.. _community:

Community Guidelines
====================

Plaquette is an open-source software used by artists, makers, researchers, and developers interested
in creative tangible computing. The goal of these guidelines is to help everyone collaborate and
communicate in a friendly and inclusive way, whether you are reporting a bug, suggesting a
feature, or sharing your ideas.

If you participate in any Plaquette space (issues, pull requests, or discussions on GitHub),
please take a moment to read and follow these principles.

Be Respectful and Inclusive
---------------------------

Everyone is welcome, regardless of experience level, background, or identity.
We ask that you be kind, patient, and supportive of others’ learning processes.

All interactions on GitHub are covered by the
`Code of Conduct <https://github.com/SofaPirate/Plaquette/blob/master/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md>`_.

If you ever experience or witness behavior that makes you uncomfortable, please reach out to the
maintainers directly.

Contributing
------------

Plaquette grows through its community of users and contributors.
You can help by:

* Reporting bugs or unexpected behavior.
* Suggesting new features or improvements.
* Fixing typos, improving examples, or clarifying documentation.
* Sharing creative projects that use Plaquette.

All contribution instructions and coding conventions are described in our
`Contribution Guidelines <https://github.com/SofaPirate/Plaquette/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md>`_.

Reporting Bugs and Requesting Features
--------------------------------------

To make it easier for everyone:

* First, check the existing issues on GitHub to see if your topic already exists.
* If not, open a new issue and choose one of these forms:

  - **Bug report** if something isn’t working.
  - **Feature idea** if you’d like to suggest an improvement.
  - **Help needed** if you’re stuck and need a hand.
  - **Quick note** for a short comment, idea, or thought.

All discussions happen transparently on the
`issue tracker <https://github.com/SofaPirate/Plaquette/issues>`_.

Getting Support
---------------

If you need help using Plaquette please start by browsing the `documentation <https://plaquette.org>`_.

You can also look at examples on `GitHub <https://github.com/SofaPirate/Plaquette/tree/master/examples>`_
or directly from the Arduino application in menu **File > Examples > Plaquette**.

If you still have trouble, open a **Help needed** issue on the
`issue tracker <https://github.com/SofaPirate/Plaquette/issues>`_ and describe what you’re trying to do.
There’s no wrong question!

License and Attribution
-----------------------

Plaquette is free software under the **GNU GPL v3 or later** license.
See the `LICENSE <https://github.com/SofaPirate/Plaquette/blob/master/LICENSE.md>`_ file for details.
