Governance Structure and Procedures for Cayden's Guides

Introduction

  • Cayden’s Guides is a repository of articles pertaining to how to participate in online Table-Top Role-Playing Games, especially as part of the Organized Play Foundation’s Online Region.
  • The scope of the site’s content has yet to be fully mapped out. Further discussion will take place upon finalization of the inaugural administrative committee membership.
  • The site’s content will be highly curated. New projects will require approval and edits can only be merged by members of the administrative committee.

Administrative Committee

Selection

  • Initially, and for the foreseeable future, the administrative committee will consist of three members, one each representing:
    • The Cayden’s Keg admin group
    • The Online Region of the Organized Play Venture Officer Corps
    • The userbase of Cayden’s Keg
  • At the time of the site’s announcement, the first two member of the committee were, respectively:
    • redeux
    • volfied
  • The third member of the committee will be selected by the current committee members from among those who express interest once the position and its vacancy is announced.
  • There are no term limits at this time, though any committee member can be removed with the approval of the other two.
  • Should the committee decide it necessary, additional members may be added, though preference will always be to maintain an odd number of committee members

Responsibilities

  • Establish and document policies and procedures for Cayden’s Guides
  • Review and approve projects, both upon proposal and completion, for inclusion in the repository
  • Review and merge approved edits made by contributors
  • Committee members:
    • cannot unilaterally change respository contents
    • cannot merge their own MRs or PRs
    • can only submit merge requests directly for committe approval if they pertain to changes to administrative documentation or site structure
    • Members cannot serve as project managers and only project managers may approve merge requests for their project

Priorities

  • Establish guidance and criteria for projects seeking inclusion in the repository
  • Create or commission a style guide for the site
  • Devise a general structure for the site’s content
  • Review initial project submissions and determine whether and how to incorporate them into the site

Contributing

Project Submission and Approval

  • New projects must be proposed to the administrative committee
    • Proposals should adhere to the published pending guidance on the scope of the repository
    • Proposals must include:
      • an abstract
      • an outline
      • a short sample section
    • All projects must:
      • name a project manager
        • who shall commit to update and maintain its contents so long as they hold that role
        • who shall designate their replacement before resigning the role
        • who shall optionally designate members of the project team
          • and review the contributions of team members before submitting a merge request
          • and review submitted edits to their project from non-team members
            • which, if submitted indirectly, may require formatting and entry by them or a team member
            • and approval of which confers membership in the project team upon the submitter
      • designate a category or categories of Paizo products and/or specific VTT software products whose updates would trigger automatic content review of their project
      • consider prior art and…
        • whether the reader would be best served by a link to an existing external resource
          • and if not, why is Cayden’s Guide the right place for the information
          • or how the project fills a need not met by existing resources

Content Creation and Incorporation

  • Cayden’s Guide utilizes the Hugo framework allowing relatively straight-forward content development via the use of markdown and templating
  • Site content is maintained as a git version control system repository
  • The upshot of this is that content development is best done in an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), of which there are many that are both easy to use and free
  • Anyone may clone the repository and submit pull requests, the disposition of which falls to the respective project manager and the administrative committee
  • Alternatively, Cayden’s Guide commits to accepting content submissions via alternative methods (negotiable)
    • and should they be accepted by the project manager
      • performing the work necessary to prepare them for and commit them to the repository
      • and/or train the submitter in how to do so themself (which they are free to decline)

Long-Term Project Maintenance

  • All projects must undergo:
    • Periodic Review
      • by the administrative committee
      • every (1|2) years
      • to affirm the currency, relevance, and efficacy of the content
      • Projects not meeting those standards may, in the worst cases, be retired or hidden and the project manager relieved of their responsibilities
      • Much more likely, the project manager will be asked to produce a plan for bringing the project into compliance
    • Event-Driven Review
      • by the project manager
      • upon release of updated or new products designated upon project submission or added later which have potential to require changes to their project’s content.
      • Upon completion, the project manager must submit the necessary changes or certify that the project remains current and relevant.

Conclusion

  • Many similar projects with scattered content hosted in various corners of the internet have come and gone
  • Cayden’s Guides will succeed where others have failed through deliberation and rigor
  • It is the committee’s hope that this robust framework will attract dedicated content creators and allow them to flourish, the result of which will be a respository of always current high quality resources for online TTRPG players and game masters.