Drumbeat/forminstructions

So you are thinking of creating a project? That is great news! We here at Mozilla drumbeat are excited to hear that. Below are some guidelines to creating a project page that could help bring the right people to your project and help bring it to life.

What Makes for a Good Project?

Be a "doer"

First and foremost, great projects will be initiated by people who want to be makers - who want to build, create and tinker with things that make the web better. What is it that your project will create?

Make the Web Better

Second, a more open web should be a direct objective of your project, not a side effect. This is your chance to explain why this project should be a priority to drumbeaters.

Explain how this project helps advance the open web. For help, consider looking at the Mozilla Foundation's causes. How does this project advance one of these causes and how?

Architect for Participation

Finally, your project you should articulate: Who is your audience, and how can they participate.

Drumbeat is an opportunity to invite new people to lend their skills and creativity to making the web open -- teachers, artists, lawyers, and everyday internet users. So think broadly!

That said, act in a focused manner. Projects that will enjoy early success won't necessarily be those that attract lots of people, they will be those that attract the right people and explain, very precisely, how they can participate. Ultimately, people want to be helpful and useful - so know your audience so you can appeal directly to them, but be clear about how they can participate so people can feel helpful and productive!

Filling out the form:

Title:

Here you want something short and punchy. Remember many drumbeat website visitors will decide whether or not to look at your project based on the title. So make it to be catchy!

Project Headline and Short Description

Here is a chance to briefly expand on your project. Think of this as a subtitle for your project - here it might be helpful to explain how they can participate. Again, think about your audience - will your message here appeal to the type of person you want to visit your project page?

Detailed Description:

Here we to get into the guts of your project. If someone is reading your project details they are already interested. At this point, you need to explain to people how to get involved. Our advice? Be explicit:

1. Identify measurable goals for the project

• What is the goal?
• What is the success criteria?
• What are the risks and limitations of the project?

2. Define the context and scope of the project.

• Is there any other Project on the Web with the same scope?
• Why they didn't address the goals that you are willing to push?
• What are the expectations of the project?

3. Define the resources needed for the success of the project

• What skills are needed to make this project come to life?
• Is there a need for money? What for? What is the strategy for raising this money?
• For each role in your project, outline (or ask for advice) around how long a person will have to commit time on the project (by day, week or month)

4. Show some examples and look for partners

• Who else has done something similar - it is easier to model after something than do something completely new
• Are there people or groups the project would benefit from connecting with? Who are they?

How will your idea make the web better?:

See above.

Image:

This image is the one that will appear next to you project title - so you want an image that will catch the eye but that conveys the essence of your project.

Other resources

Good blog post, articles and other resources on how to create a successful online projects:

• How to Build a Better Web Startup
• [Insert next piece here]

Examples of Good Projects:

• Examples here
• Another example here