Add CONTRIBUTING.md [ci skip]

4 files changed, 113 insertions, 6 deletions

diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 455e8b8931..22287e1195 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@ env:
   global:
     - JRUBY_OPTS='--dev -J-Xmx1024M'
 rvm:
-  - rbx
-  - jruby-head
   - 2.0.0
   - 2.1
   - 2.2
   - ruby-head
+  - rbx
+  - jruby-head
 matrix:
   allow_failures:
     - rvm: rbx
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..104c05490f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+Contributing to Arel
+=====================
+
+[![Build Status](https://secure.travis-ci.org/rails/arel.svg?branch=master)](http://travis-ci.org/rails/arel)
+[![Dependency Status](https://gemnasium.com/rails/arel.svg)](https://gemnasium.com/rails/arel)
+
+Arel is work of [many contributors](https://github.com/rails/arel/graphs/contributors). You're encouraged to submit [pull requests](https://github.com/rails/arel/pulls), [propose features and discuss issues](https://github.com/rails/arel/issues).
+
+#### Fork the Project
+
+Fork the [project on Github](https://github.com/rails/arel) and check out your copy.
+
+```
+git clone https://github.com/contributor/arel.git
+cd arel
+git remote add upstream https://github.com/rails/arel.git
+```
+
+#### Create a Topic Branch
+
+Make sure your fork is up-to-date and create a topic branch for your feature or bug fix.
+
+```
+git checkout master
+git pull upstream master
+git checkout -b my-feature-branch
+```
+
+#### Bundle Install and Test
+
+Ensure that you can build the project and run tests.
+
+```
+bundle install
+bundle exec rake test
+```
+
+#### Write Tests
+
+Try to write a test that reproduces the problem you're trying to fix or describes a feature that you want to build. Add to [test](test).
+
+We definitely appreciate pull requests that highlight or reproduce a problem, even without a fix.
+
+#### Write Code
+
+Implement your feature or bug fix.
+
+Make sure that `bundle exec rake test` completes without errors.
+
+#### Write Documentation
+
+Document any external behavior in the [README](README.md).
+
+#### Commit Changes
+
+Make sure git knows your name and email address:
+
+```
+git config --global user.name "Your Name"
+git config --global user.email "contributor@example.com"
+```
+
+Writing good commit logs is important. A commit log should describe what changed and why.
+
+```
+git add ...
+git commit
+```
+
+#### Push
+
+```
+git push origin my-feature-branch
+```
+
+#### Make a Pull Request
+
+Go to https://github.com/contributor/arel and select your feature branch. Click the 'Pull Request' button and fill out the form. Pull requests are usually reviewed within a few days.
+
+#### Rebase
+
+If you've been working on a change for a while, rebase with upstream/master.
+
+```
+git fetch upstream
+git rebase upstream/master
+git push origin my-feature-branch -f
+```
+
+#### Check on Your Pull Request
+
+Go back to your pull request after a few minutes and see whether it passed muster with Travis-CI. Everything should look green, otherwise fix issues and amend your commit as described above.
+
+#### Be Patient
+
+It's likely that your change will not be merged and that the nitpicky maintainers will ask you to do more, or fix seemingly benign problems. Hang on there!
+
+#### Thank You
+
+Please do know that we really appreciate and value your time and work. We love you, really.
diff --git a/MIT-LICENSE.txt b/MIT-LICENSE
index 52f1ff7a17..001426b5b0 100644
--- a/MIT-LICENSE.txt
+++ b/MIT-LICENSE
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-Copyright (c) 2007-2010 Nick Kallen, Bryan Helmkamp, Emilio Tagua, Aaron Patterson
+Copyright (c) 2007-2015 Nick Kallen, Bryan Helmkamp, Emilio Tagua, Aaron Patterson
 
 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
 a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
@@ -18,3 +18,4 @@ NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
 LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
 OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
 WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
diff --git a/README.markdown b/README.markdown
index 76efb2b34a..d570f7855c 100644
--- a/README.markdown
+++ b/README.markdown
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Arel [![Build Status](https://secure.travis-ci.org/rails/arel.svg?branch=master)](http://travis-ci.org/rails/arel) [![Dependency Status](https://gemnasium.com/rails/arel.svg)](https://gemnasium.com/rails/arel)
+# Arel
 
 * http://github.com/rails/arel
 
@@ -222,6 +222,12 @@ photos.project(photo_clicks.as("photo_clicks"))
  FROM "photos"
 ```
 
-### License
+## Contributing to Arel
 
-Arel is released under the [MIT License](http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT).
+Arel is work of many contributors. You're encouraged to submit pull requests, propose
+features and discuss issues.
+
+See [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md).
+
+## License
+Arel is released under the [MIT License](http://www.opensource.org/licenses/MIT).