# Looking for direction on starting to contribute

**URL:** <https://discourse.pymc.io/t/looking-for-direction-on-starting-to-contribute/9800>\
**Category:** version agnostic\
**Tags:** development\
**Created:** [July 1, 2022, 10:32am UTC](https://discourse.pymc.io/t/looking-for-direction-on-starting-to-contribute/9800 "2022-07-01T10:32:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![opherdonchin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.pymc.io/opherdonchin/32/5948_2.png) [@opherdonchin](https://discourse.pymc.io/u/opherdonchin)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 10:32am UTC](https://discourse.pymc.io/t/looking-for-direction-on-starting-to-contribute/9800/1 "2022-07-01T10:32:00Z")

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I’d like to help. The [Contribution page](https://www.pymc.io/projects/docs/en/stable/contributing/index.html) suggests that I write here for suggestions on where to start. I know how to program, have some experience in Python, and I’m very intrerested to understand the nuts and bolts of how things work within the code. Does anyone want to take me on and feed me small projects?

Thanks,  
Opher

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**Author:** ![cluhmann](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.pymc.io/cluhmann/32/3083_2.png) [@cluhmann](https://discourse.pymc.io/u/cluhmann)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://discourse.pymc.io/t/looking-for-direction-on-starting-to-contribute/9800/2 "2022-07-01T15:50:07Z")

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There are several different recommendations. One is to check the [list of issues that have been tagged as “beginner friendly”](https://github.com/pymc-devs/pymc/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22beginner+friendly%22). Another is to join in on the sprints/hackathons/working sessions that we organize, some targeting very new contributors and some targeting those with more experience. Finally, we also hold regular office hours during which anyone is free to come and ask/discuss whatever they wish. All of these events are typically announced here, but the best place to keep on top of every thing is the [PyMC Meetup group](https://www.meetup.com/pymc-online-meetup/). If you join the Meetup group, you will be notified about everything that’s happening.

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**Author:** ![opherdonchin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.pymc.io/opherdonchin/32/5948_2.png) [@opherdonchin](https://discourse.pymc.io/u/opherdonchin)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://discourse.pymc.io/t/looking-for-direction-on-starting-to-contribute/9800/3 "2022-07-02T20:49:11Z")

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Hi, I’m going to try to do Issue #5791 on inferring dims and coords from xarray in pm.Data. As I walk through the [pull request step by step](https://www.pymc.io/projects/docs/en/latest/contributing/pr_tutorial.html#pr-tutorial) instructions, I’m asked to use `git checkout -b my-feature`. However, since I’m using `github desktop` (which I think is recommended on Windows), there is no checkout. Is the right thing to do simply to create a branch for the feature?

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**Author:** ![cluhmann](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.pymc.io/cluhmann/32/3083_2.png) [@cluhmann](https://discourse.pymc.io/u/cluhmann)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 2:48am UTC](https://discourse.pymc.io/t/looking-for-direction-on-starting-to-contribute/9800/4 "2022-07-03T02:48:10Z")

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I have not used github desktop (or git on windows) I am not entirely sure. But `git checkout -b my-feature` creates a branch called `my-feature` and then immediately checks it out.

If you are planning on taking on an issue I would encourage you to say so in the issue itself. Doing so serves several functions. It alerts others that someone is working on it and it also allows other developers to provide some guidance about how to handle the issue, etc.

If contributing to open source projects is relatively new, I would encourage you to attend the upcoming working sessions organized by Data Umbrella (details [here](https://pymc-data-umbrella.xyz/en/latest/2022-07_sprint/schedule.html)). There will be many contributors with varying levels of experience and PyMC team members around to answer questions, etc.