| 12 | | |
| 13 | | Before Proceeding: Seeking skilled developers (and people who are interested in the goals of your project) is one of the most important activities performed by project administrators. Before actively seeking developers for your project, we encourage you to: |
| 14 | | |
| 15 | | 1. Determine the goals of your project (i.e. the technical problems you are looking to overcome, the specific features your developed software should include, and the approach you would like to take in implementing a solution to these needs). |
| 16 | | 2. Ensure that you have categorized your project in the Trove via the Public Info section of the Project Admin pages. Set up a basic project web site, or place content in DocManager, which describes your project goals and features you intend to include in your software. |
| 17 | | 3. Work to build a working software prototype (which other developers can collaborate with you to improve). |
| 18 | | 4. Familiarize yourself with the SourceForge.net site (particularly those site features related to project management) and services through hands-on review of the SourceForge.net site and through reading of the Site Documentation provided by SourceForge.net. These exercises will help you to strengthen your project presence and better equip you to manage your project as it grows. |
| 19 | | |
| 20 | | Recruiting Developers: |
| 21 | | |
| 22 | | SourceForge.net provides a "Help Wanted" page to help projects announce openings for volunteers in their development team, or to request assistance with specific technical problems or in the implementation of specific project goals. As a project administrator, you may post jobs to the Help Wanted system, and edit jobs you previously posted. Jobs posted to the Help Wanted system will be mentioned on the Summary Page for your project. |
| 23 | | |
| 24 | | Please note that jobs posted to the Help Wanted system will be automatically closed after two weeks. Please keep a local copy (i.e. in a text file or similar) of your job postings, as copies of this data is not generally retained by the SourceForge.net system. |
| 25 | | |
| 26 | | SourceForge.net also provides a discussion forum for projects seeking developers. Many other means are available for seeking project developers (such as mailing lists, discussion forums, etc. found elsewhere on the Internet). As a related side-note, SourceForge.net strongly discourages SourceForge.net-hosted projects from sending unsolicited mailings regarding their project. |
| 27 | | |
| 33 | | [wiki:"Backup your data"] |
| 34 | | |
| 35 | | |
| 36 | | |
| 37 | | Very Important: It is the responsibility of all SourceForge.net-hosted projects to maintain their own backups of project data. To assist you in developing a suitable data archival plan for your project, we provide a full set of instructions and procedures for backing-up project data. The following resources are provided for use in establishing project data backups: |
| 38 | | |
| 39 | | [wiki:"XML export"] |
| 40 | | Site Data The XML Data Export 2.0 facility provides Tracker data, DocManager data, Forum posts and Project News releases in an XML format. Due to the limited visibility of data flagged as deleted (which will appear in this export), the XML Data Export may only be accessed by Project Administrators. |
| 41 | | |
| 42 | | The previous version of the XML export utility (XML Data Export 1.0) is deprecated and is no longer under active maintenance. If you are still using this facility, you should migrate to the new version as soon as possible. |
| 43 | | |
| 44 | | |
| 45 | | |
| 46 | | Comments, questions and feedback regarding the export utility may be directed to SourceForge.net staff. |
| 47 | | |
| 48 | | |
| 49 | | [wiki:"CVS#Backups"] |
| 50 | | CVS Repository Ability to backup is provided via read-only rsync access. Documentation: Backup CVS Repository Contents. |
| 51 | | Subversion Repository Ability to backup is provided via read-only rsync access. Documentation: Backup Subversion Repository Contents. |
| 52 | | Automation Tools The adocman suite provides a number of tools for automating (from the command-line) SourceForge.net operations which require authentication. Currently, DocManager operations and the retrieval of data from the XML export facility are supported. adocman is available for download from the 'sitedocs' project on SourceForge.net. Documentation: adocman documentation |
| 53 | | Project Administration: While we encourage all project administrators to choose the permissions granted to developers very carefully (particularly the Project Administration permission), it is important that all active projects consider having at least two project administrators. This will help to ensure that at least one person is available to perform administrative operations for the development team, to respond to inquiries from third parties or from SourceForge.net staff, and that the interests of your project are represented even if one of the administrators becomes temporarily unavailable. Some of the highest risks to project data and integrity occur when projects have only one administrator, and that administrator becomes unavailable for a significant period of time. |
| 54 | | Site Documentation |
| 55 | | |
| 56 | | * Documentation: SourceForge.net Data Backup and Restoration Policy |
| 57 | | * Documentation: Security and Risk Management for SourceForge.net Users and Projects |
| 58 | | * Documentation: adocman |
| | 21 | It is the responsibility of all SourceForge.net-hosted projects to maintain their own backups of project data. To assist you in developing a suitable data archival plan for your project, we provide a full set of instructions and procedures for backing-up project data. |
| | 22 | |
| | 23 | See: [wiki:"Backup your data"] |
| | 24 | |
| | 25 | The XML Data Export 2.0 facility provides Tracker data, DocManager data, Forum posts and Project News releases in an XML format. Due to the limited visibility of data flagged as deleted (which will appear in this export), the XML Data Export may only be accessed by Project Administrators. |
| | 26 | |
| | 27 | See: [wiki:"XML export"] |
| | 28 | |
| | 29 | |
| | 30 | Ability to backup your CVS Repository is provided via read-only rsync access. |
| | 31 | |
| | 32 | See: [wiki:"CVS#Backups"] |
| | 33 | |
| | 34 | Subversion Repository backups are provided via read-only rsync access. |
| | 35 | |
| | 36 | See: [wiki:Subversion] |
| 85 | | When producing a file release, SourceForge.net encourages you to post a Project News item, providing a top-level view of the release (new features, major bugs resolved, and a description of the software). |
| 86 | | |
| 87 | | You may also wish to list your software on freshmeat.net (one of SourceForge.net's sister sites on OSTG). While SourceForge.net is the world's largest Open Source software development web site, FreshMeat is the "web's largest index of Unix and cross-platform software, themes and related "eye-candy", and Palm OS software". |
| 88 | | |
| 89 | | SourceForge.net tracks the activity of hosted projects and provides information about projects with the highest activity rating and highest number of downloads. We also track new file releases site-wide. SourceForge.net selects one project each month as its Project of the Month. Projects who make frequent file releases and work diligently on their development receive these sorts of benefits automatically, in recognition of their efforts. |
| 90 | | Spreading the word: As a first step, all projects should categorize their project within the Trove. This will help SourceForge.net site users to find your project through the use of our Software Map. You may establish the Trove Categorization for this project using the Public Info section of the Project Admin pages. |
| 91 | | |
| 92 | | One of the most powerful tools at your disposal is the Project Web service. Constructing even a simple site describing your project and the software you are producing will help others to gain interest in your effort. Adding your project web site to search services such as Google will further help people to find your project. |
| 93 | | |
| 94 | | All SourceForge.net-hosted projects are provided a set of RSS feeds. The RSS feeds can be an easy way to keep people informed about your project. Data about your project is automatically exported in the RSS feeds; you simply need to notify people that the feeds are available. [Project RSS Feeds] HTML and RSS feeds of recent project donors are available, allowing you to easily include this information on your project web site. |
| 95 | | |
| 96 | | As a final note, we encourage all projects to act responsibly in disseminating information about their project. SourceForge.net has a strict anti-spam policy; sending unsolicited mail about your project is frowned upon. (If you were thinking about a mass-mailing, you should find a more productive way to tell people about your project, such as setting up a booth at a convention, purchasing banner ad space with an advertising service, or announcements in those USENET news groups set aside for announcements.) |
| 97 | | Permissions: All SourceForge.net site users are permitted to access project RSS feeds. Only those developers listed as Project Administrators may manage project news. |
| 98 | | |
| | 49 | See: [wiki:"Release files for download"] |
| 120 | | [wiki:"Removing a project"] |
| 121 | | |
| 122 | | Project Removal |
| 123 | | Data Preservation: SourceForge.net has strict policies regarding the removal of project data. These policies exist because SourceForge.net is designed not just as a place for active Open Source software development to occur, but also as a way to preserve the software developed as that it will not be lost when active development ceases. |
| 124 | | |
| 125 | | These policies may be seen in the Site Documentation we provide, titled "SourceForge.net policies on data preservation". |
| 126 | | |
| 127 | | One of the major benefits of Open Source licensing is the ability to reuse software source code that has already been developed. By working the ensure the long-term availaility of all Open Source code produced on SourceForge.net, we hope to help protect the interests of the Open Source community, both developers and end-users, and help to support software reuse and both evolutionary and revolutionary software development activites. |
| 128 | | Project Admins: NOTE: The options provided on this page are for administrators of this project. Only an administrator can change the development status of a project or request its removal. |
| 129 | | |
| 130 | | Non-admin developers of this project may request the takeover of the project in the event that the administrator(s) cease involvement with this project. Non-admin developers may also remove themselves from this project if they wish to cease involvement with this project. |
| 131 | | |
| 132 | | You are an administrator on this project. |
| 133 | | Project Removal: As documented, SourceForge.net will consider the total removal of your project under the following circumstances: |
| 134 | | |
| 135 | | * No Source: We will consider removing your project if no source code has been released to your project CVS repository or via the File Release System. |
| 136 | | * Legal: We may remove projects as result of DMCA violation, copyright violation, trademark violation, or other legally-compelling reason as defined by the SourceForge.net Terms of Use agreement. |
| 137 | | * Project Merge: If your project is merging in to one or more other projects hosted on SourceForge.net, we will consider removal of this project provided all source code in CVS and the File Release System is duplicated on the new project(s) to ensure long-term availability. SourceForge.net staff can assist in the cutover of data within project CVS repositories. |
| 138 | | |
| 139 | | If your project does not qualify for removal, please consider the other options found on this page (below). |
| 140 | | |
| 141 | | If you wish to request the removal of your project and you meet one of the requirements listed above, please contact the SourceForge.net team by submitting a Support Request. |
| 142 | | Ceasing Development: If development is stopping on this project and no source code has been released, this project is eligible for removal. |
| 143 | | |
| 144 | | If source code has been released by this project, SourceForge.net will likely want to keep the project intact. To help your users understand that the project is no longer being actively developed or supported, please do the following: |
| 145 | | |
| 146 | | * Edit the Trove categorization for your project and change the Development Status to 'Inactive'. |
| 147 | | * Enable the 'Development of this project has ceased' flag on this project using the following button. This change will be reflected on the Summary Page for this project. |
| 148 | | * Consider orphaning this project, as that it could easily be resumed by other interested parties. |
| 149 | | |
| 150 | | Project Relocation: If your project is relocating to an alternate hosting provider (or is becoming self-hosted), SourceForge.net will insist on keeping your project intact as a historical archive. This policy stands even for projects which are merged in to larger infrastructure projects of reputable organizations, such as the Apache Software Foundation, Eclipse, etc. |
| 151 | | |
| 152 | | This will work in your favor in two ways. First, it will safeguard the data produced previously by your project, such as bug reports, mailing list posts, source code, and end-user discussions -- this data all has historical importance, both in showing the progression of development and as a reference for future development. Second, retension of your project on SourceForge.net will allow you to provide a link to potential users and developers to the new location your project is hosted. |
| 153 | | |
| 154 | | If your project is relocating, please do the following: |
| 155 | | |
| 156 | | * Leave all data and project settings intact. |
| 157 | | * Change the URL to your project web site to the new location where your project is hosted. |
| 158 | | * Include a README.MOVED (or a similarly named) file in the toplevel of your CVS repository and within any major modules in use. This file should contain details of your new project location. |
| 159 | | * Enable the 'Development of this project has moved' flag on this project by specifying the new URL to your project and using the following button. This change will be reflected on the Project Summary page for your project. |
| 160 | | New URL: |
| 161 | | |
| 162 | | Orphaning Projects: Project developers may leave a project using the icons on the MY SF.net Projects page. Administrators may leave a project either by having another administrator drop their administrator status and remove them from the project, or by submitting a Support Request and having the SourceForge.net team remove them from the project. |
| 163 | | |
| 164 | | Projects which have no developers and no administrators are considered orphaned projects and are available for takeover by interested parties. |
| 165 | | Project Purge: SourceForge.net perioically selects project for purge from the site based on development inactivity over the period of at least 6 months. Only projects which are considered inactive for long periods of time and which have not made any file releases via the SourceForge.net File Release System are eligible for purge. |
| 166 | | |
| 167 | | Before a project is purged, administrators of the project are provided notice of the intent to purge the project via email on two occassions, and all members of the project team are notified via a message at the top of the My SF.net page upon login. Project members are given the opportunity to opt-out the project from the purge. If after at least two weeks the project has not been opted-out of the purge, it will be removed from the SourceForge.net site. |
| 168 | | Project Reactivation: If you have previously flagged your project as having inactive development, or having moved, you may undo this setting change using the button below. You should do this if you have decided to resume development of this project on SourceForge.net. |
| 169 | | |
| 170 | | Purged and removed projects generally will not be restored (prior notice was provided before the purge occurred) without good reason. If you have a good reason that such a project should be recovered, please submit a Support Request to the SourceForge.net team and provide the UNIX name of the project. |
| 171 | | Project Takeover: If you wish to takeover the administration of a project, you may request the takeover of that project. Takeover of orphaned projects (those without administrators) will be processed in a matter of a couple business days. Takeover of projects that have an administrator will take a couple of weeks, as we need to contact the administrator for confirmation that they are no longer actively working on the project. Prior notice of takeover is provided both by email to the existing project administrator(s) and via the My SF.net page. |
| 172 | | |
| 173 | | In order to request the takeover of a project, proceed to the project registration system and submit a new registration against the same UNIX name of the project you wish to take over. At the end of the registration process, you will be given the option of submitting a takeover request. |
| | 60 | SourceForge.net has strict policies regarding the removal of project data. These policies exist because SourceForge.net is designed not just as a place for active Open Source software development to occur, but also as a way to preserve the software developed as that it will not be lost when active development ceases. |
| | 61 | |
| | 62 | See: [wiki:"Removing a project"] |
| | 63 | |
| | 64 | = Takeover = |
| | 65 | If you wish to takeover the administration of a project, you may request the takeover of that project. Takeover of orphaned projects (those without administrators) will be processed in a matter of a couple business days. Takeover of projects that have an administrator will take a couple of weeks, as we need to contact the administrator for confirmation that they are no longer actively working on the project. Prior notice of takeover is provided both by email to the existing project administrator(s) and via the My SF.net page. |
| | 66 | |
| | 67 | See: [wiki:"Abandoned Project Takeovers"] |
| | 68 | |
| 187 | | It is important to provide information to your potential donors on how the money they donate will be used and why you feel they should donate money to you. Use this comment space to provide these details and a short message to your potential donors. (no HTML permitted) |
| 188 | | |
| 189 | | All donations to this project will be directed to the SourceForge.net site. This project is maintained by staff of the SourceForge.net site to support our ongoing efforts to provide accurate, useful documentation for the SourceForge.net site and services. If you find our documentation helpful, or would like us to focus additional attention toward improving our documentation, we welcome your donation. Thank you, Jacob Moorman - Quality of Service Manager, SourceForge.net |
| 190 | | |
| 191 | | Charity Allocation |
| 192 | | |
| 193 | | Many developers and projects in the Open Source world choose to support charities such as the Apache Software Foundation and the EFF (Electronic Frontiers Foundation). You may elect to have a portion of your incoming donations automatically given to one (or more) of the following organizations. Giving a portion of your donations to one of these charities will reduce the amount of money which is transferred to your PayPal account. If you choose to allocate 100% of your donations to go to charities, no money will be placed in your PayPal account when you receive a donation. |
| 194 | | Organization Percentage Remove Charity |
| 195 | | SourceForge.net 100% Remove |
| 196 | | Total percentage allocated to charities: 100% |
| 197 | | (If someone donated $100 to you, $100 would go to the charities you selected and you would receive $0, less any service fees. Service fees are assessed against the total donation amount; percentages are applied after fees are assessed.) |
| 198 | | |
| 199 | | Donation Button Display |
| 200 | | |
| 201 | | Once you have opted in to receive donations, you may display a button on your project pages such as the one below to encourage site visitors to support the project. |
| 202 | | |
| 203 | | Support This Project |
| 204 | | |
| 205 | | See the project web section of the Project Admin pages for further details. |
| 206 | | |
| 207 | | HTML/RSS Feeds |
| 208 | | |
| 209 | | HTML and RSS feeds of recent project donors are available, allowing you to easily include this information on your project web site. |
| | 72 | See: [wiki:"Donations"] |
