Submitting pull requests

Pull request are the best way to provide a bug fix or to propose enhancements to the KunstmaanBundlesCMS. This guide will show you how to get started.

Step 1: Setup your environment

Before working on the KunstmaanBundlesCMS, setup a Symfony friendly environment like described in the system requirements documentation.

Make sure your git setup is complete. If you are new to git, we highly recommended you read the excellent and free ProGit book.

The easiest way to start from scratch is by using our demo docker-compose file. You can find it in our standardedition. Assuming you have already set up docker on your computer, booting up the demo is a matter of 2 simple commands.

#In the KunstmaanBundlesStandardEdition
cd docker_demo
docker-compose up

A demo website will be running at localhost:2468 now. Also there will be a maildev available at localhost:1080.

If you decide to use this approach you should do all the following steps from inside your container.

Step 2: Get the source

Start by forking the repository and add the following to the composer.json file of your project:

    "repositories": [
    {
        "type": "vcs",
        "url": "https://github.com/USERNAME/KunstmaanBundlesCMS"
    }
    ],

Also change the version constraint of kunstmaan/bundles-cms to dev-master. Delete the vendor/kunstmaan folder and run composer update --prefer-source. You now have the master version of your fork in your project.

You just need to add the upstream repository as a remote.

git remote add upstream https://github.com/Kunstmaan/KunstmaanBundlesCMS.git

Step 3: Working on the pull request

Before you start, you must know that all the patches you are going to submit must be released under the MIT license.

Each time you want to work on a patch for a bug or on an enhancement, create a topic branch. We prefer to work following the Github Flow method. Starting from the master branch create a new one with a descriptive name.

git checkout -b BRANCH_NAME master

Use a descriptive name for your branch (issue_XXX where XXX is the GitHub issue number is a good convention for bug fixes, for features you could use e.g. refactor-authentication, user-content-cache-key, make-retina-avatars).

The above checkout commands automatically switch the code to the newly created branch (check the branch you are working on with git branch).

Now work on the code as much as you want and commit as much as you want; but keep in mind the following:

  • Follow the coding standards
  • Do atomic and logically separate commits (use the power of git rebase to have a clean and logical history);
  • Squash irrelevant commits that are just about fixing coding standards or fixing typos in your own code;
  • Never fix coding standards in some existing code as it makes the code review more difficult (submit CS fixes as a separate patch);
  • Write good commit messages (see the tip below).

A good commit message is composed of a summary (the first line), optionally followed by a blank line and a more detailed description. The summary should start with the Component you are working on in square brackets ([AdminBundle], [SeoBundle], ...). Use a verb (fixed ..., added ..., ...) to start the summary and don't add a period at the end.

Step 4: Send a pull request

The title of your pull request should always start with the component you modified ([AdminBundle], [SeoBundle], ...). Use a verb (fixed ..., added ..., ...) to start the title and don't add a period at the end. Try to keep it brief but comprehensive.

When your pull request is not about a bug fix (when you add a new feature or change an existing one for instance), it must also include the following:

  • An explanation of the changes in the relevant CHANGELOG file(s) (the [BC BREAK] or the [DEPRECATION] prefix must be used when relevant);

  • An explanation on how to upgrade an existing application in the relevant UPGRADE file(s) if the changes break backward compatibility or if you deprecate something that will ultimately break backward compatibility.

Whenever you feel that your patch is ready for submission, follow the following steps.

Select the correct branch for your pull request

| Kind of PR                 | Branch
| -------------------------- | ---
| New feature (no BC breaks) | master branch
| BC break                   | next major version branch
| Deprecations               | master branch
| Bug fix                    | latest minor version branch
| Security fix               | first minor version branch (of the latest major version) where the security fix was introduced

Rebase your pull request

Before submitting your pull request, update your branch (needed if it takes you a while to finish your changes):

git checkout master
git fetch upstream
git merge upstream/master
git checkout BRANCH_NAME
git rebase master

When doing the rebase command, you might have to fix merge conflicts. git status will show you the unmerged files. Resolve all the conflicts, then continue the rebase:

git add ... # add resolved files
git rebase --continue

Push your branch remotely:

git push --force origin BRANCH_NAME

Make a Pull Request

You can now make a pull request on the Kunstmaan/KunstmaanBundlesCMS GitHub repository.

The pull request description must include the following checklist at the top to ensure that contributions may be reviewed without needless feedback loops and that your contributions can be included into the core as quickly as possible:

| Q             | A
| ------------- | ---
| Bug fix?      | yes|no
| New feature?  | yes|no
| BC breaks?    | yes|no
| Deprecations? | yes|no
| Fixed tickets | comma separated list of tickets fixed by the PR

The whole table must be included (do not remove lines that you think are not relevant).

Some answers to the questions trigger some more requirements:

  • If you answer yes to "Bug fix?", check if the bug is already listed in the issues and reference it/them in "Fixed tickets";

  • If you answer yes to "New feature?", you must include documentation in your pull request. For small features that do not need a whole chapter, add a small snippet in the Cookbook section;

  • If you answer yes to "BC breaks?", the patch must contain updates to the relevant CHANGELOG and UPGRADE files;

  • If you answer yes to "Deprecations?", the patch must contain updates to the relevant CHANGELOG and UPGRADE files;

If some of the previous requirements are not met, create a todo-list and add relevant items:

    - [ ] Fix the specs as they have not been updated yet
    - [ ] Submit changes to the documentation
    - [ ] Document the BC breaks

If the code is not finished yet because you don't have time to finish it or because you want early feedback on your work, add an item to todo-list:

    - [ ] Finish the feature
    - [ ] Gather feedback for my changes

As long as you have items in the todo-list, please prefix the pull request title with "[WIP]".

In the pull request description, give as much details as possible about your changes (don't hesitate to give code examples to illustrate your points). If your pull request is about adding a new feature or modifying an existing one, explain the rationale for the changes. The pull request description helps the code review.

Rework your Patch

Based on the feedback on the pull request, you might need to rework your patch. Before re-submitting the patch, rebase with upstream/master, don't merge; and force the push to the origin:

git rebase -f upstream/master
git push --force origin BRANCH_NAME

When doing a push --force, always specify the branch name explicitly to avoid messing other branches in the repo (--force tells Git that you really want to mess with things so do it carefully).

Often, we will ask you to "squash" your commits. This means you will convert many commits to one commit. To do this, use the rebase command:

git rebase -i upstream/master
git push --force origin BRANCH_NAME

After you type this command, an editor will popup showing a list of commits:

pick 1a31be6 first commit
pick 7fc64b4 second commit
pick 7d33018 third commit

To squash all commits into the first one, remove the word pick before the second and the last commits, and replace it by the word squash or just s. When you save, Git will start rebasing, and if successful, will ask you to edit the commit message, which by default is a listing of the commit messages of all the commits. When you are finished, execute the push command.