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<div class="section" id="contributing">
<span id="id1"></span><h1>Contributing<a class="headerlink" href="#contributing" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<p>We could use your help. If you are interesting in contributing then please
join us on IRC on <a class="reference external" href="irc://irc.freenode.net/#pootle">#pootle</a> and on the
<a class="reference external" href="mailto:translate-devel%40lists.sourceforge.net">translate-devel</a> mailing list.</p>
<p>Here are some idea of how you can contribute</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#contributing-testing"><em>Test</em></a> – help us test new candidate releases
before they are released</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#contributing-debugging"><em>Debug</em></a> – check bug reports, create tests to
highlight problems</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#contributing-developing"><em>Develop</em></a> – add your Python developer skills
to the mix</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#contributing-documenting"><em>Document</em></a> – help make our docs readable,
useful and complete</li>
</ul>
<p>Below we give you more detail on these:</p>
<div class="section" id="testing">
<span id="contributing-testing"></span><h2>Testing<a class="headerlink" href="#testing" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Before we release new versions of the Toolkit we need people to check that they
still work correctly. If you are a frequent user you might want to start using
the release candidate on your current work and report any errors before we
release them.</p>
<p>Compile and install the software to see if we have any platform issues:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>./setup.py install</pre>
</div>
<p>Check for any files that are missing, tools that were not installed, etc.</p>
<p><em class="xref std std-ref">Run unit tests</em> to see if
there are any issues. Please report any failures.</p>
<p>Finally, simply work with the software. Checking all your current usage
patterns and report problems.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="debugging">
<span id="contributing-debugging"></span><h2>Debugging<a class="headerlink" href="#debugging" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Make sure your familiar with the <tt class="xref doc docutils literal"><span class="pre">bug</span> <span class="pre">reporting</span> <span class="pre">guidelines</span></tt>.</li>
<li>Create a login for yourself at <a class="reference external" href="http://bugs.locamotion.org">http://bugs.locamotion.org</a></li>
<li>Then choose a bug</li>
</ul>
<p>Now you need to try and validate the bug. Your aim is to confirm that the bug
is either fixed, is invalid or still exists.</p>
<p>If its fixed please close the bug and give details of how when it was fixed or
what version you used to validate it as corrected.</p>
<p>If you find that the bug reporter has made the incorrect assumptions or their
suggestion cannot work. Then mark the bug as invalid and give reasons why.</p>
<p>The last case, an existing bug is the most interesting. Check through the bug
and do the following:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Fix up the summary to make it clear what the bug is</li>
<li>Create new bugs for separate issues</li>
<li>Set severity level and classifications correctly</li>
<li>Add examples to reproduce the bug, or make the supplied files simpler</li>
<li>If you can identify the bug but not fix it then explain what needs fixing</li>
<li>Move on to the next bug</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="developing">
<span id="contributing-developing"></span><h2>Developing<a class="headerlink" href="#developing" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Don’t ignore this area if you feel like you are not a hotshot coder!</p>
<p>You will need some Python skills, this is a great way to learn.</p>
<p>Here are some ideas to get you going:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Write a test to expose some bug</li>
<li>Try to fix the actual code to fix your bug</li>
<li>Add a small piece of functionality that helps you</li>
<li>Document the methods in especially the base class and derived classes</li>
<li>Add a <a class="reference internal" href="../formats/index.html"><em>format</em></a> type and converters</li>
<li>Add more features to help our formats <a class="reference internal" href="../formats/conformance.html"><em>conform to the standards</em></a></li>
</ul>
<p>You will definitely need to be on the <a class="reference external" href="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/translate-devel">Development</a> and probably on
the <a class="reference external" href="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/translate-cvs">Subversion checkin</a> lists.</p>
<p>Now is the time to familiarise yourself with the <a class="reference internal" href="developers.html"><em>developers guide</em></a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="documenting">
<span id="contributing-documenting"></span><h2>Documenting<a class="headerlink" href="#documenting" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>This is the easy one. Login to the wiki and start!</p>
<p>The key areas that need to be looked at are:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Do the guides to each tool cover all command line options</li>
<li>Are the examples clear for the general cases</li>
<li>Is the tools use clear</li>
<li>In the Use cases, can we add more, do they need updating. Has upstream
changed its approach</li>
</ul>
<p>After that and always:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Grammar</li>
<li>Spelling</li>
<li>Layout</li>
</ul>
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