My Hacktoberfest progress
Tags: opensource, hacktoberfest
Published: 2020-10-17 17:34:10


In this post I'll share a bit about my progress in Hacktoberfest 😃. [At the start](https://dev.to/bolt04/i-m-participating-in-hacktoberfest-802) I set some goals and so far I have 4 PRs awaiting for approval (in the review period), so I need four more to complete my goal. So far it has been difficult in some areas, but most have to do with time constraints. The other issues are usually finding something I want to work on, that isn't already taken.

Before I show my PRs, have a look at [EddieBot](https://github.com/EddieJaoudeCommunity/EddieBot/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22) if you want to make some open source contributions. I'm a maintainer so I want to help anyone new to open source settle in, and feel comfortable to contribute 😃. These are [good first issues](https://github.com/EddieJaoudeCommunity/EddieBot/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22) since they should all be simple and easy to get started.
{% github EddieJaoudeCommunity/EddieBot %}

## My PR's 🎯
![my progress](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/rvf6lfvj1ppazffa8yln.PNG)

Here is the list:
- [docs(faq): add Finding Open Source Projects](https://github.com/EddieJaoudeCommunity/support/pull/294)
- [feat: add list of technologies used for Projects](https://github.com/EddieJaoudeCommunity/EddieJaoudeCommunity.github.io/pull/92)
- [docs(features): add description to server status](https://github.com/EddieJaoudeCommunity/EddieBot/pull/296)
- [build: add LightHouse Check action](https://github.com/EddieJaoudeCommunity/EddieJaoudeCommunity.github.io/pull/98)

You can probably tell a pattern on all those PRs... yes, they are all made to repositories under the [Eddie Jaoude Community](https://github.com/EddieJaoudeCommunity) organization 😅. I still haven't ventured out and contributed to other projects, and I want to try and improve this. The reason is to get out of my comfort zone. I know these projects pretty well so it was easier to work on.

## Some tips ✍️
There were a couple of things I always keep in mind when making a PR which is:
- Add [keywords to link issues](https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/github/managing-your-work-on-github/linking-a-pull-request-to-an-issue#linking-a-pull-request-to-an-issue-using-a-keyword) like `closes: #91`
- Add screenshots in case the change is UI based or there is an example you can show
- Explain why you did something a certain way if that is not clear by the changes and the linked issue. Having links to docs or something else that help explain that decision is important, imo.

Also, only four of the PRs on the image count since the others were for test purposes or syncing the fork.

## Conclusion 🚀
I want to set a new goal: **make one PR on a completely new project** 😁!

I'm very happy to be participating in this event, even if I struggle to keep up on news and Discord chats every day. I found YouTubers giving out awesome tips, Twitch live streams with live coding to solve issues, and a whole community supporting open source (e.g. the [contributions to forem](https://dev.to/devteam/hacktoberfest-week-two-thank-you-to-our-contributors-on-forem-38c0)). I love this type of content 💯 and want to support it and share it so that everyone that doesn't know about it, learns about it!

We all live to share knowledge... and well, links to resources 😁. So here you go, a small list of awesome content that helped me:
- [Tips for Contributing to Open Source with GitHub by Brian Douglas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP-rEaamgHM)
- [Are you a coder? You need these tips! Top tips from the coding community by Eddie Jaoude](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiQ9ghz6pE0)
- [PixelogicDev - Hacktoberfest | Contributing to open source! | Day #7](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/771004677)
- [raisedevs Twitch channel](https://www.twitch.tv/raisedevs)