Back in January @isaackeyet and I chatted with @siobhan about what sort of things someone would need to know to get started at a mobile contributor dayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/.. Siobhan’s posted her write up to the handbook and everyone should go check it out. 🙂
Tag Archives: mobile handbook
Dev Chat Summary for Sept 16, 2013
Agenda
- iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. Status
- Android Status
- Handbook Update
- This Week
iOS Status
Version 3.8 was submitted to Apple on Sept 12th. This version of the app includes support for iOS 7 and bug fixes. At the time of the chat it was still pending review. A few hours later Apple approved the app. Congrats everyone!
The new theme browser is close to being ready and will likely be included in 3.9.
The team is currently focusing on bug fixes, and a new visual editor.
Android Status
Today we’re releasing a new betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. that includes the new media, themes, and native stats features. We’re going to try releasing via the Google Play beta system and see what that experience is like.
Heads up to developers, we’re merging the develop branch back into master today.
The team will also begin adding in the Native Reader which up to this point has been built as a separate app, and wrapping up the NUX tutorial.
Handbook Status
Rachel reports that she’s made good progress editing the mobile handbook content. Once she’s done she’ll post her notes on this blog for the mobile team to make the final content tweaks.
This Week
Android will focus on the beta release, NUX, and Native Reader.
iOS is focused on the 3.8 release, bug fixes, and visual editor.
Next Chat
Join us for the next dev chat on Sept 23, 2013 at 16:00 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode.
Dev chat summary for Aug 12, 2013
Agenda
- iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. Status
- Android Status
- Handbook Update
- Next Week
iOS Status
- Version 3.7 has been submitted to apple. If Apple approves the app this week we’ll most likely release Monday or Tuesday.
- This week we’ll begin work on 3.7.1 and nail down a roadmap for the next few months.
- Work continues to update the app to support iOS 7.
- Xtreme Labs continues to work on a code refactor with target completion of the end of the month.
Android Status
- We’ve released a beta that adds support for Picasa/g+ images and post excerpts. If all goes well we’ll release an update later this week.
- The theme selection feature is almost ready.
- Progress on media updates continues. The feature should be ready in a few more weeks.
- We’ll be working on a NUX for the next few weeks.
Handbook Update
Reminder to everyone to focus on the handbook content. We have a goal to complete the handbook by the end of the month.
Next Week
For next week the plan is to…
- Release WPiOS 3.7 to the world as soon as its approved. Start work on 3.7.1 and plan for the near future.
- Android will focus on NUX, wrapping up the themes, and media features.
Join us for the next dev chat on Aug 19, 2013 at 16:00 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode.
Updated Mobile Handbook Todos
Here is an updated todo list for the Mobile Handbook. I’ve put names next to some items as a suggestion of who might be a good fit for a topic and in most cases I’ve doubled up our developers since they have big demands on their time. Its not complete so please feel free to grab an item that interested you or take your name off a topic to let someone else have a go.
I’ve also consolidated some items into General Guides to avoid having some single page sections. Some of the pages don’t have stubs and need to be created. The contents list on the handbook front page is a little out of date at this point and we might just remove it and go off what is in the sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme. TOC. Its going away at some point anyway.
iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads.
- iOS – blank. Should be the introduction. @koke @sendhil
- Tools & Requirements – incomplete. Needs to talk about pods & other dependencies. @koke @sendhil
- Best Practices – blank. @koke @sendhil
- Tutorials and Guides – blank. @koke @sendhil
- References and Useful Resources – blank. @koke @sendhil
- Testing Instructions – blank. @koke @sendhil
I moved the UIUI UI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout of the page the user interacts with. Think ‘how are they doing that’ and less about what they are doing. Guidelines stub to the Contribute Style section since it seems a better fit there. The “Enabling Safari’s Web Inspector on iOS” topic from Tips and Tricks might be a good fit under Tutorials and Guides.
Other Apps
- Other apps – blank. Should be the introduction. @aerych
- webOS – blank. @beaucollins
- Nokia – blank.
I think it makes sense to devote a short page to each of the other platforms so I’ve added those items. I think the content can be an abbreviated version of what we’re doing for the other platforms. Push back if I’m off in left field here.
Also, we have some great documentation that Sayak wrote for the webOS app that could probably have a home here.
Contribute Design
- Contribute Design – incomplete. Looks close to done but a lot of the links don’t go anywhere. @hugobaeta
- Color Pallet – incomplete. Honestly this could be marked done but it might be nice to have a screen shot or two showing how the colors play in the apps.
- Fonts – blank. @hugobaeta
- General Guidelines – blank. @hugobaeta @isaackeyet
- iOS – blank. @koke @hugobeata @isaackeyet
- Android – blank. @mrroundhill @hugobaeta @isaackeyet
- Windows Phone – blank. @daniloercoli @hugobaeta @isaackeyet
I’m not sure we need to include styles for the legacy BlackBerry app, mostly because there is more demand for native BB10 and we’re not actively involved in legacy BlackBerry dev. @daniloercoli do you have an opinion about this?
Support Help
- Support Help – blank. @isaackeyet
XML-RPC & APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. Contributions
I’m not sure what this section was supposed to be about. Maybe we’re talking about native libs that interface with XML-RPC and other APIs? If we’re talking about XML-RPC itself it would belong to the coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. handbook.
General Guides
- General Guides – blank. Should be a short intro.
- Using GithubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ & TracTrac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.https://core.trac.wordpress.org/. – blank.
- Changing Hosts on Mobile Devices using Charles – blank. @beaucollins
- Testing with the pre-flight checklist – blank. @aerych
Credits
- Credits – blank. @isaackeyet
There has been some conversation about the best way to denote a page’s status: drafting, draft, editing. The handbook pages don’t seem to support tags, so I wonder if it would work to just append the status to the title. This way it would at least be easy to see a page’s status at a glance from the admin. Thoughts? If we like this idea I’ll go through and update the page titles for Rachel.
For the Mobile Handbook I’m thinking we should…
For the Mobile Handbook, I’m thinking we should disable comments on the individual pages. Instead, if we want to have comments as a feedback channel, maybe we could add a Handbook Suggestions page that was specifically for comments. Thoughts?
For the mobile handbook I’m thinking that instead…
For the mobile handbook, I’m thinking that instead of having separate introduction pages under each platform page, the platform page itself should be the introduction. This will let the parent pages actually have some content and be more than just a TOC. Thoughts?
To make it even more inviting to contribute…
To make it even more inviting to contribute and kick-start great patches I added two buttons in the sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme. that are direct links to the GitHubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ repos for the iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. and Android projects. Hopefully this, with some updates to the mobile handbook should make it a lot less intimidating to actually start contributing.
We’re coming up on the end of the…
We’re coming up on the end of the contributor handbook schedule. May 17th is the last date for all handbook components, after that there’s only editing left. We’ve not followed the exact structure as suggested by Docs, but we’re not far from having all parts ready either. So as we’re approaching the home stretch, I thought it best to create a check list of remaning items so we make sure everything gets done in time.
I’ll assign people to complete the pages to the best of my knowledge.
Introduction
- Introduction https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/introduction/ @aerych, @isaackeyet
- Dev chats info https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/introduction/dev-chats/ @isaackeyet
- Communication (could maybe be a part of Dev Chats?) https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/introduction/communication/ @isaackeyet
- Contributor list – we may want to have a direct way to see all current and past contributors (TBD)
iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads.
The state of the iOS and Graphics sections are far behind the rest, so these two only have general todos.
- Create individual pages (all in https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/pathways/ios/ currently) @koke
- Update menu https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/ @koke
Android
- Combine Android menu item and Introduction? @mrroundhill
- Update screenshots throughout @mrroundhill
- As discussed, update Getting started guide to better guide new users, also some feedback here @mrroundhill
- Add testing instructions https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/pathways/android/testing-instructions/ @mrroundhill
- PingPing The act of sending a very small amount of data to an end point. Ping is used in computer science to illicit a response from a target server to test it’s connection. Ping is also a term used by Slack users to @ someone or send them a direct message (DM). Users might say something along the lines of “Ping me when the meeting starts.” Rachel about a review after above items are complete
BlackBerry
- Update/make intro to app development, at least to me it’s not entirely clear how to get started currently https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/pathways/blackberry/ @daniloercoli (@daniloercoli)
- Make sure all sections are covered and up to date (compare with other platforms’ handbooks for completeness) @daniloercoli (@daniloercoli)
- Ping Rachel about a review after above items are complete
Windows Phone
Can’t find the reference right now, but if I remember correctly @daniloercoli, @aerych, and @sendhilp all wanted to take another look at the Windows Phone section. Please divide any items here in between you!
- Complete Tutorials & Guides https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/pathways/windows-phone/tutorials-and-guides/
- Update Testing instructions? Looks like it’s not complete/formatted correctly yet https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/pathways/windows-phone/testing-instructions/ (@aerych)
- BetaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. distribution is currently 404. Is this page still planned? (@daniloercoli)
- Tips & Tricks could use some clean up https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/pathways/windows-phone/tips-and-tricks/ (@aerych)
- Ping Rachel about a review after above items are complete
Other Apps
- Write intro to the other Apps and give information on their current state.
- Link up to existing tracs, websites, dev blogs, forums, etc
- Let contributors know how they can contribute should they want to
Contribute with Design
All items assigned to @isaackeyet
- Clean up intro https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/pathways/design/
- Create General UI Guidelines https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/pathways/design/guidelines/
- Create Color Palette https://make.wordpress.org/mobile/handbook/pathways/design/colors/ (@isaackeyet)
- Write about Fonts
- Write about screen densities and what this means in reality, best practices
- Write documents on platform-specific guidelines
- iOS
- Android
- BlackBerry
- Windows Phone
- Other platforms
- Denote best ways to get set up with a dev environment for each platform for designers (referencing platform specific set up guides)
Assist with Testing
- Write intro on testing and how testing helps the apps
- Write about how to get started with testing each version of the WordPress apps (maybe linking off to the Testing sections of each platform)
- Using Dev Tools to Stress-Test Apps
- Intro to the pre-flight check list (should probably be a part of the Intro)
XML-RPC & APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. Contributions
- Write page on how to contribute to the API side of WordPress and where to go for that @koke
General Guides
Any takers here? @beaucollins comes to mind, let me know if you’re up for taking these on.
- Intro to using TracTrac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.https://core.trac.wordpress.org/. for the mobile projects (link off to specific sections for more info)
- Intro to GitGit Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. Git is easy to learn and has a tiny footprint with lightning fast performance. Most modern plugin and theme development is being done with this version control system. https://git-scm.com/. and how it’s used within the Mobile Group
Tips & Tricks
- Enabling Safari’s Web Inspector on iOS @beaucollins
- Changing Hosts on Mobile Devices Using Charles @beaucollins
Credits
- Add list of all contributions to the Mobile Handbook @isaackeyet
Other todos
- Ping Rachel about looking over all the contents of the handbook mid-May at latest @isaackeyet
- Add Handbook to make/mobile navigation @isaackeyet
- Better navigation structure for Handbook? Would be good to have links to parent posts/sections for easy navigation. Investigate. @isaackeyet
- Inline content navigation with anchors (so you can link to specific headers within posts, see Support for example). Investigate. @isaackeyet