Webpack.js.org: Proposal: remove contributors section in the web page

[chenxsan]

I can understand benefits to show the Contributors section in the web page,

1. it might attract new contributors
2. it gives contributors credit for contributing

However, it becomes a problem when there're so many contributors on one page, for example, https://webpack.js.org/guides/code-splitting/

If you're browsing that page on mobile phone:

This is sort of inconvenient if users want to scroll to the end just to make sure they don't miss something important after the Contributors section.

And I don't think webpack users would care about this section, it's a waste of their times and bandwidths to load contributors' avatar even though we are lazy loading them.

In addition, it will be a problem for contributors as well since they have to scroll multiple pages to see the body text:

Thus I'm proposing to remove the whole Contributors section from the web page and the contributors field from the frontmatter of markdown files.

I don't think removing those would stop contributors from contributing, if we really want to show those contributors, we can add a link to pages like https://github.com/webpack/webpack.js.org/contributors-list/master/src/content/guides/code-splitting.md which list all contributors who had contributed.

[snitin315]

But It makes me happy to see my name there.

[snitin315]

Maybe we can limit it to recent 10-15 contributors name and display the rest with the help of a button labeled as See more contributors

[chenxsan]

But It makes me happy to see my name there.

I can understand your frustration to remove the whole Contributors section as I am one of the contributors listed in those pages. But we're not removing credit for contributors, we're just no longer showing it in the webpage.

Regarding the 'See more contributors' suggestion, sure it would lessen the pain for users, but it would only hide the problem as one day in the future there may be 200 contributors listed on the page, which then would become a real problem to contributors as they have to scroll multiple pages down the markdown file to edit the body part, for example:

[alexander-akait]

I agree about it is unnecessary on every page, I think we can create separate page and move all contributors to there, also we can get them from github to avoid manually adding

[snitin315]

Single separate page sounds good 👌

[montogeek]

Another idea is to only show 3 (randomly picked) and put a link to the GitHub page to see the rest.
It will save:

• Space on mobile and desktop
• Load times
• Bandwidth

[alexander-akait]

I don't think anybody need to know contributors :smile: , no need unnecessary overload pages. But we should respect work of other contributors, so single page Contributors is maximum simple and good solution

[montogeek]

It is an open source project, potential contributors will look for it, existing contributors can link their contributions to potential employers, friends, etc.

Yeah, of course everything is in GitHub, but having it in the webpage itself helps with the spirit of the community around webpack.

[alexander-akait]

But they can use this link to potential employers, friends, etc.

[chenxsan]

It is an open source project, potential contributors will look for it, existing contributors can link their contributions to potential employers, friends, etc.

Yeah, of course everything is in GitHub, but having it in the webpage itself helps with the spirit of the community around webpack.

If we list random contributors, it would no longer make sense for existing contributors to share that page with their potential employers, friends, etc. as the contributors listed on the page could be different for every one.

[snitin315]

I would like to implement the new /contributors page if we reach an agreement.

Some pros that I can think of -

• No need to manually update the contributor list anymore.
• Better visibility than being shown at the bottom (If anyone wants to show potential employers)
• save load time, bandwidth for actual docs conten.

[chenxsan]

Sure, I'll assign it to you. But it would be great if you can finish issues you're still working at first because the contributors page is not that urgent to have.

[chenxsan]

Here's what I think needs to be done:

• [ ] Add a new contributors page
• [ ] Remove Contributors section
• [ ] Clean up contributors field in frontmatter of markdown file

[sokra]

When the list gets long we could show only small avatars similar to github:

• No need to manually update the contributor list anymore.

Instead of the manual list we could get the information from the git log. We can get the last 100 commits to a file and show the authors. This would also keep the list shorter as contributors vanish after some modifications. To get more user information you can use the github api and look up information for any commit from that user.

[chenxsan]

When the list gets long we could show only small avatars similar to github:

• No need to manually update the contributor list anymore.

Instead of the manual list we could get the information from the git log. We can get the last 100 commits to a file and show the authors. This would also keep the list shorter as contributors vanish after some modifications. To get more user information you can use the github api and look up information for any commit from that user.

Any specific reason you want to retain the Contributors section? If we're referring to the benefits @montogeek listed before, then they're no longer available in your proposal version as the list would be dynamic then.

To common webpack users, Contributors section doesn't really benefit them. A Last updated at 2022-2-22 2:22:22 message or 10 people have contributed to this page would benefit them more in my opinion.

BTW, here's how it looks without the Contributors section https://webpack-js-org-git-fork-chenxsan-feature-remove-contributors.webpack-docs.vercel.app/api/.

[samal-rasmussen]

Can't rely on linking to a page to show off your work when the contributor list is dynamic.

As a user of the docs I would welcome the removal. They are just visual noise to me. I do sympathize with the contributors, but even so the contributions are logged in git and you can already link to the github contributors list if you need to show someone your work. And a separate contributors page in the docs would also make this info discoverable from the docs themselves.