CONTRIBUTING.md
## Welcome!
We're so glad you're thinking about contributing to an 18F open source project!
If you're unsure about anything, just ask — or submit the issue or pull request
anyway. The worst that can happen is you'll be politely asked to change
something. We love all friendly contributions.
We want to ensure a welcoming environment for all of our projects. Our staff
follow the [18F Code of Conduct][code] and all contributors should do the same.
We encourage you to read this project's CONTRIBUTING policy (you are here), its
[LICENSE](LICENSE.md), and its [README](README.md).
If you have any questions or want to read more, check out the
[18F Open Source Policy GitHub repository][os-policy], or just
[shoot us an email](mailto:18f@gsa.gov).
[code]: https://github.com/18F/code-of-conduct/blob/master/code-of-conduct.md
[os-policy]: https://github.com/18f/open-source-policy
## Pull request guidelines
Please follow our [Git Protocol][git] and [Code Review][review] guidelines.
[Glen Sanford's thoughts on code reviews][thoughts] are also well worth
reading.
[git]: https://pages.18f.gov/development-guide/git-protocol/
[review]: https://github.com/18F/development-guide/tree/master/code_review
[thoughts]: http://glen.nu/ramblings/oncodereview.php
### Commit message style guide:
- Write your commit message summary in the imperative: "Fix bug" and not
"Fixed bug" or "Fixes bug." This convention matches up with commit messages
generated by commands like `git merge` and `git revert`.
- Under the summary, start by explaining why this change is necessary, and
add details to help the person reviewing your code understand what your
pull request is about.
- If the pull request fixes a GitHub issue, mention it at the bottom using
GitHub's syntax, such as `Fixes #123`.
Example:
```
Load seed using before(:suite) in RSpec config
**Why**:
- Loading the seed in a `before(:each)` block results in an unnecessary
database call before every single test, slowing down the test suite,
and making development less efficient.
**How**:
- Use `before(:suite)` instead, since the data that is loaded is not
meant to change, and so that only one database call is made.
- To prevent the data from being wiped out after each spec, configure
Database Cleaner to ignore those static tables.
Fixes #123
```
Note that we use [Overcommit] to enforce some of the commit message rules.
If this is your first time contributing to this repo, you will need to
sign your Overcommit configuration by running `overcommit --sign` before
being able to run `git commit`. See the [Security] section in the Overcommit
README for more details.
[Overcommit]: https://github.com/brigade/overcommit
[Security]: https://github.com/brigade/overcommit#security
### Additional notes on pull requests and code reviews
- Prioritize code reviews above your other work
- Review pull requests within 24 hours of being opened
- Keep pull requests as small as possible, and focused on a single topic
- Once a pull request is good to go, the code reviewer is the one who merges
it, then deletes the branch.
## Public domain
This project is in the public domain within the United States, and
copyright and related rights in the work worldwide are waived through
the [CC0 1.0 Universal public domain dedication][CC0].
All contributions to this project will be released under the CC0
dedication. By submitting a pull request, you are agreeing to comply
with this waiver of copyright interest.
[CC0]: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/