Maintaining an open-source project is difficult 😅
I knew this wasn’t a cake walk, but it did require more attention than I thought it would. Here’s a list of tips and other advice I’d recommend to anyone who’s going to be a maintainer for the first time during Hacktoberfest.
Write a Great README
A README.md file is the main file that contributors will look at before deciding to contribute to your project. It’s shown by default for GitHub when it is in the root directory of the project.
Having a clear README lets others know what your project is about, how much overhead is needed to begin working on a feature/issue, and the basics about contributing.
Be sure to include a link to CONTRIBUTING.md which includes the in-depth instructions for contributing to the project.
Write Clear Issues
Issues should be a single isolated feature/fix. Having a small scope for an issue makes pull requests easier to review. It also helps contributors because they won’t have to ask as many questions about what’s needed for a feature/fix.
Use the GitHub CLI
The GitHub CLI is amazing. I used it to review all my pull requests. Personally I would like to double check the functionality of the new pull request and make sure that it solved the issue. It can easily be installed via Homebrew with the command brew install gh
Typing the command gh pr checkout <number> I was able to easily checkout a specific PR onto my local machine and run the project to confirm whether or not the issue was resolved.
Once I confirmed everything was resolved, I’d accept the PR and merge it.
Have Fun
Honestly just have fun. Having an open-source project is a lot of fun. Seeing a vision come to life and having others complete features that I’d love to get to, but I don’t have time for, is so exciting.
Conclusion
These are the top things that helped me with my first time maintaining a project, but are by no means the only tips to follow. The Hacktoberfest website has its own advice for getting started and tips to have a great month.
Have fun maintaining!