Una Code of Conduct

Code of conduct and why you need am?

Code of conduct na document wey dey establish expectation for the way wey people go take behave for your project. To adopt, and enforce, code of conduct fit help create positive social atmosphere for your community.

Code of conduct epp to protect not just the people wey dey participate for your project, but you too. If you dey maintain a project, you fit see say unproductive attitude from other people fit dey drain your energy and make you unhappy about your work as time dey go.

Code of conduct dey give you power to encourage healthy and constructive community behavior. To dey proactive dey reduce the chance say you, or other people, go dey tire for your project, and epp you take action if person do something wey you nor gree with.

How you go take arrange code of conduct

Make you try your best to arrange code of conduct early, if you fit, ideally when you first create your project.

Apart from just communicating your expectations, code of conduct fit describe the following:

Where the code of conduct dey apply (only on issues and pull requests, or community activities like events?)
Whom the code of conduct dey apply to (community members and maintainers, but what about sponsors?)
Wetin go happen if person violate the code of conduct
How person fit report violations

Anywhere way you fit, try to use previous example. The Contributor Covenant na code of conduct wey many open source projects, including Kubernetes, Rails, and Swift, don use, and e fit serve as example.

The Django Code of Conduct and the Citizen Code of Conduct na two good examples of code of conduct.

Put one CODE_OF_CONDUCT file for your project’s main directory, and make sure say your community fit see am by linking am for your CONTRIBUTING or README file.

How you go take think your code of conduct to stand gidi gba

You suppose explain how you go enforce your code of conduct before person violate am. Some reasons why you suppose do am be say:

E show say you dey serious about action when e dey necessary.
Your community go dey reassured say complaints go dey reviewed.
You go reassure your community say the review process go dey fair and transparent, if at any time dem dey investigated for violation.

You suppose give people private way (like email address) to report code of conduct violation and explain who go receive that report. E fit be maintainer, group of maintainers, or code of conduct working group.

No forget say person fit wan report violation about person wey dey receive those reports. In this case, give dem option to report violations to another person. For example, @ctb and @mr-c explain for their project, khmer:

Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported by emailing khmer-project@idyll.org which only goes to C. Titus Brown and Michael R. Crusoe. To report an issue involving either of them please email Judi Brown Clarke, Ph.D. the Diversity Director at the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, an NSF Center for Science and Technology.

For inspiration, check out Django’s enforcement manual (though you may not need something this comprehensive, depending on the size of your project).

How your code of conduct go take stand gidi gba

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, somebody go do something wey dey violate this code. There are several ways to address negative or harmful behavior when it comes up.

Gather plenty gist about the mata

Arrange community member voice make aeh dey important as your own dey. If person report say somebody violate the code of conduct, take am seriously and investigate the matter, even if e nor match your own experience with that person. As you do like this, you dey show your community say you value their perspective and trust their judgment.

The community member wey dey involved fit be person wey dey always cause trouble and dey make other people dey uncomfortable, or e fit be say e talk or do something just once. You fit take action based on the situation.

Before you yarn, give yourself time to understand wetin happen. Read the person’s past comments and conversations make you sabi who e be and why e fit do something like that. Try gather different perspectives from other people about the person and the way e take behave.

Carry action waeh make sense

After you don gather and process enough information, you go need to decide wetin you go do. As you dey consider your next steps, remember say your goal as a moderator na to promote safe, respectful, and collaborative environment. Consider how you go take handle the matter and how your response fit affect the way other community members go take dey behave and their expectations for future.

If person report say somebody violate the code of conduct, e na you suppose handle am, not the person wey report. Sometimes, the person wey report dey risk plenty things like e career, reputation, or physical safety. Forcing am to confront the person wey dey harass am fit put am for wahala. You suppose dey communicate directly with the person wey dey involved, except the person wey report request something different.

You fit respond to code of conduct violation for different ways:

Warn the person wey dey involved publicly and explain how their behavior affect others, preferably for the place where e happen. If possible, public communication go show the rest of the community say you dey serious about the code of conduct. Make you dey kind but firm for your communication.
Privately reach out to the person wey dey involved to explain how their behavior affect others. You fit use private communication channel if the situation get sensitive personal information. If you communicate privately with person, e good make you CC those wey first report the situation, so dem go know say you don take action. Ask the person wey report make e agree before you CC am.

Sometimes, you fit no fit resolve the matter. The person wey dey involved fit dey aggressive or hostile when you confront am, or e no fit change their behavior. For this kind situation, you fit consider stronger action. For example:

Suspend the person wey dey involved for the project, you go enforce am through temporary ban wey go stop am from participating for any aspect of the project.
Permanently ban the person from the project.

Make you no take banning members lightly, e be like say e be something wey no fit change and no fit reconcile different perspectives. You suppose only take these measures if e clear say you no fit resolve the matter.

The work waeh you fit do as a maintainer

Code of conduct nor be law wey dem just dey put as dem like. Na you be the enforcer of the code of conduct and e dey your responsibility to follow the rules wey the code of conduct don establish.

As a maintainer, na you set the guidelines for your community and you go enforce those guidelines based on the rules wey dey your code of conduct. This one mean say, any report wey you receive about code of conduct violation, you suppose take am serious. The person wey report the matter suppose get thorough and fair review of wetin dem complain. If you come find out say the behavior wey dem report nor be violation, make you yan that one give dem straight and explain why you nor go take action on top am. As dem see that one, na them sabi how dem go fit take the behavior wey dem dey complain tolerate, or dem fit stop to dey participate for the community.

If person report behavior wey nor technically violate the code of conduct, e fit still show say there be problem for your community, and you suppose investigate this potential problem and take action as e dey necessary. This one fit include say you go revise your code of conduct to make am clear the kind behavior wey dem go accept, or make you talk to the person wey dem report say e dey skirt the edge of wetin dem expect and e dey make some participants dey uncomfortable, although e nor violate the code of conduct.

In the end, as a maintainer, na you dey set and enforce the standards for acceptable behavior. You get the power to shape the community values of the project, and participants dey expect make you enforce those values in a way wey dey fair and even-handed.

Encourage the character wey you want make people see for this world 🌎

When person see say one project nor dey friendly or e nor dey welcoming, even if e just one person behavior people still dey tolerate, e fit make plenty contributors run comot, some of dem wey you never go fit even see. E nor dey always easy to adopt or enforce code of conduct, but if you dey promote environment wey dey welcoming, e go help your community grow.