4

There was a pull request made on one my repos adding explanations on the README file. Unfortunately, it's hardly understandable and I doubt will be helpful. What ways can I do to politely decline his/her pull request without discouraging future contributions?

Jürgen Paul
  • 260
  • 2
  • 7
  • If it is totally useless just decline, otherwise change the pull to clarify what is needed and accept. – ratchet freak Jan 28 '15 at 10:34
  • 1
    Sounds like this boils down to finding a polite way to say "your contribution is hardly understandable and I doubt it will be helpful." Might be on-topic for the [ELU site](http://english.stackexchange.com). – Hey Jan 28 '15 at 10:44
  • 1
    @gnat not a duplicate: this question asks from pull-receiver-point-of-view while the duplicate-candidate asks from the pull-sender-point-of-view – k3b Jan 28 '15 at 14:35

1 Answers1

3

You can comment GitHub commits on a line basis. Just add comments explaining the concrete issues with the suggested changes and then you will see where it goes from there. Generally, not all contributors are worth keeping around. You really want those with whom you can establish a feedback loop in both directions.

back2dos
  • 29,980
  • 3
  • 73
  • 114