First Draft Feature List

Preamble:
I've set up a Git repo at unfuddle.com; this isn't likely to be permanent but who knows. I have also made the beginnings of some developer documentation here:
http://transitiondrupal.org/node/8

There is no code yet in the repo so the page above is more to support people with getting Git running on their machine. I figure it's not worth uploading anything until D7 reaches beta 1 and we have some custom code to upload.

David and I just spoke and here is what came out of the call.

1. We likely have between 45 and 60 days from now before enough contributed modules are ready and we can start configuring them. This gives us time to staff the project, set up infrastructure and begin work on the information architecture (plus a little fun coding).
2. David and I like the idea of shipping TD no earlier than one month after D7 ships — assuming all dependent modules are ready. This gives the modules 30 days for field testing. This extra month could save us lots of future hassle if bugs are found that only show up when used in production sites. We realize that release of TD might be October if we follow this strategy.
3. Project Policy: Custom code must be accompanied by unit tests before it will be checked into the repo. No unit tests, no check-in. This is for our own good :-) Right now tests are for custom code only not feature configuration (but this could change).

Tasks from this Call

• (AA) build list of modules to track as they become ready for implementation [for May 5]
• (AA) investigate the ticket system in Unfuddle
• (unassigned) Learn and document how to create local testing environment; see www.drupal.org/simpletest
• (unassigned) Investigate implementing continuous build testing on an integration server
• (DH) Investigate Feature Server/Package Builder for upgrading from 1.0 to 2.0
  --- Deliverables 1. write up of pros and cons of each one 2. investigate how they support a) creating distros in general b) upgrading TD versions 3. A sample distribution in D7 [for May 12]
• (AA) Begin design of ET Phone Home feature and make public for review [for May 5]

There is plenty of room for more people to join the project, especially a themer, a graphic artist and someone good with information architecture. But there is plenty of stuff for more coders to do, too!

Hi - my name is Ed; I'm the web co-ordinator for Transition Network http://wwww.transitionnetwork.org/people/ed-mitchell. More on our web project here: http://www.transitionnetwork.org/about-web-project

This is fantastic news. I'll assist in any way I can. For starters:

1. we've (a group of transition technologists in the UK) built the Transition Network site phase 1, and anything on that is share-able (documentation coming in May, happy to discuss stuff before then)
2. I'm going to dig out the results from our surveys in 2009 with responses from initiatives around the world - this might provide some useful insights
3. A list of TT initiatives I know using drupal: http://delicious.com/edmittance/tt+initiative+drupal
4. Ongoing support with network-wide facilitation and promotion
5. any other documentation I can dig up which might be useful

More anon - just wanted to say hi and brilliant and nice one!

best,
Ed

Hi Andre,

good news - yup, I'll dig out the survey findings, stick them on a page in this group here, and have a look at the feature set on transitiondrupal site. I can't get too involved as I'm already deeper than my depth in the TN site, but will do what I can to facilitate, connect, share etc. As I said, anything from the TN site is yours :)

I have forwarded this group and your work to the 'transition technologists' who put the TN site together - they're all pretty busy by the looks of things, but we'll be convening soon to negotiate maintenance and fixes on the TN site so I'll bring it up then too.

As well as them, there's a bunch in London, UK - Kensall and Kilburn who pointed me to this group - so I think it's very likely that they'd be good collaborators - will encourage them, and there was another TT group looking into groups tech for initiatives which I'll research.

This will happen next week now - we've got a national holiday coming up - but it's definitely on my to do list for next week.

best,
Ed

Yes, it is great to meet other Transitioners here! I hosted a Transition Drupal Birds of a Feather at DrupalConSF to kick off the project and that brought about 6 people out of the Drupal community who were at the conference, too, including David Herron, founder of Transition Silicon Valley

The places you've gotten to work on are exactly the places we were looking to staff up the Transition Drupal project — it would be wonderful to collaborate.

Our goal is to create a Drupal distribution ("install profile") that out-of-the-box provides a website appropriate for a Transition community. We are also looking at how that distro will be upgraded from 1.0 to 2.0, how it will communicate with the central server (to register itself with a directory) and other infrastructure items (a feature server perhaps to help with the upgrades).

David and I are confident we can get the version 1.0 feature list out the door shortly after D7 ships. We have concentrated on the "standard" Drupal social networking features with the exception of the classified ads module that hopefully Christian contributes to the project. That doesn't mean we aren't open to other unique yet-to-be-made modules. It's just that so far with just two part-time coders on the team we had to set a doable goal for the 1.0 version since we are aiming to figure out how far we can go with automatic upgrading and so on.

Let me know when is good for a skype call — I'd love to explore how we can all work together to bring this project to life. Some folks from Transition San Francisco may want to meet you, too. Could you do a call tomorrow (Sunday) at 10am PST which would be 6pm GMT?

Hi, Chris. No worries. I can make a call any time, btw, since I have a flexible schedule.

As for what to discuss, I'd like to talk about the project at a high level: the major components, which parts are handled by whom, timeline, what you'd like to do, etc. plus just to get related to you and find out what you're up to over there. :-)

I can have a call at 10am or later this week (6pm your time)...just send back whenever is a good day.

Hi guys,

thanks for the ideas for what you wanted to discuss. Are you able to do a Skype call at some point tomorrow (Thursday) evening?

Any time from 10pm - 2pm my time would be fine, so what's your availability?

If it's not possible tomorrow, I think I can do Friday night too. Unfortunately, from then on, I won't be near a computer until the 18th of May and I'm not even sure about mobile signal...

Look forward to speaking to you.

I can do any time tomorrow.