reformatted to be similar to the FAQ to make it look nicer on the site:

http://curl.haxx.se/docs/contribute.html

1 files changed, 63 insertions, 29 deletions

diff --git a/docs/CONTRIBUTE b/docs/CONTRIBUTE
index ad718bc83..a569a6e62 100644
--- a/docs/CONTRIBUTE
+++ b/docs/CONTRIBUTE
@@ -10,16 +10,46 @@
  mind when you decide to contribute to the project. This concerns new features
  as well as corrections to existing flaws or bugs.
 
-Join the Community
+ 1. Learning cURL
+ 1.1 Join the Community
+ 1.2 License
+ 1.3 What To Read
+
+ 2. cURL Coding Standards
+ 2.1 Naming
+ 2.2 Indenting
+ 2.3 Commenting
+ 2.4 Line Lengths
+ 2.5 General Style
+ 2.6 Non-clobbering All Over
+ 2.7 Platform Dependent Code
+ 2.8 Write Separate Patches
+ 2.9 Patch Against Recent Sources
+ 2.10 Document
+ 2.11 Test Cases
+
+ 3. Pushing Out Your Changes 
+ 3.1 Write Access to CVS Repository
+ 3.2 How To Make a Patch
+ 3.3 How to get your changes into the main sources
+
+==============================================================================
+
+1. Learning cURL
+
+1.1 Join the Community
 
  Skip over to http://curl.haxx.se/mail/ and join the appropriate mailing
  list(s).  Read up on details before you post questions. Read this file before
  you start sending patches! We prefer patches and discussions being held on
  the mailing list(s), not sent to individuals.
 
+ Before posting to one of the curl mailing lists, please read up on the mailing
+ list etiquette: http://curl.haxx.se/mail/etiquette.html
+
  We also hang out on IRC in #curl on irc.freenode.net
 
-License
+1.2. License
 
  When contributing with code, you agree to put your changes and new code under
  the same license curl and libcurl is already using unless stated and agreed
@@ -43,14 +73,16 @@ License
  give credit but also to keep a trace back to who made what changes. Please
  always provide us with your full real name when contributing!
 
-What To Read
+1.3 What To Read
 
  Source code, the man pages, the INTERNALS document, TODO, KNOWN_BUGS, the
  most recent CHANGES. Just lurking on the libcurl mailing list is gonna give
  you a lot of insights on what's going on right now. Asking there is a good
  idea too.
 
-Naming
+2. cURL Coding Standards
+
+2.1 Naming
 
  Try using a non-confusing naming scheme for your new functions and variable
  names. It doesn't necessarily have to mean that you should use the same as in
@@ -61,7 +93,7 @@ Naming
  See the INTERNALS document on how we name non-exported library-global
  symbols.
 
-Indenting
+2.2 Indenting
 
  Please try using the same indenting levels and bracing method as all the
  other code already does. It makes the source code a lot easier to follow if
@@ -70,7 +102,7 @@ Indenting
  using spaces only (no tabs) and having the opening brace ({) on the same line
  as the if() or while().
 
-Commenting
+2.3 Commenting
 
  Comment your source code extensively using C comments (/* comment */), DO NOT
  use C++ comments (// this style). Commented code is quality code and enables
@@ -78,16 +110,16 @@ Commenting
  replaced when someone wants to extend things, since other persons' source
  code can get quite hard to read.
 
-Line Lengths
+2.4 Line Lengths
 
  We try to keep source lines shorter than 80 columns.
 
-General Style
+2.5 General Style
 
  Keep your functions small. If they're small you avoid a lot of mistakes and
  you don't accidentally mix up variables etc.
 
-Non-clobbering All Over
+2.6 Non-clobbering All Over
 
  When you write new functionality or fix bugs, it is important that you don't
  fiddle all over the source files and functions. Remember that it is likely
@@ -96,14 +128,14 @@ Non-clobbering All Over
  functionality, try writing it in a new source file. If you fix bugs, try to
  fix one bug at a time and send them as separate patches.
 
-Platform Dependent Code
+2.7 Platform Dependent Code
 
  Use #ifdef HAVE_FEATURE to do conditional code. We avoid checking for
  particular operating systems or hardware in the #ifdef lines. The
  HAVE_FEATURE shall be generated by the configure script for unix-like systems
  and they are hard-coded in the config-[system].h files for the others.
 
-Separate Patches
+2.8 Write Separate Patches
 
  It is annoying when you get a huge patch from someone that is said to fix 511
  odd problems, but discussions and opinions don't agree with 510 of them - or
@@ -114,14 +146,14 @@ Separate Patches
  description exactly what they correct so that all patches can be selectively
  applied by the maintainer or other interested parties.
 
-Patch Against Recent Sources
+2.9 Patch Against Recent Sources
 
  Please try to get the latest available sources to make your patches
  against. It makes the life of the developers so much easier. The very best is
  if you get the most up-to-date sources from the CVS repository, but the
  latest release archive is quite OK as well!
 
-Document
+2.10 Document
 
  Writing docs is dead boring and one of the big problems with many open source
  projects. Someone's gotta do it. It makes it a lot easier if you submit a
@@ -132,16 +164,7 @@ Document
  ASCII files. All HTML files on the web site and in the release archives are
  generated from the nroff/ASCII versions.
 
-Write Access to CVS Repository
-
- If you are a frequent contributor, or have another good reason, you can of
- course get write access to the CVS repository and then you'll be able to
- check-in all your changes straight into the CVS tree instead of sending all
- changes by mail as patches. Just ask if this is what you'd want. You will be
- required to have posted a few quality patches first, before you can be
- granted write access.
-
-Test Cases
+2.11 Test Cases
 
  Since the introduction of the test suite, we can quickly verify that the main
  features are working as they're supposed to. To maintain this situation and
@@ -150,7 +173,18 @@ Test Cases
  test case that verifies that it works as documented. If every submitter also
  posts a few test cases, it won't end up as a heavy burden on a single person!
 
-How To Make a Patch
+3. Pushing Out Your Changes 
+
+3.1 Write Access to CVS Repository
+
+ If you are a frequent contributor, or have another good reason, you can of
+ course get write access to the CVS repository and then you'll be able to
+ check-in all your changes straight into the CVS tree instead of sending all
+ changes by mail as patches. Just ask if this is what you'd want. You will be
+ required to have posted a few quality patches first, before you can be
+ granted write access.
+
+3.2 How To Make a Patch
 
  Keep a copy of the unmodified curl sources. Make your changes in a separate
  source tree. When you think you have something that you want to offer the
@@ -170,15 +204,15 @@ How To Make a Patch
 
  For unix-like operating systems:
 
-        http://www.gnu.org/software/patch/patch.html
-        http://www.gnu.org/directory/diffutils.html
+   http://www.gnu.org/software/patch/patch.html
+   http://www.gnu.org/directory/diffutils.html
 
  For Windows:
 
-        http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/patch.htm
-        http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/diffutils.htm
+   http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/patch.htm
+   http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/diffutils.htm
 
-How to get your patches into the libcurl sources
+3.3 How to get your changes into the main sources
 
  1. Submit your patch to the curl-library mailing list