Placeholder thread, to discuss any plug-ins (mainly joomla?) we test to support the mod projects...
This
Project Fork project management extension for joomla looks interesting and I think it's free (from what I could tell from the info page on extensions.joomla.org)
Looks very interesting. I'll check it out. Thanks!
Right. Well... Let's find the best one for our needs then. :roll:
Hehe sorry about that...
Okay I went thru all of the free project-management extensions and
BeestoWorkflow seems to have the basics (I like that thye didnt try to do too much!)
This could be worth a try
Sweet! I'll check out the demo site for it and install it to our Joomla.
I've rearranged the Project Boards a bit. The public and developer child forums are now gone and there's only one board for each project.
My current idea is that the boards here are open for everyone to discuss and comment on the particular mod project, just like any other board here. And that the development talk and communication instead takes place in a Project Tracker module in Joomla.
I've found a Project Tracker I believe will be a good solution for our needs and I am in the process of configuring it. The tracker is called:
Projectfork. The Project Tracker will only be available to members who are in a 'Developers' group. Right now it's enabled for any registered user, (look at the front page) but I'll start working on the Groups and Policies for it.
Any comments/ideas/suggestions?
@Phanjam I see you've set up some child boards in the TLCP Project Board. I was thinking we could have some of this in the Project Tracker, as much of it is really only of interest to the developers. (?) The Tracker supports forums/discussions.
Not saying this is the best approach though... What's your take on this?
Edit: What I mean is that we post everything public facing in the boards and keep all the development talk and organizing in the Project Tracker. The tracker also as a repository function for sharing files.
Hi Wolven!
I started trying out Projectfork (PF) first. It's not that easy to use, so I shifted to using a forum format for a while just to "feel" if I could get over the differences.
Then I shifted back to PF and I got further this time (
have a look see ). I feel we can use this plug-in but it may need workarounds because it's not that intuitive. I'll also need to write a very thorough "how to" guide for it!
Here's a list of my observations so far...
- Although I've created a project, PF doesn't show any data in the "created by" fields. I could not find a solution for this.
- There is no easy way to browse an "all projects" list (I got the URL for the link I used above purely by chance). Is it possible to add a link to that URL, to the Projectfork component links on the right side of the page?
- "Milestones" and "Task Lists" are confusingly similar. I know you're able to nest task lists under milestones (and milestones under projects), but using them in tandem was confusing to me. But in-use, task lists seem more intuitive (at least for me) to use and they give a better "overview" of the project.
- The dashboard does not show you what has changed which I think is the important function of a dashboard. I guess the plug-in is not easy to edit, so I will try a workaround by embedding a google group in the project description (there's a "source code" option in the editor which I hope will take html). This group can then receive all notifications from the plug-in (are PF notifications working yet?)
But like I said, yes I feel we can use this
Ah, alright.
There are some more options for PF in the back end. I'll have a look and see if I can bring some of those options to the front end.
I'll try and dedicate this evening to setting up groups and tweak PF.
I'll try and dedicate this evening to setting up groups and tweak PF.
Thanks Wolven!
By "groups" do you mean another extension you found for Joomla?
Depending on what features it comes with, groups could be another option for small groups to organize their mod project
So I just spent a few hours using PF. We need to stress test this, meaning we need a small group to really try and use the extension and see how it works for everyone.
I'll pester RnF and gytfunke to move our TL1CP work over here already
Hmm. I thought I post a reply to this a few min ago...
Anyway. Joomla already has groups, so what I mean is to create one or more groups in Joomla who have access to PF. Not sure if we need two groups, but I was thinking Developer and Project Owner. I was thinking the PO would organize the Project in the tracker and could give individual Developers access to their project(s). Not sure if we need strictly two groups, at least not to begin with, as I assume we'll start off rather small with both developers and members in general. But I might do it anyway, so I don't have to reorganize further down the road.
I'll set up the groups here in the boards, and make them so that users can apply to be a member of the groups. When/if permission is granted here in the boards, JFusion will sync the groups and users access across the web applications, giving the user(s) access to the Project Tracker.
Testing PF with a small team is a great idea. We need feedback. P.S. I just found how to enable some more options in the front-end for it, so have a look.
EDIT:
Seems the only component which is not available in the front-end for PF is the option to create Categories. You can do this from the back-end though, so if we produce a list of categories we think would fit, I'll just add them there. Other than that it seems anyone with access to PF can create and tweak projects as they see fit.
I've just added some categories to Project Tracker. And I've played around with it a bit. I find it very easy to use and simple to organize projects and tasks. It might be because I'm used to working with issue trackers and ticketing systems as a professional, some of which have been pretty horrible to work with...
Projectfork is very simple and easy to understand, and I quite like it feel of it. It also have all the features, and more, we'll ever need to organize projects for a small/medium groups of mod developers. The colors in the theme makes it a bit hard to read and see some things now, but that can be fixed. I also need to get the groups right. But as it stands now I think PF is perfect for this purpose.
Thanks for the work on the tracker
@Wolven !
Yeah my time here on the site goes either to the tracker or to the wiki (more of the latter, lately - installed a few plug-ins
).
I think my plan is: slowly move all the articles from the previous wiki (like 1 or 2 articles a day) to be able to spend more time with our project (TL1CP) on the tracker. I think this is important because we're the first people who should be stress-testing this site