# git Basics

- **Create a Github account**: The first thing, you need to do is to [create a GitHub account](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/signing-up-for-github/signing-up-for-a-new-github-account) if you do not already have one.

- **Get familiar with the basics of GitHub and git**:
  : - Getting started with the [basics](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart/hello-world)
    - Learn about [branches](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/about-branches)
    - Learn about [forks](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart/fork-a-repo)
    - Learn about [pull requests](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/about-pull-requests)
    - Learn about [how to commit and push changes from your local repository](https://docs.github.com/en/migrations/importing-source-code/using-the-command-line-to-import-source-code/adding-locally-hosted-code-to-github)

- **Create an issue**: If you have an idea for a new feature or a suggestion for any kind of code changes, please create an issue for this. We sort [our issues](https://github.com/tobac-project/tobac/issues) into [milestones](https://github.com/tobac-project/tobac/milestones) to priorize work and manage our workflow, i.e. the different versions of **tobac** to come.

  The issues act, therefore, not only as a place for reporting bugs, but also as a collection of *to do* points.

- **Work on an issue**: You can also work on any issue that was created by somebody else and is already out there. A tip is to look for the **good first issue** label, if you are a new developer. These issues are usually fairly easy to address and can be good to practice our GitHub workflow.

- **Create a pull request from your fork:** We use our personal forks of the tobac repository to create pull requests. This means that you have to first commit and push your local changes to your personal fork and then create a pull request from that fork: <https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request-from-a-fork>