Contributing Projects to Drupal Using Tortoise CVS

While I consider myself fairly technically savvy and have been developing & theming Drupal sites now for a few years, when I had my first module I was ready to contribute, I have to admit that I was feeling a little dumb-struck.

So, in order to help anyone else new to this process, I decided to document the steps you need to take to get your module running on drupal.org.

Step 1: Get your Account & Permissions

1. Get a drupal.org account Once you have your account, you'll be able to create and reply to posts, join groups, etc... But you won't be able to submit your own code to the community (yet).
2. Apply for contributions CVS access http://drupal.org/cvs-application/requirements. Do read this page before you submit as it will give you tips on submitting your application, and typical reasons applications are turned down.
3. When you are ready to apply, you should have a module or theme already in mind to submit and include this with your CVS application. You'll get feedback from the maintainers when they review your submission. And really who can't benefit from another set of eyeballs?

You should hear back relatively quickly letting you know whether your application was accepted.

Step 2: Get CVS

Every drupal.org project (a contributed theme, module, installation profile or translation) needs to be maintained in CVS (Concurrent Versions System).

If you aren't familiar with CVS, check out the CVS Introduction on Drupal.org.

1. If you don't already have a CVS program... Get a CVS program. While I did attempt to first use Cygwin, I find that Tortoise works the easiest and is the most GUI-person-friendly.

Step 3: Create a Project Page

Once you have your project & contributions access, login to your account and click on 'Create Content > Project'.

Most of the fields here should be self-explanatory. Something to keep in mind is that the Short project name needs to match the name of the folder that contains your contribution.

Step 4: Submit your Code to the Drupal CVS

There may be different approaches, but here's what I did...

The below assumes you're using Tortise CVS on Windows

1. Created a new folder in C:/ called 'CVS'
2. Copy your module/theme to this directory
3. Right-click on your folder, scroll down to 'CVS -> Make New Module'
   
4. :pserver:uname@cvs.drupal.org:/cvs/drupal-contrib
contributions/modules/modulename
   Replace 'uname' with your drupal user name
   Replace 'project' with your drupal project name you created
   If you're not submitting a module, replace 'modules' with 'themes' or your contribution type

Step 5: Tag your CVS Contribution

Right-click on your newly added folder and choose 'CVS -> Tag'

DRUPAL-6--1-0
DRUPAL-6--1-1
DRUPAL-6--1-2

DRUPAL-5--1-0
DRUPAL-5--1-1
DRUPAL-5--1-2

Step 6: Create your Project Release

1. Go back to your drupal.org project page
2. Select 'Add New Release'
3. Here you will see a list of tags you've previously assigned via CVS

Creating Future Releases

1. Copy & Replace your updated module files to your CVS module folder (ex./ C:/ CVS/modulename)
2. Right-click on your project folder and choose CVS Commit...
3. Once your files are committed, repeat steps 5 & 6 above

Useful Links

• When to Roll Your Own Module (or not)
• Duplicate Module Hall of Shame
• Drupal Coding Standards
• Contributing a Module with Tortoise CVS