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Blackbaud-TripOtt edited this page Dec 10, 2014 · 2 revisions

How do I get started?

  • First you will need to know some basics about Git and GitHub. A listing of resources and documentation can be found at the bottom of this content.
  • You will need a GitHub account.

Okay, I've got my GitHub account. What's next?

  • Learn how to use GitHub. It's not easy at first, but it's worth it. For starters, check out GitHub help, bootcamp, and other good resources. A longer listing of resources can be found at the bottom of this content.
  • Definitely go through the GitHub Bootcamp for setting up Git, creating a repo, and forking.
  • Look around the Blackbaud CRM repo web site. Here you will find a listing of the various repositories related to the Blackbaud CRM portion of the blackbaud-community. As you poke around the blackbaud-community you will also find samples related to Blackbaud Internet Solutions.
  • Look around within the various repositories that contains the sample code. For example, check out our samples from the 2014 BB CRM developer's conference. See who is active in the project by viewing the commits.
  • Look at a network graph which tracks what people are doing within the Blackbaud-CRM project. There you will find all the other branches (forks) of code. Somebody may already be working on your issue, problem, or idea. Here's a related blog post about the Network Graph Visualizer.
  • Look at the Issues. See if anyone is working on the issues that are interesting to you.

Is there a good Windows client that helps me work with GitHub?

Yes. See Getting Started with GitHub for Windows.

What about the existing samples within the dev guides?

Over time, Blackbaud will migrate existing code samples from our Blackbaud CRM Developer Guides into GitHub.

I searched for "blackbaud" within GitHub and I see a quite a few organizations and projects. Which organization and project is the right one?

The organization within GitHub which holds code samples for Blackbaud CRM is called "blackbaud-community". Within this organization, there are various code sample repositories. For more details see the related project web site.

How should we use GitHub to contribute back to the code samples?

See How to contribute.

I'm not ready to contribute. I just want to download the code samples. How do I do that?

To get the code samples, you could just clone one of the repositories such as the API Cookbook. Cloning will bring a copy of the project to your local computer. And you are free to play around with the code sample on your local computer. This is a good thing. But, any changes you make to your local copy can't be merged back into a project's repo like the blackbaud-community/Blackbaud-CRM-API-Cookbook repo. In other words, you wont be able to suggest changes to the code because you don't have rights to do so. If you are okay with this scenario, then by all means feel free to clone the appropriate branch within the repo.

A better way is to create your own personal copy by forking a repo such as the blackbaud-community/Blackbaud-CRM-API-Cookbook repo and then cloning your fork. Cloning will bring the forked repo to your local computer. Once the code is on your local computer you are are free to play with the code, commit local changes, and push those changes back to your fork on GitHub. In this way you get your own copy of the code that you can play with, you can sync it on GitHub via a push, and most importantly, you can submit Pull Requests to Blackbaud. By submitting a Pull Request you are indicating that you wish to change the original blackbaud-community/Blackbaud-CRM-API-Cookbook repo. For more information,see How to contribute.

What are the legal issues around contributing to projects? What do I need to sign before I can contribute?

Before you push changes to your fork of the repository, you should sign the Contributor License Agreement. See How to contribute.

I built a cool customization/integration for Blackbaud CRM using the SDK/API. How do I add my code?

See How to contribute.

What if I find a problem with the code sample? What if I want to improve an existing code sample?

Firstly, the code samples are not covered under Blackbaud support. If you find a problem:

  • Raise an issue within the repo within GitHub. Be nice. Be detailed and specific.

  • If you feel you can solve the issue yourself or you have a better way to do it, fork the project and begin hacking away at the problem/improvement. That's what GitHub is all about.

  • See How to contribute.

Resources

Git and GitHub Resources

Resources for Blackbaud CRM and related products

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