The Open edX platform is large and powerful, with many options for operators. These options are often selectable using code-level switches called toggles, or configuration settings. We haven’t always done a good job of documenting these options, leaving some operators scratching their heads about their meaning or implications. This year, in celebration of the International Day of Education (Jan 24) and to make it easier to use the Open edX platform to help educate everyone, everywhere, the Open edX community organized a Doc-a-thon to document toggles and settings in the platform.
The doc-a-thon gave us a great start at tidying up and clarifying these options. We’re so grateful to everyone who pitched in, helping to make the platform more usable for everyone.
Initially it was scheduled to run from January 25 until January 29, but it was so successful that the Open edX community extended it through March 15.
We are thrilled with the results – 104 toggles and settings were documented. That means 30% of all toggles in the platform now have documentation. You can see the outcome in our toggles and settings technical reference. This effort leveraged the infrastructure for documenting toggles and settings that was built by Overhang.io as a blended development project.
Big thanks to the 17 authors from the Open edX community, who contributed documentation, – Gonzalo Romero, Fox Piacenti, Luis Moreno, Regis Behmo, Robert Raposa, Raul Gallegos, Felipe Montoya, Jhony Avella, anjalia28, Gabor Boros, Saqib, Sofiane Bebert, Zia Fazal, Peter Pinch, and Arslan Ashraf. Braden MacDonald and Peter leveraged their core committer rights to merge contributions.
Kudos and extra special thanks to our top contributors:
- an extra special thanks to the top two code contributors – JayRam Nai and Nizar, whose combined work accounts for almost 40% of all PRs opened during the doc-a-thon.
- top community PR reviewer: Raul Gallegos!
We’re excited to enable and encourage all kinds of contributions to the Open edX world. The doc-a-thon was a good example of a new style of contribution: smaller pieces easier to land. Contribution doesn’t have to mean implementing headliner features, or solving thorny technical problems. All kinds of skills, interest, and energy levels can make a difference.
Thanks to everyone for helping to improve the platform!
