Contributor Models

1. Purpose

This page describes how people can participate in FactHarbor and how responsibilities grow with trust and experience.

2. Contributor Journey

1. Visitor – explores the platform, reads documentation, may raise questions.
   2. New Contributor – submits first improvements (typo fixes, small clarifications, new issues).
   3. Contributor – contributes regularly and follows project conventions.
   4. Trusted Contributor – has a track record of high-quality work and reliable judgement.
   5. Reviewer – reviews changes for correctness, neutrality, and process compliance.
   6. Moderator – focuses on behaviour, tone, and conflict moderation.
   7. Expert (optional) – offers domain expertise without changing governance authority.

3. Principles

• Low barrier to entry for new contributors.
• Transparent criteria for gaining and losing responsibilities.
• Clear separation between content quality review and behavioural moderation.
• Documented processes for escalation and appeal.

4. Processes

Typical contributor processes include:

• proposal and review of documentation or code changes
• reporting and triaging issues or suspected errors
• moderation of discussions and conflict resolution
• onboarding support for new contributors.

Details of the process steps are aligned with the Open Source Model and Licensing and Decision Processes pages.