PrestaShop 1.6
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Table of contents

Table of Contents

Contributing code to PrestaShop

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There are several ways to approach this:

Most of the instructions on this page will require you to create your own Github account.

Working using Git

This is the recommended way of contributing to PrestaShop.

In order to make changes to PrestaShop's code, you first need to create a local fork of PrestaShop, or at least have your own Github repository. When your changes are done, you must send your work to the PrestaShop developers for approval. This means installing a tool to retrieve the PrestaShop code from Github, edit it at will on your machine, and send your changes back on to PrestaShop's Github repository.

If all this sounds like a foreign language, you should learn about Git and Github first. Go to the "Understand Git" section of this page.

Contributing to PrestaShop means you must first create an account on Github, and then:

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Process to follow

In this process, we will work on Windows and use the TortoiseGit tool. Be sure to install it before you start. You can download it here: http://code.google.com/p/tortoisegit/wiki/Download?tm=2.
There are many more available GUI tools for Git on both Windows and OS X: http://git-scm.com/downloads/guis.
If you are using a Unix system, we figure you should be happier with Git's own command line tool (smile). Read all about it here: http://git-scm.com/book.

Connect to your Github account, then:

  1. Go to the PrestaShop Github repository.
  2. Fork the project by clicking on the "Fork" button. The fork will appear as a "PrestaShop" repository in your own account.
    You've successfully forked the PrestaShop repository, but so far it only exists on your Github account. To be able to work on the project, you will need to clone it to your local machine.
  3. On your local machine:
    1. Clone your fork:
      1. Create a new folder on your local machine. We'll name it "PS-MyChanges", but you can use whatever name you want.
      2. Get the HTTPS clone URL from your Github PrestaShop repository. It should resemble this: https://github.com/
    PrestaShop
      1. xBorderie/PrestaShop.
  4. Fork the project. If you have a fix for PrestaShop 1.5.x, you should apply this process to the PrestaShop 1.5 project.
  5. Create a branch in your fork for your changes.
  6. Change the files on your branch. Be sure to follow the the coding standards.
  7. Push your branch to your Github account.
  8. Create a pull request for your changes on the PrestaShop project
      1. git
      2. Right-click on you PS-MyChanges folder, and in the Git section of the menu that appears, choose "Git Clone..."
      3. In the window that opens, paste the clone URL in the "URL" field.
      4. Click OK: TortoiseGit will download the files and folders from your Gihub repo.
    2. (optional) Add the "upstream" remote: When a repository is cloned, it has a default remote repository called "origin" that points to your fork on GitHub, not the original PrestaShop repository it was forked from. To keep track of the changes in the original repository and keep your local clone updated, you need to add another remote named "upstream":
      1. Right-click on the PrestaShop folder in the PS-MyChanges folder (it should have a green mark if no change has been made yet), and in the ToroiseGit submenu, choose "Settings..."
      2. Open the Git/Remote section of the option panel.
      3. Type "upstream" in the "Remote field".
      4. From PrestaShop Github repository, copy the HTTPS clone URL and paste it in TortoiseGit's "URL" field.
      5. Click the "Add new/Save" button. TortoiseGit asks you if you want to disable tag fetching: choose "No".
      6. TortoiseGit asks you if you want to fetch remote branches from the newly added remote: choose "Yes".
      7. TortoiseGit displays a summary window: click "OK". A window will open showing that Git is fetch data. Close it once it is done, and close the still-open Settings window.
    3. Make your changes:
      1. Edit all the necessary files. As soon as you save and edited file, Windows will change its icon from green to red to indicate that it has been changed since the last update.
    4. Submit your changes to your Github repository:
      1. Once you are done editing the local files, reach the root of your local repository (the "PrestaShop" folder in PS-MyChanges).
      2. Right-click on the folder and choose "Git Gui". This will open an interface. The files you have changed should appear in the "Staged Changes (Will commit)" section. If they are in the "Unstage Changes" window instead, select them and click on the "Stage Changed" button to move them to the "Staged Changes" section.
      3. Write a commit message for your changes. Be sure to follow the commit message norm
    in your pull request. If you need some help to make a pull request, read the Github
      1. .
      2. Click the "Commit" button: your changes are now committed to your local Git repository.
      3. Click the "Push" button: a window opens, asking you to which branch the commit should be pushed – usually it should be "1.6". Leave "origin" as the remote setting, and click "Push".
      4. TortoiseGit open a window showing the current status, and might also open an OpenSSH window asking you for your Github username, then your Github password. Give them both and validate: the status window should push your changes to your Github repository. Success! You can close the TortoiseGit windows: the rest will happen on Github.
  9. Submit your changes to the PrestaShop repository: Now that your changes are stored on Github, you need to let them be known to the PrestaShop developers. This is done by creating a "pull request", which can be seen as a suggestion all the files you have committed. Github has an excellent help page about creating pull requests, but here is a summary:
    1. Go to your own PrestaShop repository on Github.
    2. Either click on the "Pull Request" or the "Compare" button. Both will open the same screen, comparing your latest commit to the original code.
    3. The top of the screen indicates what is being compared. It should be PrestaShop's 1.6 branch with your own 1.6 branch. You should not have anything to change here, just make sure that the base fork is the PrestaShop repository, and that your own repository is the head fork.
    4. Click on the "Create a pull request" button. A new screen should appear, in which you can review your changes and edit your commit message (it should already use the commit message you used from your local clone).
    5. Click on the "Send pull request" button: Github open a screen where you can start a conversation about your pull request, right in PrestaShop's Github repository. Congratulation, your changes are now ready to add to the PrestaShop codebase!
  10. Wait for one of the core developers either to include your change in the codebase, or to comment on possible improvements you should make to your code.

Understanding Git

You can find instructions on the Github website (more here), but the best way to go is to learn more about Git and Github:

Making changes directly in Github

This is not the recommended way to contribute, and should only be seen as alternative if you don't feel comfortable forking the project or using Git altogether. One of the issues of this method is that it might bring hundreds of untested pull requests to the PrestaShop developers, who are already trying hard to focus on their own assigned projects...

Github makes it possible to edit files directly online. Here is how:

  1. Browse to the target file on PrestaShop's repository.
  2. Click the "Edit" button: Github will open a web-based editor, indicated that they are taking care of forking the project for you.
  3. Make your changes in the editor then . Be sure to follow the coding standard!
  4. Then click on "Propose File Change".

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Note

Make sure that you are always making changes to the latest version of the original repository. This means that the "Branch" button above the list of file should read "branch: development", and not "branch: master".

The 1.6 branch is the one where all current works are pushed to.
The master branch is a snapshot of the development branch which was used to build the previous stable version of PrestaShop.
The release branch (if available) is the forthcoming stable version.
Others branches are for specific current projects, and should not be touched.

Understanding Git

You can find instructions on the Github website (more here), but the best way to go is to learn more about Git and Github: