Add install and contributing instructions

README.md

@@ -1,2 +1,41 @@
 # RevCityDocs
-Github Pages site for documentation for RevCity
+
+This GitHub repository stores the source code for the [documentation](https://americanphilosophicalsociety.github.io/RevCityDocs/) for [The Revolutionary City: A Portal for the Nation's Founding](https://therevolutionarycity.org) (Rev City). Though its primary audience is the staff who contribute material to Rev City, edits for the documentation are welcome.
+
+The documentation pages are written in [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/) and use the [Just the Docs](https://just-the-docs.com/) theme. Pages are written in Markdown. The site is published via [GitHub actions](https://jekyllrb.com/docs/continuous-integration/github-actions/).
+
+For help using Markdown, please take this [Markdown tutorial](https://www.markdowntutorial.com/) and see this [cheatsheet]().
+
+# Contributing
+
+Anyone can contribute to improving the documentation. 
+
+Rev City administrators should edit the Markdown files directly.
+
+For all others, please do one of the following:
+
+- Open an [issue](https://github.com/AmericanPhilosophicalSociety/RevCityDocs/issues) and describe the changes you would like to see;
+- Make a [pull request](https://github.com/AmericanPhilosophicalSociety/RevCityDocs/pulls) and propose changes yourself.
+
+# Editing and Running the Site Locally
+
+You can test and run the site locally through the following workflow.
+
+1. Install [Ruby](https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/downloads/) and [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/docs/).
+2. In your terminal, navigate to where you want to put the site, then clone this repo and move into the directory the process creates:
+
+```
+git clone https://github.com/AmericanPhilosophicalSociety/RevCityDocs.git
+cd RevCityDocs
+```
+3. Install the Jekyll dependencies:
+
+```
+bundle install
+```
+4. Run the site locally:
+
+```
+bundle exec jekyll serve
+```
+5. Navigate to http://localhost:4000/ to preview the site.