diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6c014d063
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+**Please provide the following information**
+
+libtorrent version (or branch):
+
+platform/architecture:
+
+compiler and compiler version:
+
+please describe what symptom you see, what you would expect to see instead and
+how to reproduce it.
+
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.rst b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..210554e2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+For general contribution guidelines, see `www.contribution-guide.org`__
+
+.. __: http://www.contribution-guide.org/
+
+bug reporting checklist
+.......................
+
+Please keep in mind that there are at least 3 different ways of building
+libtorrent (boost-build, autotools and cmake). There are also a number of build
+time configuration options (``TORRENT_*`` macros). If it may be relevant, please
+include how libtorrent was built in your bug report.
+
+boost-build is the authoritative build platform and autotools is the
+authoritative package tool. If there's a problem with a build script, please
+consider posting a pull request with a fix.
+
+Please be explicit about the behavior you see, ideally boil it down to its
+essentials and provide example code, calling into libtorrent, reproducing the
+problem.
+
+For bittorrent protocol level issues, please include session, torrent and peer
+level logs. The logs are available as alerts in libtorrent 1.1 and later (and
+have to be enabled).
+
+For tracker issues, please include a wireshark dump of the tracker announce
+and response. It may be useful to also include session and torrent logs.
+
+pull request checklist
+......................
+
+When creating a pull request, please consider the following checklist:
+
+* make sure both travis-CI and appveyor builds are green. Note that on gcc and
+  clang warnings are treated as errors. Some tests may be flapping, if so,
+  please issue a rebuild of the specific build configuration. (I'm working on
+  making all tests deterministic)
+* please make sure to add appropriate comments. For client-facing changes,
+  update the documentation comments in the public header (accepts restructured
+  text)
+* If adding a client-facing feature, please add brief entry to ``ChangeLog``
+* Add a unit test (``tests``) or a regression test (``simulations``) to confirm
+  the new behavior or feature. Don't forget negative tests (failure cases) and
+  please pay as much care to tests as you would production code.
+* if your patch adds a new .cpp file, please make sure it's added to the
+  appropriate ``Jamfile``, ``Makefile.am`` and ``CMakeList.txt``. If it's adding
+  a header file, make sure it's added to ``include/libtorrent/Makefile.am``.
+
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 90bad7ea5..6a4581ef6 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -37,23 +37,3 @@ options are available. For python bindings, see `the python docs`__.
 .. __: docs/building.rst
 .. __: docs/python_binding.rst
 
-pull request checklist
-......................
-
-When creating a pull request, please consider the following checklist:
-
-* make sure both travis-CI and appveyor builds are green. Note that on gcc and
-  clang warnings are treated as errors. Some tests may be flapping, if so,
-  please issue a rebuild of the specific build configuration. (I'm working on
-  making all tests deterministic)
-* If adding a user-facing feature, please add brief entry to ``ChangeLog``
-* Add a unit test to confirm the new behavior or feature. Don't forget negative
-  tests (i.e. failure cases) and please pay as much care to tests as you would
-  production code.
-* rebase on top of master periodically
-* if your patch is against the current stable release branch, please also
-  forward-port the patch to master (at the time of this writing, automatic
-  merge in git does not work, possibly because the branch was created in svn)
-* if your patch adds a new .cpp file, please make sure it's added to the
-  appropriate ``Jamfile``, ``Makefile.am`` and ``CMakeList.txt``. If it's adding
-  a header file, make sure it's added to ``include/libtorrent/Makefile.am``.