of people interpret this as "you can't contribute to scikit-learn with code". I'm thinking "large number of people who think code is the only contrib" * "large fraction" -> a reasonable number of people making code contributions.

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Spending 5min thinking about it, I implemented what I suggested.

documentation is no less important than improving the code of the library
itself. If you find a typo in the documentation, or have made improvements, do
not hesitate to create a GitHub issue or preferably submit a GitHub pull request.

There are many other ways to help. In particular [improving, triaging, and
investigating issues](https://github.com/scikit-learn/scikit-learn/issues),
and [reviewing other developers' pull
requests](https://scikit-learn.org/dev/developers/contributing.html#code-review-guidelines)
are very valuable contributions that decrease the burden on the project
maintainers.
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26 changes: 12 additions & 14 deletions doc/developers/contributing.rst
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Expand Up @@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ contribute. It is hosted on https://github.com/scikit-learn/scikit-learn.
The decision making process and governance structure of scikit-learn is laid
out in :ref:`governance`.

Scikit-learn is somewhat :ref:`selective <selectiveness>` when it comes to
adding new algorithms, and the best way to contribute and to help the project
is to start working on known issues.
Scikit-learn is :ref:`selective <selectiveness>` when it comes to
adding new algorithms and features. This means the best way to contribute
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Suggested change
adding new algorithms and features. This means the best way to contribute
adding new algorithms, features and enhancements. This means the best way to contribute

is this too much? 😬

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Unsure. I'd argue that an enhancement is a new feature.

and help the project is to start working on known issues.
See :ref:`new_contributors` to get started.

.. topic:: **Our community, our values**
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -47,20 +47,17 @@ welcome to post feature requests or pull requests.
Ways to contribute
==================

There are many ways to contribute to scikit-learn, with the most common ones
being contribution of code or documentation to the project. Improving the
documentation is no less important than improving the library itself. If you
find a typo in the documentation, or have made improvements, do not hesitate to
create a GitHub issue or preferably submit a GitHub pull request.
Full documentation can be found under the doc/ directory.
There are many ways to contribute to scikit-learn. Improving the
documentation is no less important than improving the code of the library
itself. If you find a typo in the documentation, or have made improvements, do
not hesitate to create a GitHub issue or preferably submit a GitHub pull request.

But there are many other ways to help. In particular helping to
There are many ways to help. In particular helping to
:ref:`improve, triage, and investigate issues <bug_triaging>` and
:ref:`reviewing other developers' pull requests <code_review>` are very
valuable contributions that decrease the burden on the project
maintainers.
valuable contributions that move the project forward.

Another way to contribute is to report issues you're facing, and give a "thumbs
Another way to contribute is to report issues you are facing, and give a "thumbs
up" on issues that others reported and that are relevant to you. It also helps
us if you spread the word: reference the project from your blog and articles,
link to it from your website, or simply star to say "I use it":
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -702,7 +699,8 @@ underestimate how easy an issue is to solve!
Documentation
=============

We are glad to accept any sort of documentation:
We welcome thoughtful contributions to the documentation and are happy to review
additions in the following areas:

* **Function/method/class docstrings:** Also known as "API documentation", these
describe what the object does and detail any parameters, attributes and
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