Ways to Contribute - ApertureViewer/Aperture-Viewer GitHub Wiki

There are many ways you can contribute to Aperture Viewer, even if you are not a coder! Here are some examples:

Report Bugs: Help us identify and fix issues by reporting any bugs or unexpected behavior you encounter while using Aperture Viewer. Well-detailed bug reports are incredibly helpful!
Suggest New Features: Do you have a brilliant idea for a new feature that would enhance virtual photography or videomaking in Aperture Viewer? Let us know! We welcome feature requests and suggestions.
Contribute Code: If you are a developer, you can contribute code to fix bugs, implement new features, or improve existing functionality. While our core development often emphasizes visual creation, we welcome all beneficial code contributions. For detailed guidelines on how to contribute code, including our specific requirements for Pull Requests, commit messages, and coding conventions, please see our dedicated page: Contributing Code to Aperture Viewer.
Improve Documentation: Help make our documentation clearer, more comprehensive, and easier to understand! You can contribute by improving Wiki pages, correcting errors, or suggesting new documentation topics.
Test and Provide Feedback: Use Aperture Viewer, especially alpha releases, and provide feedback on your experience. Testing and user feedback are essential for identifying issues and ensuring the viewer meets user needs.

Reporting Bugs and Suggesting Features

The primary method for reporting bugs and suggesting features is through GitHub Issues.

Go to Aperture Viewer GitHub Issues

To report a bug or suggest a feature, please:

Check Existing Issues: Before creating a new issue, please search the existing issues (both open and closed) to see if a similar bug or feature request has already been reported. Adding to an existing issue is often more helpful than creating duplicates.
Create a New Issue: If you don't find an existing issue, click the green "New issue" button on the GitHub Issues page.
Choose the Appropriate Issue Type:
- For bug reports, select a template like "Bug report" (if available) or use a clear title like "Bug Report: [Concise summary of the bug]".
- For feature requests, use a title like "Feature Request: [Name of proposed feature]".
Provide Detailed Information: In your issue description, please provide as much detail as possible to help us understand the bug or feature request.
- For Bug Reports: Include:
  - A clear and concise description of the bug.
  - Steps to reproduce the bug (if possible).
  - Expected behavior vs. actual behavior.
  - Aperture Viewer version, operating system, graphics card (see Troubleshooting & FAQ for guidance on what information to include).
  - Screenshots or videos (if helpful).
- For Feature Requests: Include:
  - A clear description of the proposed feature and its purpose.
  - Why you believe this feature would be beneficial for Aperture Viewer users (especially for photography/videomaking, but also general usability).
  - Use cases or examples of how the feature would be used.

Clear and well-detailed issues help us understand and address your contributions effectively!

Code Contribution Guidelines

If you are a developer and wish to contribute code changes, we welcome your input! Our core development often emphasizes advancements in visual creation, photography, videomaking, rendering quality, and the Phototools suite. However, we warmly welcome and encourage code contributions of all types that are beneficial to the broader Second Life and OpenSimulator user community, including performance improvements, UI/UX refinements, bug fixes, privacy enhancements, or new general-purpose features.

For comprehensive technical guidelines on how to prepare and submit code, including our specific requirements for:

Setting up your development environment
Branching strategy
Coding conventions (including Aperture-specific commenting and use of spaces for indentation)
Strict commit message formats
Creating and describing Pull Requests
And more...

Please refer to our dedicated Wiki page:

Contributing Code to Aperture Viewer

Following these guidelines is crucial for us to efficiently manage contributions as a small, volunteer-led team. They help ensure consistency, maintainability, and make the most of everyone's valuable time.

Documentation Contributions

We value contributions that improve the Aperture Viewer Wiki! Clear and up-to-date documentation is essential for our users.

To contribute documentation improvements, please use one of the following methods:

Suggest Changes or Report Errors via GitHub Issues (Preferred Method):
- The easiest way to contribute documentation improvements is to create a GitHub Issue describing the issue or suggesting the change.
- Go to Aperture Viewer GitHub Issues
- Create a new issue with a clear title like:
  - "Documentation Error on [Page Name]: [Brief description of error]"
  - "Documentation Suggestion: [Proposed improvement for page]"
- In the issue description, clearly explain:
  - The specific page in the Wiki you are referring to.
  - The error you found or the improvement you suggest.
  - If possible, suggest the corrected text or the new content you propose.
  - Use the "Documentation" or "Wiki" label to categorize your issue.
Submit Documentation Changes via Pull Requests (For Users Familiar with Git and Markdown):
- GitHub Wikis are themselves Git repositories. If you are comfortable with Git and Markdown, you can clone the Wiki repository, make changes on a branch, and submit a Pull Request.
- The Wiki repository URL is typically https://github.com/ApertureViewer/Aperture-Viewer.wiki.git.
- If you choose this method, please follow similar principles for clear commit messages and PR descriptions as outlined for code contributions.

By suggesting documentation improvements through GitHub Issues or Pull Requests, you help us ensure the accuracy and quality of the Aperture Viewer Wiki for all users!

Questions?

If you have any questions about any part of the contribution process, no matter how basic they might seem, or if you're new to contributing and need guidance, please feel free to:

Open an issue on GitHub and tag it with "question".
Reach out on our official communication channels (e.g., Discord). We are happy to help and aim to be a friendly, welcoming community for everyone at all skill levels.