diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 0249977e1e6..cbec44b389b 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Contributing to logstash
+# Contributing to Logstash
 
 All contributions are welcome: ideas, patches, documentation, bug reports,
 complaints, etc!
@@ -10,44 +10,44 @@ That said, some basic guidelines, which you are free to ignore :)
 
 ## Want to learn?
 
-Want to lurk about and see what others are doing with logstash? 
+Want to lurk about and see what others are doing with Logstash? 
 
 * The irc channel (#logstash on irc.freenode.org) is a good place for this
-* The [mailing list](http://groups.google.com/group/logstash-users) is also
+* The [forum](https://discuss.elastic.co/c/logstash) is also
   great for learning from others.
 
 ## Got Questions?
 
-Have a problem you want logstash to solve for you? 
+Have a problem you want Logstash to solve for you? 
 
-* You can email the [mailing list](http://groups.google.com/group/logstash-users)
-* alternately, you are welcome to join the IRC channel #logstash on
+* You can ask a question in the [forum](https://discuss.elastic.co/c/logstash)
+* Alternately, you are welcome to join the IRC channel #logstash on
 irc.freenode.org and ask for help there!
 
 ## Have an Idea or Feature Request?
 
-* File a ticket on [github](https://github.com/elasticsearch/logstash/issues), or email the
-  [mailing list](http://groups.google.com/group/logstash-users), or email
-  me personally (jls@semicomplete.com) if that is more comfortable.
+* File a ticket on [GitHub](https://github.com/elastic/logstash/issues). Please remember that GitHub is used only for issues and feature requests. If you have a general question, the [forum](https://discuss.elastic.co/c/logstash) or IRC would be the best place to ask.
 
 ## Something Not Working? Found a Bug?
 
 If you think you found a bug, it probably is a bug.
 
-* File it on [github](https://github.com/elasticsearch/logstash/issues)
-* or the [mailing list](http://groups.google.com/group/logstash-users).
+* If it is a general Logstash or a pipeline issue, file it in [Logstash GitHub](https://github.com/elasticsearch/logstash/issues)
+* If it is specific to a plugin, please file it in the respective repository under [logstash-plugins](https://github.com/logstash-plugins)
+* or ask the [forum](https://discuss.elastic.co/c/logstash).
 
 # Contributing Documentation and Code Changes
 
 If you have a bugfix or new feature that you would like to contribute to
 logstash, and you think it will take more than a few minutes to produce the fix
-(ie; write code), it is worth discussing the change with the logstash users and developers first! You can reach us via [github](https://github.com/elasticsearch/logstash/issues), the [mailing list](http://groups.google.com/group/logstash-users), or via IRC (#logstash on freenode irc)
+(ie; write code), it is worth discussing the change with the Logstash users and developers first! You can reach us via [GitHub](https://github.com/elastic/logstash/issues), the [forum](https://discuss.elastic.co/c/logstash), or via IRC (#logstash on freenode irc)
+Please note that Pull Requests without tests will not be merged. If you would like to contribute but do not have experience with writing tests, please ping us on IRC/forum or create a PR and ask our help.
 
 ## Contribution Steps
 
-1. Test your changes! Run the test suite ('make test') 
+1. Test your changes! [Run](https://github.com/elastic/logstash#testing) the test suite
 2. Please make sure you have signed our [Contributor License
-   Agreement](http://www.elasticsearch.org/contributor-agreement/). We are not
+   Agreement](https://www.elastic.co/contributor-agreement/). We are not
    asking you to assign copyright to us, but to give us the right to distribute
    your code without restriction. We ask this of all contributors in order to
    assure our users of the origin and continuing existence of the code. You