monkeytype/CONTRIBUTING.md

Contributing

Table of Contents

• Getting Started
• Prerequisites
  • Text Editor
  • Git
  • NodeJS
  • Firebase
• Building and Running Monkeytype
• Standards and Guidelines
  • Theme Guidelines
  • Language Guidelines
  • Quote Guidelines
• Questions

---

Getting Started

When contributing to Monkeytype, it's good to know our best practices, tips, and tricks. First, Monkeytype is written in Javascript, CSS, and HTML (in order of language usage within the project); thus, we assume you are comfortable in these languages or have basic knowledge of them. Our backend is in NodeJS and we use Firebase to store our user data. Furthermore, we use Prettier to format our code.

Prerequisites

While most contributions don't require that you install dependencies, there are a few minimum requirements you will need to meet to be able to run the project (this is useful and almost always necessary for tasks like creating features and fixing bugs; running the project is also useful if you are contributing a theme and want to view it on the site before you contribute it). You will need a computer with a stable internet connection, a text editor, Git, Firebase, and NodeJS with a version < 14.

Text Editor

If you are not a developer and wish to contribute themes, new languages, or quotes, having a text editor will make contributions much easier. A popular and relatively lightweight editor that we recommend is Visual Studio Code or VS Code. It is free and open-source from Microsoft. Simply run the installer and follow the prompts. Once you have VS Code installed, you are ready to start contributing.

Git

Git is optional but we highly recommend you use it. Monkeytype uses the Git source control management system for its version control. Assuming you don't have experience typing commmands in the command line, we suggest installing Sourcetree. You will be able to utilize the power of Git without needing to remember any cryptic commands. However using a Git client won't give you access to the full functionality of Git but provides an easy to understand graphical user interface (GUI). Once you have downloaded Sourcetree, run the installer. While installing Sourcetree, keep your eyes peeled for the option to also install Git with Sourcetree. This is the option you will need to look for in order to install Git. Make sure to click yes in the installer to install Git with Sourcetree.

Firebase

1. Create a Firebase account if you already haven't done so.

2. Create a new Firebase project.

   • The project name doesn't matter, but the name monkeytype would be preferred.
   • Google Analytics is not necessary.

3. Install the Firebase CLI

4. Run firebase login on your terminal to log in to the same google account you just used to create the project.

5. Git clone this project.

6. Duplicate .firebaserc_example, rename the new file to .firebaserc and change the project name of default to the firebase project id you just created.

   • If .firebaserc_example does not exist after cloning, create your own with:

    {
        "projects": {
            "default": "your-firebase-project-id"
        }
    }
   

   • Run firebase projects:list to find your firebase project id.

7. Generate a Firebase Admin private key

   • In your Firebase console, go to Project Settings > Service Accounts
   • Click "Generate New Private Key"
   • Save as serviceAccountKey.json in the functions/ directory

8. Enable Firebase Authentication

   • In the Firebase console, go to Authentication
   • Click on Email/Password, enable it, and save
   • Click on Google, add a support email and save

9. Enable Firebase Firestore

   • In the Firebase console, go to Cloud Firestore
   • Create database
   • Start in test mode
   • Select default location and enable

NodeJS

The installation process of NodeJS is fairly simple, navigate to the NodeJS website and download the xx.xx.x LTS. Run the installer once the download has finished.

Building and Running Monkeytype

Once you have completed the above steps, you are ready to build and run Monkeytype.

1. Run npm install in the project root directory to install dependencies.
2. Run npm run start:dev to start a local dev server on port 5000. It will watch for changes and rebuild when you edit files in src/ or public/ directories. Use Ctrl+C to abort it.
   • Run firebase use {your-project-id} if you run into any errors for this.

Standards and Guidelines

Code style is enforced by Prettier, which automatically runs every time you git commit (if you've followed the above instructions properly).

Following the guidelines below will increase your chances of getting your change accepted.

Theme Guidelines

• Make sure your theme is unique and a similar looking one is not already available
• The text color is either black or white (or very close to)
• Your theme has been added to the _list file and the textColor property is the theme's main color
• Your theme is clear and readable with both flip test colors and colorful mode enabled and disabled

Language Guidelines

• Do not include swear words
• Ensure that your contribution meets JSON standards (no trailing comma at the end of a list)
• Be sure to add your language to the _list and _groups files
• Make sure the number of words corresponds to the file name (for example: languageName.json is 200 words, langugeName_1k.json is 1000 words, and so on)

Quote Guidelines

• Do not include swear words
• Ensure that your contribution meets JSON standards (no trailing comma at the end of a list)
• Verify the length property is correct (length of the text in characters)
• Verify the id property is incremented correctly

Questions

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or problems let me know on GitHub, Discord in the #development channel, or on Monkeytype's GitHub discussions.