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Contribution Guidelines

Source: .github/CONTRIBUTING.md

All contributions are welcome. Thank you for contributing!

There are several ways to contribute:

1. Open an Issue

Open an issue to report a bug (or typo), suggest a feature request, or get help (yes, no need to go on Stack Overflow, you get help from the author directly and your issue becomes a tutorial for others!).

When opening an issue, try to include a reprex, a minimally reproducible example that can be replicated with one of the base datasets in R, such as the mtcars dataset. To make a reprex, consider using the reprex package. It takes a bit of time to get used to it, but it is very useful!

Pro Tip on Creating a Reprex FAST

Here’s a quality of life upgrade I learned late regarding reprexes. Instead of loading the package with library(reprex), copying your code with Ctrl+c and then typing reprex() in the console, there is a faster way. When you install the package the first time, it actually adds an addin in RStudio. Simply click on the Addins button below the Help menu, then in the search bar type reprex and select Render reprex... after you’ve copied your relevant code.

This opens a reprex window where you can specify different options and finally click on the blue Render button to render the reprex. This is cool because it also allows you to easily add your session info to the reprex by checking the Append session info check box.

But wait, there is a way to make it even faster! Make this addin selection a shortcut with (for example) Ctrl+r by going to Tools, Modify Keyboard Shortcuts..., then in the search bar type reprex, then for the Render reprex... row, click on the Shortcut column, and type your desired shortcut (I use Ctrl+r). Then, copy your code with Ctr+c, open the reprex addin window with Ctrl+r, press tab 3 times and then press enter. BAM! A reprex in < 5 seconds.

2. Start a Discussion

Start a discussion to discuss ideas, organization, meta-ideas, ask questions, or create polls, or anything else that doesn’t fit well in an issue.

3. Submit a Pull Request

Submit a PR (if you’ve never heard the term before, that’s a Pull Request!). That essentially means to make a code contribution to the package repository. If that’s too complicated for you, don’t worry, you can just copy-paste your code contribution in an issue and I will add it.

If you are a bit more experienced however, it is suggested to submit a PR. The recommended workflow to submit a PR is the following.

  1. Fork the repository (use: usethis::create_from_github("rempsyc/lavaanExtra")).
  2. Create a branch (in RStudio, click on the tiny purple flowchart under the Git tab, between the blue wheel and main branch buttons), and name it based on the theme of your suggested changes.
  3. Commit and then push (Ctrl+p) your changes to your branch from RStudio.
  4. Submit a PR with your modified branch (go to your branch on the GitHub website, and it will automatically suggest to open a PR and draft a message for you).
  5. Include one or more reprexes showing the old and new behaviour for comparison.

Note that before using those usethis steps, you will need to have:

  1. installed the git software (i.e., not an R package);
  2. created a github token with usethis::create_github_token() (see usethis::gh_token_help() for help);
  3. set your credentials with gitcreds::gitcreds_set().