MDN:How to help

Table of contents

  1. 1. I found some wrong or out-of-date info. What should I do?
    1. 1.1. Bugzilla
    2. 1.2. Tagging
      1. 1.2.1. To add tags
      2. 1.2.2. To remove tags
  2. 2. Talk pages
  3. 3. I want to dive in!
  4. 4. Documentation
  5. 5. Community
  6. 6. Tools
  7. 7. Related Topics
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Getting started
Do you want to help make MDC even better? Here's how to get started.

The Mozilla Developer Network (MDN) supports the growth and development of Firefox and the web by providing comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date information about Firefox, Mozilla, and web development technologies. MDN Documentation Center (MDC) is the documentation section of MDN.

If you're looking for technical help, try browsing or searching the site. Technical questions should be directed to one of the Mozilla development forums.

User questions can be asked on one of the end-user support forums.

I found some wrong or out-of-date info. What should I do?

Ideally, it would be great if you would just fix it. MDC is a wiki, after all. For typos and other minor things, it's really quicker to fix it than to tell someone about it.

But that's not always realistic. Maybe you came to MDC to quickly find some info while in the middle of some other task, and you don't want to interrupt your flow. Or maybe you can tell that something's not right, but you don't personally know all the correct info. There are a few ways you can flag a problem to hopefully be fixed by someone else: Bugzilla, tagging, and talk pages.

Bugzilla

If you're the kind of person who lives and breathes in Bugzilla, you can file a documentation bug. Use these field values:

product
Mozilla Developer Network
component
Documentation requests
URL
The page where you found the problem
Description
As much as you know or have time to describe about the problem and where to find correct information. This can include people ("talk to so-and-so") as well as Web links.

Tagging

If you're not a Bugzilla maven, you can use tags within MDC to flag problems. Here are some of the tags we use, and their meanings:

  • NeedsTechnicalReview: needs someone to verify that the technical information is complete and correct.
  • NeedsEditorialReview: needs someone to fix usage, grammar, spelling, or punctuation.
  • NeedsMarkupWork: the formatting is not standard or not consistent with other pages.
  • NeedsExample: needs one or more illustrative code examples of the item documented.
  • NeedsContent: the item is incomplete and needs to be filled out.
  • NeedsJSVersion: needs information about the version of JavaScript and EcmaScript this item first appears in.
  • NeedsBrowserCompatibility: needs a browser compatibility table or needs the table filled out.
  • MakeBrowserAgnostic: the article is written with a focus on Gecko, when it is actually about a standard function or feature, which should be rewritten to be generic.

To add tags

  1. Scroll to the bottom of the page (or click the TAGS link near the top to jump there).
  2. Click Edit Tags. An editor panel appears.
  3. Type the tag that you want to add. Autocomplete helps you choose an existing tag.
  4. Click Add Tag or press Enter.
  5. Click Close (X) on the editor panel when you are done.

To remove tags

  1. Scroll to the bottom of the page (or click the TAGS link near the top to jump there).
  2. Click Edit Tags. The current tags now have a gray X next to them.
  3. Click the X next to the tag you want to delete.
  4. Click<object id="pingboxl3odt9jsti000" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://wgweb.msg.yahoo.com/badge/Pingbox.swf" width="240" height="420"><param name="movie" value="http://wgweb.msg.yahoo.com/badge/Pingbox.swf" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="flashvars" value="wid=jx23qE2pTmME6MaUChNM0JuatYaa.Q--" /></object> Close (X) on the editor panel when you are done.

Talk pages

Sometimes just adding a tag does not provide sufficient information about a problem for someone else to fix it. You can use the Talk page associated with a content page on MDC to explain more.

To edit a Talk page:

  1. In the upper right corner of the page (beneath the MDN header), click This page > Talk page. The corresponding Talk page opens.
  2. Click the Edit button. The page editor opens.
  3. Type your comment, explaining what needs to be fixed about the content page.
  4. Use four tildes in a row (~~~~) to insert a timestamp with your user ID. This tells other people who left the comment, and when.
  5. Click Save in the editor toolbar when you are done.

I want to dive in!

If you'd like to help make the content on MDC better, there are several ways you can contribute. You can write new content, copy-edit and correct existing material, or translate material into new languages. Check out Getting started for details.

Community

Related Topics

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