Barebones Guide to Contributing on GitHub

[tardy night]

Just the basics to get started with editing files on the GitHub web interface to make a PR. For more details (and working with Pakku to integrate new mods), check out the project documentation at https://github.com/TerraFirmaGreg-Team/Modpack-Modern/blob/dev/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md

Step 1: Create a GitHub Account https://github.com/signup

Step 2: Create a FORK of the REPOSITORY you are interested in - probably either https://github.com/TerraFirmaGreg-Team/Modpack-Modern for the main modpack (modifying recipes, ect.), or https://github.com/TerraFirmaGreg-Team/Tools-Modern for things like translation.

A REPOSITORY is a collection of files that lives on GitHub, while your FORK is your copy of the REPOSITORY that lives on GitHub under your name.

Optional: CLONE your FORKED REPOSITORY to your local device. A CLONE is another copy of the REPOSITORY that lives on your hard drive. This is usually something that most people working with GitHub will do since we like working with our own tools on our own PCs instead of a web interface, but it is not required.

[tardy night]

Step 3: Create a BRANCH to work/edit files in. Do this in your own FORK (yourgithub/TFG-Modpack-Modern), not the original TerraFirmaGreg-Team repository (TerraFirmaGreg-Team/TFG-Modpack-Modern). Click in the top left of the web interface, where it shows the default BRANCH "dev" (often named "master" or "main" in other projects, but it can be called anything really), and then "View all branches". On the following page, click the green "New branch" button at the top right. Use a descriptive name for the branch regarding what you're working on. The source by default should be your fork and the "dev" branch, which is fine.

Do not make changes directly to the "dev" branch unless you know what you're doing (If you're reading this, you do not know what you're doing. So don't do it).

Step 4: CHECKOUT to your newly created BRANCH to then edit files in it, by clicking the new branch's name in the Branches page, OR by using the dropdown menu on the main Code browser page.

Step 5: Use the code browser to navigate to the file you want to edit, and then hit the little pencil icon in the top right to edit that file.

Step 6: After making your changes, use the green button "Commit changes..." button in the top right to COMMIT your changes. (COMMIT means save). It will ask you to "Sign off and commit changes" (AKA press yes to confirm). It can be a good idea to use a descriptive commit message, but not required. You can also reconfirm your COMMIT is being written to the correct BRANCH here, or even create a new branch if you didn't do so earlier. Again, don't commit directly to "dev". If the top option says "Commit directly to the dev branch", don't do that. Did I mention you shouldn't make changes to the dev branch? Just checking.

[tardy night]

Step 7: After you're done COMMITING all the changes on all the files you want to make changes to, return to the home page of your FORK to make a PULL REQUEST. This is the process where you request for your changes to be pulled from your fork into the original project, to be approved by the maintainers of the original project.

If you followed the directions so far, the PULL REQUEST should automatically have you merging your changes from the correct BRANCH in your FORK to the "dev" BRANCH in the origin REPOSITORY. There should be a bunch of text in the description area already - if there isn't, you're probably making a PULL REQUEST to your own FORK, which isn't useful. Follow and fill out the PULL REQUEST as best you can, and add a descriptive title. The changes you made are shown be at the bottom, with DIFFS (differences from the original).

Step 8: Wait for your change to be reviewed and accepted. Do not ask when your changes will be reviewed or accepted, the maintainers will get to it when they get to it. Asking them directly to do so will not make it happen faster. It might even bother or annoy them, which directly opposes what you want to achieve, which is getting your changes accepted to the project. Do check for comments make changes if you get asked to make changes though. To update or make changes, just navigate to your branch on your fork and make new commits - the PR will automatically reflect the changes made.

Epilogue: After your PR gets accepted, rejected, or otherwise closed, you are free to delete your branch. You can do this from the PR, or from your fork. It's also a good idea to SYNC your fork before making a new branch. This can be done on the home page of your fork, and should be painless (You didn't make any changes or commit to your "dev" branch did you?).

Another common mistake when working on multiple things at the same time is making a branch of a branch (from something else you were working on). This gets messy quick. Make sure you make a branch from dev for each new thing you're working on.

@uneven crescent @eager brook

ayzer you're probably on step 7, but you can check the previous to see if you missed anything, particularly setting up your working branch. lemme know if you still have questions or if something doesn't look like my screenshots

[uneven crescent]

It's morning so I gonna look in like 14.00

[manic grove]

@uneven crescent

[uneven crescent]

I need change this somehow

[tardy night]

Looks like you got the pr to the right place, nice! For https://github.com/MVG31/Tools-Modern/pull/1, this one is in your own fork and you made a pull request from yourself, to yourself. You can close it. After your PR gets merged, you can use the sync fork button on your main page to get updated. I recommend making a new branch to keep working on additional files after this one gets merged, to keep things clean and updated.