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Contributing

We're happy that you have chosen to contribute to the MonoGame.Extended project. You are joining a team of dedicated volunteers that are building an extension library for the game framework MonoGame.

Before contributing, please read this document completely so that there are no issues and the process goes smoothly.

How To Contribute​

MonoGame.Extended has a main branch for stable releases only and the develop branch where new features and fixes are submitted.

MonoGame.Extended used the Gitflow workflow. You should learn and be familar with how to use Git, how to create a fork of MonoGame.Extended, and how to submit a Pull Request.

All Pull Requests will trigger a GitHub action that will execute the test scripts against the changes being proposed. Project maintainers and contributors will review your changes and provide constructive feedback where needed to improve your submission.

Once all reviews are satisfied and all tests are passing, your changes will be merged into MonoGame.Extended.

If you are looking for ways to contribute, you should start by looking at the open issues on GitHub. Please let us know if you plan to work on an issue so that others are not duplicating work.

Quick Guidelines​

Here are a few simple rules and suggestions to remember when contributing to MonoGame.Extended

  • ‼️ NEVER commit code that you didn't personally write.
  • ‼️ NEVER use decompiler tools to steal code and submit them as your own work.
  • ‼️ NEVER decompile XNA assemblies and steal Microsoft's copyrighted code.
  • PLEASE try keep your PRs focused on a single topic and of a reasonable size or we may ask you to break it up.
  • PLEASE be sure to write simple and descriptive commit messages.
  • DO NOT surprise us with new APIs or big new features. Open an issue to discuss your ideas first.
  • DO NOT reorder type members as it makes it difficult to compare code changes in a PR.
  • DO give priority to the existing style of the file you're changing.
  • DO try to add to our unit tests when adding new features or fixing bugs.
  • DO NOT send PRs for code style changes or make code changes just for the sake of style.
  • PLEASE keep a civil and respectful tone when discussing and reviewing contributions.
  • PLEASE tell others about MonoGame.Extended and your contributions via social media.

Decompiler Tools​

We prohibit tools like dotPeek, ILSpy, JustDecompile, or .NET Reflect which convert compiled assemblies into readable code.

It is NEVER ACCEPTABLE to decompile copyrighted assemblies and submit that code to the MonoGame.Extended project.

  • It DOES NOT matter how much you change the code.
  • It DOES NOT matter what country you live in or what your local laws say.
  • It DOES NOT matter that XNA is discontinued.
  • It DOES NOT matter how small the bit of code you have stolen is.
  • It DOES NOT matter what your opinion is of stealing code.

If you did not write the code, you do not have ownership of the code, and you shouldn't submit it to MonoGame.Extended.

If we find a contribution in violation of copyright it will be immediately removed. We will bar that contributor from the MonoGame.Extended project.

Licensing​

The MonoGame.Extended project is under the MIT License unless a portion of code is explicitly stated elsewhere. See the LICENSE for more details. Third-party libraries used by MonoGame.Extended are under their own licenses, we always seek permission from the original author of those libraries.. Please refer to those libraries for details on the license they use.

We accept contributions in "good faith" that it isn't bound to a conflicting license. By submitting a PR you agree to distribute your work under the MonoGame.Extended license and copyright.

Need More Help?​

If you need help, please ask questions in our Discord, or you can ask questions in the official MonoGame Discord.

Thanks for reading this guide and helping make MonoGame.Extended great!

❤️ The MonoGame.Extended Team