[GitHub Issues](https://github.com/videojs/video.js/issues) are used for all discussions around the codebase, including **bugs**, **features**, and other **enhancements**.
1. If your issue is with a particular video.js plugin or subproject, please open an issue against that project. See [list of some potential other projects above](#other-repositories-where-issues-could-be-filed)
1. Isolate the problem —**create a [reduced test case](https://css-tricks.com/reduced-test-cases/)** with a live example. You can possibly use [this JSBin example](http://jsbin.com/axedog/edit) as a starting point -- don't forget to update it to the videojs version you use.
1. Answer all questions in the [issue template][]. The questions in the issue template are designed to try and provide the maintainers with as much information possible to minimize back-and-forth to get the issue resolved.
2. [Search the issues](https://github.com/videojs/video.js/issues) for any previous requests for the same feature, and give a thumbs up or +1 on existing requests.
2. If no previous requests exist, create a new issue. Please be as clear as possible about why the feautre is needed and the intended use case.
Video.js uses Node for build and test automation. Node is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and SunOS, as well as source code if that doesn't scare you. [Download and install Node.js](http://nodejs.org/download/)
First, [fork](http://help.github.com/fork-a-repo/) the video.js git repository. At the top of every GitHub page, there is a Fork button. Click it, and the forking process will copy Video.js into your own GitHub account.
> A note to Windows developers: If you run npm commands, and you find that your command prompt colors have suddenly reversed, you can configure npm to set color to false to prevent this from happening.
> `npm config set color false`
> Note that this change takes effect when a new command prompt window is opened; the current window will not be affected.
This will build video.js locally and run the tests using [Karma](https://karma-runner.github.io/1.0/index.html) which runs our tests in actual browsers.
This outputs an `es5/` and `dist/` folder. The `es5/` folder is used by bundling tools like browserify and webpack to package video.js into projects. The `dist/` folder has pre-compiled versions of video.js, including a minified version and the CSS file. This file can be included in page via a `<script></script>` tag.
Besides running automated tests, you often want to run video.js manually and play around with things as you're developing. A few things are provided to make it easier.
As you're developing, you want the build to re-run and update itself, and potentially re-run the tests. In addition, you want to launch a local web-server that you can open the `sandbox` directory in.
To do so, you just need to run
```sh
$ npm start
```
This sets up the local webserver using connect and then watches source files, test files, and CSS files for you and rebuilds things as they happen.
Whether you're adding something new, making something better, or fixing a bug, you'll first want to search the [GitHub issues](https://github.com/videojs/video.js/issues) and [plugins list](https://github.com/videojs/video.js/wiki/Plugins) to make sure you're aware of any previous discussion or work. If an unclaimed issue exists, claim it via a comment. If no issue exists for your change, submit one, follwing the [issue filing guidelines](#filing-issues).
#### Step 2: Update remote
Before starting work, you want to update your local repository to have all the latest changes.
Commit changes as you go. Write thorough descriptions of your changes in your commit messages.
For more information see our [conventional changelog guidelines for video.js](https://github.com/videojs/conventional-changelog-videojs/blob/master/convention.md)
Then go to the [repo page](http://github.com/videojs/video.js) and click the "Pull Request" button and fill out the [pull request template](/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md)
This doc was inspired by some great contribution guide examples including [contribute.md template](https://github.com/contribute-md/contribute-md-template),