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CONTRIBUTING.md

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=================================== Contributing to Subrion CMS Project

About

This document provides a set of best practices for Subrion CMS contributions - bug reports, code submissions / pull requests, etc.

Submitting bugs

Due diligence

Before submitting a bug, please do the following:

  • Perform basic troubleshooting steps:

    • Make sure you're on the latest version. If you're not on the most recent version, your problem may have been solved already! Upgrading is always the best first step.
    • Try older versions. If you're already on the latest release, try rolling back a few minor versions (e.g. if on 4.0.x, try 3.3.x) and see if the problem goes away. This will help the devs narrow down when the problem first arose in the commit log.

  • Search the project's bug/issue tracker to make sure it's not a known issue.

  • If you don't find a pre-existing issue, consider checking with the user forums in case the problem is non-bug-related.

What to put in your bug report

Make sure your report gets the attention it deserves: bug reports with missing information may be ignored or punted back to you, delaying a fix. The below constitutes a bare minimum; more info is almost always better:

  • What version of PHP/MySQL/Apache are you using?

  • Which version or versions of the software are you using? Ideally, you followed the advice above and have ruled out (or verified that the problem exists in) a few different versions.

  • How can the developers recreate the bug on their end? If possible, include a copy of your code, or reproduce the steps in details, etc.

    • A common tactic is to pare down your code until a simple (but still bug-causing) "base case" remains. Not only can this help you identify problems which aren't real bugs, but it means the developer can get to fixing the bug faster.

Contributing changes

Version control branching

  • Use develop branch for development, don't use master branch. We reserve master branch for clear releases & tags.

  • Always make a new branch for your work, no matter how small. This makes it easy for others to take just that one set of changes from your repository, in case you have multiple unrelated changes floating around.

    • A corollary: don't submit unrelated changes in the same branch/pull request! The maintainer shouldn't have to reject your awesome bugfix because the feature you put in with it needs more review.

  • Base your new branch off of the appropriate branch on the main repository:

    • Bug fixes should be based on the branch named after the oldest supported release line the bug affects.

      • E.g. if a feature was introduced in 3.3, the latest release line is 4.0, and a bug is found in that feature - make your branch based on 3.3. The maintainer will then forward-port it to 4.0 and master.
      • Bug fixes requiring large changes to the code or which have a chance of being otherwise disruptive, may need to base off of develop instead. This is a judgement call -- ask the devs!

    • New features should branch off of the 'master' branch.

      • Note that depending on how long it takes for the dev team to merge your patch, the copy of develop you worked off of may get out of date! If you find yourself 'bumping' a pull request that's been sidelined for a while, make sure you rebase or merge to latest master to ensure a speedier resolution.

Code formatting

  • Follow the style you see used in the primary repository! Consistency with the rest of the project always trumps other considerations. It doesn't matter if you have your own style or if the rest of the code breaks with the greater community - just follow along.