How To Contribute

Welcome to the DataTalks.Club Zoomcamps Notes repository! This is a community-driven resource that helps thousands of learners worldwide. Your contributions make a real difference in supporting fellow data enthusiasts on their learning journey.

Ways to Contribute

  • Contribute course notes and summaries
  • Report typos, grammatical errors, or unclear explanations
  • Fix broken links and outdated information
  • Correct technical inaccuracies
  • Improve existing explanations with better examples
  • Add visual aids like diagrams or screenshots
  • Reorganize content for better flow and readability

Detailed Contribution Process

1. Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • GitHub account
  • Basic knowledge of Git and Markdown
  • Familiarity with the course content you want to contribute to

Repository Setup

  1. Fork the Repository: Click the “Fork” button on the main repository page
  2. Clone Your Fork:
    git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/zoomcamps-notes-faq.git
cd zoomcamps-notes-faq
  3. Add Upstream Remote:
    git remote add upstream https://github.com/DataTalksClub/zoomcamps-notes-faq.git

2. Making Changes

Branch Creation

Always create a new branch for your changes:

git checkout -b feature/your-contribution-description

Use descriptive branch names like:

  • fix/ml-zoomcamp-week3-typos
  • add/data-engineering-kafka-notes
  • improve/llm-zoomcamp-rag-examples

Content Guidelines

Writing Style:

  • Use clear, concise language
  • Write in an educational, friendly tone
  • Include practical examples and real-world applications
  • Structure content with proper headings and bullet points

Technical Content:

  • Test all code examples before submitting
  • Include necessary imports and dependencies
  • Add comments explaining complex logic
  • Provide context for when and why to use specific approaches

Formatting Standards:

  • Use consistent Markdown formatting
  • Follow the existing file structure and naming conventions
  • Include proper front matter for new pages
  • Optimize images and use appropriate alt text

Submitting Your Contribution

Commit Best Practices

  • Write clear, descriptive commit messages
  • Make atomic commits (one logical change per commit)
  • Use conventional commit format when possible:
    feat: add machine learning zoomcamp week 5 notes
fix: correct linear regression formula in week 2
docs: improve contribution guidelines

Pull Request Process

  1. Push Your Branch:
    git push origin your-branch-name
  2. Create Pull Request:
    • Go to your fork on GitHub
    • Click “New Pull Request”
    • Select your branch and the main repository’s main branch
    • Fill out the pull request template
  3. Pull Request Description Should Include:
    • Clear title summarizing the changes
    • Detailed description of what was added/changed
    • Context for why the change is beneficial
    • Any relevant issue numbers
    • Screenshots for visual changes

Content Organization

Repository Structure

docs/
├── machine-learning-zoomcamp/
│   ├── 01-intro/
│   ├── 02-regression/
│   └── ...

Questions? Join our Slack community and ask in the #general channel or the course-specific channels. Our community is always happy to help new contributors get started!