Contributors

Overview

A contributor is an individual who has developed code changes on a development branch and has opened a PR for review.

Making Changes

The primary purpose of your new feature branch is to perform code changes.

You can make changes to your file, rename it, or delete it entirely. The Desktop App will render all changes in the Changes tab.

Once your changes reflect an important enough milestone, you will need to commit them. Navigate to the Changes tab and fill in the Summary and Description fields with information that outlines the changes reflected in that commit.

To store your changes locally, press the Commit button.

Committing is covered extensively in the Making Changes section.

Creating a Pull Request

Before merging your feature branch with its set of meaningful commits, you will need to create a PR. This step ensures that other colleagues are on the same page about your changes, and in general boosts the quality of your code.

If you haven't already, publish your feature branch by clicking on either of the Publish Branch buttons. Publishing makes the Copia server aware of your local branch.

To create your PR, press the Create Pull Request button.

You should be redirected from the Desktop App to the Web App. After confirming that the changes render as expected in the bottom section of the screen, click the New Pull Request button.

When you open a new PR, a number will appear next to the branch name in the Desktop App. This number serves as an identifier for that PR.

Provide a Title and Description. Use the editor to provide context for your reviewers and explain the reasons for the proposed changes. You can preview your issue by toggling into the Preview tab. When you're finished, click on the Create Pull Request button.

You can also drag and drop files and images into your PR.

Adding Reviewers to a Pull Request

Sometimes, contributors will merge their changes without requesting a review. This is a valid option if the contributor doesn't necessarily require feedback, but they still want to document their change by making a PR.

That said, once a PR has been created, the next step is typically to select who you would like to add as a reviewer.

Click on the Pull Requests tab, navigate to your PR, and click on the Conversation tab.

Select the +Assign Reviewers dropdown. You will see a list of individuals and Teams that have been assigned to that repository as collaborators. Select the reviewers you want to participate on the PR by either clicking on them or using the Search for reviewer... field.

Only collaborators on a repository can be assigned as reviewers. To review how to add collaborators to a repository, check out the Collaborators section.

Reviewers that have been assigned to a PR will appear as chips within the Conversation tab.