Branching out this Hacktoberfest
Tags: hacktoberfest
Published: 2021-10-09 20:54:26

Last year was my first time joining Hacktoberfest. I hadn't done much "serious" coding or developing (can't say that I still have) so I was sticking to what I felt comfortable with: translations.
{% post minna_xd/first-time-hacktoberfesting-bb %}

This year, I started with the same idea because I enjoy doing translations but was struggling to find repos for that.

## First sticking to what I know

{% github Abrynos/ShoppingList no-readme %} Somehow I found this repo which mentioned accepting translations. This ShoppingList is an Android app so I was also interested in looking at the code. I provided a Finnish translation which was quickly merged and built so I was able to check out the translated app right away. Very nice!
(Managed to mess things up by creating a PR against the wrong branch but "in return" helped the maintainer to verify a fix to the CI pipeline. Need to re-learn git every time.)

{% github Appwrite/appwrite no-readme %} Appwrite was specifically looking for Finnish translations, so I contributed to that.  (Another brainfart made me, again, create a PR against a wrong branch.)

## Next stepping out of the comfort zone, i.e. branching out

Git pun intended! After the translations, I browsed through all kinds of "good for beginners" lists and labels and finally found a Hacktoberfest-labelled issue for Ghost, a CMS. They are refactoring their code to replace an i18n function and had very clear instructions so I thought, I can do this! I chose the file with the largest amount of changes needed and set to work. {% github TryGhost/ghost no-readme %} This was relaxing and I think I'll take some more files to edit.

## Finally, a new contribution to Legesher

{% github legesher/legesher-translations no-readme %} Last year I helped review translated Python keywords for the Legesher project.  This year I wanted to help with a new language but it seemed like Python was still active for Finnish and no new programming languages had been added. I reached out to the maintainer and asked if it's ok to start a new language review process. She replied very fast and welcomed any contribution (also, remembered me from last year! :blush:). So, I added translations for Java keywords. Hopefully I can gather a group to review these and the Python keywords from last Hacktoberfest.


:link: Related post: {% post minna_xd/coding-in-your-native-language-have-you-heard-of-legesher-2jem %}

### Take 7, subtract 3 invalid ones, totals 4, phew! :sweat_smile:

My Hacktoberfest status is currently showing 7 PRs but two of those are duplicates from my branch-related bloopers, as mentioned. One PR is to a non-participating repo which I realized too late but the task was to review Finnish translations so I don't mind at all.

If all goes well, I'll have at least 4 proper PRs under my belt for this year so I don't feel like a cheater when I hopefully get to order the t-shirt (only 50,000 sent out this year, uh oh).

### Good momentum

The non-participating repo I contributed to is {% github javascript-tutorial/fi.javascript.info no-readme %} where JavaScript articles are being translated into Finnish. I took a look at possibly translating something but felt that it's a bit out of my league since I'm not very familiar with JavaScript lingo. However, I was thinking I could keep reviewing the articles because that way I'll also learn something by going through the tutorial! Win-win!

As I mentioned, I think I'll also help with the Ghost refactoring some more if there is still work to be done. 

I can't promise I'll be brave enough to do any actual coding even next year but I'll be brave enough to widen my search of good issues to tackle.