Setting up git

This guide uses TortoiseGIT. While there are other programs out there, this one is the most commonly used. This guide is for Windows only.

It's recommended if you don't want to read this that you just watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5tTCo6IHLg

If you are having trouble

Watch this video guide if you are having difficulty with any step below. [1] If you have further problems, contact someone on #coderbus

Head here: https://help.github.com/articles/set-up-git
Follow the guide above from steps 2 to 4, you can install Git for Windows if you want however it's not recommended
Now you have Git all setup, but if you're command line illiterate like me, you'll wanna have some fancy graphics!

Head over to: https://github.com/tgstation/-tg-station
Click the Fork button in the top right corner.
The page you'll be directed to is now your fork. You'll be pushing updates here, and making pull requests to have them merged the the main (master) repository.
Copy the HTTP URL. It's next to the HTTP GIT and Git Read-Only buttons. It'll look something like: https://github.com/NAME/-tg-station

Right click on the folder that was created (usually called -tg-station13), and go to TortoiseGit and then click on Settings.
Click on Remote under Git.
There should be one thing on the list origin.
You're now adding the main repository as a source you can pull updates from.
In the Remote box type in upstream (or whatever you like).
In the URL: box put: https://github.com/tgstation/-tg-station.git
Click Add New/Save.
Click Ok.
Almost done!

Updating your repo with the master should be done before trying anything.
Right-click the folder your repo is in and select TortoiseGit then Pull.
Click the radial button next to Remote and make sure upstream (or whatever you called it) is selected next to it.
The remote branch should be set to master.
Then click Ok. This will pull the latest changes from the master repo.

Branching your repo is very important for organising your commits, you should have a different branch for each unrelated code change (e.g. if you wanted to make some new sprites for one item and change the properties of another these should be in seperate branches), as Pull requests work off branches rather than commits this will allow you to make a seperate Pull Request per change. Doing this streamlines the whole process and will save everyone a bunch of headaches.
Right-click in your working folder. Then choose TortoiseGit, and Create Branch...
Type in your new branch name
(Optional) Tick Switch to new branch
Press Okay and your new branch is created

To switch between Branches:

Right-click in your working folder. Then choose TortoiseGit, and Switch/Checkout...
Choose your Branch then press Okay

A commit is confirmed change of the files in your repo, it's how you make changes permanently to the files in your repo, so try not to commit without making sure it works (though subsequent commits can fix it).
As said before, you should use different branches to separate your commits/changes. Don't commit to master. It should be clean, so you can fall back on it if needed.
To make your commits, you need to edit the files using BYOND's inbuilt editing tools. Make sure to follow coding standards when making your changes! When you're finished, right click the folder you're working with and choose Git Commit -> "[Your Branch Name]" (Example: Git Commit -> "My_First_Branch")
You can then select only the files you want to be committed by ticking or unticking them. You should also write a detailed commit summary, detailing what happened in that commit.
Click Ok and the commit will be committed to your local repo!

Right-click in your working folder. Then choose TortoiseGit, and Push...
Set Local and Remote to the name of the branch you committed before. (e.g. My_First_Branch)
Under Destination, set Remote: to origin.
Click Ok. This'll upload your changes to your remote repo (the one on GitHub).
Head to your GitHub repo e.g https://github.com/NAME/-tg-station13.git
Click Pull Request at the top right.
Fill out a summary and then create the pull request.
~~You're done!~~ You might be done! In many cases there will be issues pointed out by other contributors, unfortunate merge conflicts, and other things that will require you to revisit your pull request.

This is a must for maintainers who need to easily test other people's code!
Locate the section for your Github remote in the .git/config file. Note that it is hidden by default. It looks like this:

[remote "upstream"]

fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/upstream/*

fetch = +refs/pull/*/head:refs/remotes/upstream/pr/*

Fetch from the upstream remote.
To check out a particular pull request, use Switch/Checkout and select the branch from the drop-down list.