Contributing to VimWiki

Filing a bug

Before filing a bug or starting to write a patch, check the latest development version from https://github.com/vimwiki/vimwiki/tree/dev to see if your problem is already fixed.

Issues can be filed at https://github.com/vimwiki/vimwiki/issues/

Git branching model

As of v2022.12.02, VimWiki has adopted a rolling release model, along with calendar versioning. A release should be [prepared][#preparing-a-release] for every change or set of changes which merge to dev.

There are two permanent branches: 1. dev: This is the default branch, and where changes are released. Tasks which are done in one or only a few commits go here directly. Always keep this branch in a working state. If the task you work on requires multiple commits, make sure intermediate commits don't make VimWiki unusable. 2. master: This is a legacy branch, retained to avoid breaking existing checkouts of the plugin. It should be kept in sync with dev.

Large changes which require multiple commits may be authored in feature branches, and merged into dev when the work is done.

Creating a pull request

If you want to provide a pull request on GitHub, start from the dev branch, not from the master branch.

Version bureaucracy:

Pick a new version number according to the current date: YYYY.MM.DD (if releasing a second version for the current date, append a _MICRO version such as _1, _2, etc.
- Examples: 2022.12.22, 2022.12.22_1
Update the version number at the top of plugin/vimwiki.vim
Update the !_TAG_PROGRAM_VERSION expected in test/tag.vader (this is a bit silly, will have to figure out how to get rid of it)

Update doc/vimwiki.txt with the following information:

Update the changelog to include, at the top of it, information on the new feature the PR introduces or the bug it is fixing as well as the PR number and related issue number if possible.
Add a help section to describe any new features or options.
If you are a first time contributor add your name to the list of contributors.

Preparing a release

This section is primarily for maintainers.

Set a tag with the version number in Git: git tag -a v2022.12.02 -m 'Release v2022.12.02'
git push --tags
In GitHub, go to Releases -> Draft a new release -> choose the tag, convert the changelog from the doc to Markdown and post it there. Make plans to build an automatic converter and immediately forget this plan.
If necessary, update README.md and the home page.
For major changes: Tell the world.

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