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session-android/CONTRIBUTING.md
2-4601 ea5dc719c3 Improve CONTRIBUTING.md 
- add links to the community forum
 - remove references to the mailing list (as suggested by Riya)
 - clarify and emphasize why bumping is annoying

Closes #5261
//FREEBIE
2016-02-19 10:32:00 -08:00

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Contributing to Signal Android

Thank you for deciding to help this project! If you have contributed to other open source projects before please note that some conventions here might be a bit different than what you have been used to. Reading this document will save you, other contributors and the developers time.

Development Ideology

Truths which we believe to be self-evident:

  1. The answer is not more options. If you feel compelled to add a preference that's exposed to the user, it's very possible you've made a wrong turn somewhere.
  2. The user doesn't know what a key is. We need to minimize the points at which a user is exposed to this sort of terminology as extremely as possible.
  3. There are no power users. The idea that some users "understand" concepts better than others has proven to be, for the most part, false. If anything, "power users" are more dangerous than the rest, and we should avoid exposing dangerous functionality to them.
  4. If it's "like PGP," it's wrong. PGP is our guide for what not to do.
  5. It's an asynchronous world. Be wary of anything that is anti-asynchronous: ACKs, protocol confirmations, or any protocol-level "advisory" message.
  6. There is no such thing as time. Protocol ideas that require synchronized clocks are doomed to failure.

Translations

Please do not submit issues or pull requests for translation fixes. Anyone can update the translations in Transifex. Please submit your corrections there.

Issues

Useful bug reports

  1. Please search both open and closed issues first to make sure your issue is not a duplicate.
  2. Read the Submitting useful bug reports guide before posting a bug.

Issue tracker is for bugs

The main purpose of this issue tracker is to track bugs for the Android client. Relevant, concise and to the point comments that help to solve the issue are very welcome.

Send support questions to support

Please do not ask support questions at the issue tracker. We want to help you using Signal and we have created our support system just for that. You can reach support by sending email to support@whispersystems.org or by going to our Support Center. You can also search for existing troubleshooting articles at the Support Center.

Not a discussion forum

Please do not use this issue tracker as a discussion forum. Discussion related to the bug in question should of course go to the issue itself. However other discussion should take place at the community forum. You can use that forum to discuss any Signal related topics or to just hang out with your fellow users.

Don't bump issues

Every time someone comments on an issue, GitHub sends email to everyone who is watching the repository (currently around 500 people). Thus bumping issues with 👍s, me toos or asking for updates just generate unnecessary email notifications. Moreover bumping an issue does not help solving it. Please be respectful to everyone's time and try to only comment when you have relevant new information to add.

Open issues

If it's open it's tracked

Have you followed all the points in the Submitting useful bug reports guide but nobody has commented on your issue? Is there no milestone or person assigned to it? Don't worry, the developers read every issue and if it's open it means it's tracked and taken into account. It might just take time as other issues have higher priorities. And remember that this is an open source project: Anyone is encouraged to take an active role in fixing open issues.

Closed issues

"My issue was closed without giving a reason!"

Please understand that writing detailed explanations every time for every issue someone comes up with takes time. Sometimes a reason has been posted earlier to another related issue which you can search for. It's also possible that your issue was not in line with the guidelines of the project (see especially the Development Ideology). Or it was just simply decided that the issue is not something that Signal should do at this time.

Pull requests

Sign the Contributor Licence Agreement (CLA)

You need to sign our CLA before your pull request can be merged. You can sign it at: https://whispersystems.org/cla/

Follow the Code Style Guidelines

Before submitting a pull request please check that your code adheres to the Code style Guidelines.

Submit only complete PRs and test them

Please do not submit pull requests that are still a work in progress. Pull requests should be ready for a merge when you submit them. Also please do not submit pull requests that you have not tested.

Smaller is better

Please do not try to change too much at once. Big changes are less likely to be merged. If you are a first time contributor start with small and simple PRs to get to know the codebase.

Merging can sometimes take a while

If your pull request follows all the advice above but still has not been merged it usually means the developers haven't simply had the time to review it yet. We understand that this might feel frustrating. We are sorry!

Bithub

Accepted pull requests will be rewarded with Bitcoins! After your pull request has been merged you will automatically receive an email to the address you have specified as your Git commit email. Follow the instructions in the email to claim your coins. If you wish to submit your contribution for free please add the word FREEBIE in your Git commit message. You may wish to explore some previously merged commits to see how it all works.

How can I contribute?

Any one can help by

Gitter