Added documentation on sponsorships

docs/sponsorship.md

@@ -4,5 +4,93 @@ template: overrides/main.html
 
 # <span hidden>Sponsorship</span> :logo: :material-plus: :octicons-heart-fill-24:
 
-## Becoming a sponsor
+Material for MkDocs uses the [sponsorware][1] release strategy, which means that
+__new features are first exclusively released to sponsors__. Read on to learn 
+[how sponsorship works][2] and how you can [become a sponsor][3] to enjoy the 
+latest features before everybody else.
 
+  [1]: https://github.com/sponsorware/docs
+  [2]: #how-sponsorship-works
+  [3]: #how-to-become-a-sponsor
+
+## How sponsorship works
+
+__Material for MkDocs is split into a community edition and a sponsor edition__.
+
+New features will first land in the _sponsor edition_, which means that sponsors 
+will have access immediately. Every feature is tied to a funding goal in monthly 
+subscriptions. If this funding goal is hit, the feature is merged into the 
+_community edition_ and released to the public to be generally available. Bugs
+will be fixed in the community edition and merged back into the sponsor edition.
+
+See the [roadmap][4] for a list of available and upcoming features of the
+_sponsor edition_, and for demonstration purposes, [__the official docs built
+with the sponsor edition__][5].
+
+  [4]: #roadmap
+  [5]: https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material-next/
+
+## How to become a sponsor
+
+You've decided to become a sponsor? You're just __three easy steps__ away from 
+enjoying the latest features of Material for MkDocs. Complete the following
+steps and you're in:
+
+- Visit [squidfunk's sponsor profile][6] and pick a tier that includes exclusive
+  access to squidfunk's sponsorware, which is any tier above $10/month. Select
+  the tier and complete the checkout.
+- Within 24 hours, you will be added as a collaborator to a private GitHub 
+  repository, which contains a fork of Material for MkDocs with [brand new and 
+  exclusive features][7].
+- Create a [personal access token][8], which allows installing the _sponsor 
+  edition_ of Material for MkDocs from any destination, including other CI 
+  providers like [GitLab][9] or [Bitbucket][10].
+
+__Congratulations! :partying_face: You're now officially a sponsor and can use
+the sponsor edition until you decide to cancel your monthly subscription, which 
+you're free to do at any time.__
+
+  [6]: https://github.com/sponsors/squidfunk
+  [7]: #roadmap
+  [8]: https://docs.github.com/en/github/authenticating-to-github/creating-a-personal-access-token
+  [9]: https://gitlab.com
+  [10]: https://bitbucket.org
+
+## Roadmap
+
+The following list of funding goals – named after varieties of chili peppers 
+[I'm growing on my balcony][11] – show which features are already part of the 
+sponsor edition or yet to come.
+
+  [11]: https://www.instagram.com/squidfunk/
+
+### Madame Jeanette
+
+[:octicons-fire-24: Funding goal: __$500__][6] ·
+:octicons-lock-24: Status: _exclusively available_
+
+Improve search UI and UX to show relevant results more prominently, show missing 
+terms that were not found on a specific page and highlight terms found when 
+following a search result.
+
+- [x] #1790 – Added grouping of search results
+- [x] #1799 – Added missing query terms to search result
+- [x] #1799 – Improved search result relevance and scoring
+- [ ] TBD – Improved search result summaries
+- [ ] TBD – Added highlighting of query terms on target pages
+
+### Bhut Jolokia
+
+[:octicons-fire-24: Funding goal: __$1,500__][6] ·
+:octicons-lock-24: Status: _pending_
+
+Add native support to Material for MkDocs to build and deploy multiple versions
+of a single documentation project, with the help of a plugin.
+
+### Caribbean Red
+
+[:octicons-fire-24: Funding goal: __$3,000__][6] ·
+:octicons-lock-24: Status: _pending_
+
+Add an alternative, completely different _vertical layout_, optimized to read 
+documentation and code side-by-side, e.g. for the documentation of APIs.