# Guiding Participants

"Participation" in an open source project is an interesting—and somewhat amorphous—concept to describe. The line separating "I'm just a user! Don't talk to me about anything more" and "How can I help contribute to this project?" seem clear enough. Yet active participation in a project begins the moment someone cares enough about the software to do more than simply consume it. And because open source software is by nature inclusive and participatory, most *users* become *participants* rather quickly and easily—often by simply leaving a comment on the project's blog, filing an issue in the project's tracker, or engaging with the project on social media. By using open source software, they've *already* begun participating in the process of making the software better.

Here are some examples of various types of participation:

* Talking to a friend about how much you like the software or the goals of the open source project.
* Engaging in a hallway or booth-side discussion about the software at a conference or event.
* Asking, upvoting, and answering questions about the software on various forums.
* Putting a sticker on your laptop to advertize your support of the software.
* Giving constructive feedback to a contributor about the software or project.
* Recommending and offering to help others adopt and use the software.

This section contains chapters that:

* Discuss the ideas and forces behind the motivation to participate.
* Present details on how active participants benefit the project.

This section is useful for you if:

* You are looking to understand the differences among communities made up of less engaged users, enthusiastic participants, and active contributors.
* You want to understand what attracts people to participate in a pathway toward contribution.
* You are looking to give your participation community a better experience.
* You wish to build bridges to enable participants to become contributors.
* You want to explore the benefit of user feedback in open source software.
* You have reached the middle of this guidebook by starting at the beginning, and are working your way toward the end.