How to contribute using GitHub

This guide tells you how to request and edit a page using GitHub.

Prerequisites:

• Basic knowledge of Markdown. All you need to know is in the ElIXIR Toolkit THeme markdown cheat sheet
• A GitHub account. If you do not have one, create a free GitHub account before you start.

Announce and discuss your proposal through a GitHub Issue

1. Go to the Fed-A-Crate repo on GitHub.
2. Click “Issues” in the top menu bar and look at the existing issues. See if your idea or suggestion is already being discussed.
   • If an issue exists, comment and let people know if you want to contribute.
   • If no relevant issue exists, create a new one: click the green “New issue” button on the right and choose a template. You can find more information on creating issues in the GitHub documentation.
3. Discuss your idea with the editors through comments in the issues – you will be notified when others comment.
   • You can read the comments and write your opinion/questions/answers in the “Leave a comment” box. To submit your responses, click the green “Comment” button on the right.
   • You can always return to your opened issue by going to the issues section of our GitHub repo.

Start editing

1. Find where to edit on GitHub
   • If you want to contribute to an existing page, go to the page on the site and click the “Edit me” pencil icon next to the page title
   • If you want to create a new page, the editors will provide a link to the page as a comment in your GitHub issue. The page will come with a predefined template based on the kind of content you want to contribute.
2. You will be taken to the correct GitHub repository, where you will look for a pencil icon on the top right.

   

Submit your first draft

1. When you are happy with your first draft, go to the “Propose changes” section at the end of the page and write a title and a brief explanation of your changes.

   

2. Click “Propose changes”.
3. Create a pull request following GitHub’s documentation

   

4. In the description of your pull request, link the issue related to this change by typing a hashtag # and the issue number. Suggestions will appear.

   

Address editors’ reviews by editing your pull request

When editors add comments or add a review of your pull request, you will be notified. To address comments, you must edit your pull request:

1. Go to your pull request. You can return to it by going to the pull request section of our GitHub repo
2. • Click on “Files changed” in the top menu bar.

     

   • Click on the icon with 3 dots “…” of the file you want to edit and then click on “Edit file”.

     

   • Make your changes.
   • Click on “Commit changes”.
3. Follow GitHub documentation for more information.

When all the requests have been addressed, the editors will mark the conversation as “Resolved” and the proposed changes as “Approved”. This means your content is ready to be published on the main website.