Merge pull request #43 from kbonney/contributing

Updating contributing page in documentation

Author: kbonney

.gitignore

@@ -12,4 +12,6 @@ pvops/.vscode/*
 pvops/text2time/.vscode
 .vscode/*
 .vscode/settings.json
-.coverage
+.coverage
+.eggs
+*.egg-info

docs/pages/contributing.rst

@@ -10,16 +10,75 @@ and test before submitting code.
 Checking that your PR passes the required testing and linting procedures will speed up
 the acceptance of your PR.
 
-**If you find errors in the codebase:**
+Issues and bug reporting
+------------------------
 
-1. Submit an issue at the `pvops issues page <https://github.com/sandialabs/pvops/issues>`_
+To report issues or bugs please create a new issue on 
+the `pvops issues page <https://github.com/sandialabs/pvops/issues>`_.
+Before submitting your bug report, please perform a cursory search 
+to see if the problem has been already reported. If it has been reported, 
+and the issue is still open, add a comment to the existing issue instead of opening a new issue.
 
-**If you would like to contribute:**
+Guidelines for effective bug reporting
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-2. Create a pull request (PR) or help with other PRs which are in the library 
-   by referencing `pvops PR page <https://github.com/sandialabs/pvops/pulls>`_. 
-   Pull requests should contain code that follows the PEP8 python code style.
+- Use a clear descriptive title for the issue.
 
-**If you are confused:**
+- Describe the steps to reproduce the problem, 
+  the behavior you observed after following the steps, and the expected behavior.
 
-3. Feel free to reach out to the package maintainer, found in ``setup.py``. 
+- If possible, provide a simple example of the bug using pvOps example data.
+
+- When relevant, provide information on your computing environment
+  (operating system, python version, pvOps version or commit).
+
+- For runtime errors, provide a function call stack.
+
+Contributing code
+-----------------
+
+Software developers, within the core development team and external collaborators, 
+are expected to follow standard practices to document and test new code. 
+Software developers interested in contributing to the project are encouraged 
+to create a Fork of the project and submit a Pull Request (PR) using GitHub.
+Pull requests will be reviewed by the core development team.
+Create a PR or help with other PRs which are in the library 
+by referencing `pvops PR page <https://github.com/sandialabs/pvops/pulls>`_. 
+
+Guidelines for preparing and submitting pull-requests
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+- Use a clear descriptive title for your pull-requests
+
+- Describe if your submission is a bugfix, documentation update, or a feature
+  enhancement. Provide a concise description of your proposed changes. 
+  
+- Provide references to open issues, if applicable, to provide the necessary
+  context to understand your pull request
+  
+- Make sure that your pull-request merges cleanly with the `master` branch of
+  pvOps. When working on a feature, always create your feature branch off of
+  the latest `master` commit
+  
+- Ensure that appropriate documentation and tests accompany any added features.
+  
+  
+Once a pull-request is submitted you will iterate with NuMAD maintainers
+until your changes are in an acceptable state and can be merged in. You can push
+addditional commits to the branch used to create the pull-request to reflect the
+feedback from maintainers and users of the code.
+
+Questions and feature requests
+--------------------------------
+
+For any questions regarding pvOps or requests for additional features,
+users may open an issue on the `pvops issues page <https://github.com/sandialabs/pvops/issues>`_
+or contact the package maintainer found in ``setup.py``.
+
+Guidelines for effective bug reporting
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+- Use a clear, descriptive title for the question or feature request.
+
+- If submitting a feature request, please provide context, examples, and
+  references when relevant.