I opened my first pull request on GitHub in October 2017, during the first Hacktoberfest I attended. I had a few years of experience using git, but working on open-source is different. As I have gone through the process once, I can guide you through your first pull request.
Step 0: Sign Up for Hacktoberfest
First, you need to sign up for Hacktoberfest. Go to hacktoberfest.com and sign up with your GitHub account. Well, you also need a GitHub account if you don't have one.
Step 1: Find an Issue
As a first-time contributor, you may want to start with a simple issue. You can find issues labeled good first issue or beginner-friendly in many repositories. I have created one that you can work on:
Click on the Fork button on the top right corner of the page. This will create a copy of the repository in your GitHub account. The URL of the repository will change to github.com/your-username/rxjsx.
Step 3: Change the File Online
Now, you can change the file online. Go to the file SUPPORTERS.md in your forked repository and click on the pencil icon on the top right corner of the file. This will allow you to edit the file.
The file is written in Markdown, so you can add your name to the list of supporters like this:
-[Mohammad-Ali A'râbi](https://github.com/aerabi)
You need to replace Mohammad-Ali A'râbi with your name and the URL with your GitHub profile URL.
Step 4: Create a Pull Request
After you have made the change, scroll down to the bottom of the page. You will see a section called Propose changes. Here, you can write a title and description for your pull request. Be sure to write a meaningful title and description, so the maintainer knows what you have done. In this case, you can write something like Add my name to SUPPORTERS.md.
After you have written the title and description, click on the Propose changes button. This will create a pull request in the original repository.
Step 5: Wait for Review
Now, you need to wait for the maintainer to review your pull request. They may ask you to make some changes or approve it directly. If they ask you to make changes, you can go back to the file and edit it again. In this case, I'm the maintainer of the repository, and the change is simple, so most likely I will approve it directly.
Step 6: Celebrate
Congratulations! You have made your first pull request on GitHub. You can now go back to the Hacktoberfest website and see your progress. As a bonus, your GitHub profile will appear on the repository's README file as a contributor, so make sure to have a nice profile picture. 🤩