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Contributing to Camino (Help Make Camino a Better Browser)

So you want to help? Welcome to the project! Luckily you don’t have to be a C++ guru and you don’t need to spend lots of time. A big portion of the help we need comes from efforts -- such as bug reporting, user feedback, and translation -- that don't require any esoteric skills. Read on to find a way that you can contribute.

Test Driving Camino

Camino is constantly undergoing development and improvement, and every evening we create a "nightly build" -- a version of Camino incorporating the changes made during the day. By downloading and testing a nightly build, you can help ensure that all the changes went correctly and didn't accidentally introduce new bugs.

How does it work? Just download and install the latest nightly build, and test it by browsing the web as you always do -- pausing to report any bugs you notice along the way.

Nightly builds are sometimes less stable than official releases, but they are nearly always quite usable, and they incorporate the latest features. We do recommend that you make a backup copy of your Camino profile directory (located in [your home folder]/Library/Application Support/Camino) before testing. If you download a nightly build and find it unusable, you can always re-download the latest stable release and replace it (don't forget to also file a bug and let us know about the problems you were having).

So be on the cutting edge -- download and test the latest nightly build of Camino.

Report a Bug

If you've found something wrong with Camino, we want to know -- so that we can fix it.

Reporting a bug is easy. Just set up an account in Bugzilla (our bug reporting database), search Bugzilla to make sure your bug hasn't already been reported, and if it hasn't, file a new bug.

Because some bugs that show up in Camino are not Camino-specific, please do not restrict your search to the Camino product, and be sure to test to see if you can reproduce the bug with the Mozilla suite (aka "Seamonkey") or Firefox on OS X. If you can reproduce it on one of the other browsers, please file the bug against that browser instead of Camino -- fixing it in Firefox or Seamonkey is very likely to fix it in Camino too.

Also see:

• How to file a bug in Bugzilla
• Bug and Feature Request FAQ
• What is Bugzilla?

Triage

Once you're comfortable using Bugzilla, you may also want to help "triage" bugs that other people have submitted. Triage involves identifying which bugs are real and which can't be replicated, and which are duplicates of bugs that are already entered in the database. When you triage bugs, you help free up the programmers' time to fix them. Contact the Camino mailing list or the #camino IRC channel on irc.mozilla.org if you want to get involved doing triage.

Request a Feature

We want Camino to be able to do everything you've come to expect from a browser, but we can't read your mind, so you have to let us know what your expectations are. The development team only works on features that have been formally requested -- so help us figure out what's needed to make Camino a better browser.

The Camino team keeps track of feature requests (abbreviated "RFE" for "Request for Enhancement") the same way we keep track of bugs -- in the Bugzilla database. To request a feature, simply follow the instructions for reporting a bug, but set the severity to "Enhancement."

Also see:

• How to file a bug in Bugzilla
• Bug and Feature Request FAQ
• What is Bugzilla?

Translating / Localizing Camino

Are you bilingual or multilingual? One of the easiest ways to get involved in the Camino project is to help the Camino Localization Project translate the user interface (menus, buttons, etc) into various languages. Anybody with knowledge of English and another language will be able to help out.

Camino Documentation Project

This website and all the Camino support documents are written, edited, and maintained by volunteers.

Found a typo? Think a sentence is confusing? Wondering where the documentation is for feature XYZ? Or just want to pitch in wherever you can? Join the Camino-Docs Project mailing list and ask how you can get involved.

User Support

Since Camino is an all-volunteer effort, we can't afford a help desk phone line. Instead, we rely on people like you to answer questions in the Camino section of the MozillaZine forums. Drop by the forums some time -- if you've been using the browser for a while, chances are you'll see a question you can answer.

Evangelism

Spread the word about Camino! Evangelism can be anything from putting a Camino button and link on your website to talking to your Mac-using friends about the great new browser you found. You can also join in the general Mozilla evangelism efforts, which are focused on raising the profile of the Mozilla browsers and encouraging webmasters to fix poorly coded sites so that they'll work properly in Mozilla and Camino.

Developing Camino

Camino is fully open source, which means anybody can get a copy of the source code to study, build and modify; and it's an all-volunteer project, which means that it can move forward only with your help.

Whether you want to contribute code to the project or just download the source and play around, get started by visiting the developer documentation.

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Contact

One of the most important aspects of the Camino project is communication with the other volunteers. Come join us on the mailing list, forum, or irc chat group.

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