# Contributing to Signal Android

Thank you for deciding to help this project! If you have contributed to other open source projects before please note that some conventions here might be a bit different than what you are used to. Reading this document will save you, other contributors and the developers time.


## Development Ideology

Truths which we believe to be self-evident:

1. **The answer is not more options.**  If you feel compelled to add a preference that's exposed to the user, it's very possible you've made a wrong turn somewhere.
1. **The user doesn't know what a key is.**  We need to minimize the points at which a user is exposed to this sort of terminology as extremely as possible.
1. **There are no power users.** The idea that some users "understand" concepts better than others has proven to be, for the most part, false. If anything, "power users" are more dangerous than the rest, and we should avoid exposing dangerous functionality to them.
1. **If it's "like PGP," it's wrong.**  PGP is our guide for what not to do.
1. **It's an asynchronous world.**  Be wary of anything that is anti-asynchronous: ACKs, protocol confirmations, or any protocol-level "advisory" message.
1. **There is no such thing as time.** Protocol ideas that require synchronized clocks are doomed to failure.


## Translations

Please do not submit issues or pull requests for translation fixes. Anyone can update the translations in [Transifex](https://www.transifex.com/projects/p/signal-android/). Please submit your corrections there.


## Issues

### Useful bug reports
1. Please search both open and closed issues first to make sure your issue is not a duplicate.
1. Read the [Submitting useful bug reports guide](https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/wiki/Submitting-useful-bug-reports) before posting a bug.

### Issue tracker is for bugs
The main purpose of this issue tracker is to track bugs for the Android client. Relevant, concise and to the point comments that help to solve the issue are very welcome.

##### Send support questions to support
Please do **not** ask support questions at the issue tracker. We want to help you using Signal and we have created our support system just for that. You can reach support by sending email to support@whispersystems.org or by going to our [Support Center](https://support.signal.org/). You can also search for existing troubleshooting articles at the [Support Center](https://support.signal.org/).

##### Not a discussion forum
Please do **not** use this issue tracker as a discussion forum. Discussion related to the bug in question should of course go to the issue itself. However other discussion should take place at the [community forum](https://whispersystems.discoursehosting.net). You can use that forum to discuss any Signal related topics or to just hang out with your fellow users.

### Don't bump issues
Every time someone comments on an issue, GitHub sends email to [everyone who is watching](https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/watchers) the repository (currently around 500 people). Thus bumping issues with :+1:s, _me toos_ or asking for updates generates a lot of unnecessary email notifications. Moreover bumping an issue does not help solve it. Please be respectful of everyone's time and only comment if you have relevant new information to add.

### Open issues

#### If it's open it's tracked
Have you followed all the points in the [Submitting useful bug reports guide](https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/wiki/Submitting-useful-bug-reports) but nobody has commented on your issue? Is there no milestone or person assigned to it? Don't worry, the developers read every issue and if it's open it means it's tracked and taken into account. It might just take time as other issues have higher priority. And remember that this is an open source project: Everyone is encouraged to take an active role in fixing open issues.

### Closed issues

#### "My issue was closed without giving a reason!"
Please understand that writing detailed explanations every time for every issue someone comes up with takes time. Sometimes a reason has been posted earlier to another related issue which you can search for. It's also possible that your issue was not in line with the guidelines of the project (see especially the [Development Ideology](https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#development-ideology)), or it was decided that the issue is not something that Signal should do at this time.


## Pull requests

### Sign the Contributor Licence Agreement (CLA)
You need to sign our CLA before your pull request can be merged. You can sign it at: https://signal.org/cla/

### Follow the Code Style Guidelines
Before submitting a pull request please check that your code adheres to the [Code Style Guidelines](https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/wiki/Code-Style-Guidelines).

### Submit only complete PRs and test them
Please do not submit pull requests that are still a work in progress. Pull requests should be ready for a merge when you submit them. Also please do not submit pull requests that you have not tested.

### Smaller is better
Please do not try to change too much at once. Big changes are less likely to be merged. If you are a first time contributor start with small and simple PRs to get to know the codebase.

### Merging can sometimes take a while
If your pull request follows all the advice above but still has not been merged it usually means the developers haven't simply had the time to review it yet. We understand that this might feel frustrating. We are sorry!

## How can I contribute?
Anyone can help by
- advising new people about the guidelines of this project
 - redirecting support questions to support@whispersystems.org and the [support site](https://support.signal.org/)
 - redirecting non-bug related discussions to the [community forum](https://whispersystems.discoursehosting.net)
- improving documentation in the [wiki](https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/wiki)
- [translating](https://www.transifex.com/projects/p/signal-android/)
- finding and marking duplicate issues
- trying to reproduce issues
- finding solutions to open issues and posting relevant findings as comments
- submitting pull requests
- testing other people's pull requests
- spreading the joy of Signal to your friends and family
- donating money through the [Freedom of the Press Foundation's donation page](https://freedom.press/crowdfunding/signal/)

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