Author Archives: Eric

Eric 8:03 pm on July 29, 2013
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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 The contents list on the handbook front page is a little out of date at this point and we might just remove it and go off what is in the sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress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.

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

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

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

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.

#mobile-handbook

Eric 4:50 pm on July 29, 2013
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Dev chat summary for July 29, 2013

Chat log

Agenda

  • Project Status (iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. and Android)
  • Handbook Update
  • GSoC Update
  • REST APIREST API The REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/. GSoC Project
  • Next week

Project Status (iOS and Android)

iOS

Version 3.6.4 was approved by Apple Friday, Jul 26, and we released it today, Monday, Jul 29th to make sure we had folks around for the release. . This version includes crash/bugfixes and g+ integration.

Version 3.7 will be submitted to Apple Tuesday, Jul 30th. This version includes the new native reader and a new account storage system.

Android

Lots happening on the Android front. Active projects include:

  • categoryCategory The 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging. management overhaul
  • media library access
  • theme switching
  • native reader

We’ll announce a 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. this week that includes the new category management feature and we’ll plan for a new release next week. The rest we’ll target a date around the 1st of September.

Other platforms

No updates for other platforms.

Handbook discussion

Last week we had a few todos for the mobile handbook. @sendhilp has jumped in and started writing some of the iOS content. @mrroundhil swept the Android section and confirmed its up to date. @aerych spent some time on the “intro” section.

Work will continue this week. @aerych will put together a new todo list of the things remaining for the team. We’ll also figure out a good way to identify which pages are ready for review and which pages are still being worked on.

GSoC Update

We’ve reached the GSoC midterms. @aerych and @daniloercoli will be summating their midterm evaluations this week.

Both GSoC students hit some unexpected snags early on but have worked to overcome them and to get their projects back on schedule.

REST API GSoC Project

@mrroundhill gave the team a heads up about the ongoing REST API GSoC project https://make.wordpress.org/core/2013/07/24/json-rest-api-testing-updates and thought it would be cool if we could jump in and help test.

Next Week

iOS

Release 3.7. Continue work on 3.7.1 which includes some improvements to the native reader that won’t make it into 3.7 and some other bug fixes.

Android

Release the updated categories feature as version 2.4.3.

The next dev chat will be on Aug 5, 2013 at 9:00AM PST / 16:00 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode.

#dev-chat

Eric 4:48 pm on July 22, 2013
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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?

#mobile-handbook

Eric 7:12 pm on July 19, 2013
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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?

#mobile-handbook

Eric 3:59 pm on July 17, 2013
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Dev chat summary for July 17, 2013

Chat log.

Agenda

  • Current projects (iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads., Android, Other platforms)
  • Move dev chat time
  • Mobile handbook review
  • What’s Next

Current projects (iOS, Android, Other platforms)

WPiOS: We’re preparing to submit version 3.6.4 to Apple. This version adds G+ integration and fixes a few errors. We’re announcing the native reader 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. today. Depending on the feedback we get and plan to submit 3.7 next week.

WPAndroid: Currently focused on a maintenance release to address some of the outstanding issues on tracTrac Trac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.https://core.trac.wordpress.org/.. We’ll plan to submit an update with the improvements next week.

WPWinPhone & WPBB: No new news.

Move dev chat time

We’ve talked a bit offline about moving the dev chat time to either the end or beginning of the week. The reason being it’s hard to plan ahead in 1 week increments when the dev chat is right in the middle of the week. We chatted about it, and decided to try moving the weekly dev chat to Mondays at 9AM PST, 16:00 UTC, 18:00 CEST/17:00 CET. We’ll also look to move the weekly update to Mondays to correspond with the dev chat.

Mobile handbook review

We reviewed the status of the mobile handbook and our checklist.

  • @daniloercoli will follow up on the Windows Phone section before the weeks ends.
  • @aerych will pitch in on Windows Phone and the intro sections, with the goal of having them both ready for review this week.
  • When @mrroundhill is back we’ll ask him to update the Android section to account for any recent changes/additions to the app (e.g. menu drawer, actionbar sherlock, volley).
  • @hugobaeta has been working on the design section and we’ll try to have that ready for review soon as well.

The rest of us should review anything that is attached to our name and remember to check off tasks as they are finished.

What’s Next

  • WPiOS Native Reader: Beta through next week. Submit 3.7 to Apple at the end of next week depending on feedback.
  • WPAndroid Native Reader: Progress continues, focusing on 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. work, likes and comments. Next week will focus on topics.
  • WPiOS: There is some work to adapt WPiOS for iOS 7 underway. We’ll share more details once Apple lifts its NDA on iOS 7.

Xtreme Labs (XL) is pitching in to help with some new features and other improvements with WPiOS and WPAndroid.

  • A WPiOS refactor is underway, the goal being an improved architecture and increased stability. A few more weeks of effort is expected but the foundation code should be viewable next week.
  • A new media gallery feature for WPAndroid is cooking as well as a support for choosing/switching themes from the app.

Next week

The next dev chat will be on July 22, 2013 at 16:00 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode.

#dev-chat, #wpandroid, #wpios

Eric 4:23 pm on July 3, 2013
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@nacin has asked in IRC if it makes…

@nacin has asked in IRC if it makes sense to move the official 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/ home of the WordPress mobile apps from WordPress-Mobile to WordPress.

Thoughts about this? I’m not sure there is any reason to not make the switch.

#github

Eric 3:41 pm on July 3, 2013
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Dev Chat Summary for July 3, 2013

We had a brief dev chat this week as many team members are vacationing, and the Automattic folks are returning from their meet-up last week. WPAndroid was not on the agenda this week as most of the Android contributors are taking time off.

Chat log

Agenda

  • WPiOS
  • WPWinPhone
  • WPBlackBerry (legacy)

WPiOS

Last week version 3.6.2 was released to fix a crash that affected the iPhone version of the app. We quickly discovered that 3.6.2 unfortunately included a problem using 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. on the iPad so we quickly submitted and released an expedited patch in version 3.6.3.

WPWinPhone

@daniloercoli has created an alpha version of the REST client that the app will use when support for notifications is added to the app. Currently no ETA on the notifications feature and it is not being actively developed.

WPBlackBerry (legacy)

The current version of the app included some extra error logging and reporting in an effort to resolve some troublesome log in errors experienced by some users. At this point we’ve collected enough data to fix the major issues, and plan to release an update this week.

The next dev chat will be on July 10, 2013 at 1500 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode.

#blackberry, #dev-chat, #ios, #mobile, #windows-phone

Eric 4:20 pm on June 12, 2013
Tags: , , , , native reader,   

Dev Chat summary for June 12, 2013

Chat log

Agenda

  • WPAndroid 2.4 Notifications
  • Windows phone app update
  • BlackBerry “legacy” app
  • New contributor projects/tickets
  • iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. 3.6.1
  • iOS Native Reader

WPAndroid 2.4 Notifications

The notifications update as released Tuesday and its been well received.  We’ve noticed a few corner cases bugs have popped up.  They are being actively squashed and a new update will be released as soon as the last one is confirmed DOA.

For the next planned release we’re working on two separate tracks: an update to NUX following along the lines of the iOS update, and a native reader.

Windows Phone App Update

An update to the WordPress for Windows Phone has been submitted and we’re awaiting its review. This update adds gallery support for self-hosted blogs running WordPress 3.5 or higher, and fixes the top five bugs reported.  We expect Microsoft to approve the app by Friday. Yay!

@daniloercoli noted that we’re seeing an issue with headerHeader The header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. of the xml files we get from Glotpress for use in localizing the app.  Visual Studio treats the files as they are incorrectly formatted, even though the header visually appears okay. Not quite sure what the issue is but we pinged @markoheijnen about it for further investigation.

BlackBerry “legacy” app

We’ll be working on an update to the “legacy” BlackBerry app.  The goal of this update is to address some connection issues that folks have been experiencing and to reintroduce the “Need Help” dialog and a direct link to contact support.  We’ll also fix an issue we’ve found with the stats feature and jetpack blogs.

New contributor projects/tickets

@mrroundhill suggested we might identify tickets/features that would be good for a new contributor to pick up.  This could be something as simple as tagging tickets in track.  We thought this was a great idea and mrroundhill will be posting a follow up about it on the make blog.

WPiOS 3.6.1

A bug fix release is being prepped to submit to Apple.  A lot of issues have already been addressed (https://github.com/wordpress-mobile/WordPress-iOS/compare/master…release;3.6.1) and we’re just trying to get one or two more into this release.  We’ll most likely submit today or tomorrow.

WPiOS Native Reader

After some delays to get the last couple of features just right the required 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. changes are now being reviewed. We still have a few things left on our checklist. The next few days will be about getting the final graphics, implementing infinite scroll, and making sure everything works correctly on the iPad.  We’re looking at finally having a 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. of the native reader ready by Monday June 17th.

Next Week

The next dev chat will be on June 19, 2013 at 15:00 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode.

#android, #blackberry, #dev-chat, #ios, #native-reader, #windows-phone

Eric 3:49 pm on June 5, 2013
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Dev Chat summary for June 5, 2013

Chat log

Agenda

  • WPiOS 3.6
  • WPiOS Reader status
  • WPAndroid 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.
  • Windows Phone Upgrade

WPiOS 3.6

The latest release is going smoothly, and there have been no major issues thus far. Congrats to everyone who worked on the release and especially sendhil for all his effort coding up the NUX!

We’ll plan on a 3.6.1 bug fix release to address some minor issues and other things unrelated to 3.6 specifically.

WPiOS Reader status

aerych and irbrad continue to make progress on the native reader – currently focused on reblogging and iPad improvements.  A beta this week was the goal but there is still a lot remaining and its looking like next week is more realistic.

WPAndroid beta

Welcome back mrroundhill 🙂
A few bugs have been revealed during the beta period.   A release was planned for today but we’ll delay until Monday and squash the bugs instead.

Windows Phone Upgrade

Its time for a new iteration on the Windows Phone app. daniloercoli will be working on a small bug fix release addressing the top five bugs and also bring gallery support to self-hosted blogs.

Next Week

The next dev chat will be on June 12, 2013 at 15:00 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode.

#android, #dev-chat, #ios, #windows-phone

Eric 3:58 pm on May 15, 2013
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Dev Chat Summary for May 15, 2013

Several of the team were out at Google IO this week so we filled in the gaps as we were able. Chat log.

Agenda

  • iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads.
  • Android
  • WInPhone and BlackBerry
  • 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/.

iOS

  • Accounts is nearly complete. Needs more testing but we’ll hold off until NUX is ready.
  • NUX is currently being tested and awaiting updated translations.
  • Progress continues on the native reader. Support for adding/replying to comments is underway and irbrad is joining the effort.

Android

The notifications release is currently in 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. and very close to releasing. We haven’t decided what’s next but NUX is high on the list.

WinP and BlackBerry

BlackBerry is currently reviewing an update sent Monday, May 13th, and we expect it to be live in the store this week. This is basically version 2.3.3 of the Android app with some minor changes. The code is in the BlackBerry branch of the Android repository.

A Windows Phone update was submitted Tuesday. This update addresses an issue with the sharing feature. We expect it to be live later today or tomorrow.

Git

We’ve been having some trouble with the git repository at ios.git.wordpress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ getting out of sync with our git checkouts and the mirror on github.com. The repositories have had trouble staying in sync and most recently the commit authors have been reset and no longer match. We suspect the culprit is the subgit software that manages syncing between the svn and git repositories hosted on wordpress.org.

We discussed possible options:
A) Give subgit one last try.
B) Drop svn and make ios.git.wordpress.org the official repository, mirrored to 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/.
C) Make the repository on github the official repo.

We talked it over and decided the best course of action is to sunset the svn repo in favor of git. We will correct the repository at ios.git.wordpress.org and it will become the official repo for WPiOS with a two way mirror to github.

Next week

The next dev chat will be on May 22, 2013 at 1500 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode.

#android, #blackberry, #dev-chat, #git, #ios, #windows-phone