move contributing information to contributing.md. Closes #429

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# Contributing to the R-Ladies Website
+
+We're always excited to welcome contributions to improve the R-Ladies website! 
+Whether you're a seasoned contributor or it's your first time, there are many ways you can help.
+Below are the key areas where we’d love your input:
+
+## Types of Contributions
+
+- **Write for our Blog**: [How to Add a New Blog Entry or Translation](https://guide.rladies.org/website/blog/)
+- **Add a New Language**: [Guide for Introducing a New Site Language](https://guide.rladies.org/website/language-new/)
+- **Update Press Appearances**: [Instructions for Adding Press Entries](https://guide.rladies.org/website/press/)
+- **Contribute a Chapter**: [Adding a Chapter Help Guide](https://guide.rladies.org/website/chapter/)
+- **Retire Former Chapter Organizers**: [Guide for Organizer Retirement](https://guide.rladies.org/website/organizers/)
+- **Update Mentoring Program Entries**: [Contributing to the Mentoring Page](https://guide.rladies.org/website/mentoring/)
+- **Modify Pretty URLs for R-Ladies Forms**: [How to Add/Modify Form URLs](https://guide.rladies.org/website/redirects/)
+- **Report Bugs**: [File a Bug Report](https://github.com/rladies/rladies.github.io/issues/new)
+- **Fix Issues**: Respond to or fix existing [issues](https://github.com/rladies/rladies.github.io/issues).
+
+## Getting Started
+
+### Working with the Repository
+- If you have write access, **create a branch** and make your changes there. Branch-based PRs will automatically generate a preview, making it easy to check your updates.
+- If you don’t have write access, **fork the repository**, make your changes, and submit a **Pull Request (PR)** when ready. Tag `@rladies/website` in your PR for a quicker review.
+
+### Setting Up Locally
+- To contribute efficiently, consider working with a local copy of the repository. Follow the [guide on working locally](https://guide.rladies.org/website/local/) to set up your environment and preview changes.
+
+## Submitting a Pull Request
+
+- Ensure your changes are properly tested and do not break existing features.
+- Provide a clear description of your changes in the PR.
+- Use meaningful commit messages that clearly convey what was done (`e.g., Fix typos in CONTRIBUTING.md`).
+
+## Questions or Help?
+
+If you have questions at any stage, feel free to ask! Tag `@rladies/website` in the issue tracker or PR, and someone from our team will assist you as soon as possible.
+
+Thank you for contributing!

README.md

@@ -11,26 +11,6 @@ The site is built with [hugo](https://gohugo.io/) and [netlify](www.netlify.com)
 
 Information about the site internals and setup can be found in the [R-Ladies Organisational Guide](https://guide.rladies.org/website/)
 
-## Contribute to the site development
-
-There are many types of contributions we are happy to receive, for instance:
-
-- [Blog guest entry](https://guide.rladies.org/website/blog/)
-- [Add a site language](https://guide.rladies.org/website/language-new/)
-- [Add a Press appearances](https://guide.rladies.org/website/press/)
-- [Adding a chapter](https://guide.rladies.org/website/chapter/)
-- [Retiring former chapter organizers](https://guide.rladies.org/website/organizers/)
-- [Adding Mentoring program entries](https://guide.rladies.org/website/mentoring/)
-- [Adding/changing a pretty URL to an R-Ladies form](https://guide.rladies.org/website/redirects/)
-- [Bug reports](https://github.com/rladies/rladies.github.io/issues/new)
-- Responding to and/or fixing [issues](https://github.com/rladies/rladies.github.io/issues)
-
-If you want to contribute to the site, the best option is to branch the repo if you have access.
-PRs from branches will render previews, while PRs from forks will not.
-If you do not have access to branch the repo, fork and PR when ready, and tag @rladies/website for review.
-
-[Learn more about working with a local git copy of the website](https://guide.rladies.org/website/fork-clone-pr/)
-
 ### Reports of bugs
 
 Please report any bugs or issues on the page on [github issues](https://github.com/rladies/rladies.github.io/issues).