View source for First steps for new developers

So you want to contribute to Limesurvey and help the development team? That's really great! Every helping hand is needed.

=First steps=
If you haven't already done so, please create a user account at the [https://www.limesurvey.org/cb-registration/registers LimeSurvey website]. Once you have logged in there you can use the account to
* post at the [https://www.limesurvey.org/community-services/forums LimeSurvey forums]
* edit the [https://manual.limesurvey.org/LimeSurvey_Manual LimeSurvey manual/wiki]
* create new tickets at the [http://bugs.limesurvey.org/ LimeSurvey bugtracker]

You may also be interested in [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/limesurvey-developers subscribing to the LimeSurvey mailing list] and [https://github.com/signup/free creating a personal account on gitHub]

=Get in touch with the team=
The best way to directly get in touch with the LimeSurvey team is by [https://discord.com/invite/DEjguXn joining the LimeSurvey Discord].

These are some core team members who are usually available Discord.

* ''Carsten'' (Carsten): The LimeSurvey project lead, his time is always pretty limited but for any details concerning the LimeSurvey project he is the man to talk to.
* ''Olle'' (Olle): LimeSurvey developer
* ''DenisChenu'' (Denis): LimeSurvey developer and bug fixing expert
* ''tammo'' (Tammo): A very experienced LimeSurvey user who can help you with all basic questions
* ''jelo'' (Jens): Jens helps us at the forums a lot. If he is available he will surely help with answering basic questions
* ''tpartner'' (Tony): Our JavaScript expert, you may have met him at the LimeSurvey forums.
* ''Mazi'' (Marcel): He can help with general LimeSurvey questions and walk you around if you need help with your first steps.

=How you can help=
If you are '''familar with LimeSurvey''' you can give a helping hand at the [https://www.limesurvey.org/community-services/forums LimeSurvey forums] or answer questions at the [https://discord.com/invite/DEjguXn LimeSurvey community Discord chat].

You are a '''PHP/MySQL/JavaScript coder'''? Great, we love working with experts! You can surely help fixing bugs listed at the [http://bugs.limesurvey.org/ LimeSurvey bugtracker]. if you are unsure which issue to start with -> we can help with that. Best is to ping one of the developers listed above at the LimeSurvey Community chat. They can tell you which issues are good to start with.

You may also want to '''develop new features''' for LimeSurvey. In this case please check the documentation about [https://manual.limesurvey.org/How_to_contribute_new_features how to contribute new features] because it is important to get in touch with use before starting to develop something. Otherwise you risk that you are doing the work for nothing if we can't add it to the LimeSurvey core code later.

=Helpful links=
* [https://github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey LimeSurvey code repository at GitHub]
* [https://manual.limesurvey.org/Standard_for_Git_commit_messages Standard for Git commit messages] - These are really important to us!
* [https://manual.limesurvey.org/Coding_guidelines Coding guidelines]
* [https://manual.limesurvey.org/How_to_document_your_source_code How to document your source code]
* [https://manual.limesurvey.org/How_to_join_the_LimeSurvey_project_team How to join the LimeSurvey project team]
* [https://manual.limesurvey.org/Yii Details about the Yii PHP framework we are using]
* [https://manual.limesurvey.org/Directory_structure LimeSurvey 2.x directory structure]
* [https://manual.limesurvey.org/Controllers Most important controllers] (what they do/where they are called)
* [https://manual.limesurvey.org/Debugging Debugging issues at LimeSurvey]