Joomla! 1.6 Opportunities: Redirect, Plugins Manager and General Update

Comment by Júlio Pontes on November 13, 2009 at 8:25am

Me, Here! ;D I want help!!!

Comment by Jen Kramer on November 13, 2009 at 9:16am

Hi Amy --

Instead of making lists that are largely unintelligible to a non-programmer like me, it would be great if you could say that you need someone with XYZ skillset to do one of the following jobs.

When I see things like "Module language strings need to be standardised.", I think maybe I could do that, but I don't have any idea how the code is set up or whether I have to know PHP/MySQL to work on this or if I could just do it knowing HTML and CSS and being able to fumble my way through XML.

This is a problem with the project as a whole. We often hear cries for help, but they are seldom tangible, and the vast majority of the community has no idea what the geek talk means. If we can put requests in less geeky language, with a skillset associated with it, I think the project would find more participation as a whole.

(When Elin spoke at our Joomla Day New England, she said you didn't have to know code to work on the Bug Squad. I didn't know that. I bet most people don't know that, and the documentation isn't out there anywhere that states that.)

Thanks!
Jen

Comment by Amy Stephen on November 13, 2009 at 9:29am

I agree! COMPLETELY. I looked at that list, myself, and re-downloaded 1.6 trying to figure out what Andrew meant by a Module-based install and how is that approach moving to Plugins, sadly, I didn't see any examples that would give me a breadcrumb trail to get started with and I have no idea what the heck that meant, in terms of work.

So, with you on that, Jen, and I love it that you are, like me, out there with it. That's where we can work with problems - when they are out there.

I an convinced that we have a real big huge mammoth zit of a problem in this community. We should be looking at a GROWING list of involved and contributing members who are becoming more and more essential to the success of the project. But, we seem to be looking at a shrinking list. It seems to me we better solve that problem very soon.

We've got a HUGE disconnect between what should be an enormous army of available resources (us) and the project (them). We are having a failure to communicate problem. And, it has steadily, over the years, turned into a "we versus them" problem that is deeply routed on both sides.

No one seems to be able to see and understand and relate to the other perspective. On either side - from either side. How we got here is at least a good night of drinking to explore. But, for now, it's time for people who want to help make this project great, again, to step up to the plate and go for it.

Jen - you have identified the first problem - we need someone to take Andrew's note (which I appreciate him writing - and asked him to do!) - and ungeek it a few steps into actions that are easier for other people to take. So, who is up for that challenge? Who's Joomla! is this, anyway?

Comment by Robert Vining on November 14, 2009 at 12:15am

Hi Amy!

I think Andrew meant, when you install a module, it gets it's own sub-directory in the modules directory.

Example: I create a module called the Bob Module. When you install it, and look in the Module directory in your Joomla installation, there will be a new sub-directory named Bob_Module in there and all the files that make that module work are housed inside.

Now, if I release the Bob Plugin for J1.5, it most likely would be a bob_plugin.php file that resides in the root 'plugin' folder. But what Andrew is trying to move toward in 1.6 is for me to create a sub-directory called Bob_Plugin inside the Plugins directory and place my bob_plugin.php file, and probably a bob_plugin.xml file inside that sub-directory.

This is just my guess, I didn't look at the file structure of the 1.6 plugins yet to verify this, I just took it to mean that based on Andrew's note on google groups.

I could be wrong.... I have been before!

Comment by Amy Stephen on November 14, 2009 at 10:34am

Yes, Robert, I understand it the same. But, I'm not sure what I would have to do to make that change. However, I know it could be figured out with digging into the task and asking a few questions.

Gergo - I am *not* complaining. I am actually trying to make a point here. We have a tendency to expect joomla.org to make things easy for us - and then, on the other hand, we also expect to be involved in the decision-making and we also call out for more transparency. If we want those things, then we must invest our own time and efforts into the work. We need to get more proactive and roll our sleeves up and get dirty and figure these things out, even if the information isn't completely there.

Free software communities are very different animals than corporate top-down structures, and I for one, don't want joomla.org to become *more* corporate, I want the community to become more engaged. I want the control and power to be spread out. But it gets spread out with work. If a small group does the work, they control the project. If a larger group does the work, they control the project.

I do agree with Jen's point. Information is not always the best from the project. To me, she has pointed to an opportunity for someone with strong project leadership skills to take messages, like the one shared by Andrew, and spec it out a bit more into something easier for people to action. If someone wants to contribute to the project in that manner, jump in! The water is warm!

We should be seeing an increasing number of contributors to the Joomla! project. It appears that the number is decreasing, not increasing. That should concern people who's income depends upon the project and hopefully it will concern us into helping with the work because that is what is needed now, and always, with a free software community.

Comment by Amy Stephen on November 14, 2009 at 11:27am

There is a need to write long comments on this because we need to fix it.

Respect, Gergo.

Comment by Amy Stephen on November 15, 2009 at 9:55am

There is an excellent discussion underway in the Drupal Documentation list called "[Barriers to entry" where the group is talking about specific challenges that make it difficult for others to contribute. I love the openness of that community. I love how they work together to create a welcoming, easy to participate environment. I long for that in Joomla!.

Comment by Parth Lawate on November 15, 2009 at 7:51pm

I think we could also start a Joomla Barriers to Entry post here & wherever else needed..
Joomla Barriers have already been lowered quite a lot.. But lets get some feedback..

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