# :tada: Contributing to Atom :tada:

These are just guidelines, not rules, use your best judgement and feel free
to propose changes to this document in a pull request.

## Issues
  * Include screenshots and animated GIFs whenever possible, they are immensely
    helpful.
  * Include the behavior you expected to happen and other places you've seen
    that behavior such as Emacs, vi, Xcode, etc.
  * Check the Console app for stack traces to include if reporting a crash.
  * Check the Dev tools (`alt-cmd-i`) for errors and stack traces to include.

## Pull Requests
  * Include screenshots and animated GIFs whenever possible.
  * Follow the [JavaScript](https://github.com/styleguide/javascript) and
    [CSS](https://github.com/styleguide/css) styleguides
  * Include thoughtfully worded [Jasmine](http://pivotal.github.com/jasmine/)
    specs
  * Avoid placing files in `vendor`. 3rd-party packages should be added as a
    `package.json` dependency.
  * Files end with a newline.
  * Requires should be in the following order:
    * Built in Node Modules (such as `path`)
    * Built in Atom and Atom Shell Modules (such as `atom`, `shell`)
    * Local Modules (using relative paths)
  * Class variables and methods should be in the following order:
    * Class methods (methods starting with a `@`)
    * Instance methods
  * Beware of platform differences
    * Use `require('atom').fs.getHomeDirectory()` to get the home directory.
    * Use `path.join()` to concatenate filenames.
    * Temporary directory is not `/tmp` on Windows, use `os.tmpdir()` when
      possible

## Git Commit Messages
  * Use the present tense
  * Reference issues and pull requests liberally
  * Consider starting the commit message with an applicable emoji:
    * :lipstick: when improving the format/structure of the code
    * :racehorse: when improving performance
    * :non-potable_water: when plugging memory leaks
    * :memo: when writing docs