We expect contributors to abide by our underlying code of conduct. All conversations and discussions on GitHub (issues, pull requests) and across dev.to must be respectful and harassment-free.
All issues labeled with approved are up for grabs. For clarification on how we label issues, check out their definitions here.
When in doubt, ask a core team member! You can mention us in any issues or ask on the DEV Contributor thread. Any issue with the good first issue tag is typically a good place to start for anyone new to the project. For newer developers, try 'entry-level' issues.
Refactoring code, e.g. improving the code without modifying the behavior is an area that can probably be done based on intuition and may not require much communication to be merged.
Fixing bugs may also not require a lot of communication, but the more the better. Please surround bug fixes with ample tests. Bugs are magnets for other bugs. Write tests near bugs!
Building features is the area which will require the most communication and/or negotiation. Every feature is subjective and open for debate. If your feature involves user-facing design changes, please provide a mockup first so we can all get on the same page. As always, when in doubt, ask!
- Fork the project & clone locally. Follow the initial setup here.
- Create a branch, naming it either a feature or bug:
git checkout -b feature/that-new-featureorbug/fixing-that-bug - Code and commit your changes. Bonus points if you write a good commit message:
git commit -m 'Add some feature' - Push to the branch:
git push origin feature/that-new-feature - Create a pull request for your branch 🎉
Nobody's perfect. Something doesn't work? Or could be done better? Let us know by creating an issue.
PS: a clear and detailed issue gets lots of love, all you have to do is follow the issue template!
Some existing code may be poorly written or untested, so we must have more scrutiny going forward. We test with rspec, let us know if you have any questions about this!
- Try to keep the pull requests small. A pull request should try its very best to address only a single concern.
- Make sure all tests pass and add additional tests for the code you submit. More info here
- Document your reasoning behind the changes. Explain why you wrote the code in the way you did. The code should explain what it does.
- If there's an existing issue related to the pull request, reference to it by adding something like
References/Closes/Fixes/Resolves #305, where 305 is the issue number. More info here - If you follow the pull request template, you can't go wrong.
Please note: all commits in a pull request will be squashed when merged, but when your PR is approved and passes our CI, it will be live on production!
Whether you are stuck with feature implementation, first-time setup, or you just want to tell us something could be done better, check out our OSS thread or create an issue. You can also mention any core team member in an issue and we'll respond as soon as possible.
We are all humans trying to work together to improve the community. Always be kind and appreciate the need for tradeoffs. ❤️