Contributions

Contributions are always welcome!

The FreeCAD website source is freely accessible and open just like the FreeCAD software.

When contributing to the website, keep in mind that it acts as the public face of the FreeCAD organization and community. Substantial changes must be discussed beforehand via its usual communication channels (e.g. GitHub, Matrix chat, Forum). FreeCAD’s code of conduct must be observed at any time. Please also read the Guidelines GuidelinesGuidelines for contributing to the website..

Want to join the current website team TeamsThe Teams of contributors making FreeCAD happen.? Get in touch!

Contributions of all kinds are welcome: content, translations, bug fixes, theme improvements, testing, documentation, bug reports, and more… Depending on the scope, some basic know-how of Git, Markdown, HTML, CSS, Javascript, YAML/JSON and Hugo template syntax is recommended. Create appropriate feature issues to discuss substantial changes before submitting Pull Requests. Also use the appropriate Pull Request template and make sure reviewers are assigned.

For bug report, use the provided bug issues template.

Thank you!

Website ecosystem

• FreeCAD website and its source
• FreeCAD software source
• FreeCAD Wiki
• FreeCAD Developers Handbook and its source
• FreeCAD Forum
• FreeCAD Project Association and its source

Development

Building

To build the website locally:

1. Install Hugo.
2. Install Git.
3. Optionally if developing Hugo modules, install Go.
4. Clone this repository (or download the Code Zip via the green button on the top-right and unzip it):

git clone -b main https://github.com/FreeCAD/website.git

5. Open the terminal at the cloned or downloaded repository location.
6. Build the site locally and launch the live server from within the root directory of the site:

hugo server

Building should be relatively fast (about 10 seconds) and without errors.

To view the website locally, open the web browser at the indicated address, by default https://localhost:1313/.

Deployment

This project uses a development > testing > production environments logic:

• The development environment is the local clone. The result can be seen on the web browser after following the Building instructions above.
• The testing environment is the main branch of this website repository. The result can be seen on GitHub Pages.
• The production environment is hosted on FreeCAD’s server. The result can be seen on FreeCAD website.

Testing builds deployment to GitHub Pages is done automatically by workflow Actions whenever the main branch receives a new commit. The built artifacts are stored in the pages branch (extracted from the public dir when the hugo command is run). The official website version is built from the prod branch instead.

Browser support

When using and making changes, keep in mind this website only supports evergreen browsers:

• Firefox (latest version, N-1 version, and latest ESR version)
• Chrome (latest version and N-1 version)
• Edge (latest version and N-1 version)
• Opera (latest version and N-1 version)
• Safari (latest version and N-1 version)