feat: Add dedicated /contribute page and homepage CTA to encourage experiential learning

[Yogendra-Bisht]

Suggested feature

Feature Proposal: Dedicated /contribute Page and Homepage Card for Experiential Learning

Background & Motivation

While the "Intro to OSS" course excellently covers how to contribute to open-source projects across GitHub, there is a powerful opportunity for experiential learning right here on the platform.

Currently, users read about open source in theory, but the platform itself doesn't explicitly invite them to use this specific repository as their sandbox. While there is a link to the GitHub repo, a dedicated /contribute route serves as an immediate, welcoming call-to-action (CTA) for beginners who might feel intimidated browsing a raw GitHub README.

Proposed Solution

To bridge the gap between learning theory and taking action:

1. Homepage Card: Adds a visible entry point highlighting that the very platform the student is using is community-driven.
2. Dedicated /contribute Page: Summarizes the core pathways (Documentation, Code, Translations, Community) in a highly digestible UI layout, linking directly back to the detailed local setup steps in the existing setup documentation.

Benefits

• Higher Conversion: Turns passive readers into active contributors by providing a structured, friendly onboarding path directly in the app UI.
• Meta-Learning: Reinforces the course material by letting students practice what they just learned on the platform they learned it from.

Note: I have already implemented a working prototype of this layout locally and am eager to discuss if this alignment fits the long-term vision of the platform!

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct

[adiati98]

Thanks for raising this issue, @Yogendra-Bisht. ✨

Responding to this:

... opportunity for experiential learning right here on the platform.

and this:

Currently, users read about open source in theory, but the platform itself doesn't explicitly invite them to use this specific repository as their sandbox.

Have you follow our course? If you do, in one of the chapters, we provide a dedicated repository and instructions for folks to get their feet wet in contributing to open source as their sandbox. 🙂
So, I'm still not sure about adding this feature.