add contributing to rst docs

Author: wholmgren

docs/sphinx/source/contributing.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+.. _contributing:
+
+Contributing
+============
+
+Encouraging more people to help develop pvlib-python is essential to our
+success. Therefore, we want to make it easy and rewarding for you to
+contribute.
+
+
+Easy ways to contribute
+-----------------------
+
+Here are a few ideas for you can contribute, even if you are new to
+pvlib-python, git, or Python:
+
+* Make `GitHub issues <https://github.com/pvlib/pvlib-python/issues>`_
+  and contribute to the conversation about how to resolve them.
+* Read issues and pull requests that other people created and
+  contribute to the conversation about how to resolve them.
+* Improve the documentation and the unit tests.
+* Improve the IPython/Jupyter Notebook tutorials or write new ones that
+  demonstrate how to use pvlib-python in your area of expertise.
+* If you have MATLAB experience, you can help us keep pvlib-python
+  up to date with PVLIB_MATLAB or help us develop common unit tests.
+  For more, see `Issue #2 <https://github.com/pvlib/pvlib-python/issues/2>`_
+  and `Issue #3 <https://github.com/pvlib/pvlib-python/issues/3>`_.
+* Tell your friends and colleagues about pvlib-python.
+* Add your project to our
+  `Projects and publications that use pvlib-python wiki
+  <https://github.com/pvlib/pvlib-python/wiki/Projects-and-publications-
+  that-use-pvlib-python>`_.
+
+
+How to contribute new code
+--------------------------
+
+Contributors to pvlib-python use GitHub's pull requests to add/modify
+its source code. The GitHub pull request process can be intimidating for
+new users, but you'll find that it becomes straightforward once you use
+it a few times. Please let us know if you get stuck at any point in the
+process. Here's an outline of the process:
+
+#. Create a GitHub issue and get initial feedback from users and
+   maintainers. If the issue is a bug report, please include the
+   code needed to reproduce the problem.
+#. Obtain the latest version of pvlib-python: Fork the pvlib-python
+   project to your GitHub account, ``git clone`` your fork to your computer.
+#. Make some or all of your changes/additions and ``git commit`` them to
+   your local repository.
+#. Share your changes with us via a pull request: ``git push`` your
+   local changes to your GitHub fork, then go to GitHub make a pull
+   request.
+
+The Pandas project maintains an excellent `contributing page
+<https://github.com/pydata/pandas/wiki/Contributing>`_ that goes into
+detail on each of these steps. Also see GitHub's `Set Up Git
+<https://help.github.com/articles/set-up-git/>`_ and `Using Pull
+Requests <https://help.github.com/articles/using-pull-requests/>`_.
+
+Note that you do not need to make all of your changes before creating a
+pull request. Your pull requests will automatically be updated when you
+commit new changes and push them to GitHub. This gives everybody an easy
+way to comment on the code and can make the process more efficient.
+
+We strongly recommend using virtual environments for development.
+Virtual environments make it trivial to switch between different
+versions of software. This `astropy guide
+<http://astropy.readthedocs.org/en/latest/development/workflow/
+virtual_pythons.html>`_ is a good reference for virtual environments. If
+this is your first pull request, don't worry about using a virtual
+environment.
+
+You must include documentation and unit tests for any new or improved
+code. We can provide help and advice on this after you start the pull
+request.
+
+The maintainers will follow same procedures, rather than making direct
+commits to the main repo. Exceptions may be made for extremely minor
+changes, such as fixing documentation typos.
+
+
+This documentation
+------------------
+If this documentation is unclear, help us improve it! Consider looking
+at `IPython <https://github.com/ipython/ipython/wiki/Dev:-Index>`_,
+`pandas <https://github.com/pydata/pandas/wiki>`_, and
+`Sandia-Labs/PVLIB_Python#33 <https://github.com/Sandia-Labs/
+PVLIB_Python/issues/33>`_ for inspiration.