Choose your code of conduct

[github-learning-lab]

Choose a CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md for your organization's open source repository

We'll create a CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md template file.

This template will be recommended for all of your organization's repositories. Unlike the CONTRIBUTING.md, it should not be customized by the maintainers.

A user's experience in your open source project will become a reflection of your brand. How will you protect contributors from harassing or belittling behavior? What will you do when someone is behaving inappropriately? Adding a code of conduct to your projects will promote and facilitate healthy behavior within your community.

Partners in this process

You may want to @ mention the individuals responsible for Diversity, Inclusion and Communication to be your partners in this step.

Why your project needs a code of conduct

For more information on why a code of conduct is a good idea, check out the article opensource.guide: Your Code of Conduct.

Using an established code of conduct

Thought leaders on establishing healthy behaviors in the open source community have joined forces to develop some fantastic drop-in codes of conduct. GitHub makes it easy to drop these established documents in to any project. To read directions on how to use this drop-in code, check out this help documentation.

Here are the drop-in codes of conduct currently supported by GitHub:

• Contributor Covenant
• Citizen Code of Conduct

Adding a code of conduct to an existing project

If you already have an open source project, it is easy to add a code of conduct:

If you consume or contribute to a project that does not have a code of conduct, you should not be shy about suggesting one to the project maintainers.

Should you customize the code of conduct?

It is generally acceptable to customize the code of conduct to meet your organization's needs, however we find the examples developed by the open source community are very good and will meet the needs of the majority of organizations. If you are interested in creating your own, check out some of these examples for inspiration:

• Django Code of Conduct
• Python Community Code of Conduct and Diversity Statement
• Ubuntu Code of Conduct
• Geek Feminism Code of Conduct

Step 4: Code of conduct

Decision Time Decide which code of conduct you will use for your projects. Will you promote the use of an established template or create your own? Based on your decision, follow the path outlined below:

⌨️ Activity: Choose a code of conduct

If you want to use an established code of conduct

1. Create a new code of conduct from a template.
2. Fill in your information on the right side.
3. Click Review and submit.
4. Review the code of conduct and scroll to the bottom of the page.
5. Write a descriptive commit message.
6. Make sure that the option to "create a new branch" is selected, and click Commit new file.
7. Create a new pull request to add a code of conduct.

If you want to use a custom code of conduct

1. Create a new pull request for your custom code of conduct.
2. Enter your code of conduct in the text area.
3. Write a descriptive commit message.
4. Select Create a new branch for this commit and start a pull request.
5. Click Propose new file.
6. Enter the following title for your pull request: Create CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

---

I'll respond in your new pull request.