Evolution of the Project Application Process (Part 1) - Today's Project Application Process

This is part one of a four-part post. The rest of the proposal can be found at the following links:

• Part 1: Today's Project Application Process
• Part 2: Where the Existing Process Breaks
• Part 3: The Proposal
• Part 4: Sanity Check - Wait a Minute Here ...

The 'Coles Notes' summary of the actual proposal can be viewed HERE.

Or, if you prefer, download a copy of the entire proposal in Word format.

Today's Project Application Process

Overview

While logically sound, the existing project application process often introduces significant delays in a new contrib author’s journey from initial sandbox repository to ‘Full Project’ status. These delays can serve as a demotivator for ‘full project’ applicants, and discourage potential contributors from further participation.

On the other hand, the process of reviewing project applications before promotion to ‘full project’ status is intended to improve the overall stability and quality of the Drupal contrib space, ease the burden of the security team (through early identification of potential security issues in contrib modules), and offer a mentoring/education opportunity to guide new contributors in the proper/Drupal way of doing things.

This document outlines the underlying need for, and presents a proposal for, a new Drupal project application process built on the concept of a tiered application process, with associated escalating levels of review (and corresponding classes of contributed modules).

I can’t claim the contents of this document as solely my idea ... most of the suggestions within came directly from others in the community, in various forums and posts across both d.o and g.d.o. All I’m doing is attempting to formalize the statements, define a solid proposal for the application process moving forward, and perhaps supply some food for thought and a starting point for the related core conversation to be held at DrupalCon London next month.

Goals of the Project Application Process

Mission Statement

The Full Project Applications review process will ensure that new contributors have a basic understanding of the Drupal Community’s core values concerning contributing code to Drupal.org, as well as to promote lasting, long-term contributions to the project.

Supporting Goals and Principles

While they are not stated explicitly, the core values supported by the above mission statement are:
• The continued improvement of quality and stability of modules in the Drupal contrib space,
• The mentoring and support of new contrib authors, encouraging use of drupal best practices and approaches
• The encouragement and fostering of further contributions and involvement in the community, and
• Ensuring that modules abide by Drupal legal and security requirements.

Secondary Goals

In addition to the above, the process also has adopted some secondary goals, which are slightly more subjective:
• Encouraging collaboration with existing modules, reducing module duplication where possible
• Encouraging understanding and proper use of Drupal APIs
• Encouraging the following of established coding standards
• Encouraging the inclusion of a minimum level of documentation

Additional Considerations

While they may not be part of the existing process, I would also suggest the following should be considerations of the project application process:
• Demonstrated understanding of Git, the Drupal packaging systems, and project branches/releases
• Demonstrated understanding of the patch creation/application processes
• Demonstrated understanding and use of issue queues and statuses
• Essentially validate that the applicant will be a good maintainer, and provide guidance in the areas in which they may fall short

This is part one of a four-part post. The rest of the proposal can be found at the following links:

• Part 1: Today's Project Application Process
• Part 2: Where the Existing Process Breaks
• Part 3: The Proposal
• Part 4: Sanity Check - Wait a Minute Here ...

Or, if you prefer, download a copy of the entire proposal in Word format.