Better commit messages

[zzgvh]

This is a meta issue. I don't like the trend of commit messages like "First fix for #311 still need migration". If there's a github issue related to the commit the of course the reference should be included in the commit message header, but expressing what the commit is about in a sentence is really helpful sometimes.

So instead of the message above something like "[#311] Add Project.target_group field. Needs migration" is much nicer.

If the commit message header is too long because you added too much stuff to one commit (and I'm very guilty here myself 😜) then it might be a good idea to split the commit up in logical chunks.

[adriancollier]

Yes you've mentioned this before - apologies for this, just trying to get a change in quick to help you guys out as I know the pressure is on.

Is there further conversation for this needed? I think it's just me that's particularly bad at this - an email to push me back on track will probably do 😄

If there's stuff we need to change or add in the documentation, it can be added to our development process documentation here https://github.com/akvo/akvo-rsr/blob/wiki-docs/docs/RSR%20Developer%20Documentation/Development%20Process/GitHub-Process.md

[zzgvh]

Hehe, ya I totally understand. I think it's just something to try keep in mind, and get better at over time. I know I easily put too much in a commit and that's no good either.

[carlio]

I'd also like to suggest a better 'schema' for branch naming, so that cleaning them up later becomes easier. In the absence of any better ideas, I like the git flow way in general and propose the following:

• Feature branches require an issue, and should be issue number followed by the issue title, or a short version - enough to both trace back the originating issue, and also quickly have an idea what's going on in the branch without having to go to github. So feature/422-better-commit-messages as an example.
• Hotfixes are the same - hotfix/422-better-commit-messages
• No branches should be created without a prefix of some kind (ie, do-stuff is bad, carl/34-do-stuff is better).
• We can use the attic prefix to snapshot particular points in time, eg, attic/proweb-provisioning-config

[zzgvh]

Yep, all good suggestions!

[adriancollier]

Agree, I think all this stuff that helps everyone else see what we're doing is a great idea. Does anyone fancy adding this into the Dev documentation? 😉
https://github.com/akvo/akvo-rsr/blob/wiki-docs/docs/RSR%20Developer%20Documentation/Development%20Process/GitHub-Process.md