Available to help!

[Mike]

I have experience with project management, documentation, bug triaging, data analytics, coding, and overall I think I'm a reliable guy.   
I'd be happy to help out in any way I can with this project. Please let me know what you need and what you're looking for.

If I could start out with a couple of suggestions based on my own observations:

1. The wiki is in dire need of some love. It's the first link on the web site but has the least amount of content.

2. There doesn't appear to be any method to triage bugs or tasks except for the forum. In my experience this can get hairy and things get lost. It's probably best to use some sort of tool to manage on-going shared work. My initial suggestion is to use Gitlab.com. Everything is version controlled and it handles issues (bugs), milestones, and overall project planning/coordination. In addition everything about the project can be exported at any time for backup. If this is not desired, then maybe the team could get together via chat or forum to come up with a development plan.

[Mike]

So another option I just thought of this morning is www.sandstorm.io which is a roll-your-own platform. It includes a kanban board app and even Rocket Chat. We'd just need to install it on a server which several of us might have already. If not we could always fire up a $5 Digital Ocean droplet or even Amazon web services. The Gitlab option is nice because it's free but does require a little git knowledge. This might not be an issue if everyone is familiar with it.

[Mike]

Also, I wanted to stress that I'm not suggesting a rigid project management initiative. Understandably, we all have lives, jobs, hobbies, family, etc. I'm just hoping to put something in place that would prevent ideas/bugs/milestones from being overlooked. Forums are great for conversations but not so much for tracking issues and progress toward future releases. Even a shared spreadsheet somewhere would be more sustainable I think. Anyway, looking forward to everyone's thoughts.

[biffster]

Thanks Mike for the suggestions. I use many of the tools you mention in my real life work. (aws, gitlab, etc..etc..) - The wiki is in need of being curated/cared/and made in to something more, and yes real bug tracking is an issue as well and should happen.

Time has been the biggest enemy of that of course. My suggestion is for the next 30 days to stick around in the forums and help fellow users as you have already started to do to gain trust. (the only system we have right now for that) and then we can elevate your role to do more. There are a few core members with elevated privs on the forum and wiki to help out, and we would welcome the help once we know you a bit more.

Also feel free to PM me to have an "out of band" discussion about having a greater role.....tks

[Mike]

Thanks for your response, Biff! I'm glad to see that you stand behind your distro and want to improve it all around. It's getting better with each release. I totally relate to the time issue. I'd be happy to assist with the wiki or anything for that matter as time permits.

I know this is a new(ish) forum so I hate to ask this, but have you considered using Discourse? It has a built-in trust system and kills two birds with one stone as far as having wiki functionality. Being able to consolidate and run less systems is kind of nice. One thing I dig about it is that it's mobile friendly. Something to consider anyway. 

Edit: Luckily, it looks like there is an SMF import script if you decide to go with Discourse: https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/master/script/import_scripts/smf2.rb.

[cheiron]

I've played with Discourse a few times in the past with mixed feelings.


True it allows alot more to be done and fairly easier for the newcomer to forums.. yes i admit smf is not the easiest for newcomers!, but its layout and format are not that appealing to me either.. simple things put me off like no return to forum like on here at the top / bottom of each page, the category select feature. My main  primary issue allowing html code in threads... i've never been a fan of for obvious reasons of security, etc.


Just a few notes... I'll edit this later after work once i've thought more

[Mike]

Hi cheiron,

Have you given any more thought to Discourse? Some information regarding your concerns:

* The about page shows many of it's features: http://www.discourse.org/about/
* You can completely customize it to meet your needs...for example having a breadcrumb trail at the top and bottom of each page
* Markdown is way easier than BBcode for formatting
* They take security seriously: https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/master/docs/SECURITY.md
* You can disable HTML tags and just rely on Markdown