beefing up the docs

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+![](https://az31353.vo.msecnd.net/c04/uxoj.png)
+
+# Contributing
+
+TouchDevelop is currently accepting contributions in the form of bug fixes, features or design changes.
+
+## Contributing bug fixes
+A bug must have an issue tracking it in the issue tracker that has been approved ("Milestone == Community") by the TouchDevelop team. Your pull request should include a link to the bug that you are fixing. If you've submitted a PR for a bug, please post a comment in the bug to avoid duplication of effort.
+
+## Contributing features or design changes
+Features or design changes (things that add new or improved functionality to TouchDevelop) may be accepted, but will need to first be approved (marked as "Milestone == Community" by a TouchDevelop coordinator with the message "Approved") in the suggestion issue.
+
+## Legal
+You will need to complete a Contributor License Agreement (CLA). Briefly, this agreement testifies that you are granting us permission to use the submitted change according to the terms of the project's license, and that the work being submitted is under appropriate copyright.
+
+Please submit a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) before submitting a pull request. Download the agreement ([Microsoft Contribution License Agreement.docx](https://www.codeplex.com/Download?ProjectName=typescript&DownloadId=822190) or [Microsoft Contribution License Agreement.pdf](https://www.codeplex.com/Download?ProjectName=typescript&DownloadId=921298)), sign, scan, and email it back to <cla@microsoft.com>. Be sure to include your github user name along with the agreement. Once we have received the signed CLA, we'll review the request. Please note that we're currently only accepting pull requests of bug fixes rather than new features.
+
+## Housekeeping
+Your pull request should:
+
+* Include a description of what your change intends to do
+* Be a child commit of a reasonably recent commit in the **master** branch
+    * Requests need not be a single commit, but should be a linear sequence of commits (i.e. no merge commits in your PR)
+* It is desirable, but not necessary, for the tests to pass at each commit
+* Have clear commit messages
+    * e.g. "Refactor feature", "Fix issue", "Add tests for issue"
+* Follow the TypeScript code conventions descriped in [Coding guidlines](https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript/wiki/Coding-guidlines)
+* To avoid line ending issues, set `autocrlf = input` and `whitespace = cr-at-eol` in your git configuration

README.md

@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@
 
 TouchDevelop is a touch-friendly app creation environment for iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux developed with <3 at Microsoft Reasearch. Our mobile-friendly editor makes coding fun, even on your phone or tablet!
 
-Try it now in any browser:
+**This repo contains the source code of
+the TouchDevelop editor.** If you are looking
+to write TouchDevelop scripts, you probably
+want to go to touchdevelop.com:
 * **stable:** https://www.touchdevelop.com/app
 * **beta:** https://www.touchdevelop.com/app/beta
 
@@ -23,24 +26,38 @@ This repo contains the source code for:
 However, you will not find the cloud backend running on
 https://www.touchdevelop.com that takes care of storing and managing the scripts.
 
+## how can I contribute?
+
+There are many ways to [contribute](https://github.com/Microsoft/TouchDevelop/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md) to TypeScript.
+* [Submit bugs](https://github.com/Microsoft/TouchDevelop/issues) and help us verify fixes as they are checked in.
+* Review the [source code changes](https://github.com/Microsoft/TouchDevelop/pulls).
+* [Contribute bug fixes or features](https://github.com/Microsoft/TouchDevelop/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md).
+
 ## how to build
 
-Make sure you've got all the dev dependencies ready.
+In order to build TouchDevelop, ensure that you have [Git](http://git-scm.com/downloads) and [Node.js](http://nodejs.org/) installed.
 
+Clone a copy of the repo:
+
+    git clone https://github.com/Microsoft/TouchDevelop.git
+
+Change to the TouchDevelop directory:
+
+    cd TouchDevelop
+
+Install Jake tools and dev dependencies:
+
+    npm install -g jake
     npm install
 
 Build the tree
 
-    jake
+Use one of the following to build and test:
+
+    jake            # Build locally
 
 ## how to run this thing locally
 
 After building, you can run TouchDevelop from a local node server by running
 
     td
-
-## how do i run the tests
-
-Just write test...
-
-    test