The Contributor’s Guide
We always welcome new contributors! There’s a lot to do, not only writing some code, but also contributing to the documentation and guides, tutorials, translations, bug reports, feature request, communication and public relations… And of course we’re always in need for donations too.
Introduction
We as members, contributors, and leaders pledge to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community.
► Read the Contributor Covenant / Code of Conduct for more information.
Get in touch
First things first, if you’d like to contribute, come and say hi! We’re here to help, give advice and just have a nice chat. Don’t be afraid, we won’t bite ;) Join us on our Discord server, that’s quick, easy, and anonymous.
If you have any private enquiry or if you don’t like Discord, you can contact us using our contact form, we’ll reply by e-mail. Please don’t use this form to get support for the tools but only for other and private enquiries.
Help fund the development, support and distribution
One of our main needs to continue to develop, maintain, and distribute free software is money…
We’d like to pay the developers, we have to pay for the web hosting and servers, and in general for all the people and companies working to keep the Rx Open Tools alive.
You can make a donation right now, or, even better, join the 
RxLab. membership and get exclusive advantages like an early access to the tools in development and new versions. You can also buy nice stuff from the shop!
► Donate
► Shop
Contribute
Github account
For now (but that may change in the future in our quest for emancipation and free software), the first step to take if you’d like to contribute in any way to the Rx Open Tools is to create a free and anonymous Github acccount.
Coding, translations, bug reports, feature requests, documentation and user guides are all made from Github.
Code
If you’re a fellow developer, either beginner or experienced, you’re welcome to contribute to the development of the Rx Open Tools (RxOT). Most of the work happens on our repositories on Github which you can quickly find at source.rxlab.io.
If you don’t know how to use Git yet, start by testing that. It’s not difficult, and we provide a few hints and tips here.
This is the usual way to submit changes to the code:
- Start by cloning the repo of the tool you’re working on. This is easily done right from the Github website.
- Clone your instance of the repo locally to your computer, using either the command line or the Github Desktop application.
- Then you can start to code.
- Commit your changes regularly, and push them, using either the command line or the Github Desktop application.
- Submit a pull request to our repository so we can review your changes. This is easily done right from the Github website.
As you can see, the process is quite easy to follow, and everything can be done with a UI if you’re not so familiar with command line interfaces.
Don’t worry if you’re not sure about what you’re doing, don’t be shy. We’ll review and fix (or ask you to fix) your code before it’s integrated into the RxOT, and help you learn. We’re doing everything we can so everyone feels included and safe in every place you’ll be in touch with us. We’ve all been beginners ;)
If you’d like to submit a piece of code, an example, your own script, or anything else which would not fit the process described above, don’t hesitate to contact us, either using our contact form or through our discord server to have a little chat!
Document
If you’re a skilled user of one of the Rx Open Tools, or you find some mistakes in the docs and user guides, you’re welcome to edit them or create new pages!
When you’re reading the documentation, like the one you’re reading right now, an Edit on Github button should be available at the top right corner of the page. Just click it to submit your changes; we’ll review and make the changes available quickly. Don’t worry if you don’t see the change after you edit the page, it has to be accepted first and it’s not automatically published.
The documentation uses the Markdown syntax: the source is made of simple text files following this syntax, and the html web pages are generated from this using a tool called MkDocs. You’ll see that Markdown is very simple to use and quick to learn.
These are the links to all our documentation and user guides:
- Main (all docs): rxlab.guide
- aliases: docs.rxlab.guide, rxlaboratory.guide
- DuBlast (Blender): dublast.rxlab.guide
- DuBuilder: dubuilder.rxlab.guide
- DuCoPi: ducopi.rxlab.guide
- DuGR (After Effects): dugr.rxlab.guide
- Duik (After Effects): duik.rxlab.guide
- Duik (Blender): duik-blender.rxlab.guide
- DuIO (After Effects): duio.rxlab.guide
- DuME: dume.rxlab.guide
- DuRPresets (Blender): durpresets.rxlab.guide
- DuSKA (Blender): duska.rxlab.guide
- DuTranslator: dutranslator.rxlab.guide
- DuViews (Blender): duviews.rxlab.guide
- OCA: oca.rxlab.guide
- OCA (Krita): oca-krita.rxlab.guide
- Ramses: ramses.rxlab.guide
- RxLauncher: rxlauncher.rxlab.guide
Tutorials
The more tutorials available, the better!
Don’t hesitate to record either quick tips and tricks or complete courses. Post them on your favorite streaming service, paid or free, in any language, and let us know so we can share them!
If you’d like and if your tutorial meets our quality requirements, it could become an “official” tutorial for your language which will include on the RxLab website and even add to our shop. Contact us if you feel your tutorial our course deserves it.
Translate
We’re trying to make the Rx Open Tools available in as many languages as possible. When we develop the tools, they’re written in English first (as all programming languages use English keywords that makes things easier). But we’d like them to use Esperanto as a default language, because there’s no reason English should be the international language, la lingvo internacia. Of course, it is, and that won’t change tomorrow, but we’re trying to show it could be different.
The best would be that any user could use the tools in the language of its choice. We’ve noticed that when a tool is translated, its use grows a lot in countries where the new translation is spoken. These are the languages the most used by the users of the RxOT:
- (Esperanto)
- English
- French
- Spanish
- Chinese
- Portuguese
- Japanese
- German
- …
But any translation in any language is welcome!
Technically, to translate all the Rx Open Tools, no matter the platform or programming language, we use open PO files. To edit these translations, we use the online collaborative platform Crowdin, but we also recommend using free apps like PoEdit or Virtaal if you prefer to download the files and work offline. These files can also be easily edited with any text editor application.
When you decide to help to translate one of the Rx Open Tools, it’s best to first join us on our Discord server so we can help you, and you can exchange with other translators in your language or other languages.
Via Crowdin
The easiest way to help translate the tools is to create a free account on Crowdin and start contributing to the project of your choice. The list of RxOT is here. If you don’t find the project you’re willing to translate, that means we’re still in the process of preparing the translation files, or it’s not planned to be translated yet. In any case, don’t hesitate to contact us or join us on our chat server to ask for it!
If the language you’re willing to translate to is not listed yet, just ask us and we’ll add it right away!
Via an application
If you prefer to translate the tools using an application, you’ll first have to download the translation files to edit them. You’ll find them either on the corresponding Github repository or Crowdin project. First, create a free account on the platform, then download the files. Once you’re finished, you’ll just have to send them back (post them on our Discord server, attach them to an issue on Github, create a pull request, or upload them to Crowdin, your choice!).
Bug reports and feature request
If you find a bug (sorry!) or have a feature to request for a specific Rx Open Tool, let us know! It’s very important we get feedback from the users to keep improving all the tools.
No matter what, all bug requests and feature requests must be posted on the corresponding Github repository. Both bug reports and feature requests are issues on Github, and that’s where we keep track of everything. If they’re not posted there, they won’t be in our todo lists.
But it’s a good idea to first join us on Discord to make sure the issue is not already known or fixed, or if you need any help at all.
Communicate, share, repost…
The more we are, the more contributors we get, the better will be our work. Every time you post something you’ve made using one of the Rx Open Tools, show it! Include hash tags like #rxlaboratory, #rxlab, #duik, etc. and mentions like @RxLaboratory, and ask your followers to follow us, to contribute, to donate or to become members! Use these links to get them to the right page: rxlaboratory.org, donate.rxlab.info, membership.rxlab.info, chat.rxlab.info, rxlab.io, rxlab.guide…
We’ll be happy to repost and share your posts and help you reach more people to show your work!
► Youtube
► Discord
Finally, if you’ve subscribed to the RxLab. Membership, use this badge ! Show your support by adding it to your website, page, etc. with a link to membership.rxlab.info.