Governance¶
The record is open for input and curated for output. Anyone can propose, challenge, or discuss. A small editor group decides what is merged.
Roles¶
- Contributors: anyone. Contributions come in through issues, discussions, and pull requests. No affiliation is required.
- Editors: a small group drawn from the contributing task forces. Editors review contributions, maintain editorial standards, and merge changes. The current editors, what the role involves, and how to join are on Become an editor.
- Endorsing organisations: organisations that formally back specific practices after their own review. Endorsements are recorded in the practice's metadata.
How changes happen¶
- A change is proposed: through an issue template, a discussion, or directly as a pull request.
- Editors review. Discussion happens in the open, on the issue or pull request.
- Any change that alters a practice's status or adds an endorsement requires review by a second editor before merge.
- Merged changes appear on the live site immediately and are summarised in the next monthly release.
Practice lifecycle¶
Practices move through three statuses: draft (proposed, under discussion), reviewed (accepted by the editor group), endorsed (formally backed by at least one named organisation). A practice can also be retired; retired practices remain in the git history and in dated releases.
Disagreement¶
Disagreement is valuable content. If organisations or contributors hold different positions on a practice, the practice page records the positions and who holds them, rather than forcing a false consensus. The "Challenge a practice" issue template exists for exactly this.
How disagreement is expressed is covered by the code of conduct.