A Guide to your first open source contribution

This project aims to simplify and guide the way beginners make their first contribution. If you are looking to make your first contribution, follow the steps below.

Requirements

Install Git on your machine

1. Fork this repository

Fork this repository by clicking on the fork button on the top of this page. This will create a copy of this repository in your account.

2. Clone the repository

Now clone the forked repository to your machine. Go to your GitHub account, open the forked repository, click on the code button and then click the copy to clipboard icon.

Open a terminal and run the following git command:

git clone "url you just copied"

Where "url you just copied" (without the quotation marks) is the url to this repository (your fork of this project). See the previous steps to obtain the url.

For example:

git clone git@github.com:this-is-you/initial-contribution.git

where this-is-you is your GitHub username. Here you're copying the contents of the first-contributions repository on GitHub to your computer.

3. Create a branch

Change to the repository directory on your computer (if you are not already there):

cd initial-contribution

Now create a branch using the git switch command:

git switch -c your-new-branch-name

For example:

git switch -c add-automation-mantis

4. Make changes and commit the changes

Now open Contributions.md file in a text editor, add your name to it. Don't add it at the beginning or end of the file. Put it anywhere in between. Now, save the file. If you go to the project directory and execute the command git status, you'll see there are changes.

Add those changes to the branch you just created using the git add command:

git add Contributions.md

Now commit those changes using the git commit command:

git commit -m "Add your-name to Contributions list"

replacing your-name with your name.

5. Push changes to github

Push your changes using the command git push:

git push -u origin your-branch-name

replacing your-branch-name with the name of the branch you created earlier.

If you get any errors while pushing, click here:

• Authentication Error

  remote: Support for password authentication was removed on August 13, 2021. Please use a personal access token instead.
  remote: Please see https://github.blog/2020-12-15-token-authentication-requirements-for-git-operations/ for more information.
  fatal: Authentication failed for 'https://github.com//initial-contribution.git/'

  Go to GitHub's tutorial on generating and configuring an SSH key to your account.

6. Submit your changes for review

If you go to your repository on GitHub, you'll see a Compare & pull request button. Click on that button.

Now submit the pull request.

What next

Soon I'll be merging all your changes into the main branch of this project. You will get a notification email once the changes have been merged. You are allowed to delete the created branch.

Congrats! You just completed the standard fork -> clone -> edit -> pull request workflow that you'll often encounter as a contributor!

Tip!

Complete this twice to earn your first Github badge