# Contributing Guidelines

This document contains information and guidelines about contributing to this project.
Please read it before you start participating.

**Topics**

* [Asking Questions](#asking-questions)
* [Reporting Security Issues](#reporting-security-issues)
* [Reporting Non Security Issues](#reporting-other-issues)
* [Commit Messages](#commit-messages)

## Asking Questions

Questions are welcome! We encourage you to ask questions through GitHub issues.
Before doing so, please check that the project issues database doesn't already
include an answer to your question. Then open a new Issue and use the "Question"
label.

## Reporting Security Issues

If you have discovered an issue with this code that could present a security hazard or wish to discuss a sensitive issue with our security team, please contact us on [Telegram](https://hush.is/tg) or [Matrix](https://hush.is/matrix)

## Reporting Non Security Issues

A great way to contribute to the project
is to send a detailed issue when you encounter a problem.
We always appreciate a well-written, thorough bug report.

Check that the project issues database
doesn't already include that problem or suggestion before submitting an issue.

When reporting issues, please include the following:

* The Android API you're using
* The device you're targeting
* The full output of any stack trace or compiler error
* A code snippet that reproduces the described behavior, if applicable
* Any other details that would be useful in understanding the problem

This information will help us review and fix your issue faster.

## Code contributions

We **love** contributions!

All contributions _will_ be licensed under the GPLv3 license.
  
## Commit Messages

Commit history is an important part of the project's documentation.
Besides its obvious testimonial value, commits represent a point in time
in the project's lifetime in a given context. A good record of the changes that
occurred during the project's life helps to guarantee that it can outlive its
stakeholders no matter how foundational or crucial these individuals (or
groups) were. As any reading material, it is best appreciated and comprehended
when there's a visible structure that readers can follow and reason about. 

For that we've defined a structure for commit messages that all contributors must
follow to maintain coherence on the project's commit log. The proposed format
has been inspired by [this great article](https://cbea.ms/git-commit/)


### Preparing to contribute to the project
The first thing you should look for is an existing issue. It is possible
that the contribution you are planning to work on was already discussed
by other users and/or contributors in the past. If not present, file an 
issue following the criteria described in the preceeding sections.

Every contribution must reference an existing Issue. This issue is important
since it will be directly referenced in the title of your commit. 

### Structuring a Commit

#### Commit Title
The first line of your commit message constitutes its _title_. Maintainers will 
use commit titles to create release notes. Your contribution will be featured
in a public release of the project. Think of it as a newspaper headline. It
should be descriptive and provide the reader a broad idea of what the commit is
about. You can use a related github issue if it matches this criterion. 

**Preferred title format**

`[#{issue_number}] {self_descriptive_title}`

Example

`[#258] - User can take the backup test successfully more than once`

optionally you can append the PR # between parenthesis.

#### Commit message's body

Use the body of the commit to bring more context to the change. Usually the bulk
of the problem might be explained in an issue. It's a good long term strategy
not to rely on such elements. If the project were to change its hosting, much of the
associated "Issues" and "pull requests" will be lost, yet the commit history will
probably be preserved and the context will also be.

If there are followup issues for this commit, consider referencing those as well.


### Example:

````
commit [some_hash]
Author: You <you@somedomain.io>
Date:   some date

    [#258] User can take the backup test successfully more than once (#282)
    
    Closes #258
    
    this checks that when the user taps the finished button on the phrase displayed it has definitely not passed the test before going to the recovery flow.
    
    Note: this should actually go to the next or previous screen according to the context that takes the user to the phrase display screen from that context.
    
    Add //TODO comment with the permanent fix for the problem
````

When you open a PR with a commit like this one the first line will land on the GUI's title field, 
and the body will be added as the description of the PR.

Adding the text `Closes #{issue_number}` will tell GitHub to close the issue when the PR is merged.

