update README and CONTRIBUTE, and the installation guide.

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -1,10 +1,20 @@
 # Welcome to pref_voting!
 
-This is a small project, so the best way to contribute is to simply get in contact with Wes Holliday ([email protected]) and Eric Pacuit ([email protected]) or to post an [issue](https://github.com/voting-tools/pref_voting/issues).
+This is a small project, so if you have any questions about the project or how to contribute, then the best thing to do is get in contact with Wes Holliday ([email protected]) and Eric Pacuit ([email protected]).  
+
+## How to contribute
 
-Further comments:
-- Documentation is available at https://pref-voting.readthedocs.io/.
 - If you would like to contribute but don't have a concrete idea, please
 contact us directly (Wes Holliday, [email protected] and Eric Pacuit, [email protected]).
-- If there is a voting method that you think should be included in the package, please let us know.  
+- If there is a voting method that you think should be included in the package, please let us know by posting an [issue](https://github.com/voting-tools/pref_voting/issues).  
 - If you have code that you would like to contribute, feel free to clone the repository and submit a pull request (PR) once your version is functional. We can then review and discuss your code. You're also welcome to contact us before submitting a PR.
+
+## Report issues or problems with the software
+
+- If you encounter any issues or bugs, please post an [issue](https://github.com/voting-tools/pref_voting/issues)
+
+## Seek support 
+
+- There is extensive documentation available at https://pref-voting.readthedocs.io/.
+- You can explore some of the voting methods implemented in the package by vising [https://pref.tools/pref_voting](https://pref.tools/pref_voting).
+- There are a number of helpful notebooks in the [howto directory](https://github.com/voting-tools/pref_voting/tree/main/howto) of the repository that demonstrate how to use the package.

README.md

@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 pref_voting
 ==========
 
+> [!NOTE]
+> - [**Documentation**](https://pref-voting.readthedocs.io/)
+> - [**Installation**](https://pref-voting.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation.html)  
+> - [**Example Notebooks**](https://github.com/voting-tools/pref_voting/tree/main/howto)  
+> - [**Example Elections**](https://github.com/voting-tools/election-analysis)
+> - [**► pref_voting web app**](https://pref.tools/pref_voting/)
+
+See the [COMSOC community page](https://comsoc-community.org/tools) for an overview of other software tools related to Computational Social Choice.
+
 ## Installation
 
 The package can be installed using the ``pip3`` package manager:
@@ -11,10 +20,7 @@ pip3 install pref_voting
 
 Note: If you have both Python 2 and Python 3 installed on your system, make sure to use ``pip3`` instead of pip to install packages for Python 3. Alternatively, you can use ``python3 -m pip`` to ensure you're using the correct version of pip. If you have modified your system's defaults or soft links, adjust accordingly.
 
-
-## Documentation
-
-Online documentation is available at [https://pref-voting.readthedocs.io](https://pref-voting.readthedocs.io).
+See the [installation guide](https://pref-voting.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation.html) for more detailed instructions.
 
 ## Example Usage
 
@@ -30,7 +36,7 @@ rankings = [
     (1, 2, 0, 3), 
     (1, 3, 2, 0)]
 
-rcounts = [5, 3, 2, 4, 3] # 5 voters submitted the first ranking ((0, 1, 2, 3)), 3 voters submitted the second ranking, and so on.
+rcounts = [5, 3, 2, 4, 3] # 5 voters submitted the first ranking (0, 1, 2, 3), 3 voters submitted the second ranking, and so on.
 
 prof = Profile(rankings, rcounts=rcounts)
 
@@ -63,13 +69,15 @@ split_cycle.display(prof) # display the winning candidates
 
 Consult the documentation [https://pref-voting.readthedocs.io](https://pref-voting.readthedocs.io) for a complete overview of the package. 
 
+Additional notebooks that demonstrate how to use the package can be found in the [howto directory](https://github.com/voting-tools/pref_voting/tree/main/howto)
+
 ## Testing
 
 To ensure that the package is working correctly, you can run the test suite using [pytest](https://docs.pytest.org/en/stable/). The test files are located in the `tests` directory. Follow the instructions below based on your setup.
 
 ### Prerequisites
 
-- **Python 3.8 or higher**: Ensure you have a compatible version of Python installed.
+- **Python 3.9 or higher**: Ensure you have a compatible version of Python installed.
 - **`pytest`**: Install `pytest` if it's not already installed.
 
 ### Running the tests
@@ -93,6 +101,10 @@ For more detailed output, add the -v or --verbose flag:
 pytest -v
 ```
 
+## Contributing
+
+If you would like to contribute to the project, please see the [contributing guidelines](CONTRIBUTING.md).
+
 ## Questions?
 
 Feel free to [send an email](https://pacuit.org/) if you have questions about the project.

docs/source/installation.rst

@@ -1,10 +1,21 @@
 Installation
 ================
 
-
 ``pref_voting`` is available on pypi and can be installed using pip.
 
 .. code-block:: shell
 
-    pip install pref_voting
+    pip3 install pref_voting
+
+Alternatively, you can install the latest development version from source:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+    git clone https://github.com/voting-tools/pref_voting
+    pip3 install .
+
+Requirements:
+
+* Python 3.9+
+* The following pip packages are required and installed automatically:  filelock, scipy, networkx, tabulate, matplotlib, nashpy, numba, ortools, pathos, preflibtools, prefsampling, and seaborn