Contributing enhancements

.Rbuildignore

@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+^renv$
+^renv\.lock$
 ^collapse\.Rproj$
 ^\.Rproj\.user$
 \.fsrc$

.Rprofile

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+source("renv/activate.R")

.gitattributes

@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+# Auto detect text files and perform LF normalization
+* text=auto
+
+# GitHub Linguist
 docs/** linguist-documentation
 man/** linguist-documentation
 tests/** linguist-vendored

.gitignore

@@ -1,10 +1,54 @@
-*.Rproj.user
-*.Rhistory
-*.RData
-*.RDataTmp
-*.Ruserdata
-*.Rproj
-*vignette.pdf
+# History files
+.Rhistory
+.Rapp.history
+
+# Session Data files
+.RData
+.RDataTmp
+
+# User-specific files
+.Ruserdata
+
+# Example code in package build process
+*-Ex.R
+
+# Output files from R CMD build
+/*.tar.gz
+
+# Output files from R CMD check
+/*.Rcheck/
+
+# RStudio files
+.Rproj.user/
+
+# produced vignettes
+vignettes/*.html
+vignettes/*.pdf
+
+# OAuth2 token, see https://github.com/hadley/httr/releases/tag/v0.3
+.httr-oauth
+
+# knitr and R markdown default cache directories
+*_cache/
+/cache/
+
+# Temporary files created by R markdown
+*.utf8.md
+*.knit.md
+
+# R Environment Variables
+.Renviron
+
+# pkgdown site
+docs/
+
+# translation temp files
+po/*~
+
+# RStudio Connect folder
+rsconnect/
+
+# Manual
 *.o
 *.so
 *.dll
@@ -13,5 +57,5 @@ inst/doc
 doc
 Meta
 testing
-.Rproj.user
 *.db
+.DS_Store

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -1,6 +1,32 @@
 # Contributing to *collapse*
 
-- Please file an issue or feature request ideally using the [templates](https://github.com/SebKrantz/collapse/tree/development/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE).
+- If you found a problem or have a feature suggestion, please [open an issue](https://github.com/SebKrantz/collapse/issues/new/choose) using one of the templates.
 - For broader proposals start a [discussion](https://github.com/SebKrantz/collapse/discussions).
-- To contribute directly, fork the entire repo (including the 'development' branch), make your changes in the 'development' branch, and send a PR to the 'development' branch.
-- I'll mention contributors in the `DESCRIPTION` file as `"ctb"` if the contribution is a substantial improvement or new functionality. 
+- To contribute directly, read [How to contribute code](#how-to-contribute-code) section below.
+- Contributors will be mentioned in the `DESCRIPTION` file as `"ctb"` **only if** the contribution is a substantial improvement or new functionality. 
+
+## How to contribute code
+
+For code contributions, follow the five simple steps below.
+
+1. [Open an issue](https://github.com/SebKrantz/collapse/issues/new/choose) to let others know about the problem/feature you aim to address.
+You may skip this step if your contribution is minor.
+2. [Fork the repository](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/working-with-forks/fork-a-repo).
+Make sure to uncheck "Copy the main branch only" box to include all branches.
+3. [Clone the repository](https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/creating-and-managing-repositories/cloning-a-repository) locally.
+4. Switch to `development` branch or create a new one off `development` and make your changes in it.
+5. Once your code is ready, push it to your fork and 
+[open a pull request](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request) 
+to `development` branch in the source repository.
+
+> [!IMPORTANT]  
+> When opening a pull request, make sure to select `development` branch as the target (base) branch.
+
+## How to develop locally
+
+The project uses `renv` to allow you to easily install the dependencies in an isolated manner.
+
+1. Open `collapse.Rproj`. This will automatically activate the environment.
+2. Run `renv::install()` in the console to install the packages required for development and testing.
+3. For interactive testing, you may want to use `devtools::load_all()` to load the complete `collapse` package.
+4. Once your code is ready, run tests with `devtools::test()` and run checks with `devtools::check()`.

renv/.gitignore

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+library/
+local/
+cellar/
+lock/
+python/
+sandbox/
+staging/