My four-step framework for finding merge-worthy contributions
Channel: schneems
Date: 2022-09-21

🍀 Luck isn't a strategy, especially when it comes to finding contributions. Developers may stumble into a commit or two. Maybe they find a rare "good for beginners" tagged issue appropriate to their skill level. Maybe they tripped over a misspelling in the docs and sent a PR. Successful contributors don't count on luck. They seek out contribution opportunities deliberately. With some training and practice, you can too. The COIL framework can help. To find out more about COIL you can watch this free video.

COIL stands for Context, Opportunity, Implementation, Loop. From my book https://howtoopensource.dev

In this video, I share two real-world examples of contributions and how they map to the COIL framework.

🎤 What's something that you would fix in your life if you didn't have to worry about any of the details? Let me know in the comments 🎤

## Hacktoberfest 🎃

Hacktoberfest happens every year in October. If you get a qualifying commit, DigitalOcean will send you a free shirt or plant a tree in your name! You can sign up at https://hacktoberfest.com. Registration opens September 26th, which is coincidently the same day my book comes out. 

If you're looking for contribution ideas, one option is https://www.codetriage.com. 

🎤 How are you planning to find your contribution opportunities? Have you used a library that had a pain point recently? What about updating some documentation that could be clearer? How about adding missing example code to a documented method? If you've done Hacktoberfest before, what tips can you give others? Let me know in the comments 🎤


## Jump to 🏃🏻‍♀️💨

00:11 - Why listen to me
00:25 - Intro to COIL
00:42 - First example: The pothole behind my house (real-world fix)
01:11 - COIL for the potholes example
01:55 - Second example: Dropping the database (open source PR to Rails)
02:29 - Pull request rejected, implementation iteration
03:00 - COIL for the databases example
03:22 - START using COIL to find your own commits
03:24 - How you can build Context
03:35 - How you can find Opportunities
03:44 - How you can build an Implementation
04:07 - How to Loop your contribution

Don't miss my other video on busting common contribution myths https://youtu.be/4nkeBd9Menw.

📘 "How to Open Source: Learn the secrets of successful contributors" is out September 26th, 2022. 📕

## COIL 🧵

- **Context**: Find problems through observation. Learn about a project and how people use it to accomplish their goals.
- **Opportunity**: Brainstorm ways to solve those problems. Pick the most likely option to be merged.
- **Implementation**: Write the code, file the issue, or make the change.
- **Loop**: Repeat the process until it's done. Zoom-in (on code) or zoom-out (on the problem) as needed.

## Credits 

- Stock footage from Pexels.com and licensed sources
- Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/tropicana License code: X69TR08HPZ1NIRAK