If you are considering contributing to an Open Source project, you might be thinking, “where do I start and what should I take into account?” In order to help you out, we have prepared this short guide for you with some recommendations that will make your way into an Open Source project smoother.
- INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
If you are considering contributing to an Open Source project, we recommend you begin introducing yourself to the community with small contributions. Keep in mind that behind the software there is a human group. This means that, as in any human relationship, introducing yourself is a key step.
2. START WITH SMALL CONTRIBUTIONS.
Helping an Open Source project doesn’t necessarily mean writing complicated code. There are many other ways to help. For example, giving good feedback is a MAJOR contribution. If you detect an error, you will help a lot by writing a detailed report of the error and including it in the correct issue tracker, so that developers can understand the problem more easily while saving time in troubleshooting.
Another great help could be to improve the documentation: if you discovered an aspect that is not yet described in the documentation, you can modify the existing one so that the limitation you encountered is easily bypassed by someone else.
3. CONTRIBUTING WITH CODE.
Programming is the most advanced level of contribution and is always welcomed, but we recommend that, before taking this step, you start with simpler aspects, such as reporting a problem or improving the existing documentation. Bear in mind that a set of style standards are required to accept new contributions, so make sure you carefully read the Contribution Guide. That way, you’ll be informed of how to contribute to the project accurately. If the group of maintainers already know you when you make your first code contribution, it will be easier for them to understand why you made that modification (maybe, for example, you’re fixing the bug you reported earlier) and, therefore, you will have more chances of your contribution being accepted.
If you want to start contributing to Chordata Motion, you already know a few ways to do it. See you in the forum!