High-quality documentation for web platform technologies is a critically important component of our shared, open digital infrastructure. Today, we’re excited to publicly introduce Open Web Docs, a collective project designed to support a community of technical writers around strategic creation and long-term maintenance of web platform technology documentation that is open and inclusive for all.

Open Web Docs was created to ensure the long-term health of web platform documentation on de facto standard resources like MDN Web Docs, independently of any single vendor or organization. Through full-time staff, community management, and our network of partner organizations, we enable these resources to better maintain and sustain documentation of core web platform technologies. Rather than create new documentation sites, Open Web Docs is committed to improving existing platforms through our contributions. 

Florian Scholz joined the project in November 2020 as our Content Lead, working with stakeholders to define initial workstreams. Our 2021 priorities include working with Mozilla’s MDN writers and engineers to support the recent infrastructure transition and to prioritize and move forward with key documentation work, developing a community of contributors around core web technology documentation, browser compatibility data, and improving JavaScript documentation. Additional hires will be announced soon, and those interested can follow our updates at opencollective.com/open-web-docs, https://github.com/openwebdocs and @OpenWebDocs.

Open Web Docs staff are supported by founding sponsors Coil, Google and Microsoft, with additional financial support from Igalia and generous backers on Open Source Collective. Mozilla, Samsung, and W3C provide additional support and participation. Participating orgs are collaborating on content work via weekly editorial and OWD steering committee meetings, and there are plans to create a shared process as we get deeper into the work.

Get Involved

Documentation is for everyone - if you think so too, let’s work together! Check out our high-level goals plan, and let us know what you would like to see prioritized. We’re also planning a live Q&A session the week of Feb. 16 - sign up for our newsletter to get attendance information and receive update digests. And of course, follow @OpenWebDocs on Twitter to get the latest news.  

Questions and answers

Q: Is this a new docs platform?

A: No, we are working closely together with existing platforms, and our current priority is contributions to MDN Web Docs.

Q: Is this a competitor/replacement for MDN Web Docs?

A: No. Open Web Docs writers contribute to important developer documentation resources, including MDN. Mozilla is a part of Open Web Docs and a member of its Steering Committee. 

Q: Is this the same as Web Platform Docs was?

A: No, Web Platform Docs was a new documentation platform, whereas this is aimed at contributing to existing platforms.

Q: How is Open Web Docs funded?

A: Open Web Docs is funded by contributions from our founding sponsors Coil, Google and Microsoft, and contributors from the wider developer community such as Igalia. We welcome more backers who want to ensure support for long-term maintenance of web platform technology documentation.

Q: How do I get involved?

A: For funding, you can contribute to the project on our Open Source Collective project page. For collaboration opportunities or an interest in becoming a lead funder, please reach out to [email protected].