Ticket #3658: contributing.diff

docs/contributing.txt

@@ -195 +195 @@
 ticket has or needs in order to be "ready for checkin":
 
     "Has patch"
-        The means the ticket has an associated patch_. These will be
+        This means the ticket has an associated patch_. These will be
         reviewed to see if the patch is "good".
 
     "Needs documentation"
@@ -212 +212 @@
         ready for checkin. This could mean the patch no longer applies
         cleanly, or that the code doesn't live up to our standards.
 
+A ticket can be resolved in a number of ways:
+
+    "fixed"
+        This state is used by one of the core developers once a patch has been rolled 
+        into Django, and the issue is fixed.
+
+    "invalid"
+        This state is used if the ticket is found to be incorrect, or a user error.
+
+    "wontfix"
+        Used when a core developer decides that this request is not appropriate for 
+        consideration in Django. This is usually chosen after discussion in the 
+        ``django-developers`` mailing list, and you should feel free to join in when
+        it's something you care about.
+
+    "duplicate"
+        This is used when, rather obviously, there's a duplicate ticket about the same
+        issue. By closing the extra tickets, we can keep all the discussion in one place
+        which helps everyone.
+
+    "worksforme"
+        This state is similar to ``invalid``, but is generally used to show that the
+        triage team was unable to replicate the original bug.
+
+If you believe that the ticket was closed in error, either because you're still having the 
+issue, or it's popped up somewhere else, or the triagers have made a mistake, please reopen
+the ticket and tell us why.
+
 .. _required details: `Reporting bugs`_
 .. _good patch: `Patch style`_
 .. _patch: `Submitting patches`_