chore(docs): add section to contributing docs about updating API docs - #853

Author: Scott Prue

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -6,14 +6,15 @@ First, thank you for considering contributing to react-redux-firebase! It's peop
 
 We welcome any type of contribution, not only code. You can help with 
 - **QA**: file bug reports, the more details you can give the better (e.g. screenshots with the console open)
-- **Marketing**: writing blog posts, howto's, printing stickers, ...
 - **Community**: presenting the project at meetups, organizing a dedicated meetup for the local community, ...
 - **Code**: take a look at the [open issues](issues). Even if you can't write code, commenting on them, showing that you care about a given issue matters. It helps us triage them.
 - **Money**: we welcome financial contributions as detailed in the [financial contributions section](#financial-contributions).
 
 ## Your First Contribution
 
-Working on your first Pull Request? You can learn how from this *free* series, [How to Contribute to an Open Source Project on GitHub](https://egghead.io/series/how-to-contribute-to-an-open-source-project-on-github).
+Working on your first Pull Request? Checkout the [contributing section of the docs](http://react-redux-firebase.com/docs/contributing.html) for hints on contributing to different pieces of the project.
+
+Want more general information on contributing to open source projects? Checkout this *free* series, [How to Contribute to an Open Source Project on GitHub](https://egghead.io/series/how-to-contribute-to-an-open-source-project-on-github).
 
 ## Submitting code
 
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ Financial contributions are welcomed through either [patreon](https://www.patreo
 ## Questions
 
 If you have any questions, create an [issue](issue) (protip: do a quick search first to see if someone else didn't ask the same question before!).
-You can also reach us at hello@react-redux-firebase.opencollective.com.
+You can also reach us on [gitter](https://gitter.im/redux-firebase/Lobby).
 
 ## Credits
 

docs/contributing.md

@@ -1,13 +1,31 @@
 # Contributing
 
 1. Fork to your account
-2. Make changes and push to YOUR fork of the repo (linting is run automatically on push, and tests/coverage are run on [Travis](https://travis-ci.org/prescottprue/react-redux-firebase))
-3. Create a pull request on [react-redux-firebase](https://github.com/prescottprue/react-redux-firebase) with a description of your changes
-4. Confirm that you have no merge conflicts that will keep the code from being merged
-5. Keep an eye on the Pull Request for comments/updates
+1. Make changes and push to YOUR fork of the repo (linting is run automatically on push, and tests/coverage are run on [Travis](https://travis-ci.org/prescottprue/react-redux-firebase))
+1. Test the changes within your project by npm linking your local version of ([described below]())
+1. Create a pull request on [react-redux-firebase](https://github.com/prescottprue/react-redux-firebase) with a description of your changes
+1. Confirm that you have no merge conflicts that will keep the code from being merged
+1. Keep an eye on the Pull Request for comments/updates
 
+## Docs
 
-## NPM Linking
+All docs are written in Markdown and contained within the `docs` folder.
+
+The API reference section of the docs lives within `docs/api` and is generated from JSDoc comments within the `src` when calling `npm run docs:build`.
+
+### Updating API Docs
+
+1. Go to the source code of the function which is having docs updated
+1. Change associated section of the comment above the function (i.e `@example` or `@description`)
+1. Run `npm run build:docs`
+1. Remove any `gitbook-` dependencies added to `package.json` during the process (due to but in gitbook-cli, see note below)
+1. Create a PR with from your fork to the `master` branch of this repo
+
+**NOTE**: Currently, during the build stage, gitbook adds gitbook dependencies to the `dependencies` section of `package.json`. This is not desired behavior - if you are making a PR with changes to the docs, make sure you have removed any `gitbook-*` dependencies from the package.json that may have been added while building docs
+
+## Library Source
+
+### NPM Linking
 
 It is often convenient to run a local version of `react-redux-firebase` within a project to debug issues. The can be accomplished by doing the following:
 
@@ -22,7 +40,7 @@ It is often convenient to run a local version of `react-redux-firebase` within a
 **NOTE**
 `npm run watch` can be used in your local `react-redux-firebase` folder to run a watch server that will rebuild as you make changes. Only the `commonjs` version is rebuild when using `npm run watch`. If using a different version, such as the `es` version, add watch flag to specific npm build command (i.e. `npm run build:es -- --watch`) to only rebuild that version when files are changed.
 
-### Troubleshooting
+#### Troubleshooting
 
 * `Module build failed: ReferenceError: Unknown plugin`: