README

What

What is this and what is it for? Put a meaningful, short, plain-language description of what this project is trying to accomplish and why it matters. Describe the problem this project solves.

Status

Is it done? Is it a prototype? Is it a zombie? Alpha, Beta, 1.1, etc. It's OK to write a sentence, too. The goal is to let interested people know where this project is at. This is also a good place to link to the CHANGELOG.

Screenshots

Press

Links to other people talking about your work.

Why

A more in detail explanation for why this project exists. Tell us all about it.

Who

Who are you? Who are your partners? Links, logos, and lots of credit giving.

How

Dependencies

Tell us what we need to know before we even begin with your project. Describe any dependencies that must be installed for this software to work. This includes programming languages, databases or other storage mechanisms, build tools, frameworks, and so forth. If specific versions of other software are required, or known not to work, call that out. Links to other How To's will help.

Install

Detailed instructions on how to install, configure, and get the project running. This should be frequently tested to ensure reliability.

Very clear instructions with

line by line commands

to copy and paste

See the CfAPI for an example.

Deploy

More required commands and links to tutorials.

Testing

If the software includes automated tests, detail how to run those tests.

Contribute

A short explanation of how others can contribute. Be sure to show how to submit issues and pull requests. Include a CONTRIBUTING.md file. Here is a good CfA example. GitHub also has some new guides on how to contribute.

License

A link to the Code for America copyright and LICENSE.md file.