Update CONTRIBUTING.md.

1 files changed, 38 insertions, 16 deletions

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index e871990f0..f17e43ec4 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -1,18 +1,5 @@
 # Contributing to MPC-HC
 
-## Reporting Issues
-
-1. Make sure you have access to our [Trac](https://trac.mpc-hc.org/login) (note that
-   [OpenID authentication](https://trac.mpc-hc.org/openidlogin) is available).
-2. Please search our [Trac](https://trac.mpc-hc.org/report/1)
-   for your problem since there's a good chance that someone has already reported it.
-3. If you find a match, please try to provide as much info as you can,
-   so that we have a better picture about what the real problem is and how to fix it ASAP.
-4. If you didn't find any tickets with a problem similar to yours then please open a
-   [new ticket](https://trac.mpc-hc.org/ticket/newticket)
-   * Be descriptive as much as you can
-   * Provide screenshots, samples, system/hardware information
-
 ## Pull Requests
 
 If you want to help, here's what you need to do:
@@ -20,10 +7,45 @@ If you want to help, here's what you need to do:
 1. Make sure you have a [GitHub account](https://github.com/signup/free).
 2. [Fork](https://github.com/mpc-hc/mpc-hc/fork) our repository.
 3. Create a new topic branch (based on the `develop` branch) to contain your feature, change, or fix.
-4. Set `core.autocrlf` to true: `git config core.autocrlf true`.
-5. Make sure you have enabled the pre-commit hook - **[pre-commit.sh](/contrib/pre-commit.sh)**.
+4. **Set `core.autocrlf` to true: `git config core.autocrlf true`.**
+5. **Make sure you have enabled the pre-commit hook - [pre-commit.sh](/contrib/pre-commit.sh)**.
+   Open the file and read the comments for more info.
 6. Make sure that your changes adhere to the current coding conventions used
    throughout the project - indentation, accurate comments, etc.
    For the style part we use [AStyle](http://astyle.sourceforge.net/),
-   so please **run `contrib/run_astyle.bat`** before you push your changes.
+   so please **run `contrib/run_astyle.bat` before you push your changes**. Get the binary
+   from their site and put it somewhere in your `PATH`.
 7. [Open a Pull Request](https://github.com/mpc-hc/mpc-hc/pulls) with a clear title and description.
+
+### General development guidelines
+
+1. Apart from the above instructions, try to keep your patches clean **without** any unrelated changes.
+2. Keep your branches in good shape; don't mix patches that do different things and **always**
+   try to squash when it makes sense. For example, you made 3 patches that refer to the same thing;
+   squash them into one.
+3. Since nightlies don't run on CI (yet), never push trivial patches to the develop branch; we don't
+   want to trigger a nightly just for cosmetic or trivial patches. That being said, we try to push
+   in batches. The nightlies's script runs every night at 01:00 GMT+2 (see <https://nightly.mpc-hc.org/>)
+4. Never merge something that hasn't been reviewed by someone other on the team. This is so that we
+   keep the risk of breaking stuff to the minimum since we don't have any tests.
+5. When the resource files change, make sure you run [sync.bat](/src/mpc-hc/mpcresources/sync.bat)
+   (requires Python so check [Compilation.md](/docs/Compilation.md)'s Part B) to sync the resource files
+   and verify that everything went right.
+6. Generally we try not to touch third-party code. If some change is needed there:
+   1. Try to provide patches to the upstream project.
+   2. If for any reason this takes a long time or isn't possible, make a clear patch, mark custom code as
+      such.
+7. Try to make sure all newly added files have a license header with copyright info and the year it was
+   created/edited.
+
+## Reporting Issues
+
+1. Make sure you have access to our [Trac](https://trac.mpc-hc.org/login).
+2. Please search our [Trac](https://trac.mpc-hc.org/report/1) for your problem since there's a good
+   chance that someone has already reported it.
+3. If you find a match, please try to provide as much info as you can,
+   so that we have a better picture about what the real problem is and how to fix it ASAP.
+4. If you didn't find any tickets with a problem similar to yours then please open a
+   [new ticket](https://trac.mpc-hc.org/ticket/newticket)
+   * Be descriptive as much as you can
+   * Provide screenshots, samples, system/hardware information