Contributing to a Project with a Pull Request

Let's actually contribute some code back to the open source project. 0:00 We already created a fork of the hello-treehouse Project earlier. 0:04 Let's clone your version of the repository locally, make the fix and 0:07 create a pull request. 0:12 For this video we'll use your local environment and 0:13 I'll walk you through each step. 0:16 First, let's make sure we have a copy of the fork repository locally. 0:19 To find the fork repository from the GitHub dashboard, 0:23 click on the context switch or on the top left, and choose our organization's name. 0:26 Now you should see a list of repositories on the right. 0:31 Let's click the hello-treehouse repository. 0:34 We'll copy the URL from GitHub and then go to our terminal. 0:37 We'll run git clone and paste the URL. 0:42 Then we'll move into the hello-treehouse folder and I'll clear our console. 0:47 To make a change, the first thing we'll want to do is create a branch. 0:53 By creating a branch, we're creating an easy way for us to create a pull request. 0:57 If you remember in the git basics course you can create a branch using git checkout 1:01 -b and let's call this branch fix treehouse-bug. 1:07 Great now we have a new branch and git has automatically moved us on to that branch. 1:12 Now let's make the simple fix. 1:16 If I open up the start.rb file using vim, we can see, there's the error. 1:19 We're raising a runtime error that says, 1:26 don't start it will explode, let's remove that. 1:29 I'm gonna save this file, and then now let's add this change to git, 1:32 And we'll create a new commit. 1:39 Add a simple commit message, And then Save the commit. 1:41 Last but not least we need to push this change to GitHub. 1:50 We'll do that by running git push origin fix-treehouse-bug, and add our user name. 1:53 All right, we've created the branch, made the fix, and pushed it up to GitHub. 2:06 Now, let's go create our pull request. 2:11 Let's go back to the fork of the hello-treehouse project on 2:14 the GitHub site. 2:17 You'll notice now that there's this new section called recently pushed 2:18 branches are fixed treehouse bug branches here and now we can 2:22 easily create a pull request by clicking on the Compare and pull request button. 2:26 This looks a lot like the pull request window we saw earlier in the course, but 2:33 there is one big difference. 2:37 This pull request is comparing our fork to the original project. 2:38 This means that we're trying to move this code from our fork into the original 2:42 projects master branch. 2:47 This is how most open source projects get changes from contributors. 2:48 The contributor forks creates a branch and then opens a pull request between their 2:52 forks branch and the original projects master branch. 2:57 Now let's fill in this pull request form, 3:00 similar to how we submitted the open source issue let's add a clear name. 3:02 GitHub already provides a sub title from the commit that we created, and 3:07 then let's describe the change that we made. 3:11 Great, for a more complex pull request or a real open source project, 3:24 there are a few other guidelines that are worth following. 3:28 These extra guidelines are often spelled out in the projects read me or 3:32 in a contributing file, but I'll share a few now. 3:35 It's best to include tests, every time you make a change to an open-source project, 3:38 add a unit test to cover what you've changed. 3:43 This helps maintainers know that the code does exactly what you say it does. 3:46 Include screenshots if it's a visual change. 3:50 This saves maintainers time so 3:53 they don't need to test out your change in a variety of browsers. 3:55 Always make your changes in the style of the project. 3:59 Even though you may have a preferred way of solving a coding problem, 4:03 or a certain style you'd like to stick to make sure your change fits in with 4:07 the larger project. 4:11 Now let's add a cross reference back to the issue that we created earlier in 4:12 the course. 4:17 Let's type a # sign, and find the issue we created in the last video. 4:18 Once we find it we can click Enter and 4:24 it will populate a link to the issue inside the pull request. 4:26 If we use the phrase Closes #1 when this 4:29 PR gets merged the issue will be automatically closed. 4:33 Now all we need to do is click Create pull request. 4:38 Now it's up to the maintainer to decide if they'd like to merge the changes that 4:43 you've created. 4:47 >> It's important to remember that not all pull requests will get merged. 4:48 This doesn't mean your poor quest was bad or wrong, sometimes the maintainer will 4:52 disagree with the approach or know about another change that's already underway. 4:57 Submitting a pull request at all is a big accomplishment. 5:01 So don't worry if your pull request isn't merged right away or at all. 5:05 Well, that's it you're well on your way to becoming a GitHub pro. 5:09 >> If you wanna check out even more ways to use GitHub, 5:13 head over the guides.github,com. 5:16 Remember, if you get stuck, you can ask for help in the Treehouse community. 5:18 >> Thanks for taking this course with us, we'll see around Treehouse. 5:22