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+# Contributing
+
+Everyone that wants to contribute to the project should read this document.
+
+## Getting Started
+
+You may follow these steps if you wish to create a pull request. Fork the repo and clone it on your local machine. Then
+in the project's directory:
+
+```bash
+virtualenv env  # Create a virtualenv for the project's dependencies.
+source env/bin/activate  # Activate the virtualenv.
+pip install tox  # Install tox, which runs linting and tests.
+tox  # This runs all tests on your local machine. Make sure they pass.
+```
+
+If you don't have Python 2.6, 2.7, or 3.4 installed you can manually run tests on one specific version by running
+`tox -e lint,py35` (for Python 3.5) instead.
+
+## Updating Docs
+
+You don't need to but if you wish to update the [Sphinx](http://sphinx-doc.org/) documentation for this project you can
+get started by running these commands:
+
+```bash
+source env/bin/activate
+pip install tox
+tox -e docs
+open docs/_build/html/index.html  # Opens this file in your browser.
+```
+
+## Consistency and Style
+
+Keep code style consistent with the rest of the project. Some suggestions:
+
+1. **Write tests for your new features.** `if new_feature else` **Write tests for bug-causing scenarios.**
+2. Write docstrings for all classes, functions, methods, modules, etc.
+3. Document all function/method arguments and return values.
+4. Document all class variables instance variables.
+5. Documentation guidelines also apply to tests, though not as strict.
+6. Keep code style consistent, such as the kind of quotes to use and spacing.
+7. Don't use `except:` or `except Exception:` unless you have a `raise` in the block. Be specific about error handling.
+8. Don't use `isinstance()` (it breaks [duck typing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_typing#In_Python)).
+
+## Thanks
+
+Thanks for fixing bugs or adding features to the project!