Reach out for guidance
People in the tech industry are often criticized for their lack of “soft skills.” I don’t know about other industries, but working in tech, I find this to be true and I’m not immune to this either.
A common example of this are online forums (ex: StackOverflow), where developers may swiftly mark your question for closure or down vote it. You’re lucky if they specify the reason for their decision.
However, amidst this, I’ve found that some community members are helpful and eager to answer questions. This is particularly true for those people whose products you are using. Perhaps they have an incentive to see you succeed with their product, or maybe they’re just generally helpful.
In any case, it’s surprising how often key contributors to open-source projects respond, and usually quite promptly. Shoutout to Oscar Dudycz and Jeremy Miller. While at first reluctant to ask these guys questions on GitHub or Discord, thinking “I’m not worthy” of taking up their time, they took their time and guided me to a solution.
Moral of the story: Don’t be afraid to reach out for guidance. Look for the project’s GitHub page and ask there. Create an issue, or check if they have a Discussion section. Some more ambitious projects even have a Discord channel.
“Most people never pick up the phone and call. Most people never ask, and that’s what separates the people who do things from the people who just dream about them.”