docs(contrib): add guide for Triaging Issues

Author: seanmonstar

docs/ISSUES.md

@@ -2,6 +2,68 @@
 
 The [issue tracker][issues] for hyper is where we track all features, bugs, and discuss proposals.
 
+## Triaging
+
+Once an issue has been opened, it is normal for there to be discussion
+around it. Some contributors may have differing opinions about the issue,
+including whether the behavior being seen is a bug or a feature. This
+discussion is part of the process and should be kept focused, helpful, and
+professional.
+
+The objective of helping with triaging issues is to help reduce the issue
+backlog and keep the issue tracker healthy, while enabling newcomers another
+meaningful way to get engaged and contribute.
+
+### Acknowledge
+
+Acknowledge the human. This is meant actively, such as giving a welcome, or
+thanks for a detailed report, or any other greeting that makes the person feel
+that their contribution (issues are contributions!) is valued. It also is meant
+to be internalized, and be sure to always [treat the person kindly][COC]
+throughout the rest of the steps of triaging.
+
+### Ask for more info
+
+Frequently, we need more information than was originally provided to fully
+evaluate an issue.
+
+If it is a bug report, ask follow up questions that help us get a [minimum
+reproducible example][MRE]. This may take several round-trip questions. Once
+all the details are gathered, it may be helpful to edit the original issue text
+to include them all.
+
+### Categorize
+
+Once enough information has been gathererd, the issue should be categorized
+with [labels][#labels]. Ideally, most issues should be labelled with an area,
+effort, and severity. An issue _can_ have multiple areas, pick what fits. There
+should be only one severity, and the descriptions of each should help to pick
+the right one. The hardest label to select is "effort". If after reading the
+descriptions of each effort level, you're still unsure, you can ping a
+maintainer to pick one.
+
+### Adjust the title
+
+An optional step when triaging is to adjust the title once more information is
+known. Sometimes an issue starts as a question, and through discussion, it
+turns out to be a feature request, or a bug report. In those cases, the title
+should be changed from a question, and the title should be a succict action to
+be taken. For example, a question about an non-existant configuration option
+may be reworded to "Add option to Client to do Zed".
+
+### Mentoring
+
+The last part of triaging is to try to make the issue a learning experience.
+After a discussion with the reporter, it would be good to ask if they are now
+interested in submitting the change described in the issue.
+
+Otherwise, it would be best to leave the issue with a series of steps for
+anyone else to try to write the change. That could be pointing out that a
+design proposal is needed, addressing certain points. Or, if the required
+changes are mostly know, a list of links to modules and functions where code
+needs to be changed, and to what. That way we mentor newcomers to become
+successful contributors of new [pull requests][PRs].
+
 ## Labels
 
 Issues are organized with a set of labels. Most labels follow a system of being prefixed by a "type".
@@ -47,3 +109,5 @@ The severity marks how _severe_ the issue is. Note this isn't "importance" or "p
 - **S-refactor**: improve internal code to help readability and maintenance.
 
 [issues]: https://github.com/hyperium/hyper/issues
+[COC]: ./CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
+[PRs]: ./PULL_REQUESTS.md