This October, I took my first steps into the world of open source by contributing to the Awesome Social Chess project as part of Hacktoberfest. My contribution might not have been a groundbreaking feature or a big code change, but it was something that could make a difference for others: a Contributing Guide. I noticed that new contributors could benefit from clear instructions, so I decided to create a guide that would make it easier for them to get started.
🚀 Getting Started
It all began when I identified the need for a Contributing Guide and created an issue to highlight this gap. After making sure no one else had opened a similar issue, I went ahead and submitted it. Getting assigned to work on it was really motivating, and I felt excited to get started.
- 🔗 Forking the Repository: I forked the Awesome Social Chess repository to my GitHub account and cloned it locally so I could work on it offline.
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🌿 Creating a Branch: From there, I created a new branch called
add-contributing-guideand got to work.
✍️ Writing the Guide
Writing the guide was a rewarding process. I focused on making it clear and easy to follow, with step-by-step instructions on how to fork the repo, create branches, make changes, and submit a pull request. I wanted it to be approachable, so I added a few friendly emojis to make it less intimidating and more engaging.
✨ Reflections
Even though adding a Contributing Guide might not seem like the most critical contribution, it taught me so much about how to support an open-source community. I learned the value of good documentation and how important it is to make projects accessible to everyone, especially newcomers. This experience showed me that even small contributions can have a big impact. I’m excited to keep contributing, learning, and being part of the open-source world.
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