[WIP] added contributing.md file to assist new contributors

docs/CONTRIBUTING.md

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+# Contributing to DevWorkspace Operator
+
+Hello there! Thank you for choosing to contribute to DevWorkspace Operator. Navigate through the following table of contents to learn more about contributing to the project.
+
+- [Contributing to DevWorkspace Operator](#contributing-to-devworkspace-operator)
+- [How to Contribute](#how-to-contribute)
+  - [Set up your Development Environment](#set-up-your-development-environment)
+      - [Running the controller locally.](#running-the-controller-locally)
+  - [Testing Changes](#testing-changes)
+      - [Test run the controller](#test-run-the-controller)
+      - [Developing Webhooks](#developing-webhooks)
+  - [Signing-off on Commits](#signing-off-on-commits)
+
+# How to Contribute
+To contribute to the DevWorkspace Operator project, developers should follow the [fork](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart/fork-a-repo) and [pull request workflow](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request-from-a-fork). 
+## Set up your Development Environment
+
+
+**1.** Fork [devworkspace-operator](https://github.com/devfile/devworkspace-operator) repository.
+
+**2.** Clone your forked copy of the project.
+
+```
+git clone https://github.com/<your-github-username>/devworkspace-operator.git
+```
+
+#### Running the controller locally.
+
+In the steps listed below, we set up the development environment using a [minikube cluster](https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/start/). 
+
+**1.** Start the minikube cluster.
+
+```
+minikube start
+```
+
+**2.** Enable the ingress add-on for your minikube cluster.
+
+```
+minikube addons enable ingress
+```
+
+**3.** Set the namespace environment variable for the development environment to avoid changes inside the default namespace.
+
+```
+export NAMESPACE="devworkspace-controller"
+```
+
+**4.** Install the kubernetes certificate management controller to generate and manage TLS certificates for your cluster. 
+
+```
+make install_cert_manager.
+```
+Please note that the above step is not specific to minikube. The cert-manager is required for all deployments on Kubernetes.
+
+
+**5.** Install the dependencies for running the DevWorkspace Operator in your cluster.
+
+```
+make install
+```
+
+**6.** Scale down the replicas controller-manager pods to 0.
+
+```
+kubectl patch deployment/devworkspace-controller-manager --patch "{\"spec\":{\"replicas\":0}}" -n $NAMESPACE
+```
+
+**7.** Run the devworkspace-operator.
+
+```
+make run
+```
+
+This will run the devworkspace-controller on your local system.
+
+**8.** Make your changes in the new branch and test the changes.
+
+
+## Testing Changes
+
+#### Test run the controller
+
+**1.** Take a look samples DevWorkspaces in the `./samples` directory. If you are uncertain on which one to try, use `theia-latest.yaml`.
+
+**2.** Apply a sample by executing `kubectl apply -f ./samples/<SAMPLE-FILENAME> -n $NAMESPACE`. For instance, `kubectl apply -f ./samples/theia-latest.yaml -n  $NAMESPACE`.
+
+**3.** As soon as devworkspace is started you're able to get IDE url by executing `kubectl get devworkspace -n <namespace>`.
+
+**4.** To check for the DevWorkspace status, execute `kubectl get dw -n $NAMESPACE -w`.
+
+**5.** As soon as the DevWorkspace is started, an IDE url will appear from the output of `kubectl get dw -n $NAMESPACE -w`. This assumes that the DevWorkspace sample you chose includes an IDE.
+
+#### Developing Webhooks
+
+**1.** Make a change to the webhook.
+
+
+**2.** Ensure the `DWO_IMG` environment variable points to your container image repository, eg. export `DWO_IMG=quay.io/<username>/dwo-webhook:next`.
+
+
+**3.** Run `make docker restart` (assuming DWO is already deployed to the cluster, otherwise run `make docker install`).
+Wait for the webhook deployment to update with your image that contains your latest changes.
+## Signing-off on Commits
+
+To contribute to this project, you must agree to the **code of conduct** for each commit you make. 
+
+See the [code of conduct](https://github.com/devfile/api/blob/main/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) file for the full text of what you must agree to.
+To signify that you agree to the DCO for contributions, you simply add a line to each of your
+git commit messages:
+
+```
+Signed-off-by: John Doe <[email protected]>
+```
+
+**Note:** you don't have to manually include this line on your commits, git does that for you as shown below:
+
+```
+$ git commit -s -m “my commit message w/signoff”
+```
+
+In most cases, git automatically adds the signoff to your commit with the use of
+`-s` or `--signoff` flag to `git commit`. You must use your real name and a reachable email
+address (sorry, no pseudonyms or anonymous contributions).
+
+To ensure all your commits are signed, you may choose to add this alias to your global `.gitconfig`:
+
+_~/.gitconfig_
+
+```
+[alias]
+  amend = commit -s --amend
+  cm = commit -s -m
+  commit = commit -s
+```