Head over to the **[Intro to Open Source Course](./docs/intro-to-oss/README.md)** or **[Becoming A Maintainer Course](./docs/becoming-a-maintainer/README.md)** on GitHub to start learning! Alternatively, visit [The Open Source Education Path with OpenSauced website](https://intro.opensauced.pizza/).

Contributions are always welcome, no matter how large or small. Before contributing, please read the [Code of Conduct](https://docs.opensauced.pizza/contributing/code-of-conduct/) and follow the directions in this guide.

[Open Source Education Path with OpenSauced](https://intro.opensauced.pizza/#/)

If you are taking this course on our GitHub repository, navigate to the [`intro.md` file](intro.md) to start the course. Alternatively, visit the [Becoming a Maintainer with OpenSauced on the website](https://intro.opensauced.pizza/#/becoming-a-maintainer/) and start reading!

To learn more about using OpenSauced to build your open source project, check out the [Maintainers Guide to OpenSauced](https://docs.opensauced.pizza/maintainers/maintainers-guide-to-open-sauced/).

As more people engage and contribute to your projects, it becomes crucial for you to provide them with the necessary support and motivation to establish a welcoming and positive community environment. Doing so can build stronger relationships and promote a sense of belonging among your community members, keeping them returning and remaining dedicated.

In this chapter, you will learn how to build and nurture a welcoming and supportive community in open source.

You want to encourage open communication in the community. Open communication allows everyone to understand what's happening around the project and community, helps build trust, and increases healthy collaboration. Everyone should feel comfortable expressing thoughts and ideas, but at the same time, they should be able to listen and respectfully respond to others. For tips about communication and collaboration, read the chapter "[How to Communicate and Collaborate Effectively](communication-and-collaboration.md)."

Every open source project should have a code of conduct as a clear set of guidelines for how members within the community should behave and treat each other. You can, for example, emphasize the importance of using positive and inclusive language, treating others with respect, and avoiding discrimination or harassment. Inform them of the consequences they may face if they do not follow the guidelines. A code of conduct helps to prevent conflicts, promotes respect, and ensures that everyone in the community feels safe and comfortable. You can read the "[Code of Conduct](how-to-setup-your-project.md#code-of-conduct)" section in the "How to Setup Your Open Source Project" chapter to create one.

Imagine seeing a member behave disrespectfully towards another member on GitHub or Discord, or receiving an incident report from a member saying someone harassed them. Addressing conflicts is crucial to fostering a positive culture. If you don't promptly resolve them, your community will no longer feel safe and will lose trust in you. You can learn more about managing conflicts in the "[Handling Difficult Situations](communication-and-collaboration.md#handling-difficult-situations)" section in the "How to Communicate and Collaborate Effectively" chapter.

Issue management involves identifying, analyzing, and prioritizing bug issues and feature requests during development. You can create a triage team and encourage your community to help you triage and prioritize the issues in your repositories. You want to equip them with a clear guide on managing issues like what we have at OpenSauced in our [Triage Guide](https://docs.opensauced.pizza/contributing/triage-guide/). You can also read [this article](https://dev.to/opensauced/collaborate-conquer-grow-mastering-the-art-of-issue-management-for-open-source-projects-49gi) to learn more about issue management.

At OpenSauced, we organize the [#100DaysOfOSS challenge](https://docs.opensauced.pizza/community/100-days-of-oss/) to encourage contributors of all technical backgrounds to immerse themselves in collaborative development and engage with a supportive community.

You can utilize OpenSauced [Repository Insights](https://docs.opensauced.pizza/features/repo-insights/) and [Contributor Insights](https://docs.opensauced.pizza/features/contributor-insights/) features to identify new talents by tracking active project contributors.

You can find more information about your contributors in the Contributors dashboard. It allows you to view their activity level, the date of their last contribution, and the number of contributions. It also gives you information on their time zone and the languages they use most. Learn more about Repository Insights for maintainers and how to create one on [OpenSauced Docs](https://docs.opensauced.pizza/maintainers/maintainers-guide-to-open-sauced/#repository-insights-connecting-your-repositories).

After identifying potential new talents for your projects, you can select and add them to the list of a new or existing Contributor Insights Page. This feature enables you to monitor and analyze your contributors' activity levels and contributions more deeply, such as tracking the number of commits and pull requests they have made. You can read more about Contributor Insights for maintainers and how to create one on [OpenSauced Docs](https://docs.opensauced.pizza/maintainers/maintainers-guide-to-open-sauced/#contributor-insights-connecting-with-contributors).