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CONTRIBUTING.md

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Contributing to the ForestGEO Climate Data Portal:

We anticipate that the ForestGEO Climate Data Portal will be of great value for researchers seeking to understand the influence of climate on forests worldwide. We encourage ForestGEO members to contribute relevant information and data, thus maintaining the value of the Portal for the research community. This portal is set up in GitHub so that anyone in the ForestGEO research network can update exisiting files or contribute data. Basic instructions for using GitHub can be found here.

Basic instructions for contributing to the ForestGEO Climate Data Portal:

  1. If you wish to modify an existing file, download the latest version of the file. Microsoft Word files used to create PDFs are included in the repository so that they can be modified. If you'll be submitting new files, existing files may be downloaded as templates, if desireable.
  2. Create a new branch, including your username in the branch name.
  3. Create or modify files, ensuring that:
    a. You have checked to ensure that the data are accurate and that missing values are filled with an appropriate code (e.g., NA).
    b. Any new data files are properly documented with a metadata file, including a list of column headers, their definitions, and their units.
    c. Any updated files conform to existing metadata descriptions (or you modify the descriptions appropriately).
    d. Any conditions of data use are stated in the metadata file.
    e. The name of the most appropriate person/people who may be contacted with questions/requests for collaboration is provided. *Bonus points for providing an e-mail address along with the name(s).
    f. All data are ready to be made public.
  4. Open a pull request: https://help.github.com/articles/creating-a-pull-request/. This will compare changes across the master branch and the new branch.
  5. Database authors will approve pull request and merge changes. Delete branch when changes have been merged.

Basic instructions for creating an "issue":

If you would like to open a discussion on the data or database, suggest changes that you do not feel comfortable making yourself, or report a problem, you may do so by submitting a GitHub issue. Note that issues are visible to all database users/the public.

Limited resources preclude us from guarenteeing that we can address all issues that are submitted, but we do want to receive them. They act as reminders of what we'd like to improve in the Climate Data Portal. Thank you for your contributions!

Contact:

Kristina Anderson-Teixeira (Smithsonian)
e-mail: teixeirak@si.edu; GitHub: @teixeirak