After I contribute first time, am I illegible for first-time-only issues any more? How about beginner issues?
first-time-only/beginner issues are usually for people who are still getting started with contributions to open source. Once you feel you've made enough progress to tackle more complex issues, leave the beginner issues for beginners!
Should I ask whether I can work on the issue every time I want to do so?
Sure! You could either indicate interest ("Hey this looks interesting, are you looking for a contributor?") or comment on the issue once you've submitted a pull request ("Hey took a look at this, does this solution seem fair?")
What happens if I claim the responsibility of wanting to solve an issue and after few days of trying I can't? Is it a bad thing to start the open source "career" as the guy that can't finish?
I typically open a pull request as soon as I start working, so that if someone wants to help me solve the issue, they can help on my branch. Also there's nothing wrong with only finishing part-way. You still learned a lot and (hopefully) provided some value to the owner of the repo!
Do I do anything if I have contributed but after a week the pull request hasn't been accepted?
You can try pinging the owner to take a look at it, but the best thing to do might just be to wait for them to merge when they can.
How about me taking the initiative of: correcting spelling, adding instructions to the readme, or (my favorite) creating demos. Should I just open an "issue" (even though it's not technically an issue) and ask if they want it, or should I just make the pull request and see what happens?
Making an issue is fine! In my experience, open source maintainers love when people contribute to docs or make a demo. (These are usually the things they don't have time for!)
Relating to question 5 (more for the github interface maybe), if I want to ask the owner "hey I see you made a function that let's you scroll to an element, but you haven't provided a demo, would you like me to do it" do I open an issue (even though it's not) or reach out to them through email or what ever else. Or is it ever a good idea just to make a pull request with a message and let them decide whether they want it
first-time-only/beginnerissues are usually for people who are still getting started with contributions to open source. Once you feel you've made enough progress to tackle more complex issues, leave thebeginnerissues for beginners!Sure! You could either indicate interest ("Hey this looks interesting, are you looking for a contributor?") or comment on the issue once you've submitted a pull request ("Hey took a look at this, does this solution seem fair?")
I typically open a pull request as soon as I start working, so that if someone wants to help me solve the issue, they can help on my branch. Also there's nothing wrong with only finishing part-way. You still learned a lot and (hopefully) provided some value to the owner of the repo!
You can try pinging the owner to take a look at it, but the best thing to do might just be to wait for them to merge when they can.
Making an issue is fine! In my experience, open source maintainers love when people contribute to docs or make a demo. (These are usually the things they don't have time for!)
See question above.
This is very informative and encouraging. I'm glad I asked