[Rainbowportal-devel] process for managing rainbowportal.net

[Mark M. <mar...@ho...>]

Hi Keith,=20
=20
Are you talking about an approval and staging process for the content
displayed at www.rainbowportal.net?  Personally I think that would be
probably overkill.  It hasn't really been a problem the past 3 years.  I
think I have probably made most of the major changes over the past 2 =
years.
For major structural changes I would consult manu, graz, or the =
community
for feedback.  I've never deleted anything, just moved the content to a
hidden tree (manual recycler) so if an issue came up it could be =
recovered.
If there were a formal process I had to follow I wouldn't bother, it =
would
triple the time. e.g. last night I worked for 6 hours on the site - a
committee would have taken 6 days.

Our major problem with rainbowportal.net is getting people to contribute =
new
content, or getting team leads to keep their sections up to date (which =
is
why we hid these sections).
=20
 From: rai...@li...
[mailto:rai...@li...] On Behalf Of =
Keith
Wells
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 10:35 PM
To: rai...@li...
Subject: RE: [Rainbowportal-devel] changes in methods,standards,etc



Chris, we need to control access to certain info. Either you or Mark
(including Manu) should be final the decision maker for what gets into =
the
web site.=20
In my opinion, each team should have their own private forum at
forum.rainbowportal.net
There should be a simple project management document that defines how to =
get
info posted to the site and  how to promote changes in order to get that
change released to production.
Maybe Jon's site could be part of the process management. He has it set =
up
as a beta site already but maybe this should be made official.
Nothing goes to Prod until it works well at Jon's site.

=20


----- Original Message -----=20
From: "William Forney"=20
To: rai...@li...=20
Subject: RE: [Rainbowportal-devel] changes in methods,standards,etc=20
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 11:50:02 -0700=20

>=20
> Yup, you nailed it...=20
>=20
> -----Original Message-----=20
> From: rai...@li...=20
> [mailto:rai...@li...] On Behalf Of=20
> Chris Farrell=20
> Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 8:46 PM=20
> To: rai...@li...=20
> Subject: RE: [Rainbowportal-devel] changes in methods,standards,etc=20
>=20
> Reading your email, you don't object to parts #1 & #2, you only have a =

> problem with=20
> the committee part of #3. Am I reading this correctly? Please speak up =

>=20
> now if that isn't=20
> the case.=20
>=20
> I'm not a big fan of rule by committee, I've seen attemps to use this=20
> list=20
> for decision making,=20
> it is a joke. That was explictly why I put a decision making model as=20
> something we need.=20
> My vision was mostly similar to that of the military. The leaders make =

> daily decisions,=20
> consult with each other when needed, meet regularly to discuss the=20
> overall=20
> direction, and=20
> then to maintain Manu as the "godfather" who could veto anything. =
Maybe=20
>=20
> throw in a survey=20
> for key issues. I'm open for debate on this, but there should be some=20
> type=20
> of method.=20
> You should know better than anyone the mess that was the debate over =
the=20
>=20
> DAL, I bet it=20
> took over a year!=20
>=20
> However, it would be nice to have team leaders. They would keep their=20
> teams informed and also=20
> report to each other and the community. Right now there is essentially =

> ZERO communication=20
> between the teams. I did my first module around Feb 2003 and in the=20
> time=20
> since can't remember=20
> even ONE time when a core person provided documentation about the=20
> changes=20
> in a rainbow=20
> release that would break my modules. I started helping Mark with the=20
> website years around June=20
> 2003, I can count on one hand the number of times anyone has sent me=20
> content. I make changes=20
> to confluence or the website and sometimes come back the next day to =
see=20
>=20
> them gone because=20
> someone removed them. Heh, I created the original Rainbow FAQ and only =

> today did I find out=20
> there is also one on Confluence, shouldn't I have been the first =
person=20
> to=20
> know this? I tried to=20
> keep the SDK build file up to date, not once did anyone notify me of=20
> changes in the project files=20
> that would break the build script. I had to guess and spend an hour or =

> more per version instead=20
> of someone taking 2 minutes to send me an email. I think that should =
be=20
>=20
> adequate but in the=20
> event you aren't satisfied i can probably list another 20 or 30 items. =

>=20
> Too many cooks? Yep. Problem is, the cooks aren't talking to each=20
> other=20
> or to the rest of the=20
> community and that is the problem I had planned to address.=20
>=20
> Chris Farrell=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
> At 09:04 PM 4/13/2005, you wrote:=20
> > Myself, jonathan and manu are "leading" 1.6... Between Jonathan & I =
we=20
> > have come up with a few good ways to organize and bringing in=20
> > more/others and forming a committee would be counter productive to =
what=20
> > we're trying to do. Too many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak. Hehe =

> >=20
> > -----Original Message-----=20
> > From: rai...@li...=20
> > [mailto:rai...@li...] On Behalf =
Of=20
> > Chris Farrell=20
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 4:01 PM=20
> > To: rai...@li...=20
> > Cc: Rai...@ya...=20
> > Subject: Re: [Rainbowportal-devel] changes in methods,standards,etc=20
> >=20
> > Manu,=20
> > Sorry for a belated response, this message got marked as read so I=20
> > didn't see it until I went back=20
> > to look for something.=20
> >=20
> > Before we get too worked up on this one, lets start simple. Lets=20
> lay=20
> >=20
> > the ground work for efficient=20
> > and effective communication. If you guys don't like these ideas =
speak=20
> > up. I'm not looking to force=20
> > my ideas on anyone else.=20
> >=20
> > Please email me your answers directly, I'll tally the results and=20
> > coordinate them back to the list.=20
> > This list is great for brainstorming but it is too easy to let =
things=20
> > get=20
> > buried with everything else.=20
> > My email is ch...@cf....=20
> >=20
> > 1: We need a place to work from. How does the idea of=20
> > contributors.rainbowportal.net sound?=20
> > A new portal instance dedicated entirely to contributors. Each team=20
> > gets=20
> > one tab to work with.=20
> > Put a high profile link on the rainbowportal.net site to market it.=20
> > Anyone=20
> > like this idea? Anyone=20
> > willing to help set it up? Email me directly=20
> ch...@cf...=20
> >=20
> > with the subject=20
> > "contributors.rainbowportal.net" with your comments/volunteer =
offers.=20
> >=20
> > 2: Rollcall. Who is interested in being a leader, who is willing to=20
> be=20
> > a=20
> > follower. We have tried=20
> > to organize the troops before and had semi-limited success but =
nothing=20
> > like=20
> > what is needed.=20
> > My suggestion. Put a notice on the portal website homepage for this, =

> > email=20
> > out to every yahoo=20
> > group known and the sourceforge list once a week for a month. That=20
> > would=20
> > be a good start, after=20
> > that it just shifts to maintenance mode.=20
> >=20
> > Core=20
> > Modules=20
> > Themes=20
> > QA=20
> > 1.6=20
> > Localization=20
> > Documentation=20
> > Rainbow Portal.net admin=20
> > Support(FAQ maintenance, Forums moderator, monitor forums).=20
> >=20
> > 3: Plan a decision making=20
> > model. Dictatorship? Democracy? Committee? There needs to=20
> > be a way to break the stalemates I've seen too many times.=20
> >=20
> > Chris Farrell=20
> >=20
> >=20
> >=20
> >=20
> >=20
> > At 09:25 AM 4/11/2005, you wrote:=20
> > > > There has been quite a bit of change recently in Rainbow=20
> standards,=20
> > best=20
> > > > practices, etc etc.=20
> > >which one?=20
> > >=20
> > >Afaik the best practices are here:=20
> > >http://support.rainbowportal.net/confluence/x/dw=20
> > >=20
> > >Do you see something we missed here: please add it.=20
> > >=20
> > >THe team leads worked untile the vounteers left.=20
> > >There was be an effort on restore team ledership but still=20
> volounteers=20
> > >missing.=20
> > >If you want to lead a team this would really be great.=20
> > >What are your suggestions for a workflow method?=20
> > >=20
> > >Manu=20
> > >=20
> > >On Apr 10, 2005 8:41 PM, Chris Farrell=20
> > wrote:=20
> > > > There has been quite a bit of change recently in Rainbow=20
> standards,=20
> > best=20
> > > > practices, etc etc.=20
> > > > Is anyone keeping track of all these in a document somewhere?=20
> > > >=20
> > > > I haven't been an active developer on Rainbow for a few months.=20
> > Should I=20
> > > > want to contribute=20
> > > > something, how am I supposed to know the current standards?=20
> > > >=20
> > > > Additionally, it would be nice if we went back to the old system =

> of=20
> > > > team-leads to ensure quality.=20
> > > > When I first started, all of my module development was channeled =

> > through=20
> > > > Jakob or Ender and=20
> > > > they helped me to ensure that my code was compliant and of=20
> > acceptable=20
> > > quality.=20
> > > >=20
> > > > Just an idea. I would maybe be interested in being a module team =

> > leader if=20
> > > > we layed out a=20
> > > > workflow method and enforced it.=20
> > > >=20
> > > > Chris Farrell=20
> > >=20
> > >=20
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>=20
>=20
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