How to Contribute¶

If you would like to contribute with a new guide or an improvement to the existing ones, please follow these steps:

Using GitHub directlyUsing the command line

Fork the repository within GitHub or by clicking here
Create the file by clicking Add file, then Create new file. In the file name field paste in docs/guides/builds/posts/<guide-name>.md, replacing <guide-name> with the name of your guide in lowercase. Make sure to replace spaces with dashes

Paste the Markdown skeleton below and replace the placeholders with your content. View the Using the command line tab, at step 4 and 6, for more details on how to write markdown and how to add images.

---
date:
  created: 2026-03-31 # set to the current date (YYYY-MM-dd)
categories:
  - Fixed # set based on what type of guide it is (Fixed, Mobile, or Solar)
authors:
  - You # set your github username
---

# Guide Title

<!-- Your content here -->

Write and commit the guide. Leave the commit options default
Add yourself to the .authors.yml file that way you are credited for the work you did! Replace <username> with the username you put in your guide's authors header and replace <name> with what you wish to be credited as. For the avatar URL, right click your GitHub profile picture and copy the link to the image
Submit a pull request by clicking Contribute, then Open pull request on the main page of your fork or by clicking this link. Leave a comment in the PR if you need any help!

Fork the repository on GitHub
Clone your new repository. Replace <username> with your GitHub account
```
git clone https://github.com/<username>/chicagolandmesh.org
```
Create your guide in markdown format within docs/guides/builds/posts folder using your favorite text editor. Replace <guide-name> with a short and descriptive name related to your guide
```
vim docs/guides/builds/posts/<guide-name>.md # or your editor of choice
```
Format your guide using Markdown syntax. You can view previous guides in docs/guides/builds/posts/ for examples

Make sure to include a date and categories header at the top of your guide as this is required for the website to build properly

---
date:
  created: 2026-03-31 # set to the current date (YYYY-MM-dd)
categories:
    - Fixed # set based on what type of guide it is (Fixed, Mobile, or Solar)
---

If you are adding images to the guide, please put them into docs/assets/images/builds/ folder and reference them in the markdown file. The text within the brackets indicates text for screen readers and other assistive technology. More details on inserting images can be found here

![Fixed node attached to pole](../../../assets/images/builds/your-image.png)

<!-- or with a caption -->
<figure markdown="span">
  ![Fixed node attached to pole](../../../assets/images/builds/your-image.png)
  <figcaption>This is the completed node in it's final form</figcaption>
</figure>

Add your attribution to docs/guides/builds/.authors.yml and to the header of your guide. Replace <username> with your GitHub username and replace <name> with the name you would like to be called in the guide. For the avatar URL, right click your GitHub profile picture and copy the link to the image. You can skip this step if you wish to contribute anonymously
.authors.yml
```
authors:
  # ...previous authors...
  <username>:
    name: <name>
    description: Contributor
    avatar: # right click copy paste your profile picture from github
    url: https://github.com/<username>
```
```
---
# ...previous options...
authors:
  - <username>
---
```
To view your work before submitting it, run the following command in the root directory of the repository. This requires Docker to be installed. After that visit http://localhost:8080 in your browser
```
make dev/site
```

Commit and push your changes

git add .
git commit -m "add build guide <name>"
git push origin main

Open a pull request on GitHub

Thank you for contributing!