By arhak on

I would like to contribute some modules to drupal.org, but I won't be able to access CVS repositories
I will provide whole releases, attend the issue queue, and all required maintainer's task
just won't be able to commit

I was expecting some developer might help committing somebody esle's contributions

bellow I should list some of the modules I would like to contribute

PS: I'm can also commit to a Mercurial repository if someone enables it for http push

EDIT: thanks to all who replied to this thread, it shows the great community support Drupal has
special thanks:
- sinasalek
- NancyDru
- Grayside
for the opportunity they gave to my contributions be shared with the community

also thanks to everyone else who gave feedback or pointed out a possible way

⋅ Categories: Drupal 6.x

Comments

vm’s picture

vm commented

you can apply for CVS access if you want. see: http://drupal.org/node/59

unless there is a specific reason you can't use CVS, which you've not mentioned.

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

that's the problem, I can't use CVS due to firewall restrictions

vm’s picture

vm commented

in that case as well as posting here in the forums you may want to create a webmasters issue linking to this forum thread where others who are active in CVS will see it and may help.

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

thank you very much for the hint

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

-- comment_subjects - a revamped version of comment_subject (without the trailing "s") to add token support, since I shouldn't keep providing it as an issue's attachment and it seems it won't get committed. See 318443#comment-2038526 for the last provided draft at #318443: Integration with token (new branch request) (I currently have new updates to that module)
EDIT: asking for a developer available to become a co-maintainer of comment_subject module
EDIT: now available as 6.x-2.x branch (thanks to sinasalek)

-- wiki_links - a revamped version of freelinking to fix several issues that won't get fixed even in the fresh new 3.0 branch of freelinking, some of them would be #316816: Auto-direct to link target instead of having to go to freelinking node first?, #321380: the content type story might not exist (even more on custom installation profiles), #577632: revamp plugins conception, and others
EDIT: now FL3 is moving on http://grayside.org/2009/11/freelinking-3-forging-ahead (thanks to Grayside's initiative, very close to my perspective about what freelinking should be)

to be continue on another post...

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

-- devel_dblog - a module to enhance the UI of logs during development, allowing to drop event logs: individually (each one gets a remove link), by bundles, recent, oldest, all, etc
EDIT: #578488: recent/aged/username/hostname filters for log entries (a screenshot is available devel_dblog.png)
EDIT: a screenshot of the whole suite of dblog modules with their settings pages overview filters, recent/aged threshold settings
EDIT: proposed patch for D7 #582622: provide hook for dblog_filters
EDIT: D6 version now available at Utility (3.x) modules set (thanks to NancyDru)

-- devel_install_profile - for installation profile development, on every step of the installation profile's tasks allows arbitrary step onto a past or even future task to repeat that form submission, even is capable of dropping the whole database and start over again without leaving the browser (no need of manually dropping the database neither re-creating the settings.php)

to be continued on another post..

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

-- taxonomy_single_tag - adds support for free tagging which only should allow a single tag, delegates to taxonomy's auto-completion, so it integrates gracefully and even supports i18n module
EDIT: Taxonomy autocomplete without multiple select
EDIT: now available as legacy module taxonomy_single_tag (thanks to sinasalek)

-- tweak_breadcrumbs - adds some missing breadcrumbs some certain administrative pages, also provides a "Back" breadcrumb whenever $_REQUEST['destination'] is available (some confirm pages have a "Cancel" link which doesn't points where it should)

-- tweak_locale - until now it just provides a form button to "Re-import" all translations, just useful for development

-- tweak_locale_js - provides a button to fix issue #338630: Locale is unable to rebuild lost Javascript translation files on demand

to be continued...

sinasalek’s picture

sinasalek commented

tweak_breadcrumbs : custom_breadcrumbs module has a responsive maintainer, you might be able to merge you module with it.
tweak_locale_js : i'm using it, very useful. tx

Keep up the good work :)

sina.salek.ws, Software Manager & Lead developer
Feel freedom with open source softwares

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

-- tweak_i18ntaxonomy - a huge enhancement of taxonomy term's form, instead of being forced to navigate to the translation search page it provides each term edit form with a list of their available/missing translations with direct links to the translation page for that term
EDIT: #578360: improve localize terms UI support (a screenshot is available)

-- apix_iptc - a library to fully handle IPTC metadata (haven't found one yet, even online documentation is lacking), until now supports CP_1252 (cp1252 is a superset of ISO-8859-1) and CP_UTF8, capable of coping metadata between images, a nice API to create/modify IPTC metadata without bothering too much, even conversion between supported encodings
EDIT: #352504: Support for IPTC (a thread which points out the lack of IPTC support)
EDIT: older issues #275010: IPTC in Drupal 6, #275793: IPTC Fields support...

to be continue?
it seems enough by now, you can get the big picture from this list

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

-- tweak_i18ncontent - a huge enhancement of content type's form, instead of being forced to track down which translation will work for menus or page titles through the translation search page, it provides each content type edit form with a list of their available/missing translations with direct links to the translation page for title and/or description. Also address the problem of changing default language in a working site, making available a "fix it" link to switch "original text" from default language to English.
#582438: improve content types UI support (a screenshot is available)

matkeane’s picture

matkeane commented

Hi,

Several of the modules you mention appear to be fixes and usability enhancements for existing modules, and so I think it is preferable to contribute patches back to the existing modules where possible. This isn't always easy, and I don't mean from a technical point of view. It's not unusual to see issues marked as 'won't fix' by maintainers who can't see the point in a particular patch, and so contributing back to a module maintained by somebody else is as much an exercise in diplomacy as anything else. From what I've seen, issues with comments suggesting that the module needs a major rewrite rarely get the maintainer's support. In order to get your work in, you may have to keep re-rolling patches, and also try and drum up support for your fixes by linking to related forum issues so that the maintainer can see why a fix is justified.

If all that fails, then please, please avoid creating another module with a very similar name - this just adds to the confusion for everybody (it's 'gmap' vs 'gmaps' all over again!). It's hard enough trying to choose which module to install, but if somebody else wants to contribute to a module, which one should they submit it to? Should they fork again and create a new one?!

I apologise if this comes across as too personal - it's probably just the frustration of having to try and choose which image-rotator module to install (from about 11 possibilities...!). Your work looks like valuable improvements (tweak_i18ntaxonomy sounds particularly handy to me), and it's great that you want to contribute it back, but please - and this is a general appeal to everybody - try to find a way to collaborate on existing projects where possible!

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

First of all, lets make the more sensible point clear
I haven't contributed neither plan to contribute a module with a name and functionality that close, I merely named "comment_subjects" (with a trailing "s") for testing purposes, since submitting a patch didn't make any sense for a whole rewrite of the module
It seems, that the maintainer of comment_subject was hesitating about adding token support to his module, he actually intends to get his module's functionality into D7 core, revamping it right now would make that option "out of the table"
when I first requested that feature it marked it as a "won't fix" later through persuasion and provided links to similar requests the issue got a "postponed" status. (Note that I also suggested opening a new 2.x-dev branch)

You are right that I listed some modules suggesting critical refactor to existing ones, but this post makes its point in the following:
-- comment_subject "might" not be revamped in its attempt to get into D7 core, then another (regretfully) similar module will have to be created (of course its name wouldn't be that similar to its precursor)
-- wiki_links will have to be another module, I totally disagree with the maintainer of freelinking, which doesn't means we have argued, but I discourage past design and the fresh new revamp is going for a twisted path, therefore, yes, another two similar modules disjunctive (note that this is actually intended to be contributed and its name differs from its precursor)
-- apix_itpc is not just a new API for Drupal, but also a PHP library which doesn't exist currently, old versions might be found discontinued, lack of support / documentation / bug fixes, total anarchy which needs a place to settle down
-- the "tweak" series are (as its name indicates) tweaks which address littles flaws in core or modules but might be quickly fixed instead of waiting for a long patch's life cycle (also whenever it deserves it I issued a patch)
-- the "devel" series are for development support, but already searched and they are not addressed by any existing module, they doesn't seem to fall into devel's module scope (which in addition has a huge pending issue queue with plenty of feature requests) and probably nobody thought they might become handy

all in all, I think (forgive me if I'm wrong) I'm doing the best, by all the possible means
as I recall there are modules in drupal.org even for fixing bug already patched in D7 and waiting for backport, and I think it is a good idea, since right now there are a lot of sites out there that might need get things working

do you think I should quit looking for a CVS committer?
(you can be straight, whatever your answer might be I won't get it the wrong way)

PS: sorry, but the only exception would be precisely tweak_i18ntaxonomy which I haven't submitted as a patch yet

matkeane’s picture

matkeane commented

Hi,

OK, I obviously read your previous post a bit too quickly. The thought of yet more similarly named modules set some alarm bells ringing, so I apologise if I over-reacted. I understand the frustration with long patch cycles, and the problem of waiting for fixes against head to be backported to D6 versions (there was a recent Drupal planet post about this). This is just a personal preference, but faced with the choice between two similar modules, or one module with one issue queue with some patches which I can apply, I know which I prefer - I already run sites with patched modules while waiting for the next official dev release.

Anyway, I certainly don't want to stand in the way of anybody trying to contribute their work, and I certainly wouldn't permit myself to dictate how they should do so (especially if there are technical obstacles like the firewall preventing you using CVS directly). And seeing as you also want to contribute work like the apix_itpc module, which sounds like it definitely deserves to exist as a standalone project (as well as some others by the sound of it), I hope that you do find somebody who can help you with the CVS commits.

P.S. Talking of ways to contribute - if you did find time to roll a patch for the tweak_i18ntaxonomy fix, I'd happily help test it and support getting it rolled into the module, if you can point me to an issue.

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

I really don't think you over-reacted, I was expecting it and it is just common sense
I just waited till some body protested to avoid making the original post too long without being necessary

I do owe you that patch
as soon as I create the issue I'll add the link as an EDIT amendment to its section above
then you will owe me a review

matkeane’s picture

matkeane commented

You mean I fell right into your trap? ;-) OK, that's a deal on the patch!

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

here you are #578360: improve localize terms UI support
and for someone interested in patches for i18n support I recommend you to check out #348575: Incorrect languages shown for translation status in locale search results (plus tests) as well

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

BTW, I think taxonomy_single_tag deserves to stand by its own compared to the rest of the modules listed above (which might be dispensable or get into another module's revamp or any possible argument, since apix_iptc won't be appreciated by final users being an API)

it is a tiny module, which delegates to taxonomy module all the real work, improving it with an unsupported feature: single select for free tagging

therefore, whether or not I might have an interesting module to contribute (since I have others not listed due to its long explanation) might be left to be discussed with whoever might show up with the determination of being a mediator between a developer (myself) an the CVS, since he/she will probably want to agree with the project first and surely won't commit non-senses

sinasalek’s picture

sinasalek commented

Hi,
Have you seen this ? http://drupalmodules.com/module/drupal-tweaks
Do you still have cvs access problem?

sina.salek.ws, Software Manager & Lead developer
Feel freedom with open source softwares

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

thanks for pointing it out

PS: yes, I still have CVS access problems (I'm firewalled)

sinasalek’s picture

sinasalek commented

If you couldn't join with drupal_tweak or similar projects, let me know.
I can setup a project for the kind of stuff you've mentioned and add your codes and patches. actually i had that idea on my mind too for a while, you know somewhere to put and organize all the core/modules patches for fast usage/fixes. and i'm glad that there is someone willing to do it :)
I don't have much time participate in development or respond to threads, i can only manage the CVS and apply your codes/patches until you become able to pass the damn firewall ;).

I found another useful module which might come in handy for your projects http://drupalmodules.com/module/patchdoq

sina.salek.ws, Software Manager & Lead developer
Feel freedom with open source softwares

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

- dblog filter extensions:
-- were included into Utility module (3.x-dev) #578488: recent/aged/username/hostname filters for log entries
-- also a proposed patch for D7 has been reviewed, but not enough yet #582622: provide hook for dblog_filters

- i18n UI support:
-- one seems RTBC #578360: improve localize terms UI support
-- the other one needs more review #582438: improve content types UI support

- comment_subject: unbelievable! I haven't landed it yet #318443: Integration with token (new branch request)

- tweak_locale_js: seems pretty much tested but hasn't landed anywhere

- I haven't try too hard to get other modules/tweaks into existing projects

where would you like to start?
(mail me arhaks [at] gmail)

sinasalek’s picture

sinasalek commented

I sent you an email

sina.salek.ws, Software Manager & Lead developer
Feel freedom with open source softwares

sinasalek’s picture

sinasalek commented

Here is the email i sent, i also resent it to your mail.

I need 4 things to start setting it up :

* Project name
* Project description for project node in drupal.org
* The actual code. various version of code if you want to support different versions of Drupal. i'll put them in different branches

Suggestion : I think patchdoq module can take care of your core/modules patches in an organized way, so might want to depends you module on it. I haven't tried it myself yet so i don't know how well it works but i will and i might even write some patches to improve. if i did i'll let u know.

PS : I like your i18n module patches, very useful. as a matter of fact i've also contributed patches to i18n and i really have no idea when the maintainer will have to time to review them. http://drupal.org/node/605600
Regards

sina.salek.ws, Software Manager & Lead developer
Feel freedom with open source softwares

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

I got your mail the 2nd time. Now we can keep in touch through mail.

For everyone else interested on these modules/fixes I encourage you to make recommendations about what should stand as an independent module by its own and what should be included into another existing module.

Grayside’s picture

Grayside commented

Arhak, I have become a co-maintainer on Freelinking and have been doing significant work on the 3.x branch. Let's talk about your ideas.

arhak’s picture

arhak commented

glad to hear about freelinking moving on, it really needs more fingertips on it.

I'll mail you through your contact form, (also you might update me about what's going on recently)

nevertheless, in advance I can tell that definitely NOT every idea of what I have drafted would fit into freelinking. But we'll discuss through mail.