Managing Issues


  • Labelling issues can help you prioritise issues and bring them to the community’s attention.
  • Labels can be added to an issue using the right sidebar menu of the GitHub web interface.
  • The Carpentries provides a recommended set of labels, and has systems and processes that work with some of these.

Reviewing Pull Requests


  • Use line-specific comments and suggestions, and indicate the outcome of your review to help the contributor respond effectively.
  • The “approve” and “request changes” options on a review can help the contributor understand if they need to take further action.

Collaborating with your Team


  • GitHub’s notification settings can be customised to provide the updates you need in the places where you want them.
  • Effective communication is essential to good collaboration.
  • Regular progress can be achieved by ensuring your team members have frequent opportunities to discuss the project.

Collaborating with Newcomers


  • Encourage newcomers to get involved by maintaining good documentation and a welcoming atmosphere in your project.
  • Help contributors make an impact on your project with detailed issues, issue and pull request templates, and a detailed contributing guide.