We welcome all keyboard projects into QMK, but ask that you try to stick to a couple guidelines that help us keep things organised and consistent.
All names should be lowercase alphanumeric, and separated by an underscore (_), but not begin with one. Dashes (-) aren't allow by our build system, and will confuse it with keymaps/subprojects. Your directory and your .h and .c files should have exactly the same name. Subprojects/revision should follow the same format.
All projects need to have a readme.md file that explains what the keyboard is, who made it, where it is available, and links to move information (template coming).
In an effort to keep the repo size down, we're no longer accepting images of any format in the repo, with few exceptions. Hosting them elsewhere (imgur) and linking them in the readme.md is the preferred method.
Any sort of hardware file (plate, case, pcb) can't be stored in qmk_firmware, but we have the qmk.fm repo where such files (as well as in-depth info) can be store, and viewed on qmk.fm. Downloadable files are stored in /<keyboard>/ (name follows the same format as above) which are served at http://qmk.fm/<keyboard>/, and pages are generated from /_pages/<keyboard>/ which are served at the same location (.md files are generated into .html files through Jekyll). Check out the lets_split directory for an example.
We're happy to accept any project that uses QMK, including prototypes and handwired ones, but we have a separate /keyboards/handwired/ folder for them, so the main /keyboards/ folder doesn't get overcrowded. If a prototype project becomes a production project at some point in the future, we'd be happy to move it to the main /keyboards/ folder!
When developing your keyboard, keep in mind that all warnings will be treated as errors - these small warnings can build-up and cause larger errors down the road (and keeping them is generally a bad practice).
If you're adapting your keyboard's setup from another project, but not using the same code, but sure to update the copyright header at the top of the files to show your name, it this format:
Copyright 2017 Your Name <[email protected]>
If you're looking for more information on making your keyboard work with QMK, check out this guide!