How to Use the Development Template

Intro

To document according to best practice standards such as those presented in Building Open Source Hardware by Alicia Gibb, OSE uses the Development_Spreadsheet_Template#Simple_Template.

Usage

To use the template:

1. Make a copy of the spreadsheet by clicking edit under the template. You will be taken to a Google Spreadsheet. Make a Copy of it in your own Google Drive - and now you can start editing the template.
2. To document a project fully, fill in as much information content as you have available. Critical aspects of the template are CAD, BOM, and Build Instructions - as the absolute minimum for replicating a project. Replicability is determined by the quality of these 3 documentation assets.
3. There are 20 items in the template. Each item in blue text is a hyperlink that tells you what information is necessary and what are the best practices for documentation.
4. Document each item using a separate page on the wiki, titled Project_Name_Documentation_Item - where Documentation Item is the item you are documenting, such as Tractor_BOM. The wiki page would be https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/Tractor_BOM
5. Use the blue column (Link to Work Product) to link to your asset, such as https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/Tractor_BOM
6. In the last column, document the state of completion from 0-10, with 10 being complete.
7. Embed this spreadsheet on a page with URL https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/Project_Name_Development, where Project_Name is the name of your project.
8. Includ an edit link under the spreadsheet.
9. Open up permissions in your spreadsheet for open editing. Don't worry about spam - unwanted edits can be reversed
10. If you would like to embed a burndown graph for your project, see Burndown. This requires OSE Developer Team skill level, so contact info at opensourceecology dot org for help