Sandbox

Where is the best place to find people to do joint development works in Joomla, for templates, extensions or even joomla core customisation, thought i doubt the last would be the way to go.

there are lots of template clubs and typically they also have extensions we can download, but they all have their own agenda.
what i'd like to know is hobbyists, freelances or whatever term used for people doing it for the fun, and perhaps some commercial prospects, but certainly not industrial.

any pointers would be appreciated. thanks.

We have 3 separate forums that discuss the development of components, modules and plug-ins; you'll find them under 3rd party extensions.

As far as alluding to the fact that 3pd developers have an 'agenda', well of course they do.  They are going to develop a product to the best of their ability that suits the needs of the people that they are creating them for.

If you have some ideas and concepts for new components, that's excellent.  Good luck finding help to get your project started!

You could also try http://www.joomlancers.com.

Rogue4ngel wrote:We have 3 separate forums that discuss the development of components, modules and plug-ins; you'll find them under 3rd party extensions.

As far as alluding to the fact that 3pd developers have an 'agenda', well of course they do.  They are going to develop a product to the best of their ability that suits the needs of the people that they are creating them for.

If you have some ideas and concepts for new components, that's excellent.  Good luck finding help to get your project started!

You could also try http://www.joomlancers.com.

heh,lol,  please forgive my wrong choice of word there. what i meant as 'agenda' was that the developers that are there now are already in full momentum and some maybe at a stable level of 'production', as this would not be appropriate for me, as a newbie.
just like everyone else, i have ideas, and have hope to make some extensions, and am therefore looking for people in a similar phase of joomla interest.

yes indeed, the current developers will develop products to the best of their ability, the current wide selection of extensions available and their usefullness in joomla is testimony to this. i have not the slightest doubt about this, and in fact feel quite left out of the action. that stupid choice of word does make post sound idiotic.

so i should perhaps rephrase my question. where do newbie developers and developers wanabe hang out ?
i have been to joomlance. it aint what i'm looking for.

thanks much.

You could try the Custom Joomla Development forum.  Other than that, I don't know of anything off the top of my head where developers 'hang out' so you can rub shoulders with some peers and see if there is anyone interested in starting up.

But.. someone around here might know .

I think this a very interesting subject.

I also looking for a place where "newbie developers and developers wanabe" hangs. I have been doing some hacks, on some of the sites that I run, and for the last year I've been coding on a larger component.

I think it would be fun to try to work on a project together widt others, so if you find a good place let me know.

jonascw wrote:I think this a very interesting subject.

I also looking for a place where "newbie developers and developers wanabe" hangs. I have been doing some hacks, on some of the sites that I run, and for the last year I've been coding on a larger component.

I think it would be fun to try to work on a project together widt others, so if you find a good place let me know.

i sure would. and if there's none, and there's like 10 of us, lets make one.

Sounds like it could have some possibilities. I've been thinking about delving back into coding.  I'm more of a hack than a professional developer, but it could be something worth looking into.

Rogue4ngel wrote:Sounds like it could have some possibilities. I've been thinking about delving back into coding.  I'm more of a hack than a professional developer, but it could be something worth looking into.

thats makes three i guess...thanks, lets wait for more arrivals.

Hi guys,

Though it may not seem like it ... this is one of the goals that we have/had for the JDN :: http://dev.joomla.org ... we would love to see that become a site where Joomla! developers go to learn how to develop on Joomla!, get together to work on Joomla! and whatever else.  If you guys have ideas on what could make that better .... or would like to help in that effort my ears are all open.  It is one of those things that we have wanted to do properly for a long while but have just not had the time.

I would love to see open source developers -- hobby to professional -- get together and solve common problems.  It would be a good time and beneficial to all.

Louis

Thank Louis for pointing us to the dev pages.  I shied away from them in the past without getting too far into them - it was a bit intimidating.  The Summer of code project looks interesting, but does require some serious commitment.  Although I definitely would like to see how a modern SVN actually works, and get my feet wet with keeping task with a project.

I'm sure there are more people out there who would like to get involved that don't have much experience, but would like to do some coding, or see what it was like to get involved in a project.

This is a cool initiative. Im in. That makes four.

This is a cool initiative. Im in. That makes four

.
So four we are

I have no solution, but what i would like to see is a hang out area where coders can hang out and and find other coders.

I think many hobby developers want try out their code and skills, maybe just for the fun of it, but also be able to contribute a little bit of code to GPL, community, or what we prefere to call it.

At the moment maybe the level is to high, I have read many of the pages in http://dev.joomla.org/ I also read a lot of threads in the http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/board,126.0.html forum where jlleblanc does an incredible job answering.

In my case I put up a project page on joomlacode.org today and that was a good day of reading forums, installig SVN-client on my ubuntu, reading wikis, handbooks, reading forums again - I think you get the picture:)

Same was widt the project I'm working widt. I needed to output a pdf so I went for fpdf. That was another day of reading:-) - trying and crying, lol.

Maybe that the problem is inside myself I don't dare to present a code that isn't good IMO. And often I don't want to ask a stupid question in the forum - I don't want to bother someone else, so I continuing reading - of course crying.

Ideas: putting up an area/project/sandbox/community for trying.

Putting up an arena where we can present what we can - or at what we are least worse at (readable code/text in my example). But I would love to insert a fpdf functions into somebody else code!

Lets call it GPL-freaks - we do everything for nothing, but we do it bad.

I think many of the hobbyist/wannabees are to humble, shy or feel uncomfortable widt their langage/coding skills to present it (refering to myself). So setting up an own area for us would be good.

I think we need a website with forums for people to present ideas and find partners to work on projects (components/modules/plugins/templates) Make download areas for completed projects and news sections.

We could use JoomlaCode, but seperate domain would be better.

I don't think it necessary to move the discussions to private or set up our own web site; this way we can keep this open for anyone who may be in the same situation; interested in a startup development group.

I do think it needs a bit more discussion.

I think part of the reason for the lack of 'interest' in the developer section (for me anyway) is this; it's a monumental jump for someone, say, like me, whose still needs quite a bit of work and hand holding before I'd feel I could make a worthwhile contribution to the project as a coder.  Not that I don't think it's possible, but I wouldn't start learning how to drive by jumping in an Indy car either.  I'm a little ahead of the game because I have some programming and PHP background.. but I've got a ways to go before I start building commercial grade apps.

Plus, it's not just the act of helping with the project that is appealing, but just having a place for people who are just starting out to go where they can meet / post / speak with others that at the same level as them.  dev.joomla really doesn't embody that.  Not that it couldn't move in that direction, but I think some of the focus would have to change.

This type of thing might be more of a part of it, but we're talking about something very specific;  and truly it is the peer relationships that we want to cultivate, as well as understanding the basics in working on a project (which the dev.joomla section I believe does very well).

I think we could be onto something interesting.

well...i was agreeing to everything in silence.
and awaiting more newbies/wanabes....this is exicitng !

Hi guys, reading this interesting thread after Mattew pointed me to it.
This a great initiative and I would be happy to join it. My skills are rather poor at the moment but I did some little hacks and I have some php background but I really want to go again into all this.
I think that this project would be better served by a separate website as the forum and interface in joomlacode is rather poor. I guess this project would require quite some discussions so a good forum is better. It would be obviously still open to anyone cause before they actually rule out the existence of such a group in joomlacode I think it is more difficult than finding an independent website right? It is more attractive also but obviously requires a bit more work...
my msn ID [email protected] if you want to chat about this 
ok let's build this new community!

Yay. That makes 5! Just a few more
Go recruit people.

I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult to set up a web site.  There is a great deal of discussion that will most likely have to go into this to understand what we are all looking for.  I think the basic concepts are in place:

1. A central location for inexperienced / beginner programmers / developers who are looking for peer relationships.
2. A framework to set up individuals / groups who would like to get involved with program development for Joomla, from component / module coding, to perhaps even bug fixes and eventual involvement in core hacks and other work, dependent on interest.
3. A brainstorming area for new ideas and concepts that can then be worked on.

If anyone has anything to add to that.  I'm sure (from Louis' post) we would be able to enlist some help from the developers.  In this case, I think dev.joomla.org will be an invaluable resource in structuring a group that will help promote anyone with a dream and an interest in developing their programming skills while helping the Joomla project.

Im not saying we need a website now. In the future it would be a good spot for people to meet. There is still lots of discussion etc to be done. I agree with your 3 points. Well thought out.

Yep I think you have circle in the the key areas widt your 3 points. very well expressed!

So how should we continue the process? Should we try to invite ppl to this discusion. Should we try to have an irc/messenger meeting? Or just watch was is happening for a week or two, to see if other coders drop by and have some ideas?

At least I would like us to make a very small commitment that we take the time and do some kind of evaluation after a two weeks period or so. To see what happened widt this idea/project.

If you decide to go website at some point let me know, I would be willing to help out
I know enough coding to get in trouble lol

I am interested in this, as well. Let's stick close to Joomla! org so that we can hook the experts into this, too. One idea I keep thinking of is working through Ian's tutorial on the MVC as a group on a schedule.

Good initiative, everyone!
Amy

Now I like that idea, I tried to wade through it but got lost. I am sure a group of people could get through it better.
Might even be a good idea to establish some sort of standard IDE we all used, eclipse or something similar
Every time I try to dig deep I always get sidetracked trying to figure out the best tools to use.

That makes 7?
jalil, Rogue4ngel, jonascw, matthewhayashida, dartagnan32, tjay, AmyStephen
We should have some sort of messenger discussion, and post updates here for people who want to join

@Amy and tjay - Good points.  I absolutely agree 100% we stay tied into Joomla.  I think the intent here is to learn to develop with php, using Joomla as the basis for the projects we are going to work on.  Going through any kind of educational process is always better in a group so you don't have to rely on yourself for everything; you can utilize the strengths of the group to accelerate learning.

The focus, though, is more tied into the community of programmers who would like to develop their skills in an atmosphere that they may find a bit more comfortable, and contribute in some way to the project.

I agree 110%  about staying tied into joomla!

I also made a forum: http://joomlausers.freehostia.com/forum for us to post ideas in. Hopefully it will help keep things organized, as currently there are lots of ideas for this project being thrown around. Feel free to go over and make an account.

Although I can't contribute with code...I do have a domain and hosting I would be happy to provide for use by this project. Joomlatech.com is not currently being used for anything and already has a bridged forum set up.

I wonder if we could get a Beginner Joomla! Programmers Forum here, in the Joomla! v 1.5 Developers forum? The benefit about posting in the Joomla! forum is that they (the experienced J! developers) might have mercy on us and post in to help us if we go terribly astray. Right now, though, I don't think there is an obvious *safe* section for Joomla! Developer newbies here in the J! forums. Let's face it, most (all?) of those developer threads are beyond *me*.

I think doing that here at Joomla! forums *and* then using IMing or even IRQ, once a week to discuss our work during the past week and lesson plans for the next week, etc., would be excellent!

Amy

Well I agree with the above the 3 points are well expressed and of course it would be close to joomla.
I agree also that it would be nice to have a discussion over a messenger (msn, psi...) or a chatroom but it can be difficult to unite everybody as some may be in europe, others in america or elsewhere...
Thanks for your proposal Jomaco1!

jomaco1... that's a generous offer!  Quite appreciated, and could be a possibility.  We definitely won't rule it out.

Before we start contemplating new sites and forums, Amy had a good point; we have a few options to consider, and we don't want to just jump into something too quickly before we go galavanting off somewhere out in the wild.  You never know when we may get some good feedback from the Joomla team to help cultivate this little group we're contemplating.

How about a name for our hapless band of budding coders?  If we are going to create something, a name to call ourselves would be something fun to do as this idea takes some shape.