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5 #+TITLE: How to contribute to Org?
7 #+EMAIL: mdl AT imapmail DOT org
12 # This file is the default header for new Org files in Worg. Feel free
13 # to tailor it to your needs.
15 [[file:index.org][{Back to Worg's index}]]
17 * Types of contributions
19 Every contribution to Org is very welcome. Here is a list of areas where
20 your contribution will be useful:
22 - you can submit *bug reports* -- Before sending a bug report, make sure
23 you have read this section of Org's manual: [[http://orgmode.org/org.html#Feedback][Feedback]] You can also read
24 this great text: "[[http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html][How to Send Bug Reports Effectively]]"
26 - you can submit *feature requests* -- Org is already mature, but new ideas
27 keep popping up. If you want to request a feature, it might be a good
28 idea to have a look at the current [[http://orgmode.org/worg/org-issues.html][Issue tracking file]] which captures
29 both bug reports and feature requests. Or dig into the mailing list for
30 possible previous discussions about your idea. If you cannot find back
31 your idea, formulate it as detailed as possible, if possible with
32 examples, and send it to the mailing list.
34 - you can submit *patches* -- You can submit patches to the mailing list.
35 See the [[For Org contributors: preferred way of submitting patches][Preferred way of submitting patches]] section for details.
37 If your patch is against a file that is part of Emacs, then your total
38 contribution (all patches you submit) should change /less than 15 lines/
39 (See the [[http://bzr.savannah.gnu.org/lh/emacs/trunk/annotate/head:/etc/CONTRIBUTE][etc/CONTRIBUTE file in GNU Emacs]].) If you contribute more, you
40 have to assign the copyright of your contribution to the Free Software
41 Foundation (see below).
43 - you can submit Org *add-ons* -- there are many Org add-ons. The best way
44 is to submit your code to the mailing list to discuss it with people. If
45 it is useful, you might consider contributing it to the =CONTRIB/=
46 directory in the git repository.
48 - you can submit material to the *Worg* website -- This website is made of
49 Org files that you can contribute to. Learn what Worg is [[file:worg-about.org][about]] and how
50 to contribute to it [[file:worg-git.org][through git]].
52 * Copyright issues when contributing to Emacs org-mode
54 Org is made of many files. Most of them are also distributed as part of
55 GNU Emacs. These files are called the /Org core/, and they are all
56 copyrighted by the [[http://www.fsf.org][Free Software Foundation, Inc]]. If you consider
57 contributing to these files, your first need to grant the right to include
58 your works in GNU Emacs to the FSF. For this you need to complete [[http://orgmode.org/request-assign-future.txt][this
59 form]], send it to [[mailto:assign@gnu.org][assign@gnu.org]], and tell the Org-mode maintainer when this
60 process is complete. Some people consider this a hassle. I don't want to
61 discuss this in detail here - there are some good reasons for getting the
62 copyright registered, an example is discussed in this [[http://twit.tv/floss117][FLOSS weekly podcast]].
63 Furthermore, by playing according to the Emacs rules, we gain the fantastic
64 advantage that every version of Emacs ships with Org-mode already fully
65 built in. So please consider doing this - it makes our work as maintainers
66 so much easier, because we can then take your patches without any
69 If you want to learn more about /why/ copyright assignments are
70 collected, read this: [[http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-assign.html][Why the FSF gets copyright assignments from
78 1. Send your public key to [[mailto:emacs-orgmode%20AT%20dunsmor%20DOT%20com][Jason Dunsmore]].
79 2. Wait for confirmation that your public key has been added to the server.
80 3. Clone =org-mode.git= repository like this:
81 : ~$ git clone orgmode@orgmode.org:org-mode.git
82 4. Commit your changes and push them.
84 If you are undertaking big changes, please create a dedicated branch for
87 * For Org contributors: preferred way of submitting patches
91 Org is part of Emacs, so any contribution should follow the [[http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/elisp/html_node/Coding-Conventions.html][GNU Emacs Lisp
92 coding conventions]] described in Emacs manual.
94 ** Sending patch with git
96 Org-mode is developed using /git/ as the version control system. Git
97 provides an amazing framework to collaborate on a project. Git can be used
98 to make patches and send them via email -- this is perfectly fine for minor
101 ** Patches get caught on patchwork
103 As long as these patches are formatted properly, they will be automatically
104 registered at [[http://patchwork.newartisans.com/project/org-mode][John Wiegley's patchwork server]] and will then be accepted,
105 rejected, or sent back to the author with a request for modification.
107 In this context, "formatted properly" means that the patches are included
108 either plainly in the mail text, or as text attachments (mime-type text,
109 subtypes "x-patch", "x-diff", or "plain"). In particular, binary types or,
110 even worse, "application/octet-stream" (the asinine default of some mail
111 programs) are *not* going to be recognized. Please find out how to
112 convince your mail program to send proper attachments. Also, if you
113 include the patch inline, please make sure that your mail program does not
114 reformat it (although there are plenty of places further down the line
115 where that can happen, unfortunately). If you attach the patch, then
116 reformatting is not a problem.
118 ** Sending quick fixes
121 This command will make a patch between the staging area (in your
122 computer), and the file you modified:
124 : git diff -p org-whatever.el > org-whatever.el.diff
126 If you already committed your changes to your index (staging area), then
127 you should compare against a particular branch (in this example,
130 : git diff -p origin/master org-whatever.el > org-whatever.el.diff
132 You email the output to the mailing list, adding =[PATCH]= to the
133 subject, and description of what you fixed or changed.
138 For more significant changes, you might want to work in several steps and
139 send each commit separately. Here is the suggested workflow
142 : ~$ git pull # make sure your repo is up to date
143 : ~$ git branch my-changes # create a new branch
144 : ~$ git checkout my-changes # switch to this new branch
146 ... make some changes (1) ...
148 : ~$ git commit -m "This is change (1)" # Commit your change
150 ... make another change (2) ...
152 : ~$ git commit -m "This is change (2)" # Commit your change
153 : ~$ git format-patch master # Creates two patches
155 ... Then two patches for your two commits are ready to be sent to the
156 list and detected by the patchwork server.
159 Write useful commit messages: unless your change is very small, please
160 provide 1) a reason for it in your email and 2) a ChangeLog entry in the
163 ** Sharing changes from a public branch
165 For more significant contributions, the best way to submit patches is
166 through public branches of your repository clone.
168 1. Clone our git repository at =http://orgmode.org/w/org-mode.git=
170 2. Create a repository that can be publicly accessed, for example on
171 /GitHub/, /repo.or.cz/, or on your own server.
173 3. Push your topic branches (and optionally the master branch) to your
176 Define a remote for your public repository you push topics to.
178 : git remote add REMOTE URL-GOES-HERE
180 Push branches to the remote
182 : git push REMOTE BRANCH1 [BRANCH2 BRANCH3 ...]
186 : git remote add github ssh://.../ # Done once to define the remote 'github'
187 : git push github my-topic
189 4. Do your work on topic-specific branches, using a branch name that
190 relates to what you are working on.
196 to pull commits from all defined remote repositories, in particular
197 the org-mode master at /repo.or.cz/.
199 6. When you have something workable, publish the git path and branch
200 name on the mailing list, so that people can test it and review
203 7. After your topic has been merged to the project master branch you
204 can delete the topic on your local and remote repositories.
206 : git branch -d NEWTOPIC
207 : git push REMOTE :NEWTOPIC
209 * Commit messages and ChangeLog entries
211 We have decided to no longer keep a ChangeLog file to record changes to
212 individual functions. In a modern version control system like git,
213 ChangeLog is duplicating information that should be in the commit message,
214 and it is the main cause of merge conflicts.
216 Instead, the change log entry should be part of the commit message. A
217 commit message should be constructed in the following way:
219 - Line 1 of the commit message should always be a short description of
220 the overall change. Line 1 does /not/ get a dot at the end.
221 - Line 2 is an empty line
222 - In line 3, the ChangeLog entry should start, in a similar format as
223 in the old ChangeLog files, but without the author information
224 (which is part of the commit anyway).
225 - After the changelog, another empty line should come before any
226 additional information that the committer wishes to provide in order
227 to explain the patch.
228 - If the change is a minor change made by a committer without
229 copyright assignment to the FSF, the commit message should also
230 contain the cookie =TINYCHANGE= (anywhere in the message). When we
231 later produce the ChangeLog file for Emacs, the change will be
232 marked appropriately.
234 Here is an example for such a message
237 Capture: Fix the case of using a template file
239 ,* lisp/org-capture.el (org-capture-set-plist): Make sure txt is a string
240 before calling `string-match'.
241 (org-capture-templates): Fix customization type.
242 ,* doc/org.texi (Capture): Document using a file for a template
244 The problem here was that a wrong keyword was given in the
245 customization type. This let to a string-match against a list value.
247 Modified from a patch proposal by Johan Friis.
252 If you are using /magit.el/ in Emacs, The ChangeLog-like such entries are
253 easily made by pressing =C= in the diff listing. Another option to make
254 the entries is to use `C-x 4 a' in the changed function. This will create
255 entries in the ChangeLog file, and you can then cut and paste these to the
256 commit message and remove the indentation.
258 * Copyrighted contributors to Org-mode
260 Here is the list of people who have contributed actual code to the
261 Org-mode core. Note that the manual contains a more extensive list
262 with acknowledgments, including contributed ideas! The lists below
263 are mostly for house keeping, to help the maintainers keep track of
266 ** Current contributors
268 :CUSTOM_ID: contributors_with_fsf_papers
271 Here is the list of people who signed the papers with the Free Software
272 Foundation and can now freely submit code to Org files that are included
280 6. Barry Leonard Gidden
285 11. Brian James Gough
289 15. Christopher League
290 16. Christopher Miles Gray
291 17. Christopher Suckling
294 20. Daniel M. Hackney
305 31. Jeffrey Ryan Horn
311 37. Konstantin Antipin
312 38. Lawrence Mitchell
323 49. Miguel A. Figueroa-Villanueva
354 These people have been asked to sign the papers, and they are
355 currently considering it or a request is being processed by the FSF.
361 These people have submitted tiny change patches that made it into Org
362 without FSF papers. When they submit more, we need to get papers
363 eventually. The limit is a cumulative change of 20 non-repetitive
364 change lines. Details are given in [[http://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/maintain.html#Legally-Significant ][this document]].
370 (this list may be incomplete - please help to complete it)
374 These people cannot or prefer to not sign the FSF copyright papers,
375 and we can only accept patches that do not change the core files (the
376 ones that are also in Emacs).
378 Luckily, this list is still empty.
380 #+BEGIN: timestamp :string "Last update: " :format "%Y-%m-%d @ %H:%M"