How the INI community works

The Inclusive Naming Initiative understands the diversity of our community, that’s why we constantly iterate our processes to make it easier to join the community and contribute. We are mostly an asynchronous community, which means we only meet once a month during our Monthly Contributors sync, while contributors work at their pace using our Work plan sheet . Below is the process flow:

  • A member of the public uses the Term submission form to suggest a term
  • A Google Doc is created with details of the submission.
  • Contributors are notified and the Term is recorded in the Work Plan Terms sheet .
  • Contributors review and make comments on the submission, in line with the Language evaluation principles and framework .
  • After 3 to 5 (or more) reviews are received and there is a consensus on the next action to take, the term is either published or archived.

Tasks

In the Work plan spreadsheet, we maintain a list of voluntary tasks that can be carried out by any member of the contributors. These tasks can be any thing from a term review, GitHub issues triage, updates to the website or any other necessary task. Contributors can also add tasks they think would be beneficial to the initiative and any other contributor with bandwidth can take it on.

The Tasks sheet is central to our activities, its where contributors see where they can contribute. Do you want to contribute? Join as a contributor today.

Communication

Our Slack workspace is where collaboration happens, contributors or members of the community can collaborate or reach out to ask questions. If you are not in the Slack workspace yet, get an invite using this link .

GitHub

GitHub Issues of our org and website have always been and are still where the community collaborates. They are regularly monitored and triaged. Issues requiring action, are logged in WorkPlan Tasks for a member of the contributors to work on and to ensure transparency.

Why Google Sheet?

In the past, we have had challenges onboarding community members who are new to GitHub or Open Source in general and it usually ends up in losing them. Google Sheet and Docs however have a low barrier of entry, allowing almost anyone with a gmail or Google account to start contributing immediately.

Monthly Contributor Sync

Every last Thursday of the Month, contributors meet at 18:00 UTC (6PM), to discuss reviews and sync on other activities. Any Contributor can join and discuss any agenda they find important. The calls are recorded to Zoom cloud and uploaded to Google drive for review of members who are unable to join. Its also important to document discussions held and the action items identified.