Author Archives: Isaac Keyet

Isaac Keyet 3:41 pm on May 29, 2013
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Dev chat summary for May 29 2013 Chat…

Dev chat summary for May 29, 2013. Chat log

Agenda

  • Android
  • iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads.
  • Other Platforms
  • Mobile Handbook
  • GSoC Update

Android

The WPcom Notifications release is in Beta. Everybody with a Jetpack-enabled blog and/or a WordPress.comWordPress.com An online implementation of WordPress code that lets you immediately access a new WordPress environment to publish your content. WordPress.com is a private company owned by Automattic that hosts the largest multisite in the world. This is arguably the best place to start blogging if you have never touched WordPress before. https://wordpress.com/ blog is encouraged to download it and help test it, as well as reporting any issues that arise.

iOS

NUX update has been submitted with a heap of languages at 100%! A lot of people have been involved in this release, most notably @sendhil, @hugobaeta, @koke, @karmatosed. It provides a much better first experience for all types of users, wether you have a blog already or you want to sign up. It’s also bringing 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. of the app up to par with the latest around the WP ecosystem, expect a lot of this to cross-pollinate to other parts of the app and other platforms as well.

WPcom Native Reader update: last week we’ve focused on wrapping up the comment form, topics list, and a bunch of smaller functions. We’re hoping to release a basic 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. sometime next week but it may be pushed out a bit further.

In other news a 3.6.1 is already being planned, and the work on better global Accounts for WPcom users will be merged as a part of the Native Reader update.

Other Platforms

Filing Windows Phone tickets for the next update, other than that not much going on on the other platforms we govern.

Mobile Handbook

I acknowledged the state of the Mobile Handbook in the chat, and let people know that our editor Rachel will be ready to review and edit content shortly. Everyone is urged to attend to the sections of he handbook that they’re assigned to. Eric mentioned that the state of the Android section in the handbook is looking pretty good, and that that may be a good place for Rachel to start looking at.

The BlackBerry section is looking really good as well, and this may in fact be the best place to start.

Mobile Handbook Todo.

GSoC Update

The selection process is over, and there will be two mobile Google Summer of Code projects this year.

Native WordPress app for BlackBerry OS 10

Daniele Maio will create native WordPress app for BlackBerry’s exciting new OS 10 platform. @daniloercoli will be mentoring.

More info.

FirefoxOS WordPress for webOS port

Sayak Sarkar will port the fabled WordPress for webOS app to the FirefoxOS platform. @aerych will be mentoring.

More info.

Congrats guys!

Next Week

The next dev chat will be on June 5, 2013 at 15:00 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode. The next two weeks @aerych will lead these chats and post the summaries.

#android, #dev-chat, #gsoc, #handbook, #ios

Isaac Keyet 8:56 pm on May 26, 2013
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Dev Chat Summary for May 22, 2013

Here’s the belated dev chat summary from last Wednesday (sorry about the delay!)

Chat log.

Agenda

  • Android 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. & What’s Next
  • iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. NUX/Accounts

Android Beta & What’s Next

The beta was delayed a week since some parts of the apps were not done. New submit/announce date should be June 3.

iOS NUX/Accounts

iOS NUX is almost done (again!), translations are synced back up and most are complete. Looks like we’ll be able to submit soon. [editor’s note: as of Friday the plan is to submit by EOD or Monday]

iOS Accounts release will most likely be bundled with the new WordPress.comWordPress.com An online implementation of WordPress code that lets you immediately access a new WordPress environment to publish your content. WordPress.com is a private company owned by Automattic that hosts the largest multisite in the world. This is arguably the best place to start blogging if you have never touched WordPress before. https://wordpress.com/ Reader update which should be the next one to be released after NUX.

Next Week

The next dev chat will be on May 29, 2013 at 1500 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode.

#android, #dev-chat, #ios

Isaac Keyet 4:34 pm on May 8, 2013
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Dev chat summary for May 8, 2013

Chat log.

Agenda

  • iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. projects update
  • Android projects update
  • Moving dev blog discussions to make/mobile (this blog)
  • Handbook reminder

iOS projects update

NUX (new welcome guide, improved WordPress.comWordPress.com An online implementation of WordPress code that lets you immediately access a new WordPress environment to publish your content. WordPress.com is a private company owned by Automattic that hosts the largest multisite in the world. This is arguably the best place to start blogging if you have never touched WordPress before. https://wordpress.com/ sign up) is almost complete, need to look over copy and polish a few things, then should be ready to get it translated and tested.

WordPress.com native reader project: picking up momentum again, currently working on threaded comments which is complicated.

Accounts migrationMigration Moving the code, database and media files for a website site from one server to another. Most typically done when changing hosting companies.: need to write the actual coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. data migration but very close to completion. Should simplify the way WordPress.com accounts act under the hood in the iOS app.

Android projects update

A bug fix update is going out today that fixes a bug with featured images.

The WordPress.com Notifications project is very close to 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., no word on when just yet but should be very soon.

Moving dev blog discussions to make/mobile (this blog)

We decided to close the dev blogs and (if possible) migrate their data to this blog instead and keep all discussions/announcements/etc in one place. The filtering on this p2 should make it easy to only see discussions about specific platforms if you only contribute to one. @mrroundhill took it on himself to investigate what’s needed for migrating the data. @isaackeyet (me) will look into a way to display sticky messages on the dev blogs once migrations are complete. The platform leads for each platform will also post a last post on each one of the dev blogs letting subscribed readers know that the blog has been merged with make/mobile (this would be @mrroundhill, @koke, and @daniloercoli for BlackBerry and Windows Phone).

After the chat @nacin jumped in and let us know he will assist with the migrations as well.

Handbook reminder

@aerych reminded himself and all others that the Handbook is still in need of looking over and updating – please refer to the separate todo post for details on what’s left and who’s responsible for what.

Other

@daniloercoli let everybody know that there’s a new bug fix update live for Windows Phone. It has bug fixes as well as a small new feature that lets users share permalinks to other apps on the device (such as Email, Facebook, Twitter, etc).

Next week

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

#android, #dev-blogs, #dev-chat, #handbook, #ios

Isaac Keyet 9:11 am on April 30, 2013
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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.

#android, #ios, #mobile-handbook, #p2

Isaac Keyet 3:38 pm on April 24, 2013
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Dev chat summary for April 24 2013 Chat…

Dev chat summary for April 24, 2013

Chat log.

Agenda

  • iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. : version 3.5.3 released
  • iOS : status
  • Android : version 2.3.1 released
  • Android : status
  • Windows Phone : status
  • Mobile Handbook Reminder

iOS : version 3.5.3 released

The latest version of the app was released on Monday April 23, and has fixed even more crashes and bugs. Unfortunately there’s still a crash occurring with featured images.

iOS : status

Now working on some improvements to the WPcom Notifications screen and looking into ways the app can better handle accounts (from both WPcom and multisiteMultisite Multisite is a WordPress feature which allows users to create a network of sites on a single WordPress installation. Available since WordPress version 3.0, Multisite is a continuation of WPMU or WordPress Multiuser project. WordPress MultiUser project was discontinued and its features were included into WordPress core.https://codex.wordpress.org/Create_A_Network. installs).

NUX project: wrapped up (*crosses fingers*) some of the stuff that will improve the signup flow and have shifted toward the wizard walkthrough features.

Native WPcom reader project: implementation is progressing. Basic views are implemented and being iterated on. Currently working on the best way to handle video in posts.

Android : version 2.3.1 released

A bug fix update for version 2.3 (Holo update) of the Android app was released. This took care of a handful of crashes and a multitasking issue.

Android : status

Another bug fix release with some fixes to the ActionBarSherlock library and James Hu’s comment editing patch.

The next major version is 2.4 (WPcom Notifications). This release is progressing, push notifications are working and 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. is being wired up.

Windows Phone : status

Nothing big in the pipeline, although there’s now a milestone with tickets for the next update.

Mobile Handbook Reminder

There are quite a few items left to do, both assigned and open — you know who you are! Let’s wrap this up. Eric said he’s started to look into the remaining items for Windows Phone.

Rachel got in touch (yay!) so we’ll bring her up to speed on the status of the handbook as well.

Next week

The next dev chat will be on July 1, 2013 at 1500 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode.

#android, #handbook, #ios, #weekly-chat, #windows-phone

Isaac Keyet 11:28 pm on April 18, 2013
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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

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

#handbook, #mobile-handbook, #todos

Isaac Keyet 8:19 pm on April 17, 2013
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Today is an exciting day version 2.3 of…

Today is an exciting day, version 2.3 of WordPress for Android was just announced. This is the big update that brings the Android app up to date with the latest and greatest in Android, namely the Holo 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. pattern. The most prominent changes include the use of the Action Bar and a menu drawer for navigation.

This update couldn’t have been made without the excellent contributors, those that were involved this time were: mrroundhill, willnorris, isaackeyet, daniloercoli and aerych.

Please help us test 2.3 further and report any issues you find in the WordPress for Android Trac. Any feedback is very welcome as well of course!

Leave a comment here or on the Android dev blog (dev.android.wordpress.org) if you’d like to get involved and contribute.

Congrats all around!

Announcement post: https://android.wordpress.org/2013/04/17/2-3-release/

Announcement tweet:

#android, #announcement, #update

Isaac Keyet 3:55 pm on April 10, 2013
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Weekly dev chat summary for April 10, 2013

Chat log.

Agenda

  • Android 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. Update 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. 2
  • GSoC
  • iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. New User Experience

Android UI Update Beta 2

The second Beta is out, if all goes well 2.3 will be released and announced next Wednesday (in time for the next weekly dev chat!) Not all tickets were closed but there are no blockers at this point, so we’ll want to look into a bug fix release shortly after v 2.3 is out.

Next step for Android is Notifications for WordPress.comWordPress.com An online implementation of WordPress code that lets you immediately access a new WordPress environment to publish your content. WordPress.com is a private company owned by Automattic that hosts the largest multisite in the world. This is arguably the best place to start blogging if you have never touched WordPress before. https://wordpress.com/ blogs, but a Contextual Action Bar for Comments milestone is also planned – it would make for a quick win and be a smaller release. We might want to try and get that out before Notifications.

GSoC

There are quite a few mobile WordPress-related projects in the pool for GSoC this year. Eric noted that anyone who would like to participate in the Google Summer of Code and work on one of the WordPress projects can visit one of these two sites to apply:

https://codex.wordpress.org/GSoC_2013_Application_Template
http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/org/google/gsoc2013/wordpress

We went on to talk about potential ideas for GSoC projects (such as this one for a Windows 8 app. When applying for GSoC and you have an idea that’s not among those already suggested you can write a description of your own and include it with your application.

There were a few ideas discussed, among others a native BlackBerry OS 10 app. We noted that projects should benefit all users and not just WordPress.com.

iOS New User Experience

There’s been progress on the iOS “NUX” iteration and we’re looking to start a discussion. Check out Sendhil’s New User Experience post and give us your thoughts. Of course we’re also looking for help in getting there, but any and all feedback is much welcome.

Prologue

Danilo noted that version 2.1 of the Windows Phone app will be announced this week, featuring the editor updates and basic comment notifications for WordPress.com blogs. Some more info on the dev blog.

Next week

The next dev chat will be on April 17, 2013 at 1500 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode.

#android, #dev-chat, #gsoc, #ios

Isaac Keyet 3:52 am on April 4, 2013
Tags: contribution, ,   

Heads up just updated this p2 a great…

Heads up: just updated this p2 a great deal. It should now be much easier to…

  • Learn what the Mobile Group does
  • What projects within WordPress that we work with
  • How to start contributing
  • How to get in touch with the team and the team reps
  • See when our next Dev Chat is
  • What our ongoing projects are
  • FilterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. posts by our main projects (using tags) in a menu

Hopefully this should make it easier to get started with contributing and open the group up more to the community.

#contribution, #heads-up, #p2

Isaac Keyet 10:57 pm on March 27, 2013
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Weekly dev chat summary for Mar 27, 2013

We had a short meeting in #wordpress-mobile today mostly just giving a status update of our ongoing iterations. Chat log.

Agenda

  • Android Status
  • WindowsPhone Status
  • Handbook status/reminder
  • iOSiOS The operating system used on iPhones and iPads. Status

Android Status

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. refresh update is looking good. Almost ready for the 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., worked on icons over the last week and making the app work better on larger screens (read “tablets”). Also, the app now remembers where you were last when you re-open it.

WindowsPhone Status

Fixing the remaining bugs in the Editor, these have proven to be more complicated than expected. Have been doing some clean up around the comment notifications. We should be able to wrap up the release by Friday. Some icons are missing as well, we’ll need to get that sorted before we submit.

Handbook status/reminder

Still some parts missing and some sections needs to be updated/rewritten, including WindowsPhone and the Graphics section.

TODO: let’s all revisit the handbook as it exists currently.

iOS Status

Bug fix update 3.5.2 submitted Monday which contains a lot of much needed bug fixes and the roll-back of autosaves since they broke the app for so many and it’s a complicated problem to solve. Found many bugs while testing that we’ll want to look into next. Some more info on 3.5.2.

TODO: test 3.5.2 over the week to make sure no new bugs slipped through, this is important and a part of our new release/testing strategy to test each release as it’s pending approval.

Next week

The next dev chat will be on April 3, 2013 at 1500 UTC. Mark your calendar and join us in #wordpress-mobile on Freenode.

#dev-chat