zulip/README.md

Zulip
=====

Zulip is a powerful, open source group chat application. Written in
Python and using the Django framework, Zulip supports both private
messaging and group chats via conversation streams.

Zulip also supports fast search, drag-and-drop file uploads, image
previews, group private messages, audible notifications,
missed-message emails, desktop apps, and much more.

Further information on the Zulip project and its features can be found
at https://www.zulip.org.

[![Build Status][1]][2]

[1]: https://travis-ci.org/zulip/zulip.svg?branch=master
[2]: https://travis-ci.org/zulip/zulip

Installing the Zulip Development environment
============================================

The Zulip development environment is the recommened option for folks
interested in trying out Zulip.  This is documented in
[README.dev.md](README.dev.md).

Running Zulip in production
===========================

Zulip in production only supports Ubuntu 14.04 right now, but work is
ongoing on adding support for additional platforms. The installation
process is documented in https://zulip.org/server.html and in more
detail in [README.prod.md](README.prod.md).

Contributing to Zulip
=====================

Zulip welcomes all forms of contributions!  The page documents the
Zulip development process.

* **Pull requests**. Before a pull request can be merged, you need to
to sign the [Dropbox Contributor License Agreement][cla].  Also,
please skim our [commit message style guidelines][doc-commit-style].

* **Testing**. The Zulip automated tests all run automatically when
you submit a pull request, but you can also run them all in your
development environment following the instructions in the [testing
docs][doc-test].

* **Developer Documentation**.  Zulip has a growing collection of
developer documentation on [Read The Docs][doc].  Recommended reading
for new contributors includes the [directory structure][doc-dirstruct]
and [new feature tutorial][doc-newfeat].

* **Mailing list and bug tracker**. Zulip has a [development
discussion mailing list][gg-devel] and uses [GitHub issues
][gh-issues].  Feel free to send any questions or suggestions of areas
where you'd love to see more documentation to the list!  Please report
any security issues you discover to support@zulip.com.

* **App codebases**. This repository is for the Zulip server and web
app; the [desktop][], [Android][], and [iOS][] apps are separate
repositories.

[cla]: https://opensource.dropbox.com/cla/
[doc]: https://zulip.readthedocs.org/
[doc-commit-style]: http://zulip.readthedocs.org/en/latest/code-style.html#commit-messages
[doc-dirstruct]: http://zulip.readthedocs.org/en/latest/directory-structure.html
[doc-newfeat]: http://zulip.readthedocs.org/en/latest/new-feature-tutorial.html
[doc-test]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip/blob/master/README.dev.md#running-the-test-suite
[gg-devel]: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/zulip-devel
[gh-issues]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip/issues
[desktop]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip-desktop
[android]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip-android
[ios]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip-ios

How to get involved with contributing to Zulip
==============================================

First, subscribe to the Zulip [development discussion mailing
list][gg-devel].

The Zulip project uses a system of labels in our [issue
tracker][gh-issues] to make it easy to find a project if you don't
have your own project idea in mind or want to get some experience with
working on Zulip before embarking on a larger project you have in
mind:

* [Bite Size](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/labels/bite%20size):
  Smaller projects that could be a great first contribution.
* [Integrations](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/labels/integrations).
  Integrate Zulip with another piece of software and contribute it
  back to the community!  Writing an integration can be a great
  starter project.  There's detailed documentation on the best way
  to write integrations in [docs/integration-guide.md](docs/integration-guide.md).
* [Documentation](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/labels/documentation):
  The Zulip project loves contributions of new documentation.
* [Help Wanted](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/labels/help%20wanted):
  A broader list of projects that nobody is currently working on.
* [Platform support](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/labels/Platform%20support):
  These are open issues about making it possible to install Zulip on a
  wider range of platforms.
* [Bugs](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/labels/bug): Open bugs.
* [Feature requests](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/labels/enhancement):
  Browsing this list can be a great way to find feature ideas to
  implement that other Zulip users are excited about.

If you're excited about helping with an open issue, just post on the
conversation thread that you're working on it.  You're encouraged to
ask questions on how to best implement or debug your changes -- the
Zulip maintainers are excited to answer questions to help you stay
unblocked and working efficiently.

We also welcome suggestions of features that you feel would be
valuable or changes that you feel would make Zulip a better open
source project, and are happy to support you in adding new features or
other user experience improvements to Zulip.

If you have a new feature you'd like to add, we recommend you start by
opening a GitHub issue about the feature idea explaining the problem
that you're hoping to solve and that you're excited to work on it.  A
Zulip maintainer will usually reply within a day with feedback on the
idea, notes on any important issues or concerns, and and often tips on
how to implement or test it.  Please feel free to ping the thread if
you don't hear a response from the maintainers -- we try to be very
responsive so this usually means we missed your message.

For significant changes to the visual design, user experience, data
model, or architecture, we highly recommend posting a mockup,
screenshot, or description of what you have in mind to zulip-devel@ to
get broad feedback before you spend too much time on implementation
details.

Finally, before implementing a larger feature, we highly recommend
looking at the new feature tutorial and coding style guidelines on
ReadTheDocs.

Feedback on how to make this development process more efficient, fun,
and friendly to new contributors is very welcome!  Just shoot an email
to the Zulip Developers list with your thoughts.

License
=======

Copyright 2011-2015 Dropbox, Inc.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.

The software includes some works released by third parties under other
free and open source licenses. Those works are redistributed under the
license terms under which the works were received. For more details,
see the ``THIRDPARTY`` file included with this distribution.