docs(CONTRIBUTING.md): misc improvements (catppuccin#1520)

Co-authored-by: Isabel <isabel@isabelroses.com>

Author: uncenter

docs/CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -1,15 +1,6 @@
-# Contributing!
+# Contributing
 
-🎉 First off, thanks for taking the time to contribute! 🎉
-
-## Guidelines
-
-The following is a set of guidelines for contributing to this repository. Use
-your best judgment, and feel free to propose changes to this document in a pull
-request.
-
-> [!IMPORTANT]
-> For new userstyles, make sure to see [userstyle-creation.md](./userstyle-creation.md) after reading this.
+If it is your first time contributing to a project on GitHub, please see the popular [first-contributions](https://github.com/firstcontributions/first-contributions) repository. This will give you hands-on experience with the features of GitHub required to make a contribution. As always, feel free to join our [Discord](https://discord.com/servers/catppuccin-907385605422448742) to ask any questions and clarify your understanding, we are more than happy to help!
 
 ## Development environment
 
@@ -21,35 +12,23 @@ When editing a userstyle, we suggest setting up live reloading so your local cha
 
 ### Assessing websites
 
-Some websites are, unfortunately, simply not meant for userstyles. For example, websites that have auto-generated classes (`aeN WR beA nH oy8Mbf`, `cfb2a888`, etc.) lead to unreadable and unmaintainable userstyles — they break quickly and are difficult for contributors besides the maintainer to update/maintain. For those reasons we recommend not attempting to theme such sites.
+Some websites are unfortunately not ideal for userstyles. Websites with auto-generated classes - think `aeN WR beA nH oy8Mbf`, `cfb2a888`, etc. - lead to unreadable and unmaintainable userstyles that break quickly and are difficult to update/maintain. Such userstyles, if created, will also take longer to review and merge.
 
-### Root variables
+### CSS variables
 
-While writing a userstyle, you may have come across [custom properties / CSS variables](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/--*), typically wrapped in a `:root` selector. We refer to these variables as "root variables", and they can be thought of as global variables used all across a website. For Catppuccin userstyles, we prefer that these variables are themed (if they exist) rather than individual elements. As the website hopefully uses these variables themselves, it saves yourself a lot of work in theming and maintaining the userstyle.
+While writing a userstyle, you may have come across [CSS variables](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/--*) (or "custom properties"). We prefer that these variables are used if present, rather than theming individual elements. As the website typically uses these variables itself, it saves a lot of work in theming and maintaining the userstyle.
 
 ### Opinionated changes
 
 When writing or updating a userstyle, it is important to keep in mind that different users have different preferences. To avoid lengthy discussion over user interface aesthetics, we have a set of rules for what a userstyle may include; importantly, **changes to font, layout, padding, margin, display, and in general anything besides color tweaks are prohibited.**
 
-### General recommendations
+### Pull requests
 
 - Create a [topic branch](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Branching-Branching-Workflows#_topic_branch) on your fork for your specific PR.
-- Catppuccin uses the [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/)
-  standard for creating explicit and meaningful commit messages. This repository
-  requires pull request _titles_ to be in the conventional commit format,
-  however we do not require it for individual commits within a pull request.
-- Update the version in the `==UserStyle==` header of the `catppuccin.user.css`
-  file. This is to enable version control of the style.
-- If it's your first time contributing to a project then you should look to the
-  popular [first-contributions](https://github.com/firstcontributions/first-contributions)
-  repository on GitHub. This will give you hands-on experience with the features
-  of GitHub required to make a contribution. As always, feel free to join our [Discord](https://discord.com/servers/catppuccin-907385605422448742) to ask
-  any questions and clarify your understanding, we are more than happy to help!
-- Changes to docs may need to use [marksman](https://github.com/artempyanykh/marksman) to generate the table of contents.
+- Catppuccin uses the [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/) standard for creating explicit and meaningful commit messages. This repository requires pull request _titles_ to be in the conventional commit format, however we do not require it for individual commits within a pull request.
+- It's better to have a draft pull request than no pull request at all. Having a draft lets others know that a userstyle is being worked on, and gives the opportunity for people to try it out ahead of time (if they really want it themed!).
 
-## Pull request review process
-
-It's better to have a draft pull request than no pull request at all. Having a draft lets others know that a userstyle is being worked on, and gives the opportunity for people to try it out ahead of time (if they really want it themed!).
+### Contribution review process
 
 ```mermaid
 graph TD;
@@ -63,7 +42,5 @@ graph TD;
     F -->|Changes made| F;
     E -->|Approved by userstyles staff| K;
     F -->|Approved by maintainer or userstyles staff| L[Merged by maintainer];
-    K[Waiting period*] --> M[Merged by userstyles staff];
+    K[Review period] --> M[Merged by userstyles staff];
 ```
-
-\*A waiting period is usually started if a website is particularly complex or for any other reason could not be thoroughly/completely tested. Waiting periods typically last between 1 and 2 days.