How To Request Features
=======================

All software needs user feedback and feature requests, to grow and maintain 
alignment with the needs of its users. 

OpenDroneMap is FOSS software.  Free and open source (FOSS) projects are interesting 
from the inside and outside: from the outside, successful ones feel like they should be able 
to do anything, and it’s hard to know what a reasonable request is. From the inside of a 
project, they can feel very resource constrained: largely by time, money, and opportunity 
overload.

A feature request can be submitted as issues on the applicable Github repository (e.g., 
`WebODM <https://github.com/OpenDroneMap/WebODM/issues>`_ or `ODM <https://github.com/OpenDroneMap/ODM/issues>`_ 
or similar) or more simply as a discussion topic on `the community forum <https://community.opendronemap.org/>`_.  
Try to start by searching these sources to see if someone else has already brought it up.  Sometimes a feature is already in 
the works, or has at least been discussed.

And importantly, the trick is to listen: if someone within the project says: "This is a big lift, 
we need MONEY or TIME or SOMEONE TO HELP CODE IT" (or possibly a combination of the three) 
then there are two answers that work really well in response:

    *Ok. I didn’t know it was a big feature request! I hope someone comes along with the necessary resources. As a community member, I would be happy to be an early user and tester!*

or

    *Let’s figure out if we can put together the resources to get this done! Here’s what I can contribute toward it: …*

We are glad you are excited to see new features added to the project.  Some new features need support, 
and some are easier to implement.  We'll do our best to help you understand where your request falls, and 
we appreciate any support you can provide.


`Learn to edit <https://github.com/opendronemap/docs#how-to-make-your-first-contribution>`_ and help improve `this page <https://github.com/OpenDroneMap/docs/blob/publish/source/requesting-features.rst>`_!