1 #+TITLE: How to contribute to Org?
3 #+EMAIL: mdl AT imapmail DOT org
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7 #+TAGS: Write(w) Update(u) Fix(f) Check(c)
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}]]
19 :CUSTOM_ID: types-of-contributions
22 Every contribution to Org is very welcome.
24 - You can [[file:donate.org][make a donation]].
26 - You can check the community's *requests for help* on
27 [[https://updates.orgmode.org/#help][updates.orgmode.org]] and subscribe to [[https://updates.orgmode.org/feed/help][this RSS feed]] to track them.
29 - You can *fix bugs* referenced on [[https://updates.orgmode.org/#bugs][updates.orgmode.org]] and subscribe to
30 [[https://updates.orgmode.org/feed/bugs][this RSS feed]].
32 - You can try to *reproduce bugs*: subscribe to [[https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacs-orgmode][Org's mailing list]] and
33 monitor new unreferenced bugs. Try to reproduce them. If you can
34 reproduce a bug, reply to the OP and add =X-Woof-Bug: confirmed= to
35 your mail headers, the bug will then pop up on [[https://updates.orgmode.org/][updates.orgmode.org]].
37 - You can *help other users by replying to their questions* [[file:org-mailing-list.org][on the
38 mailing list]] or on [[file:org-web-social.org][other web places]].
40 - You can *send bug reports*. Before sending a bug report, make sure
41 you have read the [[https://orgmode.org/org.html#Feedback][Feedback]] section of Org's manual or this other
42 great text: [[http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html][How to Send Bug Reports Effectively]]
44 - You can *submit patches* to the mailing list. See the [[For Org
45 contributors: preferred way of submitting patches][Preferred way of
46 submitting patches]] section for details. You can run =make test=
47 to check that your patch does not introduce new bugs.
49 If your patch is against an Org file that is part of Emacs, then
50 your total contribution (all patches you submit) should change /less
51 than 15 lines/ (See the [[http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/tree/CONTRIBUTE][CONTRIBUTE file in GNU Emacs]].) If you
52 contribute more, you have to assign the copyright of your
53 contribution to the Free Software Foundation (see below).
55 - You can *contribute to Worg*. Learn what Worg is [[file:worg-about.org][about]] and how to
56 contribute to it [[file:worg-git.org][through git]].
58 - You can *write add-ons*. The best way is to submit your code to
59 [[file:org-mailing-list.org][the mailing list]] to discuss it with
60 people. If you decide to sign the [[*Copyright issues when
61 contributing to Emacs Org mode][assignment contract with the FSF]],
62 we might include your contribution in the distribution, and then in
65 - You can *share ideas and feature requests*. Org is already mature,
66 but new ideas keep popping up. If you want to request a feature,
67 first dig into [[file:org-mailing-list.org][the mailing list]] to find similar proposals. If you
68 cannot find any, subscribe to [[file:org-mailing-list.org][the mailing list]], read it for a while,
69 then make your proposal. Formulate it as detailed as possible, if
70 possible with examples.
77 Org developers are those who have write access to the repository.
81 Please read Worg's page on [[https://orgmode.org/worg/org-maintenance.html][Org maintenance]].
83 ** Pushing your first commit
85 1. Send [[mailto:bzgATgnuDOTorg][Bastien]] the username you want for https://code.orgmode.org
86 2. Add your public key to your account, once its creation is confirmed
87 3. Clone =org-mode.git=: =~$ git clone git@code.orgmode.org:bzg/org-mode.git=
88 4. Commit your changes against the code and the documentation
90 6. If the tests pass, push your changes
92 If you are undertaking big changes, please create a dedicated branch
93 locally and make sure you have a clean commit history before merging
94 it into the maint or master branch.
96 * Preferred way of submitting patches
101 ** Coding conventions
103 Org is part of Emacs, so any contribution should follow the [[http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Coding-Conventions.html][GNU Emacs
104 Lisp coding conventions]] described in Emacs manual.
106 ** Sending patch with git
108 Please use Git to make patches and send them via email -- this is
109 perfectly fine for major and minor changes.
111 When sending a patch (either using =git diff= or =git format-patch=)
112 please *always add a properly formatted Emacs ChangeLog entry*. See
113 [[#commit-messages][this section]] for details on how to create such a ChangeLog.
117 For every patch you send, we suggest to use =git format-patch=.
119 This is easy for small patches and more consequent ones. Sometimes,
120 you might even want to work in several steps and send each commit
121 separately. Here is the suggested workflow:
124 : ~$ git pull # make sure your repo is up to date
125 : ~$ git branch my-changes # create a new branch from master
126 : ~$ git checkout my-changes # switch to this new branch
128 ... make some changes (1) ...
130 : ~$ git commit -a -m "This is change (1)" # Commit your change
132 ... make another change (2) ...
134 : ~$ git commit -a -m "This is change (2)" # Commit your change
135 : ~$ git format-patch master # Creates two patches
137 ... Then two patches for your two commits are ready to be sent to
141 To finally send the patches, you can either add them as attachments to
142 your email, or use [[https://git-scm.com/docs/git-send-email][git send-email]], if it's properly configured.
144 Write useful commit messages: please provide 1) a reason for it in
145 your email and 2) a ChangeLog entry in the commit message (see [[#commit-messages][this
146 section]] on how to format a ChangeLog entry.)
148 ** Sending quick fixes for testing purpose
150 If you want to send a quick fix that needs to be further tested by
151 other people (before you submit a real patch), here is how you can do:
154 This command will make a patch between the staging area (in your
155 computer), and the file you modified:
157 : git diff -p org-whatever.el > org-whatever.el.diff
159 If you already committed your changes to your index (staging area), then
160 you should compare against a particular branch (in this example,
163 : git diff -p origin/master org-whatever.el > org-whatever.el.diff
165 You email the output to the mailing list, adding =[PATCH]= to the
166 subject, and description of what you fixed or changed.
169 Note that small patches sent like this still need to have a ChangeLog
170 entry to be applied. If your patch looks good to you, it's always
171 better to send a patch through =git format-patch=.
173 ** Sharing changes from a public branch
175 When discussing important changes, it is sometimes not so useful to
176 send long and/or numerous patches.
178 In this case, you can maintain your changes on a public branch of a
179 public clone of Org and send a link to the diff between your changes
180 and the latest Org commit that sits in your clone.
182 If the discussion settles and your change is accepted, you can now
183 send it as (a list of) patch(es) to the latest Org version.
185 * Commit messages and ChangeLog entries
187 :CUSTOM_ID: commit-messages
190 We have decided to no longer keep a ChangeLog file to record changes
191 to individual functions.
193 A commit message should be constructed in the following way:
195 - Line 1 of the commit message should always be a short description of
196 the overall change. Line 1 does /not/ get a dot at the end and does
197 not start with a star. Generally, it starts with the filename that
198 has been changed, followed by a colon.
200 - Line 2 is an empty line.
202 - In line 3, the ChangeLog entry should start. A ChangeLog entry
203 looks like [[https://orgmode.org/cgit.cgi/org-mode.git/commit/?id%3Dd49957ef021e256f19092c907d127390d39ec1ed][this]]:
205 : * org-timer.el (org-timer-cancel-timer, org-timer-stop): Enhance
207 : (org-timer-set-timer): Use the number of minutes in the Effort
208 : property as the default timer value. Three prefix arguments will
209 : ignore the Effort value property.
211 - After the changelog, another empty line should come before any
212 additional information that the committer wishes to provide in order
213 to explain the patch.
215 - If the change is a minor change made by a committer without
216 copyright assignment to the FSF, the commit message should also
217 contain the cookie =TINYCHANGE= (anywhere in the message). When we
218 later produce the ChangeLog file for Emacs, the change will be
219 marked appropriately.
221 - Variables and functions names are quoted like `this' (backquote and
224 - Sentences should be separated by two spaces.
226 - Sentences should start with an uppercase letter.
228 - Avoid the passive form: i.e., use "change" instead of "changed".
230 Here is an example for such a message:
233 org-capture.el: Fix the case of using a template file
235 ,* lisp/org-capture.el (org-capture-set-plist): Make sure txt is a
236 string before calling `string-match'.
237 (org-capture-templates): Fix customization type.
239 ,* doc/org.texi (Capture): Document using a file for a template.
241 The problem here was that a wrong keyword was given in the
242 customization type. This let to a string-match against a list value.
244 Modified from a patch proposal by Johan Friis.
249 If you are using [[https://magit.vc/][magit]] in Emacs, the ChangeLog for such entries can be
250 produced by pressing =C= (for ~magit-commit-add-log~) on the diff chunks
251 of a staged file. (If you prefer storing your ChangeLog entries in a
252 file, you can also use =C-x 4 a=
253 (~magit-add-change-log-entry-other-window~) from within magit display of
256 Another option to produce the entries is to use `C-x 4 a' in the
257 changed function or in the diff listing. This will create entries in
258 the ChangeLog file, and you can then cut and paste these to the commit
259 message and remove the indentation.
261 - Further reference: [[http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/plain/CONTRIBUTE][Contribution guide from Emacs repo]]
263 * Copyright issues when contributing to Emacs Org mode
265 :CUSTOM_ID: copyright-issues
268 Org is made of many files. Most of them are also distributed as part
269 of GNU Emacs. These files are called the /Org core/, and they are all
270 copyrighted by the [[http://www.fsf.org][Free Software Foundation, Inc]].
272 If you consider contributing to these files, your first need to grant
273 the right to include your works in GNU Emacs to the FSF. For this you
274 need to complete [[https://orgmode.org/request-assign-future.txt][this form]], and send it to [[mailto:assign@gnu.org][assign@gnu.org]].
276 The FSF will send you the assignment contract that both you and the
277 FSF will sign. Please let the Org mode maintainer know when this
280 If you want to learn more about /why/ copyright assignments are
281 collected, read this: [[http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-assign.html][Why the FSF gets copyright assignments from
284 By submitting patches to =emacs-orgmode@gnu.org= or by pushing changes
285 to Org's core files, you are placing these changes under the same
286 licensing terms as those under which GNU Emacs is published.
289 ;; GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
290 ;; it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
291 ;; the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
292 ;; (at your option) any later version.
295 If at the time you submit or push these changes you do have active
296 copyright assignment papers with the FSF, for future changes to either
297 Org mode or to Emacs, this means that copyright to these changes is
298 automatically transferred to the FSF.
300 The Org mode repository is seen as upstream repository for Emacs,
301 anything contained in it can potentially end up in Emacs. If you do
302 not have signed papers with the FSF, only changes to files in the
303 =contrib/= part of the repository will be accepted, as well as very
304 minor changes (so-called /tiny changes/) to core files. We will ask you
305 to sign FSF papers at the moment we attempt to move a =contrib/= file
306 into the Org core, or into Emacs.
308 * Copyrighted contributors to Org mode
310 :CUSTOM_ID: copyrighted-contributors
313 Here is the list of people who have contributed actual code to the Org
314 mode core. Note that the manual contains a more extensive list with
315 acknowledgments, including contributed ideas! The lists below are
316 mostly for house keeping, to help the maintainers keep track of
319 ** Current contributors
321 :CUSTOM_ID: contributors_with_fsf_papers
324 Here is the list of people who signed the papers with the Free Software
325 Foundation and can now freely submit code to Org files that are included
342 - Andrzej Lichnerowicz
349 - Barry Leonard Gidden
365 - Christopher Miles Gray
366 - Christopher Schmidt
367 - Christopher Suckling
368 - Clément Pit--Claudel
371 - Daniel M.\nbsp{}Hackney
372 - David Arroyo Menéndez
379 - Emmanuel Charpentier
382 - Eric S.\nbsp{}Fraga
389 - Francesco Pizzolante
392 - George Kettleborough
396 - Grégoire Jadi (aka Daimrod)
398 - Henning Dietmar Weiss
423 - Jonathan Leech-Pepin
425 - José L.\nbsp{}Doménech
435 - Kevin Brubeck Unhammer
444 - Leonard Avery Randall
455 - Mark A.\nbsp{}Hershberger
465 - Miguel A.\nbsp{}Figueroa-Villanueva
480 - No Wayman (Nicholas Vollmer)
483 - Pedro Alexandre Marcelino Costa da Silva
491 - Protesilaos Stavrou
495 - Rasmus Pank Roulund
500 - Robert Michael Irelan
514 - Siraphob Phipathananunth
529 - Thomas S.\nbsp{}Dye
533 - Timothy E Chapman (TEC)
534 - Titus von der Malsburg
549 - Yuri D.\nbsp{}Lensky
551 - Zhuo Qingliang (Killy Draw)
555 These people have been asked to sign the papers, and they are
556 currently considering it or a request is being processed by the FSF.
558 - Felipe Lema [2020-02-25 mar.]
559 - Brian Carlson [2016-05-24 Tue]
560 - Mats Kindahl (as of 2013-04-06) for [[http://mid.gmane.org/513BAB7D.1000603@oracle.com][this patch]]
565 These people have submitted tiny change patches that made it into Org
566 without FSF papers. When they submit more, we need to get papers
567 eventually. The limit is a cumulative change of 20 non-repetitive
568 change lines. Details are given in [[http://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/maintain.html#Legally-Significant ][this document]].
570 - Aaron L.\nbsp{}Zeng
572 - Abhishek Chandratre
576 - Alexandru-Sergiu Marton
586 - Arne Babenhauserheide
597 - Christian Schwarzgruber
614 - Francesco Montanari
619 - Greg Tucker-Kellogg
622 - Ivan Vilata i Balaguer
632 - Joaquín Aguirrezabalaga
641 - Konstantin Kliakhandler
643 - Leslie Harlley Watter
680 - Richard Y.\nbsp{}Kim (Kim)
683 - Robert P.\nbsp{}Goldman
687 - Saulius Menkevičius
688 - Sebastien Le Maguer
696 - Stefan-W.\nbsp{}Hahn
703 - Thomas Alexander Gerds
713 - Xavier Martinez-Hidalgo
718 - Zane D.\nbsp{}Purvis
721 (This list may be incomplete - please help completing it.)
725 These people cannot or prefer to not sign the FSF copyright papers,
726 and we can only accept patches that do not change the core files (the
727 ones that are also in Emacs).
729 Luckily, this list is still empty.
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