Contribute code with GDK - Gitlabhq

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 Syntax highlighting theme to Code syntax highlighting theme:

[!warning] This tutorial is designed to be a general introduction to contributing to the GitLab project and is not an example of a change that should be submitted for review.

Use your local IDE to make changes to the code in the GDK directory.

Create a new branch for your changes:
shell
```
git checkout -b ui-updates
```
Search the gitlab-development-kit/gitlab directory for the string Syntax highlighting. The results show one .haml file and several .po files.
Open the app/views/profiles/preferences/show.html.haml file.
Update the string from Syntax highlighting to Code syntax highlighting.
Save the file.
You can check that you were successful:

In the gitlab-development-kit/gitlab directory, type git status to show the file you modified:
shell
```
        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:

shell

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:
shell
```
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:
shell
```
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 type git status you should have both files listed:
shell
```
        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:
plaintext
```
https://docs.gitlab.com/user/profile/preferences/
```
The URL shows you the location of the file in the /doc directory. In this case, the location is:
plaintext
```
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:

plaintext

        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.