#How to contribute to Gongkai AM
Look, we get it - GitHub can be a little intimidating. But never fear! Once you get the hang of it, it's really a great way to collaborate and share process knowledge. In this guide, we'll show what you need to do to get started.
##Get a username and log in. Perhaps this is obvious, but who knows. Click on "Sign up," create yourself an account, and set it to the free version.
##Go back to the Gongkai Machine Guides repository and begin to edit. Navigate back to the Gongkai AM Machine Guides repo, here. The screen should look a little different, as you'll be logged in now. Now find the machine guide that you want to edit - we'll start with the Arcam guide. If you want to start a machine guide for a new machine, there's a handy Machine Guide Template to help you get started. When you look at the file, you'll see a little pencil icon on the top right corner. If you click on that, you'll be taken to an edit window that lets you edit the text directly.
##Make your edits! All of our guides are written in Markdown text. Markdown is a little funky (there's a comprehensive guide to writing Markdown here), but it makes it very easy to write documents quickly. Go ahead and make your edits! Then click on the "Preview" tab and see what your changes will look like.
##Make a commit Committing is like saving your own version of the file - the original one is unchanged still. You can make a commit at the bottom of the "edit file" window. When you make a commit, write up some notes that describe your changes. Then click "Propose file change." You'll be brought to a page that shows your edits. Double check them and then click "Create pull request."
##Opening the pull request Pull requests are used when you think that your version of the file should replace the original. Again, you should write up some notes that describe what you've done, and then click "Create pull request" again.
##You're done! Now it's our job to look at your changes and, assuming they're reasonable, approve them and update the original file. You'll get an email when this happens, and we'll let you know if there are any issues that we see.
You can make as many changes or additions as you want - we'd love to have your input. If you need more help getting started, send a note to [Spencer Wright.](mailto:s@pencerw.com?subject=Gongkai help!)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
