Contributing HOWTO
====================
-We're super glad you want to contribute!
+Join the community!
+===================
+
+We're super glad you want to join our community!
There are a variety of ways you can help us and become part of the
team. We're not just looking for coders! We're also looking for
-documentation writers, users, testers, evangelists, painters, bakers,
-candle-stick makers...
+documentation writers, users, testers, evangelists, user-interface
+designers, graphics designers, user-experience designers, system
+administrators, friends, painters, bakers, candle-stick makers...
-However, if you are a coder and you're looking to code, check out the
-:ref:`hacking-howto`.
+Here are some things you can do today:
-The rest of this chapter talks about different things we need your
-help with.
+ **Hang out with us**
-**Become a user**
+ You should hang out with us! We like people like you!
- We're building GNU MediaGoblin for us and for you but really
- you're one of us and I am you and we are we and GNU MediaGoblin is
- the walrus.
-
- Sign up for an account. Use the service. Relish in the thought
- that this service comes with a heaping side of Freedom and you can
- salt and pepper it to your liking.
+ At a bare minimum, join the `mailing list
+ <http://mediagoblin.org/join/>`_ and say, "Hi!"
+ We also hang out on IRC in ``#mediagoblin`` on Freenode.net.
-**File bugs**
- Filing bugs is a critical part of any project. For more
- information on filing bugs, see :ref:`filing-bugs`.
+ **File bugs**
+ Filing bugs is a critical part of any project. For more
+ information on filing bugs, see :ref:`filing-bugs`.
-**Translate GNU MediaGoblin**
- Knowing more than one language is an important skill. If you are
- multi-lingual and are interested in translating GNU MediaGoblin,
- see :ref:`translating`.
+ **Write/Fix some code**
+ If you are a coder and you're looking to code, check out the
+ :ref:`hacking-howto`. We even have tips on *becoming* a coder
+ and we're willing to help you!
-**Create a theme**
- As people deploy their own GNU MediaGoblin instances, good themes
- are a must have! For more information on theming, see
- :ref:`theming-howto`.
+ **Run your own instance**
+
+ Are there things about our instance you want to change? Are
+ there things about other instances you wish were different?
+ Want to test upcoming changes? Want to create patches to
+ implement things you need? That's great---you can run your
+ own instance!
+
+ For more information on deploying your own instance, see
+ :ref:`deployment-howto`.
-**Spread the word**
+ **Spread the word**
- The seductive call of Free Software services is a powerful one,
- but many cannot hear it because it'd drowned out by the rush hour
- traffic honking of proprietary walled gardens and faux free
- services. Yuck! Be the sweet chirrup of the bird amidst the din!
- Tell others that there is a better way to live!
+ The seductive call of Free Software services is a powerful
+ one, but many cannot hear it because it'd drowned out by the
+ rush hour traffic honking of proprietary walled gardens and
+ faux free services. Yuck! Be the sweet chirrup of the bird
+ amidst the din! Tell others that there is a better way to
+ live!
- FIXME - do we want to talk about ways to spread the word?
+ FIXME - do we want to talk about ways to spread the word?
- FIXME - how can people notify us that they're spreading the word?
+ FIXME - how can people notify us that they're spreading the
+ word?
-**Run your own instance**
+We're still working on project infrastructure. We hope to have the
+bits in place for these additional things to do in the coming months:
- Are there things about our instance you want to change? Are there
- things about other instances you wish were different? That's
- great---you can run your own instance!
+ **Become a user**
+
+ We're building GNU MediaGoblin for us and for you but really
+ you're one of us and I am you and we are we and GNU
+ MediaGoblin is the walrus.
- For more information on deploying your own instance, see
- :ref:`deployment-howto`.
+ Sign up for an account. Use the service. Relish in the
+ thought that this service comes with a heaping side of Freedom
+ and you can salt and pepper it to your liking.
+
+
+ **Help other users**
+
+ Have you spent time with GNU MediaGoblin? If so, your
+ experience and wisdom are invaluable and you're the best
+ person we can think of to help other users with their
+ questions.
+
+
+ **Translate GNU MediaGoblin**
+
+ Knowing more than one language is an important skill. If you
+ are multi-lingual and are interested in translating GNU
+ MediaGoblin, see :ref:`translating`.
+
+
+ **Create a theme**
+
+ As people deploy their own GNU MediaGoblin instances, good
+ themes are a must have! For more information on theming, see
+ :ref:`theming-howto`.
Contributing thank you drawings / copyright assignment
GNU MediaGoblin uses a bug tracker called `Redmine
<http://www.redmine.org>`_.
-The bug tracker is at http://bugs.foocorp.net/ and bugs go in the
-``GNU mediagoblin`` project.
+The bug tracker is at `<http://bugs.foocorp.net/projects/mediagoblin>`_.
A good bug report has the following things in it:
So you want to hack on GNU MediaGoblin?
=======================================
-First thing to do is check out the Web site where we list all the
-project infrastructure including:
+First thing to do is check out the `Web site
+<http://mediagoblin.org>`_ where we list all the project
+infrastructure including:
* the mailing list
* the IRC channel
Wiping your environment for a clean-slate
-----------------------------------------
+.. Note::
+
+ Unless you're doing development and working on and testing creating
+ a new instance, you will probably never have to do this. Will
+ plans to do this work and thus he documented it.
+
+
Delete the following directories:
* bin/
* parts/
* user_dev/
-FIXME - how to drop data from mongodb?
+FIXME - how to drop data from mongodb? we should probably write a
+script.
Running the server
=============================
FIXME - write this
+
+
+Tips for people new to coding
+=============================
+
+Python
+------
+
+GNU MediaGoblin is written using a programming language called `Python
+<http://python.org/>`_.
+
+There are two different incompatible iterations of Python which I'll
+refer to as Python 2 and Python 3. GNU MediaGoblin is written in
+Python 2 and requires Python 2.6 or 2.7. At some point, we might
+switch to Python 3, but that's a future thing.
+
+You can learn how to code in Python 2 from several excellent books
+that are freely available on the Internet:
+
+* `Learn Python the Hard Way <http://learnpythonthehardway.org/>`_
+* `Dive Into Pyton <http://diveintopython.org/>`_
+* `Python for Software Design <http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/>`_
+* `A Byte of Python <http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/Python>`_
+
+These are all excellent texts.
+
+FIXME - are there good quality Python tutorial videos?
+
+
+Libraries
+---------
+
+GNU MediaGoblin uses a variety of libraries in order to do what it
+does. These libraries are listed in the :ref:`beardomatic-chapter`
+along with links to the project Web sites and documentation for the
+libraries.
+
+There are a variety of Python-related conferences every year that have
+sessions covering many aspects of these libraries. You can find them
+at `Python Miro Community <http://python.mirocommunity.org>`_ [0]_.
+
+.. [0] This is a shameless plug. Will Kahn-Greene runs Python Miro
+ Community.
+
+If you have questions or need help, find us on the mailing list and on
+IRC.
projects / mediagoblin.git / commitdiff