.. SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 1992-2026 NWO-I/SRON Space Research Organisation Netherlands
..
.. SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0

Contributing to SPEX
====================

Great that you are interested in contributing to SPEX! Please read this
guide to know how you can help to make SPEX better. There are several
ways that you can contribute:

- **Report Bugs**: Found an issue? Please report it in our issue
  tracker.
- **Request Features**: Have ideas for improvements? Share your
  suggestions by creating an issue.
- **Contribute Code**: Want to add functionality? Read our guidelines
  below.
- **Improve Documentation**: Help make SPEX more accessible.
- **Test and Feedback**: Try new features and provide feedback.

Creating an issue
-----------------

If something does not work, or you think that SPEX can benefit from a
new feature, we would love to hear it! We will try to come back to you
as soon as possible.

Our Codeberg repository has an `issue
tracker <https://codeberg.org/SPEX/spex/issues>`__ where you can write
us a message. Please do not be shy using this option, because other
people may be experiencing the same problem and can benefit from the
solution.

To use the issue tracker, you need a Codeberg.org account. Please note
that you can use and existing Github or Gitlab.com account to log in to
Codeberg.org.

How to structure an issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you report an issue, please explain as clearly as possible what the
problem or feature request is about. Adding the word ``[bug]`` or
``[feature]`` in the title of your issue helps us prioritize.

When you report a problem, please mention your operating system, tell in
detail what you are trying to do and copy any error messages. To fix the
problem, we need to recreate the problem on our own machines and any
additional information helps.

Contributing to the code or documentation directly
--------------------------------------------------

You are also welcome to suggest changes to the code or documentation
directly. If you have a Codeberg account (or Github), you can fork the
repository to your own account, make changes and submit a pull request
to us. See `pull requests and git
flow <https://docs.codeberg.org/collaborating/pull-requests-and-git-flow/>`__
in the Codeberg documentation.

We will review your contribution and add it if it passes our
requirements and tests.

Thank you for reading our guidelines!

A copy of these guidelines can also be found in the file CONTRIBUTING.md
in the root of the source code directory.
