### Licensing

The `lobsters` codebase is under a [3-clause BSD
license](https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters/blob/master/LICENSE).  All code
submitted must be licensed under these or more-permissive terms (2-clause BSD,
MIT, ISC, etc.).

### Before Making Changes

While this project's license allows for modification and use to run your own
website, this source code repository is for the code running the website at
[lobste.rs](https://lobste.rs/).

If you're new to contributing, issues tagged [good first issue](https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22)
require little knowledge of the codebase or community. Please don't hesitate to
ask questions in the issue or in [our chat room](https://lobste.rs/chat), we'd love
to help you get involved.

Not all changes or new features submitted will be accepted.  Please discuss
your proposed changes on [/t/meta](https://lobste.rs/t/meta) or as a
[Github issue](https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters/issues) before working on them
to avoid wasted efforts.

### Making Changes

* Fork [lobsters/lobsters](https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters) on Github.

* (Optional) Create a branch to house your changes.

* Run `bundle exec rubocop && bundle exec ruumba` to check the style of your Ruby.
  (3rd party, externally-maintained code such as Javascript libraries can remain in their own style.)

* Check for unnecessary whitespace with `git diff --check` before committing.
Commit whitespace and other code cleanups separately so that your actual
changes can be easily understood.

* Write a proper commit message with the first line being a short,
present-tense explanation of the change.  Wrap all lines at 80 characters.

* If applicable, add tests for your changes.  Not all changes require tests,
and tests should not be added just for the sake of code coverage.

* Run _all_ tests (with `bundle exec rspec` in the root directory) to ensure
nothing has been broken by your changes.

### Submitting Changes

* Push your changes to your fork of the repository (to your branch if you
created one).

* Submit a pull request to [lobsters/lobsters](https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters).