How to Give Feedback on a freeCodeCamp Article

Here at freeCodeCamp, our mission is to provide high-quality educational content on programming and technology topics to millions of learners around the world. Each week, we publish dozens of new articles covering everything from fundamental HTML and CSS to advanced machine learning techniques.

While all of our articles go through a rigorous editing and review process, occasionally some problems can still slip through the cracks and make it into published posts. Typos, broken code examples, factual inaccuracies, and even plagiarism have all found their way into freeCodeCamp articles over the years, despite our editors‘ best efforts.

This is where you, the reader, play an essential role. Your feedback helps alert us to issues in articles so we can investigate and make corrections quickly, ensuring freeCodeCamp‘s content is always accurate, functional, and original. We hugely appreciate our readers taking the time to report problems they notice – you are all an extension of our editing team!

The good news is, letting us know about an issue you‘ve spotted in a freeCodeCamp article couldn‘t be easier. You simply have to email us at editorial[at]bomberbot[dot]org with a few key details and we‘ll take it from there. Let‘s break down how to report different types of problems you might encounter.

How to Report Typos

Typos are by far the most common type of issue readers report to us. Even with multiple editors reviewing each article, it‘s inevitable that a missing word, misspelling, or errant punctuation mark will sneak by us on occasion. But rest assured, we want to squash every last typo, no matter how small!

Here‘s what to do if you spot a typo in a freeCodeCamp article:

1. Copy the URL of the article and paste it into your email
2. If possible, take a screenshot of the typo and attach it to your email
3. In your email, tell us the typo you found and where in the article it appears
4. Hit send and our editorial team will hop on it!

Sending a screenshot is extremely helpful for us to pinpoint exactly where the typo is. If you‘re unsure how to take a screenshot on your device, here are some quick instructions:

• On a Mac, press Command + Shift + 4, then click and drag over the area you want to capture
• On a PC, press the Windows key + Shift + S, then click and drag over the area you want to capture
• On an iPhone/iPad, press the power and volume up buttons at the same time
• On an Android device, hold down the power button and volume down key at the same time

The captured image will be saved to your desktop or camera roll where you can attach it to your email.

While one little typo may seem minor, we believe it‘s important to maintain a highly professional standard across all freeCodeCamp content. Your reports help us uphold that standard.

How to Report Broken Code Samples

Many freeCodeCamp articles include code snippets demonstrating key programming concepts and techniques. Our technical editors do their best to make sure all code is accurate and functional at the time of publication. However, mistakes can happen, dependencies can change, and even the best code will often degrade over time.

If you come across a code sample in one of our articles that doesn‘t seem to be working right, here‘s how you can report it:

1. Copy the URL of the article and paste it into your email
2. In your email, clearly describe the problem you encountered with the code sample
   • What doesn‘t work? What error messages appear?
   • What is the expected behavior that isn‘t happening?
   • Which specific lines of code seem to be the issue?
3. If you have an idea for how to fix the code, please share your solution!
4. Attach a screenshot of the broken code and/or your proposed fix if possible
5. Send it over to us at editorial[at]bomberbot[dot]org

The more detail you‘re able to provide about the broken code, the faster we‘ll be able to reproduce and resolve the problem. If you‘re able to take a crack at debugging it yourself and come up with a solution, that‘s extremely helpful. Our technical editors are always happy to review reader-submitted fixes!

As an example, let‘s say you found this JavaScript code snippet in one of our articles:

function addNumbers(x, y) {
  return x + y;
}

console.log(addNumbers[3, 4]);

At first glance this looks okay, but the alert reader will notice the function is being called incorrectly on the last line. It should use parentheses, not square brackets. The correct invocation is:

console.log(addNumbers(3, 4));

Spotting errors like this in code samples is hugely valuable for us. Never hesitate to report anything that looks off to you, even if you aren‘t 100% sure it‘s a real problem. We‘ll take a look and figure it out!

How to Report Factual Inaccuracies

With the vast scope of topics covered on freeCodeCamp and the rapid pace of change in the tech world, it‘s an enormous challenge to ensure every claim made in every article is 100% accurate, all the time. While we do source information carefully and cross-reference facts, some inaccuracies will inevitably make their way into print.

If you read something in a freeCodeCamp article that you know or suspect to be factually inaccurate, we want to investigate it right away. Here‘s how to report it to us:

1. Copy the URL of the article and paste it into your email
2. In your email, specify the passages/claims you believe to be inaccurate
   • Paste in direct quotes or copy the sentences in question
3. Most critically, provide evidence and sources that show the information is inaccurate
   • Link to authoritative references contradicting the article‘s claims
   • Explain how you know the statement to be untrue
   • If you‘re an expert on the topic yourself, state your credentials
4. If possible, suggest a correction for the inaccurate information
5. Fire off your email to editorial[at]bomberbot[dot]org

When reporting factual inaccuracies, hard evidence is key. We can‘t take your word for it that something in an article is untrue. You need to show us authoritative sources that directly disprove the claim in question. The more unimpeachable your counter-evidence is, the more credence we can give to your report.

Try to be as specific and objective as possible when highlighting factual problems. Opinions and interpretations of facts can differ, and that alone doesn‘t mean an article contains inaccuracies. Focus on discrete, verifiable statements that are unambiguously untrue.

If you have subject matter expertise in the domain of the article, please let us know your background so we can weigh that in our assessment. But be aware that even experts can sometimes get things wrong, so expertise alone isn‘t definitive proof of an article‘s inaccuracy.

Let‘s look at an example of how you might report a factual inaccuracy. Imagine you came across this passage in a freeCodeCamp article introducing CSS:

"CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. It was first proposed in 1994 by Håkon Wium Lie and added to browsers in 1996, becoming an official W3C standard in 1998."

While most of that information looks correct, the alert reader will know that CSS did not in fact become a W3C recommendation (the organization‘s term for a ratified standard) in 1998. According to the W3C, the CSS1 spec wasn‘t officially recommended until December 1996, and CSS2 in May 1998.

To properly report this inaccuracy, you would copy the full sentence and then link to the W3C‘s list of CSS spec releases which clearly shows the correct dates:

https://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/specs.en.html

You could also quote the specific line confirming CSS1 was first recommended in 1996:

"17 Dec 1996: CSS level 1 Recommendation"

And suggest this correction for the article text:

"CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. It was first proposed in 1994 by Håkon Wium Lie, and the initial CSS1 specification officially became a W3C Recommendation in December 1996. CSS2 followed as a Recommendation in May 1998."

See how much more effective a factual inaccuracy report is when you provide sources, evidence, specifics, and solutions? The clearer and more complete your report is, the easier it will be for us to verify the issue and implement corrections.

How to Report Plagiarism

Of all the issues discussed here, plagiarism is by far the most serious. Plagiarism is the practice of copying someone else‘s work and passing it off as your own without proper credit or citation. It is a form of intellectual theft and academic dishonesty that freeCodeCamp takes very seriously.

If a writer copies words from another source and uses them in their own article without quotation marks or attribution, that‘s plagiarism. If a writer takes ideas, information, or code written by someone else and presents them as their own original concepts, that‘s plagiarism.

While most freeCodeCamp writers understand that plagiarism is unacceptable, occasionally some do cross the line, intentionally or not. Plagiarism can take a number of forms:

• Verbatim (word-for-word) copying of text from another source without citing the original
• Paraphrasing or lightly rewriting other people‘s content without attributing them
• Translating non-English text and presenting the resulting English content as original writing
• Using custom graphics, tables, or data visualizations without crediting their creators
• Copying code snippets without disclosing the original author

As a general rule, if content in a freeCodeCamp article looks suspicious to you – the style and tone strongly reminds you of something you‘ve seen before, or the information seems unlikely to be common knowledge – it may be worth looking into whether the content is original.

If you do find compelling evidence that an article contains plagiarized content, please report it to us immediately at editorial[at]bomberbot[dot]org. Here‘s what to include:

1. The URL of the freeCodeCamp article you believe contains plagiarism
2. The specific passages you believe were plagiarized (verbatim quotes if possible)
3. The URL(s) of the original source(s) showing the content was copied
4. Any additional evidence or details that suggest plagiarism has occurred
5. If you generated any reports from plagiarism-detection software, attach those as well

The more clearly you can document the plagiarism, the better. We know it isn‘t easy to report this kind of thing, but we hugely appreciate our readers looking out for content theft. We will investigate all plagiarism reports comprehensively and, if confirmed, remove the offending articles and take appropriate action with the authors.

As an original publisher of educational content, maintaining trust with our readers and properly crediting all sources are of utmost importance to freeCodeCamp. We will not tolerate any instances of plagiarism.

You Make freeCodeCamp Better

To all the eagle-eyed readers out there who have reported problems in freeCodeCamp articles over the years: thank you. You make freeCodeCamp better each time you send us a thoughtful bug report or correction request.

Never hesitate to reach out and let us know when you find something in our articles that doesn‘t seem quite right. We‘re always listening at editorial[at]bomberbot[dot]org and will address every piece of feedback you submit.

Together, through a collaborative effort between our staff and our community, we can ensure freeCodeCamp continues delivering the highest-quality technical education content on the internet.

Thanks again, and happy coding!