If you are not familiar with using GitHub, then read on. You probably should use the simplest tools available. Download GitHub Desktop to allow you to manage your work and contributions to the IDBE-Geotech project through a simple interface.
The workflow is actually very easy. You will work on local files on your computer and can edit and manage those files just like any others. The only extra step is that you need to periodically synchronize your files with the online GitHub repository and have the repository managers assess and integrate your new work.
This repository is open to the public and anyone can create new Issues to make suggestions for the work. If you are already a member of the IDBE group or would like to more actively contribute to this effort, we will be happy to add you to the project team. First, make sure that you have a GitHub account. Then, send your contact information, your GitHub ID, and a brief description of how you want to contribute to [email protected].
To get a local version of the repository, click the "Clone or download" green button and select "Open in Desktop."
The local files of the repository will be placed in your filesystem. You can navigate to the files through the GitHub Desktop application. You are best-off editing the documents using your favorite text editor (lots of GitHub users like Atom).
If you want to make a new use case or register a new standard, first make a copy of the template document in your filesystem. Then name the copy something short and descriptive and edit. When you synchronize with the central repository, your new file will be uploaded.
All of the files in the project are formatted as AsciiDoc. Don't worry about the odd equals signs or other markup in the document - these things just make the final work render nicely. Your job is to edit the main text.
Be sure to edit the appropriate information at the top of the document (title, organization, date, etc.). For instance, in the use_case document, the first few lines look like this:
= Use Case: title
*Version:* version number of use case, start at 1.0
*Author:* submitter
*Date:* YYYY-MM-DD
== Description
//brief description of use case
So after "=Use Case: " is the word "title." Replace "title" with your title for the use case. Similarly, after "Author:" replace "submitter" with the author of this use case (probably you).
Under "== Description" you see a line starting with two back-slashes. This line provides instructions for how to complete the text and there is no reason to delete the line. Just create a new line immediately following the instructions line and start editing text, like below:
= Use Case: Reconcile Standard Penetration Test results
*Version:* 1.0
*Author:* Jane Doe, OGC
*Date:* 2019-02-01
== Description
//brief description of use case
Standard Penetration Tests adhere to different national or regional....
We promise, the end results will look very nice when rendered in HTML.
Once you are finished creating new files and making edits, be sure to save your work. Then go back to GitHub Desktop and you will see changes listed to the left in the application. Under the list of changes, type in a short summary to describe your changes and optionally some more details. Then commit those changes to the repository by clicking "Commit to master" at the bottom-left. See the example below.
Once the commit is complete, click on "Publish branch" in the upper part of the GitHub Desktop interface. This will update the central repository with your changes.
Other people should be updating the repository as well. Usually, when you start GitHub Desktop it will tell you if changes occurred that you need to have locally. But just in case, you can click "Fetch origin" at the top of the application window to update your local copy.