first-contributions
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Improve instructions for opening Contributors.md file under README.md
🐞 Problem
Seems like a minor issue (or perhaps maybe this is just an issue for newbies like myself) but as a new user to github/git, I was left confused for a good while on figuring out how to open Contributors.md
while following the README.md
project file.
(P.S. I ended up having to watch a youtube video of someone going through the entire first-contributions
assignment to figure out how to open Contributors.md
)
🎯 Goal
I want to add a bit more detail to the instructors laid out on line 136 in the README.md
file to help new users navigate to the appropriate directory within their local machine.
💡 Possible solutions
- The edit below assumes that after running
line 119: cd first-contributions
, a new repository directory is made on the user's local computer under the pathway:C:\Users\<name>\first-contributions
My suggestion for README.md - line 136
-Now open `Contributors.md` file in a text editor, add your name to it... etc. etc.;
+Now open `Contributors.md` file in a text editor by navigating to your local hard drive (by default the repository should be located at **C:\Users\<name>\first-contributions**). You can open `Contributors.md` through various text editors such as VSCode, Sublime, Atom, etc. Once opened, add your name to it... etc. etc. ;
The edits to the actual instruction itself can be changed but I hope that small addition will help improve navigating to those repositories/files as a new git user.
Otherwise, let me know what you think.
Thanks! AG
Hi @asgee, Thank you for opening this issue and giving us feedback. I'm leaning towards not having this change. The biggest reason is that we can't safely make assumptions about this repo or that file in users' machine. They could be using a different OS, different setup for git / git bash etc. Read https://github.com/firstcontributions/first-contributions/issues/35892 to learn more.
However, I'd like to leave this issue open here so anybody else who might be facing can add more details. If we find that this is a common problem, we can put effort into fixing it.
I have some follow up questions though.
- Were you sure that Contributors.md was in your local? Was it just the location of file that was blocking you?
- Which video did you watch?
- How much experience do you have with Windows OS? How much experience with command line tools on Windows?
Hi @Roshanjossey , thanks for your reply!
I totally understand your concern and that was one of the reasons why I placed this issue with the assumption re: files in users' machines/different OS/etc.
In terms of your questions:
- The Contributors.md was indeed in my local - I didn't have any issues of the file blocking me etc.
- I ended up finding this video which depicts a first time contributor following this exact project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJy_fIDrVmQ
- I've been using Windows OS for many years now so I'm quite familiar with it. However, I do not have that much experience with running command line tools on Windows such as the commands I encountered when running Git Bash for the first time. Looking back on it now, I do see that the file location is stated on the first couple of lines after cloning the project url into git bash - I might've just missed it being that it was my first time handling command line tools for a while.
Otherwise, I would say it was a combination of being a first time github user + minimum experience w/ command line tools + slight fear of making a mistake that led me to make this suggestion.
I still got lots to learn but this project is amazing overall for newbies like myself!
Regarding the instructions, I know st want to ask how do you open a terminal?
Assign it to me.