18:21:30 <anitsirk> #startmeeting
18:21:30 <maharameet> Meeting started Thu Mar  8 18:21:30 2012 UTC.  The chair is anitsirk. Information about MeetBot at http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot.
18:21:30 <maharameet> Useful Commands: #action #agreed #help #info #idea #link #topic.
18:21:42 <anitsirk> alright
18:22:04 <anitsirk> #info welcome to the theme / plugin repository meeting.
18:22:34 <anitsirk> if you wish to let other people know who you are, you can state your name and where you are from in a line that starts with #info like we do in the developer meetings
18:23:19 <anitsirk> lamiette: you can take over managing the meeting. :-) i just wasn't sure if you remembered the start command.
18:23:37 <dxd828> I'm David Maitland I work at TDM and I am currently in the office with the other guys. I work here as a systems engineer and will be helping build the site.
18:23:37 <dajan> #info Dominique-Alain Jan aka dajan, from Switzerland main French Mahara translator
18:23:45 <lamiette> anitsirk: not sure I'll be able to manage I'm afraid, bit swamped but I'll try and participate
18:23:46 <thomaswbell> #info Thomas Bell - TDM developer
18:23:50 <laurenttdm> Hi.
18:23:55 <heylukecarrier> #info I'm Luke, a web application developer for TDM OSS. We do a lot of work around e-learning platforms...though this would be my first time working with Mahara
18:23:56 <lamiette> #info Stacey Walker Catalyst IT Europe
18:23:57 <anitsirk> #info anitsirk = Kristina Hoeppner from Catalyst IT in Wellington, NZ
18:24:23 <anitsirk> welcome, heylukecarrier to your first maahra meeting :-)
18:25:13 <laurenttdm> #info Laurent David from TDM.
18:25:31 <dxd828> #info I'm David Maitland I work at TDM and I am currently in the office with the other guys. I work here as a systems engineer and will be helping build the site.
18:25:36 <thomaswbell> so, to reiterate what I said a few minutes ago: our idea for the main aim of this repository is: overall aim: to create co-opetition in the mahara theme and plugin making community ?
18:27:07 <thomaswbell> are there any additions to that aim?
18:28:16 <laurenttdm> Mahara market ?
18:29:04 <thomaswbell> Is there any objections to people selling plugins / themes in this repo?
18:29:33 <laurenttdm> We need to be able to attract people and contributors.
18:29:46 <dajan> No, but how do we organize payment (sell/buy)?
18:29:52 <laurenttdm> Donate button kind of ?
18:29:57 <anitsirk> #idea create co-opetition in the mahara theme and plugin making community
18:30:08 <heylukecarrier> One of the greatest strengths of a project like WordPress is its strong user community. I think that an official plugin repository targeting end users would appeal to the community much more than pointing them towards git repositories and code review tools
18:30:30 <laurenttdm> Maybe we can phase that ?
18:30:48 <anitsirk> BTW: if you use #info at the beginning of a line, that line will make it into the minutes of the meeting giving an abbreviated version of the chat log. furthermore, idea lines can be started with #idea
18:30:55 <russ2912> #info Russell England (Russ) working at TDM as a PHP developer, been working on Totara LMS for 8 months, never used Mahara though :)
18:31:30 <thomaswbell> I would like to see it made easier for new developers to create plugins and share them too
18:32:03 <anitsirk> thomaswbell: definitely, the current pages on the wiki are not ideal as they are just a list
18:32:18 <laurenttdm> Maybe not a priority but could be something we can thing of. Let's get the site off the ground first ?
18:32:23 <dajan> It also starts with a strong documentation.
18:32:43 <thomaswbell> yes, supported by strong documentation
18:34:07 <dajan> #idea: proposing developers a "Plugin/Theme toolkit" with examples and tutorials
18:35:49 <thomaswbell> definitely
18:36:45 <thomaswbell> Shall we look at what sort of features we'd like to have in the plugin / theme directory?
18:37:16 <anitsirk> we could dothe documentation with rST and Sphinx like the user manual as that sits in git and can easily be created
18:37:30 <anitsirk> yep, thomaswbell
18:37:50 <thomaswbell> #idea rating system
18:37:52 <dajan> A search engine on name and keywords to retrieve plugin by their functions and features
18:38:27 <anitsirk> i quite like the wordpress repository where you can search and also have some browse / elimination features
18:38:37 <dajan> thomaswbell: who is rating?
18:38:38 <thomaswbell> yes, browse categories maybe?
18:38:47 <thomaswbell> registered users perhaps?
18:39:28 <dajan> thomaswebell: so we will have to register to access the plugin repository
18:39:37 <anitsirk> why registered users?
18:39:47 <thomaswbell> not sure.. ?
18:40:09 <thomaswbell> to download plugins and themes, registration not needed?
18:40:54 <thomaswbell> I was hoping some sort of SSO with mahara.org, but we'd need to work that out, right? :P
18:40:54 <dajan> to download Mahara a registration is either not needed
18:41:13 <anitsirk> i wouldn't think so. i think you would only need to register if you want to leave a comment or rate a plugin / theme
18:41:29 <thomaswbell> anitsirk, i agree
18:41:31 <russ2912> How about grabbing some ideas from the Joomla extensions directory?  http://extensions.joomla.org/
18:41:47 <thomaswbell> russ2912: and also wordpress.org
18:41:56 <anitsirk> thomaswbell: if the other site has browserid using the same login should be fairly easy. we'll upgrade mahara.org to 1.5
18:43:03 <thomaswbell> feature: simplicity
18:43:49 <dajan> Yes because joomla extensions repository is not simple to navigate. The interface is a bit too… complex
18:44:54 <thomaswbell> the simplicity with the wordpress repo is being able to install from the wordpress backend
18:44:55 <dajan> Wordpress is more user-friendly in term of interface. My point of view
18:45:41 <thomaswbell> feature: Featured plugins/themes
18:45:48 <dajan> Yes, but we know that changing the way we deal with puling in Mahara is not changing in the near future and need fundings
18:46:01 <anitsirk> an also upgrade from there automatically. i really like it because it decreases the barrier for use. however, it might make it too easy as users can really install anything without thinking
18:46:34 <dajan> I totally agree with anitsirk
18:46:41 <anitsirk> dajan: we could have a short-term plan and a long-term one. wordpress didn't start out with the automatic integration if memory serves right.
18:47:07 <thomaswbell> yep
18:47:47 <dajan> They did it quite quick with 1.2, if my memory is right. But yes one step after another.
18:48:23 <dajan> But for me, installing plugin in Mahara is one the weakest point of this beautiful platform
18:48:54 <thomaswbell> to start with a site which allows upload/download/rating/comments and is simple to use
18:48:57 <thomaswbell> ?
18:49:57 <anitsirk> that sounds good
18:50:44 <thomaswbell> not so good with the meetingbot, is this going in? :D
18:50:55 <anitsirk> #idea: start the repository with the basics: upload, download, rating, comments, search, simple UI and expand later as changes in mahara would be necessary for a tighter integration and automatic installation from the repository
18:51:29 <anitsirk> i try to keep track a bit, thomaswbell but what you can do if you forgot to put #idea or #info at the beginning of your line, just repeat it or summarize it
18:51:41 <dajan> #info if downloading a plugin/them can be done without login, uploading must be made only by trusted users
18:53:31 <dajan> We could imagine to give a programmer key to sign the plugins/theme to avoid uploading of malware or spam ware?
18:54:34 <thomaswbell> #agreed uploading must be made only by trusted users
18:55:14 <thomaswbell> #idea long-term > gpg keys / sha1 or md5 checksums
18:55:15 <thomaswbell> ?
18:56:38 <thomaswbell> We have discussed several different platforms to use for this site: Batucada / WordPress / Joomla / Drupal. Any others?
18:57:39 <thomaswbell> our favourite is WordPress for this situation ?
18:58:33 <anitsirk> i like wordpress/ simplicity
18:58:37 <anitsirk> wordpress'
18:58:57 <dajan> I also think that the interface of the Wordpress repository is clear
18:59:02 <anitsirk> have not trial batucada and thus can't say anything about it
18:59:12 <dajan> #agree: wordpress
18:59:37 <thomaswbell> #agree wordpress
18:59:38 <heylukecarrier> #agree wordpress
18:59:58 <thomaswbell> batucada is a project started by mozilla
18:59:59 <heylukecarrier> We all know the product/lnaguage much better
19:00:08 <thomaswbell> written in python
19:00:08 <dxd828> #agree wordpress
19:00:21 <thomaswbell> has a LOT of the features that we discussed
19:00:35 <anitsirk> thomaswbell: do you mean wordpress or batucada?
19:01:41 <thomaswbell> I was talking about batucada but WordPress also has all the features and has the added bonus of being simple to use and develop on top of
19:02:35 <anitsirk> thanks
19:03:43 <thomaswbell> we will use wordpress then =]
19:03:55 <dajan> I don't know batacuda. What is the url to have a look
19:04:27 <thomaswbell> https://wiki.mozilla.org/Drumbeat/Batucada
19:05:12 <dajan> Thanks
19:06:03 <dajan> Sorry everyone, but I have to leave you. Important things to do before I get my plane early tomorrow, back home in London.
19:06:23 <thomaswbell> bye Dajan, thanks for your input!
19:06:47 <dajan> You are welcome. Always a pleasure to be involved in the Mahara community
19:07:34 <anitsirk> bye dajan
19:07:39 <dajan> bye
19:09:09 <heylukecarrier> If anybody here is interested in helping with the development of this project, we have a git repository available on our development website=
19:09:58 <anzeljg> hi
19:10:11 <thomaswbell> Hi Gregor
19:10:20 <heylukecarrier> Hi anzeljg
19:10:59 <anitsirk> hi gregor. we have meetingbot running like in the dev meetings. so you can read up on the converstaion later.
19:11:13 <anzeljg> just wanted to ask that...
19:11:15 <anzeljg> thanks
19:11:54 <anzeljg> first the rose for all the ladies, after all it is women's day
19:12:00 <anzeljg> (@)--'--,---
19:12:28 <thomaswbell> really short update for you: we discussed the aim of a repository for plugins/theme
19:12:32 <anitsirk> great. thanks, anzeljg :-)
19:13:09 <anzeljg> oh, I saw you mentioned wordpress?
19:13:31 <anzeljg> I had great experiences with CMSMS in the pas, worth checking out...
19:13:38 <anzeljg> pas = past
19:13:42 <thomaswbell> .. we discussed features of the site
19:14:01 <thomaswbell> .. we talked about different cmses
19:14:12 <thomaswbell> and ... sort of arrived on wordpress :P
19:14:26 <anzeljg> so the site would be repository for plugins AND themes AND skins?
19:14:27 <thomaswbell> for its simplicity / features
19:15:06 <anzeljg> again CMSMS... but not forcing anybody ;)
19:15:49 <anitsirk> #link http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/ link to CMSMS anzeljg's suggestion
19:16:00 <thomaswbell> thanks! :P
19:16:49 <anzeljg> #link http://themes.cmsmadesimple.org/ - link on Themes for CMSMS, so we can see how they handle it...
19:18:11 <laurenttdm> I would not advise to go toward anything else than wordpress, joomla, drupal. Wordpress being our first choice.
19:19:31 <anzeljg> I don't have any objections, since I won't be maintaining it. CMSMS was merely a suggestion.
19:20:30 <thomaswbell> great
19:20:31 <anzeljg> I do have a question, which is not directly connected to repository for plugins/themes...
19:20:55 <anzeljg> as you know, I'm programming support for skinnable views/pages in Mahara
19:21:29 <anzeljg> currently user selects the skin/theme from drop-down selection box when creating a view/page
19:21:38 <anzeljg> I'm not quite happy with it
19:22:13 <anzeljg> I was thinking, user shoud select theme/skin in the same fashion as view/page layout
19:22:46 <anzeljg> any comments/feedback greatly appreciated - here or via Twitter to @anzeljg
19:22:47 <anzeljg> ..
19:22:51 <thomaswbell> with a preview?
19:23:00 <anzeljg> yes, with a preview
19:23:11 <thomaswbell> like a thumbnail
19:23:12 <anzeljg> and a radio button underneath
19:23:36 <anzeljg> like a thumbnail.
19:28:49 <thomaswbell> I would say, keep that discussion going on forums?
19:29:48 <thomaswbell> as heylukecarrier said earlier, we have a git repo set up if anyone wants to get involved with developing this site
19:31:17 <thomaswbell> send your public key to luke.carrier@tdm.info and he'll add you and send you the git repo address
19:32:39 <anitsirk> #info if you want to be involved in the development of the repository, send your public key to luke.carrier@tdm.info to gain access to the git repo address
19:32:53 <thomaswbell> we're going to drink some beer, eat some pizza and then we're going to start building this site!
19:32:57 <thomaswbell> What time is it in NZ?
19:33:35 <anitsirk> it's 8:30 a.m. on march 9 :-)
19:33:48 <anitsirk> still some time away from beer o'clock
19:33:53 <thomaswbell> oof. good morning!
19:34:15 <anitsirk> :-)
19:43:22 <anitsirk> are you all off now?
19:43:29 <anitsirk> if so, i'll stop the meeting
19:44:39 <anitsirk> #endmeeting