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Toledo, Ohio
United States

Contribute / Open Source, Public Domain

Help make it better.

This project belongs to the people who use it. Contributions can be as small as correcting a sentence or as ambitious as adding a new public resource for Toledo. Thoughtful improvements are welcome from designers, developers, photographers, writers, historians, and neighbors.

View the project on GitHubOpen an issue

Ways to contribute

  • Improve the system. Refine documentation, usage guidance, accessibility, responsive behavior, or the organization of brand resources.
  • Add useful assets. Contribute templates, export formats, production-ready files, or graphic tools that make the identity easier to use.
  • Share Toledo photography. Submit original or public-domain images with clear authorship, source information, and licensing details.
  • Strengthen the history. Correct dates, identify sources, add context, or help document the people and places behind the original sign.
  • Show the work. Share real applications of the system so others can learn from, adapt, and improve them.

Don’t know Git?

You do not need a GitHub account or development experience to contribute. Send alterations, visual concepts, new resource ideas, corrections, historical context, photography, writing, or examples of the brand in use. Include enough detail for someone else to understand the idea, along with source files and attribution when relevant.

Email contributions to contribute@betterintoledo.com.

Before you begin

Check the existing issues and pull requests before starting substantial work. For a larger addition or a change in direction, open an issue first and describe the problem, the proposed approach, and who it would help. That gives everyone a place to discuss the idea before time is invested in implementation.

Local development

  1. Fork or clone the repository.
  2. Use Node.js 22.12 or newer.
  3. Run npm install to install dependencies.
  4. Run npm run dev to start the Astro development server.
  5. Run npm run build before submitting your work.

The site is built with Astro and Tailwind CSS and should remain useful as server-rendered HTML. Add client-side JavaScript only when the interaction genuinely requires it.

Pull requests

Keep each pull request focused on one clear improvement. Explain what changed, why it changed, and how you verified it. Include screenshots for visual work, identify affected screen sizes, and note any decisions that future contributors should understand.

Preserve existing work unless the contribution explicitly replaces it. Use plain language, meaningful HTML, keyboard-accessible interactions, responsive layouts, and reduced-motion behavior where animation is present.

Assets, sources, and rights

Only contribute work you created or material that can legally become part of this public resource. Include the original source, creator, and license for photography, archival material, typefaces, and other third-party assets. Do not submit copyrighted material without permission.

By contributing original work, you agree that it may be released with the project under CC0 1.0, to the extent legally possible. Read more about the license.

AI-assisted work

AI-assisted tools may be used, but contributors remain responsible for every submitted word, image, source, and line of code. Review the result carefully, disclose meaningful AI involvement, verify factual claims and rights, and never use generated output as a substitute for consent, attribution, or local knowledge.

Be a good neighbor

Be direct, generous, and respectful. Critique the work rather than the person. Make room for people with different backgrounds and levels of experience. This project should be useful to Toledo, and working on it should feel like building something together.