KronoPy Contributing Guide

Welcome to the KronoPy Contributing Guide. KronoPy invites contributions of code, documentation, and feedback. At this time, it does not accept financial donations. To learn whether KronoPy is a good fit for your skills and interests, read about the project and what it needs.

Project overview

KronoPy is an open-source community of Python developers and technical communicators. Developers build libraries to extract, process, and analyze information from the Chronologue API. Technical communicators create and maintain documentation to help contributors keep their work aligned with current standards.

The Chronologue API serves data from the Chronologue telescope. The Chronologue telescope uses wormhole technology to view astronomical events through time. The telescope is managed by OCTAVIA, a multinational government-sponsored entity. Learn more about the telescope and OCTAVIA from their website.

Ground rules

If you contribute to KronoPy, you agree to abide by the Code of Conduct:

As a community of professionals, we work together to maintain a supportive environment. We treat others with empathy and respect. We do not tolerate harassment.

Community engagement

KronoPy welcomes participation in whatever form suits you best. Share your ideas in community forums or meetings, report issues or bugs, or contribute code or documentation.

Share ideas

Share your ideas by joining the community forum or attending meetings. KronoPy would love to hear from you!

  • Community forum: The Discord community forum is a great place to chat with contributors asynchronously and learn about current work. To join the KronoPy Discord, fill out this brief KronoPy Discord signup form. After your request is reviewed, you’ll receive a confirmation message with instructions on how to participate.

  • Meetings: KronoPy hosts weekly project meetings to discuss status updates and raise questions. Project meetings provide opportunities for real-time collaboration. To view the meeting schedule and request an invitation, visit KronoPy project meetings.

Report a bug or request a new feature

If you need a new feature, or if something doesn’t work as expected, please report it! Fill out a form or discuss your report on Discord.

  • Bug report and new feature request form: A quick way to request what you need or describe what went wrong.

  • Discord: To open a discussion about the bug or the functionality you would like to see, use the #bug-reports #feature-requests channels. If you haven’t joined Discord yet, fill out this brief KronoPy Discord signup form. After your request is reviewed, you’ll receive a confirmation message with instructions on how to participate.

Contribute code

Help move the project forward by applying your developer skills to fix bugs, build new features, or refine the codebase.

  1. Read the KronoPy Developer Documentation to learn about:

    • Project architecture

    • Coding guidelines

    • Documentation rules

    • Best practices

  2. Set up your environment by following the instructions in the KronoPy Developer Guide. It offers different recommendations based on your needs, for example:

    • Newer developers can use Conda for easy environment and dependency management.

    • Experienced developers might prefer env.

  3. Claim an issue to work from the KronoPy GitLab repository. Be sure to:

    • Choose an issue labeled good first issue.

    • Leave a comment to indicate you’ll work on the issue that you claim.

Contribute documentation

Help KronoPy users get things done by making documentation more accurate and readable. KronoPy uses GitLab to store, manage, and plan documentation.

  1. Read the KronoPy Documentation Style Guide to learn expectations regarding:

    • Spelling

    • Capitalization

    • Voice and tone

  2. Claim an issue to work from the KronoPy GitLab repository. Be sure to:

    • Choose an issue labeled documentation.

    • Leave a comment to indicate you’ll work on the issue that you claim.

Next steps

After you review your options for contributing, you might wonder where to go next. If you’re a new contributor, the best next steps are to visit Discord or GitLab (or both!):

  • To learn more: Go to Discord to listen and share ideas.

  • To begin contributing: Go to the KronoPy GitLab repository and claim an issue. A documentation issue can be a good way to start learning more about the project.