docs: Update CONTRIBUTING.md instructions

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -18,6 +18,45 @@ For reporting issues and making feature suggestions please refer to the [issue t
 2. Install dependencies (not needed if only contributing documentation):
   - for the Python package: `pip install -r requirements.txt` into a Python 3.6+ environment
 
+### Building and Deploying Documentation  
+
+#### Overview of Documentation Files  
+
+The Sphinx documentation is composed of the following key files in the `sphinx/` directory:  
+- **`index.rst`**: The main entry point, containing the table of contents and an overview of the documentation structure.  
+- **Topic-specific `.rst` files**:  
+  - `api.rst`, `dataset.rst`, `metadata.rst`, `modules.rst`, `utils.rst`: These files contain detailed information about specific aspects of the project, such as APIs, datasets, and utility functions.  
+- **`conf.py`**: Configuration file for the Sphinx build system, specifying settings like extensions, themes, and project metadata.  
+- **Assets (`img/` folder)**: Includes images used in the documentation, such as `zen-logo.png`.  
+
+You can update these files to modify or expand the documentation.  
+
+#### Steps to Build and Deploy Documentation  
+
+1. **Clean and build the documentation**:  
+   Go to the project folder and run the following commands to clean and rebuild the Sphinx documentation:  
+   ```bash
+   make clean
+   make html
+   ```  
+   The generated documentation will be located in the `./sphinx/_build/html` folder.  
+
+2. **Deploy the documentation**:  
+   Update the `docs/` folder with the new documentation files:  
+   ```bash
+   rm -fr docs/*
+   cp -r sphinx/_build/html/* docs/
+   touch docs/.nojekyll
+   ```
+
+4. **Commit and push the changes**:  
+   Add the changes and commit using the `docs` type in the commit message format:  
+   ```bash
+   git add docs  
+   git commit -m "docs: update deployed documentation"  
+   git push  
+   ```  
+
 ### Development
 
 All changes to code and documentation should be made in a separate branch, created from an up-to-date local `main`. The **branch name** must refer a open issue (``i{ISSUE_ID}``):
@@ -28,7 +67,7 @@ git pull
 git checkout -b i0
 
 git add [CHANGED FILES]
-git commit -m "closes #0; [GENERAL COMMENT]"
+git commit -m "fix(scope): resolves #0; [GENERAL COMMENT]"
 
 git checkout main
 git pull
@@ -38,8 +77,6 @@ git push
 git branch -d i0
 ```
 
-When the changes are complete a merge request may be submitted from the development branch (if you have submitted a merge request with incomplete changes, please indicate that the branch is not to be merged yet in the title of the request).
-
 If you do not have the appropriate permissions to submit new branches to the **zen** repository, you may fork this repository into your own Github namespace and submit merge requests from there.
 
 ### Commit conventions