# Guide to adding new content to CDDA for first time modders

**URL:** https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/guide-to-adding-new-content-to-cdda-for-first-time-modders/17781
**Category:** The Lab
**Created:** [December 7, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/guide-to-adding-new-content-to-cdda-for-first-time-modders/17781 "2018-12-07T17:53:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
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### Author: ![mlangsdorf](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/mlangsdorf/32/2462_2.png) [@mlangsdorf](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/mlangsdorf)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2018, 5:55pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/guide-to-adding-new-content-to-cdda-for-first-time-modders/17781/2 "2018-12-07T17:55:47Z")

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## Getting Started

Here’s a bunch of links that contain more information about how set yourself up to make a change to CDDA:

[https://github.com/AMurkin/CDDA-GitHub-Start](https://github.com/AMurkin/CDDA-GitHub-Start) is an illustrated tutorial on setting up a github account, forking and cloning the repo, and pushing a PR.

[http://cddawiki.chezzo.com/cdda\_wiki/index.php?title=Contributing](http://cddawiki.chezzo.com/cdda_wiki/index.php?title=Contributing) has the same information in th middle. You can 100% ignore all the stuff about compiling, but it’s the same process to share JSON and code changes, so set up a github account.

Technically, you can just edit the files in your game’s data/json folder, but if you do that while in a git repo, then git will automatically keep track of your changes.

This is mostly about the mod manager app, but it gives the basics of setting up a new mod: [http://cddawiki.chezzo.com/cdda\_wiki/index.php?title=Mod\_manager](http://cddawiki.chezzo.com/cdda_wiki/index.php?title=Mod_manager)

There’s a fair bit of documentation in the game already:

> **[CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA](https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/tree/master/doc)**
>
> Cataclysm - Dark Days Ahead. A turn-based survival game set in a post-apocalyptic world. - CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA

  
Start with the modding guide:

> <https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/blob/master/doc/MODDING.md>

  
then the general JSON format guide:

> <https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/blob/master/doc/JSON_INFO.md>

Before you contribute, make sure you read the JSON style guide and the manual of style for descriptive text:

> <https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/blob/master/doc/JSON_STYLE.md>

  

> <https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/blob/master/doc/MANUAL_OF_STYLE.md>

## More on adding specific types of content

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_[View the full topic](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/guide-to-adding-new-content-to-cdda-for-first-time-modders/17781)._