Contributing to CertForge

Thank you for helping improve CertForge study resources. All contributions that improve accuracy, clarity, or coverage of exam-relevant content are welcome.

This file covers contribution standards shared across all CertForge repositories. Each repo may include additional repo-specific notes at the bottom of its own CONTRIBUTING.md.

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What We Accept

• Accuracy corrections — Exam objectives and platform features change. If something is outdated, flag it.
• New practice questions — Must follow the question format below.
• Lab and demo improvements — Clearer steps, troubleshooting sections, or additional examples.
• Better explanations — Simpler, more precise descriptions of complex concepts.
• Glossary additions — New terms or improved definitions.
• Script improvements — Error handling, portability, or additional API examples.
• Typos and formatting fixes — Small improvements add up.

What We Do Not Accept

• Content copied verbatim from official documentation (paraphrase and cite instead)
• Practice questions without answer explanations
• Speculative content not tied to official exam objectives
• Changes that remove accurate content without explanation
• Content referencing deprecated features as current (flag them as deprecated instead)
• Third-party tool promotions outside the exam ecosystem

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How to Contribute

For Small Changes

Typos, dead links, minor wording — open a PR directly.

For Substantial Changes

Step 1 — Open an Issue First

Describe what you want to change and why. This prevents duplicate effort and allows early feedback.

Step 2 — Fork and Branch

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/REPO_NAME.git
cd REPO_NAME

# Use a descriptive branch name
git checkout -b fix/brief-description
# or
git checkout -b add/brief-description

Step 3 — Make Your Changes

Follow the content standards below, then commit with a clear message:

git add path/to/changed-file.md
git commit -m "fix: short description of what changed and why"

Step 4 — Open a Pull Request

• Reference any related issues
• Summarize what changed and why
• Confirm the content is accurate against official documentation

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Content Standards

Accuracy First

• All technical content must reflect current official documentation
• Link to the relevant official docs page when adding new topics
• If you are uncertain about something, add: > Note: Verify this against current docs — this may have changed.
• Never guess at behavior. Research it or leave it out.

Domain Weight Respect

Content depth should reflect official exam domain weights. Heavier domains deserve proportionally deeper coverage. Refer to exam-metadata/ in each repo for domain weights.

Markdown Formatting

• Use ATX-style headers (#, ##, ###)
• Use fenced code blocks with language identifiers (```bash, ```yaml, ```python)
• Use tables for comparisons, not prose lists
• Use <details>/<summary> for collapsible answer sections
• Use GitHub admonitions for exam tips: > [!NOTE], > [!TIP], > [!WARNING], > [!IMPORTANT]
• Keep lines under 120 characters where possible
• One blank line before and after headings

Practice Question Format

All practice questions must follow this format:

### Question N
**Domain**: Domain X — [Domain Title]
**Topic**: [Specific sub-topic]
**Difficulty**: Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced

[Question text — 2–4 sentence business scenario]

A. [Option A]
B. [Option B]
C. [Option C]
D. [Option D]

<details>
<summary>Answer</summary>

**Correct Answer: X**

**Explanation**: [Why the answer is correct and why other options are wrong]

**Reference**: [Link to official docs]
</details>

Requirements:

• Exactly one correct answer (or clearly specify "select all that apply")
• Explanations must teach the concept, not just repeat the answer
• Difficulty: Beginner = recall, Intermediate = application, Advanced = analysis/scenario
• Questions must be unambiguous — if reviewers disagree on the answer, revise it

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Reporting Issues

If you find inaccurate content but cannot fix it, open an issue with:

1. The file and section where the inaccuracy exists
2. What the current (incorrect) content says
3. What the correct content should say
4. A link to the official documentation that confirms the correction

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Security

If you discover a real security issue in this repository, do not open a public issue. Follow the process in SECURITY.md.

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Code of Conduct

Be respectful. Everyone here is learning.

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License

By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the MIT License that covers this repository.