Contribute code with GDK
Now for the fun part. Let’s edit some code.
In this example, I found some UI text I’d like to change.
In the upper-right corner in GitLab, I selected my avatar and then Preferences.
I want to change Customize the color of GitLab
to Customize the color theme of the GitLab UI
:
View an interactive demo of this section.
Use your local IDE to make changes to the code in the GDK directory.
Create a new branch for your changes:
git checkout -b ui-updates
Search the
gitlab-development-kit/gitlab
directory for the stringCustomize the color of GitLab
.The results show one
.haml
file and several.po
files.Open the
app/views/profiles/preferences/show.html.haml
file.Update the string from
Customize the color of GitLab
toCustomize the color theme of the GitLab UI
.Save the file.
You can check that you were successful:
In the
gitlab-development-kit/gitlab
directory, typegit status
to show the file you modified:modified: app/views/profiles/preferences/show.html.haml
Refresh the web browser where you’re viewing the GDK. The changes should be displayed. Take a screenshot.
Commit the changes:
git commit -a -m "Update UI text Standardizing the text on this page so that each area uses consistent language."
Follow the GitLab commit message guidelines.
Push the changes to the new branch:
git push --set-upstream origin ui-updates
You can Create a merge request with the code change, or continue to update the translation files.
Update the translation files
English UI strings are localized into many languages.
These strings are saved in a .pot
file, which must be regenerated
any time you update UI text.
To automatically regenerate the localization file:
Ensure you are in the
gitlab-development-kit/gitlab
directory.Run the following command:
tooling/bin/gettext_extractor locale/gitlab.pot
The
.pot
file will be generated in the/locale
directory.Now, in the
gitlab-development-kit/gitlab
directory, if you typegit status
you should have both files listed:modified: app/views/profiles/preferences/show.html.haml modified: locale/gitlab.pot
Commit and push the changes.
Create a merge request or continue to update the documentation.
For more information about localization, see internationalization.
Update the documentation
Documentation for GitLab is published on https://docs.gitlab.com. When you add or update a feature, you must update the documentation as well.
To find the documentation for a feature, the easiest thing is to search the documentation site. In this case, the setting is described on this documentation page:
https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/profile/preferences.html
The URL shows you the location of the file in the
/doc
directory. In this case, the location is:doc/user/profile/preferences.md
Go to this location in your local
gitlab
repository and update the.md
file and any related images.Now when you run
git status
, you should have something like:modified: app/views/profiles/preferences/show.html.haml modified: doc/user/profile/img/profile-preferences-syntax-themes.png modified: doc/user/profile/preferences.md modified: locale/gitlab.pot
Commit and push the changes.
Create a merge request or continue to update the documentation.
Docs
Edit this page to fix an error or add an improvement in a merge request.
Create an issue to suggest an improvement to this page.
Product
Create an issue if there's something you don't like about this feature.
Propose functionality by submitting a feature request.
Feature availability and product trials
View pricing to see all GitLab tiers and features, or to upgrade.
Try GitLab for free with access to all features for 30 days.
Get help
If you didn't find what you were looking for, search the docs.
If you want help with something specific and could use community support, post on the GitLab forum.
For problems setting up or using this feature (depending on your GitLab subscription).
Request support