Apply for contributions CVS access

When applying for a Drupal Contributions CVS account your application will be reviewed by one of the Drupal.Org CVS administrators. In order to progress your application the administrator will assess the application based upon the motivation message you supply.

The main features of that motivation message that assist the administrator are details of your proposed contributions. For example:-

• Module contributions: If you wish to contribute a new module to Drupal.Org and the wider community please provide as much detail as possible regarding your modules functionalty and what new features the module will offer end users.
  

  Additionally, please provide a link to where your module can be downloaded in case a review is required. Not providing a link may well result in an automatic denial of your request for a CVS account.

  It's important to note that CVS applications are often denied when an tendered module duplicates the features and functions of an existing module and in these cases applicants are referred to the module's maintainer to offer collaboration on improving that existing module.

• Theme contributions: If you wish to contribute a theme please ensure your motivation message includes links to either (or both) screenshots of your intended theme contribution or a working demonstration site that uses your theme.

If you are applying for a CVS account because another module maintainer has agreed for you to become a co-maintainer of their module (or to take over the module completely), please ensure this agreement is publicly available by creating a issue in the project's issue queue that clearly shows the current maintainer agreeing to that fact. Under this condition just stating this in the motivation message alone is insufficient for your application to be progressed. Once you have created the issue and the current maintainer has commented on it please don't forget to place a link to that issue in your motivation message to make the CVS administrators lives a little easier.

More than 80% of all current CVS applications currently go through a dialogue whereby the CVS adminsitrator attempts to clarify the potential applicant's intended contribution. This is directly due to poorly written motivation messages and/or obvious duplicatory contributions. Well written motivation messages help to cut down this overhead so please be verbose when applying.

As a general rule of thumb if you motivation message is similar to "Drupal rocks and I want to give back to the community!" or other single line type motivation message then please don't be shocked when your application is declined (and yes, unfortunately that is a very common motivation message!).

Here is a list of common motivation messages that, more often than not, get declined/rejected. If your motivation message resembles one of these then please, think before applying.

1. I would like to fix bugs I find as I go or add new features to existing modules. The correct way to leave feedback for a module is to use the patch issue/queue system. And, in fact, for Drupal Core, this is the only way. Please note, this motivation message is appearing in more and more CVS applications and given the administrive overhead of engaging applicants via email, future CVS applications incorporating this will be declined on the basis that you didn't read this page.

2. Module 'Foo' no longer appears maintained so I have written a new version I would like to contribute. Realistically this forms duplication and Drupal.Org tries to avoid this where possible (see the previous link for why this is so). The best way forward in this situation is to provide feedback to the module with patches rather than strike out afresh. If the module appears abandoned and patches sit by without review of commit, use the Webmasters to ask to take over an orphaned module.

3. Module 'Foo' is just too complex so I have written a much simpler version. This is just straight duplication of functionality and applications like this will almost certainly be declined. It is worth remembering that many modules start out simple also and, over time, grow into more complex systems. If you have the know how to write a "simple version" from scratch rather than work out how a complex module works then maybe your effort would be better spent making the existing complex module easier to use (improve it's UI, write documentation, etc).

4. We want a CVS account to be able to deploy directly from CVS. A CVS account is not required for deployment. All projects, themes, modules, etc are available via anonymous CVS. See http://drupal.org/repos for more information.

In short, spend some time on your motivation message and read the guidelines on the application form iteself before hitting the Request CVS account button.

Once you are ready use this link to apply for a CVS account.