Become a developer
From BBlog
So you want to be a developer? =) Welcome to the club
We're all happy to greet new developers. But just incase we're not around when you do choose to join, here are a few key points;
We always like to follow some simple guidelines that ease our life here. Here are some snippets of an IRC meeting we had where we informed a newly joining developer on the details of the project.
We appreciate all the help in coding, and it also needs to be noted that contribution is not via coding only. There's helping out on the forum, the wiki, etc.. And everyone should try their best in contribution.
Now, we try to be on IRC as much as we can, but sometimes we got work or (rumors) girlfriends to go to. So we've made a dev-mail so that we all can exchange ideas, comments, questions, etc... When you register with it, you need to wait 6 hours before sending the confirmation email, otherwise you'll get an error (I think its for spam reasons).. So don't worry.
We've finally moved the code from Sourceforge to Berlios (http://developer.berlios.de/projects/bblog) for our code repository, because berlios has SVN. So stick to registering with berlios and its dev-mail from now on.
The flyspray is for us (not the users) to report bugs we find, or the users write about in the forum. And as of recently, we've moved our TODO list from the Roadmap page into Flyspray. ANY coding whatsoever that you do, you need to comment the heck out of it. bBlog didn't have much commenting whatsoever in it and that’s confusing... It took AGES to get it commented, and I appreciate all the help in that =)
We don't usually just grab the latest revision from SVN and start doing this or that to it... we arrange meetings on IRC, and decide on a TODO on what needs to be done. Anything inside the TODO will be done only. if something else comes up, it has to be asked to the other devs (through dev-mail, IRC, or the dev section of the forum, or just stick it as a TODO task in FS and send us the link to it), and they have to agree.
Now, for the actual project status. After the release of 0.7.6, all 0.7 development has been halted. But we have assigned two devs to port the good fixes we did from 0.7 into 0.8. But as for the rest of us and all the joining devs, we will all stick to 0.8 development.
Version 0.8 (the SVN) is terribly buggy, and many times we thought of dumping it. We stuck with 0.7.x with small upgrades just to show the users that the project is still alive, but now that 0.7.6 is out, it will be looked at as the last upgrade. We have moved to 0.8 now, and will strip it naked, fix the core, and then slowly see what needs to be in there, and what needs to be an extension/plug-in. At the moment, MANY new functions are "built in" in the bBlog core, in 0.8. We want to get rid of that, and try to get every add-on working as plug-in, not "built-in", so it's easier to maintain and doesn't pollute the main code so much.
The Motto: bBlog is built around the idea of simplicity and ease of use, so we try and keep the core / skeleton simple. Anything extra needed will be a plug-in/extension (think of Gaim, or Miranda)
Aside from that. We’re all friendly. We don’t bite, and sometimes Hijacker and I (Xushi) get insane in the chats :p
<Hijacker> hehe
<Hijacker> yea
<Hijacker> get used to our freaky chats :p
So, don't forget to register on berlios and flyspray, get acquainted with Urcle (http://www.bblog.com/viewtopic.php?t=1404), the Sea Urchin (contributions to it is mandatory for the initiation of a new dev) and welcome to the cave =) Programming-wise, everyone has an equal share, and can work everywhere and anywhere, provided they strictly stick to the TODO list, and not wonder outside of it or add in anything you think that could be cool ;). However, we usually tend to 'stick' or 'focus' on certain areas, like me (Xushi) with installation/up grader, SomethingClever with the plugins, Woe with the core, and so on.
Aside from that, read on for more information on the roadmap, wiki, etc...
<Xushi> hmm, is there a note about what we all just talked about, or do we have to explain it all over again when another dev joins?
<xushi> lol
<Kleppa> hehe
<Kleppa> store the log, and place it in the wiki ;)
<xushi> say cheese!
<Hijacker> cheeese
<Hijacker> ^
- The Roadmap Note: The discussion page is now depreciated, and is only used for rough ideas or drafts. We're using flyspray instead.
The roadmap is designed for us to put our suggestions on what we need to do for the next release. Sometimes we have meetings to discuss important key aspects, while other times we use the discussion section in the wiki to post our ideas before giving proper or final decisions on it. (The discussion page is just a rough draft or a temp place to stick ideas in now). After the decision, we tend to stick to what we agreed on. This reduces bloat, bugs, and possible conflicts in the release. Our work will be divided between working on the TODOs in flyspray and making sure we stick to them and them [b]only[/b], as well as fixing any bugs that have been discovered and posted in the flyspray.
- The Flyspray (http://bblog.com/bugs/) The flyspray is for us to add and assign TODO tasks, as well as post bugs/features that we find, so that others are aware of it, and the bugs can be properly tracked, assigned, and fixed. It's a good way to manage the bugs too. Take care though, only the devs are allowed to post bugs in the flyspray. If a user discovers a bug, then he can submit it in the bug section of the forum, where a dev member will confirm and add it to the flyspray. This is to reduce any confusion or multiple bug posts of the same bug since users don't check the 'fixed' ones before they post.
- Communication We are on irc.freenode.net - #bBlog most of the time, but nowadays some of us are doing our finals, while others are trying to find work or (rumors..) score with their Girl Friends.. So along with #bBlog, you can also use the Dev section in the forum, and joining the developer's mailing list (https://developer.berlios.de/mail/?group_id=3950).
- The Code We have moved from CVS to SVN for our repositories. The old repository is in SourceForge (http://sourceforge.net/projects/bblog/), and isn't used at all anymore. The new and current repository is now in Berlios (https://developer.berlios.de/projects/bblog/). Register with Berlios, and contact one of the admins or the dev team for more information or to add you to the team.
- Best Practices When so many people from so many places with so many different skill levels are working together, we need some rules everyone needs to follow just to make it easier for everyone. (Which are basically what we've just discussed here)
I guess that's it. When you're ready, get acquainted with the team and the code, read the roadmap discussion page (and the latest meeting logs) to get a general idea, and happy bBlog developing :)
