DEV Community

Discussion on: What made you look at a project and submit a PR? Or Not?

Collapse
 
whoisryosuke profile image
Ryosuke

I contributed to a Wordpress plugin recently that broke on my client's website. Since there was no active fix, and my client needed his website online pronto, I applied a patch and submitted a PR. Not sure if it was actually committed to the master branch though šŸ˜…

Basically if I find a solution and it's not too opinionated/sloppy, I submit a PR. Or if I'm so frustrated with a project, like their documentation, I'll submit a PR to make my life (and everyone else's) easier.

What stops me from contributing?

  • Complex APIs/app structures that require me to do significant research and tinkering to get comfortable with before I'm capable of finally contributing. Repo's like the React or Laravel frameworks are like this, I feel like I'm not contributing until I finish drinking the koolaid.

  • When there are no approachable "easy" tickets/features

  • When most other features I'm interested in are being worked on already by core contributors in a way I don't agree with.

  • There are never any design tickets. If repo's needed restyling with CSS, or new iconography, or UX help -- I feel it'd be more approachable than a complex hook or method that requires integration testing.

Collapse
 
spboyer profile image
Shayne Boyer

Complex APIs/app structures that require me to do significant research and tinkering to get comfortable with before I'm capable of finally contributing. Repo's like the React or Laravel frameworks are like this, I feel like I'm not contributing until I finish drinking the koolaid.

I get that. If you feel overwhelmed in the muck of the "style"; it can be daunting to get it done. Sometimes I'll just create an issue or comment on an existing one.