We are using this GitHub Repository in the LD4 Organization for our working space, and we are adding all collaborators as contributors to this repository. Using this GitHub repository as our working space allows us to have (as a default) versioned outputs, a wiki for meeting notes and public reports, GitHub Projects for project management tracker, GitHub Issues for work- or question-specific communication, and GitHub flow to help managed collaboration.
We would like to use GitHub Flow where able for our collaborative work - especially on our outputs. If you're new to GitHub Flow, there is a really good guide provided by GitHub to get you started.
The core of this is:
- When working on an output, create a new GitHub repository branch for each specific change you're working on, and give the branch a name along the lines of your github username - feature, i.e.
cmh2166/addingContribDoc
. This leaves themaster
branch to always be a state output we consider in form ready for public consumption (if not complete) and agreed upon by the group. - Create lots of commits with meaningful messages to track your changes to our outputs.
- Open Pull Requests to merge changes into
master
, but never merge your own Pull Requests. Pull Requests should be a final review stage for the entire group to comment upon, request edits, etc. - Upon agreement by a majority of the working group, another member of the group will merge your PR into
master
.
For each change, we also expect relevant documentation in our wiki or in our outputs via comments for what you're adding.
We want to follow this workflow where appropriate because it encourages Working Group discussion, collaboration, and agreement in the outputs. However, we want to remain inclusive, especially to Working Group members who maybe aren't as comfortable with git and GitHub.
If you are new to git and GitHub, you can:
- Review the GitHub guides, which are an excellent starting point: https://guides.github.com/ This covers GitHub workflows more than git itself, but is sufficient to have you comfortable with the majority of the git usage of this Working Group.
- Ask for help from your Working Group colleagues. Feel free to open an issue or send a message (email or Slack) with the proposed action. Another member of the group can walk you through the steps needed.
- Email one of the Working Group conveners if you need help but aren't comfortable asking the group: Arwen Hutt / [email protected] ; Christina Harlow / [email protected].