# Contributing to jQuery

1. [Getting Involved](#getting-involved)
2. [Questions and Discussion](#questions-and-discussion)
3. [How To Report Bugs](#how-to-report-bugs)
4. [Tips for Bug Patching](#tips-for-bug-patching)

Note: This is the code development repository for *jQuery Core* only. Before opening an issue or making a pull request, be sure you're in the right place.
* jQuery plugin issues should be reported to the author of the plugin.
* jQuery Core API documentation issues can be filed [at the API repo](http://github.com/jquery/api.jquery.com/issues).
* Bugs or suggestions for other jQuery Foundation projects should be filed in [their respective repos](http://github.com/jquery/).

## Getting Involved

We've put together [a short guide with tips, tricks, and ideas on getting started](http://contribute.jquery.org/open-source/). We're always looking for help identifying bugs, writing and reducing test cases, and documentation.

More information on how to contribute to this and other jQuery Foundation projects is at [contribute.jquery.org](http://contribute.jquery.org). Please review our [commit & pull request guide](http://contribute.jquery.org/commits-and-pull-requests/) and [style guides](http://contribute.jquery.org/style-guide/) for instructions on how to maintain a fork and submit patches. Before we can merge any pull request, we'll also need you to sign our [contributor license agreement](http://contribute.jquery.org/cla/).


## Questions and Discussion

### Forum and IRC

jQuery is so popular that many developers have knowledge of its capabilities and limitations. Most questions about using jQuery can be answered on popular forums such as [Stack Overflow](http://stackoverflow.com). Please start there when you have questions, even if you think you've found a bug.

The jQuery Core team watches the [jQuery Development Forum](http://forum.jquery.com/developing-jquery-core). If you have longer posts or questions that can't be answered in places such as Stack Overflow, please feel free to post them there. If you think you've found a bug, please [file it in the bug tracker](#how-to-report-bugs). The Core team can be found in the [#jquery-dev](http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=jquery-dev) IRC channel on irc.freenode.net.

### Weekly Status Meetings

The jQuery Core team has a weekly meeting to discuss the progress of current work. The meeting is held in the [#jquery-meeting](http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=jquery-meeting) IRC channel on irc.freenode.net at [Noon EST](http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?month=1&day=17&year=2011&hour=12&min=0&sec=0&p1=43) on Mondays.

[jQuery Core Meeting Notes](http://meetings.jquery.org/category/core/)


## How to Report Bugs

### Make sure it is a jQuery bug

Most bugs reported to our bug tracker are actually bugs in user code, not in jQuery code. Keep in mind that just because your code throws an error inside of jQuery, this does *not* mean the bug is a jQuery bug.

Ask for help first in the [Using jQuery Forum](http://forum.jquery.com/using-jquery) or another discussion forum like [Stack Overflow](http://stackoverflow.com/). You will get much quicker support, and you will help avoid tying up the jQuery team with invalid bug reports.

### Disable browser extensions

Make sure you have reproduced the bug with all browser extensions and add-ons disabled, as these can sometimes cause things to break in interesting and unpredictable ways. Try using incognito, stealth or anonymous browsing modes.

### Try the latest version of jQuery

Bugs in old versions of jQuery may have already been fixed. In order to avoid reporting known issues, make sure you are always testing against the [latest build](http://code.jquery.com/jquery.js). We cannot fix bugs in older released files, if a bug has been fixed in a subsequent version of jQuery the site should upgrade.

### Simplify the test case

When experiencing a problem, [reduce your code](http://webkit.org/quality/reduction.html) to the bare minimum required to reproduce the issue. This makes it *much* easier to isolate and fix the offending code. Bugs reported without reduced test cases take on average 9001% longer to fix than bugs that are submitted with them, so you really should try to do this if at all possible.

### Search for related or duplicate issues

Go to the [jQuery Core issue tracker](https://github.com/jquery/jquery/issues) and make sure the problem hasn't already been reported. If not, create a new issue there and include your test case.


## Tips For Bug Patching

We *love* when people contribute back to the project by patching the bugs they find. Since jQuery is used by so many people, we are cautious about the patches we accept and want to be sure they don't have a negative impact on the millions of people using jQuery each day. For that reason it can take a while for any suggested patch to work its way through the review and release process. The reward for you is knowing that the problem you fixed will improve things for millions of sites and billions of visits per day.

### Build a Local Copy of jQuery

Create a fork of the jQuery repo on github at http://github.com/jquery/jquery

Change directory to your web root directory, whatever that might be:

```bash
$ cd /path/to/your/www/root/
```

Clone your jQuery fork to work locally

```bash
$ git clone git@github.com:username/jquery.git
```

Change directory to the newly created dir jquery/

```bash
$ cd jquery
```

Add the jQuery master as a remote. I label mine "upstream"

```bash
$ git remote add upstream git://github.com/jquery/jquery.git
```

Get in the habit of pulling in the "upstream" master to stay up to date as jQuery receives new commits

```bash
$ git pull upstream master
```

Run the build script

```bash
$ npm run build
```

Run the Grunt tools:

```bash
$ grunt && grunt watch
```

Now open the jQuery test suite in a browser at http://localhost/test. If there is a port, be sure to include it.

Success! You just built and tested jQuery!


### Test Suite Tips...

During the process of writing your patch, you will run the test suite MANY times. You can speed up the process by narrowing the running test suite down to the module you are testing by either double clicking the title of the test or appending it to the url. The following examples assume you're working on a local repo, hosted on your localhost server.

Example:

http://localhost/test/?filter=css

This will only run the "css" module tests. This will significantly speed up your development and debugging.

**ALWAYS RUN THE FULL SUITE BEFORE COMMITTING AND PUSHING A PATCH!**


### Browser support

Remember that jQuery supports multiple browsers and their versions; any contributed code must work in all of them. You can refer to the [browser support page](http://jquery.com/browser-support/) for the current list of supported browsers.

Note that browser support differs depending on whether you are targeting the `master` or `compat` branch.
