{"id":73519,"date":"2023-08-04T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T16:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/github.blog\/?p=73519"},"modified":"2024-05-14T11:26:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T18:26:25","slug":"a-checklist-and-guide-to-get-your-repository-collaboration-ready","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/github.blog\/enterprise-software\/collaboration\/a-checklist-and-guide-to-get-your-repository-collaboration-ready\/","title":{"rendered":"A checklist and guide to get your repository collaboration-ready"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Want the TL;DR, or you’ve already been using GitHub for awhile? Skip to the end<\/a> for a printable checklist that you can use to ensure that you’ve covered all aspects of making your repository collaboration-ready.\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/content-table-wrap><\/div>\n

My daughter has a pair of pet gerbils. They\u2019re awesome, but not the most complex creatures to care for. They need their cage cleaned occasionally, their food and water refilled, and may need a neighbor to check in on them if we\u2019re away for a while. But someday, she may have a pet that requires more care and attention\u2013a cat or dog perhaps, which needs to be played with and nurtured every day\u2013so she\u2019ll want to have a few good friends who know her pet and can be their companion whenever she\u2019s away. And someday, she may even have a child of her own, making her connections to community and family ever more important. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child.<\/p>\n

So it goes with code projects. My colleagues and I often refer to our projects as \u201cpets\u201d or even \u201cchildren\u201d (sometimes jokingly, sometimes obsessively). We pour a lot of our own care and attention into them, but it can be easy to forget how important the community\u2019s contributions can be to their success. In the world of software development, collaboration can make the difference between a brittle last-minute release and a reliable, maintainable, pain-free project. Whether you\u2019ve been coding for a day or a decade, your colleagues are there to help strengthen your work. But they can only help if you\u2019ve given them the tools to do so.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Your primary responsibility as the creator or maintainer of a repository is to ensure that others can appropriately use, understand, and even contribute to the project. GitHub is here to support that mission, but ensuring that a repository is collaboration-ready takes a bit more effort than using git clone<\/code>. So read on to learn the settings, content, and behaviors that will help you succeed.<\/p>\n

1. Repository settings<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

The settings of your repository<\/a> lay the foundation for collaboration. They determine who can see and contribute to your project, how contributions are reviewed, and what happens to those contributions once they are submitted. Properly used, they can foster an environment in which contributors across the globe will find, make use of, and help build your project. In a corporate setting, they help shift developers from a siloed way of thinking and building to a \u201csearch-first, collaborate-first\u201d mindset. This practice, known as innersourcing<\/a>, reduces redundant work and accelerates the whole company.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Visibility<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n

You\u2019re aiming to maximize contributions and reuse, but that doesn’t always mean making your repository public, especially in a corporate setting where information privacy is a consideration. You have several options available in the \u201cSettings\u201d tab of your repository.<\/p>\n