This module could use a co-maintainer

I think I would be interested in helping Dave out. I wouldn't be able to commit as much time & effort as Dave Reid Cohen (woops, wrong Dave, sorry!) puts in, but I'd be happy to do a little to share some of the workload.

Hi,
I'm not a Facebook fan, but this module is strategically very important to the drupal CMS. right now even WP has a better and easy integration.

I think Dave done a remarkably well done job with it, but currently it is a beet broken and needs a lot of tweaks to work AS-IS. needless to say that this issue is very complex, now add the fact that facebook code & documantation is poor and you get a problematic module for new users.

I think many new sites MUST use this module in order to get new users to connect to their sites.

1. this is not a regular module, it is very important integration module that needs the appropriate resources from the Drupal community.

2. I'm wiling to contribute in any means - this module does miracles to my sites.

3. Drupal comunity leaders, we are missing big time on this one, it's about time to take this set of modules to the next level and provide Dave with the needed help.

BR
Itzhak

Hi,

It's great to see that I'm not the only one who thinks this. I sent a few days ago a mail to Dave proposing myself to co-maintain this module, but I think here there are people who have previously proven that they are perfectly capable of helping in this matter.

So let's try to make this happen because, as said, it's essential.

Hi All,
we need to act on this one ASAP - Facebook is too important and complicated to be ignore, and current module status is far from being satisfying.

* there are people who are willing to sponsor
* there are people who are willing to co-maintain
* huge install base for testing and patching

and we have you Dave with all the experience and knowledge about facebook integration.

come on guys lets make this happen... what is exactly stooping us?

Any news on this? I'd be able to help with some patches as well...

I've already submitted several patches over time, since I develop sites using the FB module on a fairly regular basis, and I suspect several of the other people that want to be involved already have too. If not, then I agree, they really need to get experience in doing this.

I really don't think this is the issue.
while i don't code in PHP or submit patches there are many others ways we can support this module.
(testing, debugging, users support, documentation, sponsor)

The problem is that currently this module it is stuck and messy, there are many patches and upgraded code out there that was submitted by users, but it doesn't make it to any release. furthermore - communication with the current maintainer is a bit fuzzy as well.

I think development process is too slow, this is not a personal thing but the workflow process for this module is broken.

while there are many users out there that use this module, it is really in bad shape.
Dave, could you please tell us what is exactly needed in order to move foreword with this one?
your input is needed.

BR
itzhak

I dont think developers need pep talks.

Dave already explained what he is looking for linking from the project page:
http://www.drupalforfacebook.org/contribute

Hi giorgio79,
could you please explain

I dont think developers need pep talks.

Not sure i understand.

Also, your link does not solve anything, this is just an example for how we got to this situation.

BR
Itzhak

Hey all, I just caught up with this thread. I've been away from this queue for a while, but trying to catch up today. I'll take some time to write a thoughtful comment here, when I have time to compose it. For now I just want to let you know I'm not totally disappeared. More soon.

Dave - I wish you could provide us with a straightforward answer to this issue, I would really love to see things moving forward.

BR
Itzhak

What Dave has already said at http://www.drupalforfacebook.org/contribute (which giorgio79 had posted above too) near the bottom of that page, sums up how development happens. Use the module, work out what needs fixing, submit patches, and focus on the issues Dave has tagged. That is a pretty straightforward answer, and one that has been stated for a long time, and applies for all contributed modules really.

There are already people doing this (myself included), so the 'official' status of co-maintainership is actually irrelevant to a certain degree, since anyone interested in the future of this module should be looking at doing those things. Extra co-maintainers could help speed up the rate that those patches can be reviewed & committed to the module, but even Drupal itself has a very small core of people with that privilege compared to the pool of people that work on improving it.

Anyone that has put themselves forward for co-maintainership of this module absolutely MUST be involved in the issue queue work that Dave has rightly said is the way to contribute to development. Anyone else that wants the module to move forward should also do the same.

Thank you james.williams ,
now i have a better understanding of how things works.
as you can see, this is already a step ahead with this kind of better communication.

BR
Itzhak

Thanks James for posting those thoughts, which I agree with.

I'm also going to share a quote from Linus Torvalds. He said one of the things people get wrong about open source software

... is thinking that you can throw things out there and ask people to help. That's not how it works. You make it public, and then you assume that you'll have to do all the work, and ask people to come up with suggestions of what you should do, not what they should do. Maybe they'll start helping eventually, but you should start off with the assumption that you're going to be the one maintaining it and ready to do all the work.

I agree with the part about throwing things out there and asking for help. I think the answer to "how can I contribute?" starts with "use the modules". Build the application or website that you want to build. You will no doubt come across bugs, missing features, bad documentation. Of those, pick what bothers you the most - that's what you can work on. That's basically how I decide what to work on next. Either things my clients pay for, or things I need for a personal project. I try to respond to this issue queue. Sometimes volunteering my time to help. Other times, I'm getting a heads up about a new issue (and ideally a fix) before I would learn about it otherwise. So for reasons both altruistic and selfish I'm glad to be here. That doesn't mean that I'll be able to respond to everything. Help from the community is essential.

And that's where I disagree with Linus about "...assume that you'll have to do all the work." If that's the case, these modules are going to be just what I need to get my work done and nothing more. That much I'm happy to share. But for these modules to be really useful to everyone is going to take a lot of contribution from the community here on this issue queue.

James says, "the 'official' status of co-maintainership is actually irrelevant to a certain degree." If you look at Drupal core as an example, only a small handful of people can actually commit changes to the code. But a huge community uses the issue queue and gets patches ready to be committed. I'd like to see this project work essentially the same way.

Maybe I'm not (we're not) doing enough to manage the project. I appreciate constructive suggestions how to do it better. I take seriously the possibility that having just one committer is a bottleneck, but not convinced that's the case. In an ideal world someone will make themselves so useful to the project that it makes perfect sense they become a co-maintainer. Any other way, I'm nervous adding a co-maintainer will mean more work, not less.

Before I forget to mention it, I've stopped using the fb-volunteer tag, in favor of the "get involved" that seems to be a drupal.org standard. So use both terms when searching the issue queue.

Hi Dave,
thank you so much for your detailed response - it looks like the sheriff is back in town... I wish us all a new successful way in taking this module to the next level.

BR
Itzhak