Make Upgrading Modules to D8.2 -> D9 Easier [#1532660]

I've been pushing as hard as I can to do module upgrades for D7. Sometimes I've just asked if there is work being planned for D7, other times I've actually done the upgrade. Probably most folks who are going to read this have done more than I have to help push ahead the 14k Drupal contrib modules. I'm surprised at how many modules still don't have D7 versions yet. Some still don't even have threads asking for a D7 version. I guess there are a lot of modules which the long tail just doesn't use all that often.

What I'm wondering though is if we can automate the process a bit more so that we jumpstart the upgrade process.

What would it take so that when the first D8 RC is announced that every project page on d.o has the following:

1) A new issue encouraging folks to sign up if they are interested in having a new D8 version & and encourage folks to identify if they'd like to contribute development time, testing effort or $$ to make it happen.

2) Have the master git repo automatically run through Coder Upgrade (with all known changes) to make and apply the easy patches so that there is something right off the bat that folks can test & that there's a README in the coder version which outlines what all needs to be manually checked before it can be validated.

3) Maybe some kind of points system out there to recognize the efforts that folks are doing to bring the community around. I haven't been keeping up with the Prairie conversations since Chicago, but really impressed by the 'gaming' thought that has gone into http://stackoverflow.com - it doesn't need to be that detailed, but it would be nice if there was a http://openbadges.org or something to hang on the wall.

4) Maybe someway to acknowledge the latest modules that have put out D8 releases. It would be great to do work to really acknowledge the code communities that are pushing ahead to make it happen.

I think if we had those 4 things done we'll have a lot fewer central contrib modules to have to chase around when we're 15 months past the release date from D8.

I know Coder's not perfect. There are going to be things that it gets wrong. But maybe the Drupal Association needs to put some effort into seeing that it's a tool that all developers trust a bit more and depend on for doing the automated work associated with reviewing & maintaining code.

Comments

Comment #1

mgifford

he/him

English

commented 6 June 2013 at 12:42

Component:

Project problem

» Project/Git problem

Also occurred to me when twittering to @xjm about this issue that particularly for the more important contrib modules (say anything with over 1000 known sites using it), it would be useful to set up some sort of crowd sourcing option to make it easier for people to contribute to it.

Any D7 module with 1000 users should be able to raise $10,000 to help make the upgrade to D8 smoother & faster. I can't see any easy way to send a note to those users who are using Drupal 7 to let them know that there are projects that they should be contributing to.

However, in an upcoming maintenance release of D7 we could add in some feature such that sites that are reporting usage to Drupal.org can also put up a note on the Status page of the website to encourage end users to donate to campaigns to help them move to D8.

Gotta hash out some ideas here and see if we can do it better than we did with the last major release. I'm still frustrated by the number of D6 modules out there that haven't released anything (let alone anything semi-stable) for D7.

Comment #2

klonos

he/him

English

90% Melbourne, Australia - 10% Larissa, Greece

commented 6 February 2014 at 06:49

This idea of getting funds through communication could be boosted by some "official" or officially promoted version of Upgrade Status.

Think of this as being some form of equivalent to the M$ System Update Readiness Tool. Consider this use-case/workflow:

Site owners/maintainers decide it's time to upgrade.
They head to d.o where there's a "Upgrade your Drupal site page" with "x version to z version" sections.
There, they are encouraged to download and install the appropriate version of our own Drupal Update Readiness Tool™ module (or perhaps it could be a single/global, runs-in-every-drupal-version thing).
The tool lets them know of the following things:

what needs to be upgraded system-wise (php version for example).
which modules are already ported to their target Drupal version and whether they have a stable(ish) or only a dev version available.
for those modules that are half-done or not ported yet but do have a "Port to Drupal X" issue, there could be a "help get this module ready" link. That link could in turn:

either lead to a fund-raiser/gittip campaign (for those that want to help but cannot code)
or a list of the outstanding issues (for those that can contribute code)
or a list of things to be tested (for dev or alpha/beta/RC versions of modules)

Just an idea.

Comment #3

mgifford

he/him

English

commented 6 February 2014 at 15:39

Issue tags:

+maintain

I do think that the Upgrade status could certainly be used better.

It could be a real space for motivating web administrators to think about ways of contributing to the projects that they use.

Interesting to think about an Update Readiness Tool. I'd hope that there's a team already looking at that as part of D8's use of the Migrate module.

But yes, having something in a future D6 or D7 release that even mentions D8 and the upgrade process and letting module maintainers know that only 14 of the modules they use has a D8 release and that they are going to have to upgrade their version of PHP on the server before being able to upgrade.

I do think this is a good idea!