Your first contribution #

Choose one of the three. Each takes less than an hour the first time.

Contents #

1. Option A: fix a help page
2. Option B: report a bug
3. Option C: your first pull request with code
4. After your first contribution

Option A: fix a help page #

1. Create a free GitHub account if you have none.
2. On the help page with the mistake, follow Edit on GitHub.
3. GitHub offers to fork the repository; accept. Correct the text in the browser.
4. Write a short commit message that starts with what the change does, for example Updated: The help page on searching names the search filters correctly (the prefixes are Added:, Updated:, Fixed:, Removed:, Renamed:; CONTRIBUTING.md, "Making Changes").
5. Propose the change as a pull request and describe in one sentence what was wrong.

The repository keeps a manifest of all files, share/filelist.md5, and CI checks it. If the check fails on your pull request, its summary "shows the lines to change" (CONTRIBUTING.md, "Submitting Changes"); a reviewer can help.

Option B: report a bug #

1. Open Report an error in the help of your administration (exphelp/report). It "fills in a summary of the installation for you and opens a new issue with a prepared title and text" (When something goes wrong).
2. Search the tracker first; if the bug is known, add what you know to the existing issue.
3. Write the steps, what you expected and what happened. Remove anything private.
4. Watch the issue and answer questions from maintainers.

Some behavior that looks like a bug is deliberate, or open to interpretation, and other sites depend on it. If a maintainer calls it a negative feature, the discussion is not over: explain your use case, and expect a change to come as an option and only after careful review.

Filing a bug has the details.

Option C: your first pull request with code #

1. Fork se7enxweb/exponential and clone your fork.
2. Run composer install and set up a test installation (Develop with Git).
3. Run make hooks once: the hooks check the commit message, the PHP syntax, the code style and the manifest (CONTRIBUTING.md, "Submitting Changes").
4. Create a branch, for example git checkout -b fix/typo-in-setup-message.
5. Make one small change, test it, and commit with a prefixed message.
6. Update the manifest with make manifest-fix if your change adds, changes or removes a file.
7. Push to your fork and open a pull request. Tick the CLA checkbox of the template once your signed CLA is on file (The CLA explained).

Good first changes: a wrong message text, a missing translation string, a broken link in a template, a test for a bug that is already fixed.

After your first contribution #

• Expect questions and several review rounds; that is normal (Reviewing and being reviewed).
• Note what you did (Tracking your contributions).
• Do a second one in the same area; repetition is how people become trusted contributors (From user to contributor).

Related pages #

• Contributing as a community member
• Mentoring a first contribution
• Develop with Git
• When something goes wrong
• Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.