[OH-Dev] October milestone plan

Tue Oct 4 20:04:20 UTC 2011

Hello Devel,

To follow up from Saturday's meeting, this is the list of things Asheesh and
I'd like to see in this month's OpenHatch release.

There are two sections: The '''basically can't live without it''' items are
the ones that are most crucial that we ship during October. The
'''non-urgent''' ones would be amazing, but if we don't get to them in
October, we'll deal. All this content lives (and can be edited at)
https://openhatch.org/wiki/0.11.10.

Please give feedback, and if there's something you're interested in
tackling, please say so on this list!

-- Karen
____

Basically can't live without it:

* Volunteer opportunity finder remains stable -- Owner: Asheesh

As of 2011-10-03, there are 0 bugs more stale than two days. This is good
news. We need to watch it day by day to make sure that bugs successfully
refresh themselves. If they don't, then I (Asheesh) can identify the
problems and fix them.

* Requirements list for the OpenHatch front page -- Owner: ?

We keep meaning to clean up the front page; we set goals like, "Integrate
events with the front page." Let's step back a moment and make a list of the
things we want people to be able to find when they hit the front page. Once
we have that list, we can go through the front page and make sure those
items are easy to find.

* Campus Events plan, published -- Owner: Asheesh

Recently on the Events mailing list, Asheesh said he wanted to run more
on-campus events to teach students how to get involved with free software.
In addition, he said he'd organize an online version of the event before the
on-campus ones start. Let's publish a timeline of when this will happen.
That way, we can "show our work" and people can easy see the planned
timeline.

Read more about the on-campus events at
http://lists.openhatch.org/pipermail/events/2011-August/000192.html,
http://lists.openhatch.org/pipermail/events/2011-August/000199.html, and
http://campus.openhatch.org/

* Buildhelper lets you edit via a textarea -- Owner: ?

A new, under-publicized feature of the project pages (e.g.
https://openhatch.org/+projects/OpenHatch ) is the "buildhelper," a set of
steps a new contributor would take that sets up a usable build environment.

Try a buildhelper: https://openhatch.org/+projects/OpenHatch#buildhelper
Read about the idea:
https://openhatch.org/blog/2010/introducing-the-buildhelper/

Right now, we have a working (and simple) frontend and backend for the
buildhelper. However, there is no way to edit a buildhelper document except
from the Django admin interface.

I think we should 1.) write code that converts the models to a text-based
representation that looks like MediaWiki markup, 2.) provide a textarea that
lets people edit this MediaWiki markup, and 3.) on save, render that markup
into HTML, and then parse the HTML into buildhelper step objects for the
database.

* Provide a list of upcoming events on the front page of OpenHatch -- Owner:
Asheesh, unless someone else wants it.

OpenHatch is actively pursuing events. As part of the front page plan (see
above) I think we should create a tab on the front page that lists upcoming
events and link to information from the front page about why events are
exciting.

Skills needed: Django templates, plus CSS and a willingness to modify our
templates and to accept feedback.

* Initial implementation of handler for people who've clicked "I want to
help" -- Owner: ?

Right now, when visitors to OpenHatch click a button on a project page
indicating they want to help, we add them to a list. We have repeatedly
received feedback that project maintainers want the ability to manage this
as a queue. (Recently, we've used the short-hand "IWH handler" to describe
this -- "I Want to Help" handler.)

More info:
Mockup and conversation: http://openhatch.org/bugs/issue282
Related bugs: http://openhatch.org/bugs/issue567
http://openhatch.org/bugs/issue568 http://openhatch.org/bugs/issue570

Skills needed: Familiarity (or willingness to learn) Django

* Finish Missions Pedagogy page -- Owner: Asheesh (unless someone else wants
it, in which case feel free!)

Asheesh started a page that is a teaching-style guide for how to write a
training mission. I think it should get finished:

More info: https://openhatch.org/wiki/Missions_pedagogy
Discussion (with no replies yet):
http://lists.openhatch.org/pipermail/devel/2011-September/002404.html

Skills needed: Willingness to think carefully about clarity in teaching.

Non-urgent but important:

* Project page reorganization -- Owner: ?

When you visit a project page within OpenHatch (e.g.
https://openhatch.org/+projects/OpenHatch ) it is unclear which parts are ts
are for new contributors, and which parts are for current maintainers. In
September, we began to discuss some UI changes to improve this.

More info:
http://lists.openhatch.org/pipermail/devel/2011-September/002394.html

Skills needed: Django templates, plus small bits of Python, plus an ability
to think critically about web layout.

* Stop using embedded copy of patch parsing library -- Owner: ?

As described at http://openhatch.org/bugs/issue562, we have a copy of
patch.py in our source code. We should move it out so that it is a
dependency, and make sure our tests pass.

* Design a frame that provides context for OpenHatch users who visit bugs on
other bug trackers -- Owner: ?

When you click out of the volunteer opportunity finder onto a bug, the bug
tracker can be confusing. We should make a mockup and discuss it.

More info: http://openhatch.org/bugs/issue247

Skills needed: Willingness to think critically about what information could
improve newbies' experience on bug trackers

* IRC training mission -- Owner: Alex Ose said he aims to work on this

One essential skill for many people, in terms of participating in open
source projects, is being able to chat on IRC. Let's have a training mission
for it.

More info:
Bug: http://openhatch.org/bugs/issue396
Discussion of possible plot:
http://lists.openhatch.org/pipermail/devel/2011-September/002396.html

Skills needed: Solid understanding of IRC, and willingness to take feedback
on the content of the training mission.
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