Documentation Sprints: Involving the Community and Getting It Done

Documentation does not have to be a slow, arduous and lonely task. Similar to collaborative code sprints, a documentation sprint is an intensive and tightly focused content creation session to write …

Documentation does not have to be a slow, arduous and lonely task. Similar to collaborative code sprints, a documentation sprint is an intensive and tightly focused content creation session to write documentation for a given software from start to finish in 5 days or less. Involving both developers and end-users, the collaborative process creates documentation that is meaningful and useful to the whole community. The method builds on the experience of FLOSS Manuals for open source documentation and has been used to write all kinds of documentation including software manuals, industry guides, and white papers. In this session, Barbara Rühling will explore this unique method of documentation, and will share the learnings and practicalities of hosting successful documentation sprints.