Help out
Make one decision more trustworthy
A useful contribution leaves one decision clearer than it found it. Keep the change small, attach the source, and say who it helps. No account is required. Nothing is sponsored.
Where to start
Choose the smallest useful move
Choose the smallest change another person can check and use.
Correct a sourced claim
Add a better URL, date, or note. Keep claims neutral and values-relative.
OptionAdd a missing option
Fill a mainstream gap, values niche, or honest floor. More rows only help when they change a decision.
Build rulesReview compatibility
Test whether values, facts, group agreement, shared plans, and compatible apps stay portable.
New appPlan a new subject
Name the decision, audience, starter facts, values that carry over, and correction route before building.
MapImprove relationships
Make ownership, alternatives, resemblance, and practical paths more honest across subjects.
SupportBack the uncapturable core
Help keep the core open, static, no-account, and no-pay-to-rank.
New subject brief
Write the decision before the code
Before building a new app, name the choice, the people it should help, the facts it needs, and the values it can honestly compare.
Name the real choice
What should people rank, compare, switch, fund, avoid, or adopt?
Draft the starter set
List 8-20 options and 3-7 criteria that would be enough to test the subject honestly.
Map portable values
Say which broad values carry into the subject and which should remain visibly not transferred.
Plan the contribution route
Name how corrections, missing options, source disputes, and forks should reach maintainers.
A useful correction
From noticing to improving
Useful work should travel as a small, reviewable change: what changed, why it matters, where the evidence lives, and what decision becomes clearer.
Name the decision
Say which category, facts file, page, or app is affected.
Anchor the claim
Provide a URL, date, dataset, method note, or public record.
Make it specific
Propose the row, score, copy, relationship, or option that should change.
Leave a trail
Keep the rationale visible so others can inspect, accept, reject, or reverse it.
What to include
Make the next action obvious
A good contribution carries enough context that another person can verify it without guessing. Prefer one sharp correction over a broad wish.
Correct a sourced claim
Include the category, item, what should change, a source URL, and an as-of date.
Add a missing option
Name the category, region, why the option is mainstream or a values niche, and the sources that support the scores.
Request a category
Name the decision, who needs it, 5-10 recognizable options, and any open dataset or trusted source that could seed it.
Add an ownership or alternative link
Name both ends, the relation, why it changes a decision, and the source or computed basis.
Build a compatible app
Name the subject, likely users, starter source, license, and how the values file should carry over.
What does not help: affiliate pitches, unsourced scores, brand copy, vague "add more" requests, or pressure to rank by payment. No ads, no pay-to-rank, and no sponsored placement.
Keep the core independent
Files first; discussion can follow
The public core should keep working as files even if every optional community server disappears. Community discussion, ratings, identity, and moderation can arrive later as an opt-in layer, but the builder rules should never require it.
That keeps Values Commons useful to one person on a laptop and to a group passing files around at the same time.