Merge pull request #372 from nightscout/wip/contributing-doc

quick stab at contributing doc

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+
+# Contributing to cgm-remote-monitor
+
+[![Build Status][build-img]][build-url]
+[![Dependency Status][dependency-img]][dependency-url]
+[![Coverage Status][coverage-img]][coverage-url]
+[![Gitter chat][gitter-img]][gitter-url]
+[![Stories in Ready][ready-img]][waffle]
+[![Stories in Progress][progress-img]][waffle]
+
+[build-img]: https://img.shields.io/travis/nightscout/cgm-remote-monitor.svg
+[build-url]: https://travis-ci.org/nightscout/cgm-remote-monitor
+[dependency-img]: https://img.shields.io/david/nightscout/cgm-remote-monitor.svg
+[dependency-url]: https://david-dm.org/nightscout/cgm-remote-monitor
+[coverage-img]: https://img.shields.io/coveralls/nightscout/cgm-remote-monitor/coverage.svg
+[coverage-url]: https://coveralls.io/r/nightscout/cgm-remote-monitor?branch=dev
+[gitter-img]: https://img.shields.io/badge/Gitter-Join%20Chat%20%E2%86%92-1dce73.svg
+[gitter-url]: https://gitter.im/nightscout/public
+[ready-img]: https://badge.waffle.io/nightscout/cgm-remote-monitor.svg?label=ready&title=Ready
+[waffle]: https://waffle.io/nightscout/cgm-remote-monitor
+[progress-img]: https://badge.waffle.io/nightscout/cgm-remote-monitor.svg?label=in+progress&title=In+Progress
+
+
+## Design
+
+Participate in the design process by creating an issue to discuss your
+design.
+
+## Develop on `dev`
+
+We develop on the `dev` branch.
+You can get the dev branch checked out using `git checkout dev`.
+
+## Create a prototype
+
+Fork cgm-remote-monitor and create a branch.
+You can create a branch using `git checkout -b wip/add-my-widget`.
+This creates a new branch called `wip/add-my-widget`.  The `wip`
+stands for work in progress and is a common prefix so that when know
+what to expect when reviewing many branches.
+
+## Submit a pull request
+
+When you are done working with your prototype, it can be tempting to
+post on popular channels such as Facebook.  We encourage contributors
+to submit their code for review, debate, and release before announcing
+features on social media.
+
+This can be done by checking your code `git commit -avm 'my
+improvements are here'`, the branch you created back to your own
+fork. This will probably look something like
+`git push -u origin wip/add-my-widget`.
+
+Now that the commits are available on github, you can click on the
+compare buttons on your fork to create a pull request.  Make sure to
+select [Nightscout's `dev` branch](https://github.com/nightscout/cgm-remote-monitor/tree/dev).
+
+## Comments and issues
+
+We encourage liberal use of the comments, including images where
+appropriate.
+
+## Co-ordination
+
+There is a google groups nightscout-core developers list where lots of
+people discuss Nightscout.  Most cgm-remote-monitor hackers use
+github's ticketing system, along with Facebook cgm-in-the-cloud, and
+gitter system.
+
+We use git-flow, with `master` as our production, stable branch, and
+`dev` is used to queue up for upcoming releases.  Everything else is
+done on branches, hopefully with names that indicate what to expect.
+
+Once `dev` has been reviewed and people feel it's time to release, we
+follow the git-flow release process, which creates a new tag and bumps
+the version correctly.  See sem-ver for versioning strategy.
+
+Every commit is tested by travis.  We encourage adding tests to
+validate your design.  We encourage discussing your use cases to help
+everyone get a better understanding of your design.