Broken link in pvlib.iotools.get_pvgis_hourly documentation

[ramaroesilva]

Describe the bug
In pvlib.iotools.get_pvgis_hourly, the link for the PVGIS Non-interactive service (Reference [3]) is broken.

To Reproduce

1. Go to the function documentation page
2. Press the hyperlink in PVGIS Non-interactive service (Reference [3])

Expected behavior
Open working webpage.

Additional context
Proper link here.

[RDaxini]

Thanks for picking up on this @ramaroesilva. Would you be interested in contributing a fix in a new pull request?
We can guide you through the process if you are interested.

[ramaroesilva]

Yes, please! I have some basic, more individual kind of experience with GitHub, but I've never contributed to an external repository.

[RDaxini]

@ramaroesilva at a high level, the overall process is to:

Fork and then clone pvlib-python (create your own online and local copy of the repository)
Make changes to your copy locally (fix the broken link in your copy)
Commit and push (send/sync) those changes to the online version of your copy
Create a pull request that compares your copy to the main pvlib-python repository (so that we can see the changes you made)
The changes are reviewed, amended if necessary, and eventually merged with the main repository

To fork+clone pvlib, follow these instructions: install as an editable library
That page also offers some useful links on using github desktop. If you use VSCode, I think there are some integrated features that effectively replace github desktop.
(do the gh desktop work however you please: open the pvlib repo, create a new branch to work on the edits...)
You'll be able to find your copy in Documents/GitHub/pvlib. Locate the file you want to edit in that pvlib folder.
Make changes, save the file, commit changes to your branch (gh desktop), push (sync) your branch to the online version (also gh desktop, or other)
GH desktop usually has a button to 'create pull request' when you have opened your branch, you can use that after making the changes. A pull request webpage will open in your browser, so then you just fill out the template provided and hit 'create'.

This is an overview. There's additional general information here.
Feel free to email me Raijv.Daxini [at] nrel.gov for additional help. You can also open a discussion, or ask questions in this open issue.

If you don't mind by the way, it would be great if you spot anything unclear in the contributing guidelines/pages (or my advice) and could let us know! We can then improve the pages for future contributors.

Let us know if you have any questions. The process can be a bit strange/awkward to follow initially, but it becomes easy enough pretty quickly (speaking from recent experience)
Thanks again for identifying and offering to fix the issue!

[RDaxini]

have some basic, more individual kind of experience with GitHub, but I've never contributed to an external repository.

An additional comment:
The only real difference is that instead of committing/pushing to your own repositories/branches, you will fork+clone (create a copy) of the pvlib repo, create a branch for you to work on, and commit+push changes to your branch on your copy of the repo. We then compare and review changes on your branch from your copy, to the main branch from the master repo, via a pull request.

[echedey-ls]

To add a bit more of context, our reference that ranges from broadest to smallest details is https://pvlib-python.readthedocs.io/en/stable/contributing/index.html
It's rare that it covers all the possible issues you encounter, but the main point is to learn the process. We'll be looking forward to that PR!

[ramaroesilva]

Pull request made :-) Thanks for the support @RDaxini and @echedey-ls