{"id":76483,"date":"2016-01-29T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-29T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.technet.microsoft.com\/heyscriptingguy\/2016\/01\/29\/how-to-contribute-to-powershell-documentation\/"},"modified":"2022-06-13T10:39:06","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T17:39:06","slug":"how-to-contribute-to-powershell-documentation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/scripting\/how-to-contribute-to-powershell-documentation\/","title":{"rendered":"How to contribute to PowerShell documentation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/strong>: Learn how to contribute to Windows PowerShell documentation via various community initiatives.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s guest blog post is by Microsoft premier field engineer, Ashley McGlone. He will be speaking at PowerShell Saturday, so come join us for a great day of PowerShell learning. For more information, see PowerShell Saturday in Tampa, FL, March 19, 2016<\/a>. Follow Ashley through his TechNet blog, Goatee PFE<\/a>, and Twitter<\/a>. Here\u2019s Ashley\u2026<\/p>\n

How many times have you found PowerShell documentation that was not up-to-date? Or maybe you could not even find the documentation you needed. Today I\u2019ll be discussing ways that you can fill the gap.<\/p>\n

PowerShell community<\/h2>\n

<\/a>One of the things I have enjoyed over these years of doing PowerShell is the community<\/strong>. By community, I mean the people I meet online and offline, including Twitter<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a>, blogs, forums<\/a>, user groups<\/a>, events<\/a>, and conferences<\/a>. The PowerShell team at Microsoft has intentionally engaged the community in a way that sets a high bar for the other teams at Microsoft. The value of community has been proven over the last few releases of Windows Management Framework (WMF). PowerShell feedback from the community<\/a> has guided the features and fixes the whole way.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

Community documentation<\/h2>\n

<\/a>As announced last year (see The New Home of DSC Documentation<\/a>), the documentation and release notes for PowerShell are now open source on GitHub<\/a>. This means you (as part of the community) can personally contribute and correct PowerShell documentation. You will even get proper credit for your contributions by seeing your name listed in the articles you have written or updated.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

Career booster<\/h3>\n

Many people do not like attention for themselves. The thought of your name in lights could be annoying. Most of us just want to see the community get accurate documentation. That is noble. But think about this:<\/p>\n

When a potential employer sees your picture and name beside articles on a Microsoft web property, does that hurt or help your prospects?<\/p>\n

I think it helps your career, and it gives you a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day. \u201cI did that!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>Behind the scenes<\/h2>\n

The PowerShell documentation you find on MSDN begins its journey at GitHub.<\/p>\n

What is GitHub?<\/p>\n

GitHub is probably the largest open-source collaboration platform in the world. Trust me, you want to learn this. It is what all the cool kids are doing these days. I\u2019m still learning.<\/p>\n

This table summarizes the documentation parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

\n The documentation<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n you see here\u2026<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n is maintained here\u2026<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\n PowerShell\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n TechNet docs<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n n\/a\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\n WMF 5.0 Release Notes\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n MSDN docs<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n GitHub source<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\n PowerShell DSC\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n MSDN docs<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n GitHub source<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

This table summarizes the code parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

\n The code<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n you see here\u2026<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n is maintained here\u2026<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\n TechNet Script Gallery\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n TechNet Gallery<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n n\/a\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\n PowerShell Gallery\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n PowerShell Gallery<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n *GitHub source<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\n PackageManagement\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n Windows Management Framework<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\n GitHub source<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n