|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +layout: doc |
| 3 | +title: Contributing |
| 4 | +order: 60 |
| 5 | +--- |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +# Contributing to the Documentation |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +There are several ways you can contribute to improving the Dovecot |
| 10 | +documentation. |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | +## Submitting Fixes and Improvements |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +If you are familiar with Git and [GitHub](https://github.com/), you can |
| 15 | +submit your changes directly to the documentation repository. |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +1. **Fork the repository:** Start by creating a fork of the official |
| 18 | + [Dovecot documentation repository](https://github.com/dovecot/documentation/) |
| 19 | + on GitHub. |
| 20 | +2. **Clone your fork:** Clone your newly created fork to your local machine: |
| 21 | + ```shell |
| 22 | + git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/documentation.git |
| 23 | + cd documentation |
| 24 | + ``` |
| 25 | +3. **Create a new branch:** Create a new branch for your changes. Choose a |
| 26 | + descriptive name for your branch. |
| 27 | + ```shell |
| 28 | + git checkout -b my-awesome-fix |
| 29 | + ``` |
| 30 | +4. **Make your changes:** Edit the documentation files as needed. |
| 31 | +5. **Commit your changes:** Once you are happy with your changes, commit |
| 32 | + them with a descriptive commit message. The commit message should be in |
| 33 | + the format `docs: A brief summary of the change`. |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | + The commit message should use imperative language ("Fix", "Change", "Add"), |
| 36 | + not past-tense ("Fixed", "Changed", "Added"). Use a single prefix term |
| 37 | + that describes the area of the documentation the commit affects (e.g., |
| 38 | + "settings", "fts"). |
| 39 | + ```shell |
| 40 | + git commit -am "installation: Fix a typo in the installation guide" |
| 41 | + ``` |
| 42 | +6. **Push your changes:** Push your changes to your fork on GitHub. |
| 43 | + ```shell |
| 44 | + git push origin my-awesome-fix |
| 45 | + ``` |
| 46 | +7. **Create a Merge Request:** After pushing your commit, you should see a |
| 47 | + GitHub link to create a merge request in the Git output contents. Click |
| 48 | + on this link and complete the form to submit the merge request to the |
| 49 | + official Dovecot repository. (If you don't see the link, go to your |
| 50 | + personal fork of the documentation project on GitHub to find the |
| 51 | + submission link.) |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +## I Don't Know How to Code! |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +Even if you're not comfortable with Git and GitHub, you can still contribute to the documentation. If you find a typo, a factual error, or have a suggestion for improvement, you can submit an issue to the [GitHub issue tracker](https://github.com/dovecot/documentation/issues). |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +When submitting an issue, please include the following information: |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +* **The URL of the page** where you found the issue. |
| 60 | +* **A description of the issue.** Be as specific as possible. For example, instead of saying "the documentation is confusing", say "in the section on XYZ, the first paragraph is unclear because...". |
| 61 | +* **A suggestion for how to fix the issue.** If you have an idea for how to improve the documentation, please share it! |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +The core developers will review your suggestion and incorporate it into the documentation if they agree that it's a good idea. |
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