Dev: clarify commit length and allow multiple commits per subsystem

Ryanf55 · tpwrules · commit 74a98d962db1 · 2026-04-18T20:37:18.000-05:00
Signed-off-by: Ryan Friedman &lt;25047695+Ryanf55@users.noreply.github.com&gt;
diff --git a/dev/source/docs/submitting-patches-back-to-master.rst b/dev/source/docs/submitting-patches-back-to-master.rst
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ Preparing commits
   means that intermediate commits break the build. This also implies that
   moving code from one library to another happens in two commits: one that
   "deletes" it from the old spot, and a separate one that "creates" it at
-  the new spot.
+  the new spot. It's better for unrelated changes in a single library
+  to be separate commits in the pull request.
 
 - Do not create 'only fix formatting' commits. The disruption they cause
   to git history is more significant than their improvement to the code.
@@ -67,6 +68,8 @@ Preparing commits
 
         do not save a parameter unless it has changed by 0.1%
 
+- The brief description (summary) line should be less than 72 characters so it renders correctly in Github.
+
 - **clean up your local commit history** :ref:`using interactive rebase <git-interactive-rebase>`
   (i.e. ``git rebase -i "HEAD~10"``) to re-arrange patches and fold things together. The idea is to present
   a logical set of patches for review. It can take a bit of effort to get
