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Contributing to the Wiki

This wiki is maintained collaboratively. Anyone in the lab can contribute — no web development experience needed.

Option A — Quick edits on GitHub (simplest)

For small fixes (typos, outdated info, adding a link):

  1. Find the page on the wiki site
  2. Click the edit icon (pencil) in the top right of any page
  3. Edit the markdown directly in GitHub's editor
  4. Click Commit changes — the site rebuilds automatically in ~1 minute

Option B — Larger edits locally

For new pages or significant rewrites:

Setup (one-time)

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/MonashRobotics/wiki
cd wiki

# Install MkDocs Material
pip install mkdocs-material

# Preview locally (live reload on save)
mkdocs serve

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000 to preview. The site updates as you save files.

Workflow

# Edit files in docs/
# Then push when ready
git add -A
git commit -m "Brief description of what changed"
git push

The site rebuilds automatically on every push to main.

Use an AI assistant (Claude, ChatGPT, etc.) to help draft or improve content:

  1. Give the AI context: paste in the relevant raw notes, terminal output, or documentation you want turned into a wiki page
  2. Ask it to write the page in the style of the existing wiki (clear headings, code blocks for commands, admonition boxes for warnings)
  3. Review and edit the output — AI drafts are a starting point, not final copy
  4. Paste into the right file under docs/ and push

Tips for prompting

  • "Write a wiki page for students on how to use X. Audience: final-year undergrad students with basic Linux knowledge. Format: MkDocs markdown with admonition boxes for warnings."
  • "Improve this draft — make it clearer and more concise, keep all the commands"
  • "This guide has private admin details mixed in — extract only the student-facing content"

Using Claude Code specifically

If you have Claude Code set up locally:

# In the wiki repo directory, ask Claude to:
# - Draft a new page from your notes
# - Update an existing page with new information
# - Check consistency across pages

Claude Code can read the existing wiki files for context, draft new content, and commit directly — ask your lab admin to show you the workflow.

Sharing Presentations

Lab presentations are archived in two GitHub repos depending on visibility:

Type Meeting Repo
Skill-sharing (tutorials, tools, workflows) Monash Robotics Weekly Meeting MonashRobotics/presentations (public)
Paper reading Robotics Reading Group MonashRobotics/presentations (public)
Research updates (unpublished work) Monash Robotics Weekly Meeting MonashRobotics/presentations-internal (private, org members only)

To add your slides:

  1. Export as PDF
  2. Name it YYYY-MM-DD_Topic_Author.pdf
  3. Push to the appropriate folder (skill-sharing/, paper-reading/, or research/) in the correct repo
  4. Add an entry to Presentations with a one-line description

To attend the meetings and access internal slides:

Contact Dana Kulić (dana.kulic@monash.edu) to request a calendar invite for the Monash Robotics Weekly Meeting (Thursdays 10–11am) or the Robotics Reading Group (Thursdays 1–2pm).

Structure

docs/
  index.md          ← home page
  contributing.md   ← this page
  onboarding/       ← getting started guides
  hpc/              ← HPC system guides

Add new pages in the right folder, then register them in mkdocs.yml under nav:.

Style guide

  • Write for a final-year undergraduate — assume Linux basics, no HPC experience
  • Use code blocks for every command (never inline)
  • Use admonition boxes for warnings and tips:
!!! warning
    Scratch storage is purged after 21 days — save important data elsewhere.

!!! tip
    Run `mkdocs serve` to preview changes before pushing.
  • Keep pages focused — one system or topic per page
  • Link between pages rather than duplicating content