Update contribution guidelines towards more focused, actionable contributions (#2133)

Author: obenland

CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

@@ -17,24 +17,28 @@ diverse, inclusive, and healthy community.
 Examples of behavior that contributes to a positive environment for our
 community include:
 
-* Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward other people
-* Being respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences
-* Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback
+* Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward other people.
+* Being respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences.
+* Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback.
 * Accepting responsibility and apologizing to those affected by our mistakes,
-  and learning from the experience
+  and learning from the experience.
 * Focusing on what is best not just for us as individuals, but for the
-  overall community
+  overall community.
+* Contributing constructive, concise, and actionable feedback that helps improve the project.
+* Keeping contributions relevant to the plugin's purpose and scope.
 
 Examples of unacceptable behavior include:
 
 * The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or
-  advances of any kind
-* Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
-* Public or private harassment
+  advances of any kind.
+* Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks.
+* Public or private harassment.
 * Publishing others' private information, such as a physical or email
-  address, without their explicit permission
+  address, without their explicit permission.
+* Submitting off-topic issues, excessive feature requests, or contributions
+  that don't align with the project's goals.
 * Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a
-  professional setting
+  professional setting.
 
 ## Enforcement Responsibilities
 

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -6,9 +6,15 @@ Developers of all levels can help — whether you can barely recognize a filter
 
 ## Create Bug Reports
 
-If you find a bug, please [file a GitHub issue](https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/issues/). If you have write access, add the appropriate labels.
+If you find a bug, please use our [bug report form](https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/issues/new?q=sort%3Aupdated-desc+is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen&template=bug_report.yml). This helps us gather the information we need efficiently.
 
-If you’re filing a bug, specific steps to reproduce are helpful. Please include the URL of the page that has the bug, along with what you expected to see and what happened instead.
+**Keep your bug reports focused and actionable:**
+- Include specific steps to reproduce the issue.
+- Provide the URL of the page that has the bug.
+- Describe what you expected to see and what happened instead.
+- Stay within the plugin's scope—issues unrelated to ActivityPub functionality may be closed.
+
+If you have write access, add the appropriate labels.
 
 ## Write and submit a patch
 
@@ -23,9 +29,16 @@ If you'd like to contribute but don't know where to get started, you can take a
 - ["Good First Issues"](https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/labels/%5BType%5D%20Good%20First%20Issue) are a good entry point to get familiar with ActivityPub plugin's code base.
 - All issues labeled with [the "Good For Community" label](https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/issues?q=is%3Aopen+sort%3Aupdated-desc+label%3A%22Good+For+Community%22) are fair game. That's a great way to contribute new features and fix small issues within the ActivityPub plugin.
 
-### We’re Here To Help
+### We're Here To Help
+
+We encourage you to ask for help at any point. We want your first experience with the ActivityPub plugin to be a good one, so don't be shy. 
+
+**For questions and discussions:**
+- Use [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/discussions) for feature ideas, general questions, and open-ended topics.
+- Create issues only for specific bugs or concrete enhancement proposals.
+- Keep questions concise and directly related to the plugin.
 
-We encourage you to ask for help at any point. We want your first experience with the ActivityPub plugin to be a good one, so don’t be shy. If you’re wondering why something is the way it is, or how a decision was made, please create an issue and prefix it with “Question:”.
+This helps us organize feedback effectively and ensures your questions get the right attention.
 
 ## Translate the plugin
 

README.md

@@ -29,14 +29,17 @@ If you need help, [check out the support forums on WordPress.org](https://wordpr
 
 ## Contribute
 
-Thank you for thinking about contributing to the ActivityPub plugin! If you're unsure of anything, feel free to submit an issue or pull request on any topic. The worst that can happen is that you'll be politely directed to the best location to ask your question or to change something in your pull request. There are a variety of options for how you can help:
+Thank you for thinking about contributing to the ActivityPub plugin! We welcome contributions of all kinds, but to keep things productive for everyone, please follow these guidelines:
 
-* Write and submit patches.
-* [Discuss new features and enhancements](https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/discussions).
-* If you found a bug, [file a report here](https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/issues/new?q=sort%3Aupdated-desc+is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen&template=bug_report.yml).
-* [Translate the ActivityPub plugin in your language](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/activitypub/).
+* **Keep issues clear and focused.** If you're reporting a bug, please use the [bug report form](https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/issues/new?q=sort%3Aupdated-desc+is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen&template=bug_report.yml). For feature ideas, please share them in [Discussions](https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-activitypub/discussions) so we can consider them together.
+* **Stay relevant to the plugin's scope.** Issues and comments should relate directly to improving this plugin. Tangential ideas or unrelated feature requests will be closed.
+* **Be concise.** Short, actionable descriptions are much easier for maintainers to respond to.
+* **Respectful collaboration.** We follow the [Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct](./CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md). Please keep your contributions constructive and professional.  
 
-To clarify these expectations, we have adopted the code of conduct defined by the Contributor Covenant. [It can be read in full here](./CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).
+Other ways to help include:
+
+* Writing and submitting patches.
+* Translating the ActivityPub plugin into your language ([translate here](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/activitypub/)).
 
 ## Security