There are many ways to help out with PHPee.com projects. If you're not a developer you can submit bug reports or feature suggestions. When doing this please make sure to include all the information you can while reporting, including: Operating System, PHP version, and project version. Also include any files your having problems generating docs from.
Please do NOT file any feature requests of planned features that are already listed on each project's status page: Pigalle Status, YaBook Status
You might also want to checkout the other information on the SourceForge project pages.
We are still looking for translators. Currently Pigalle and YaBook do only support en/English and de/German. PowerPhlogger does currently support 20 different languages. Those 20 languages are also planned to be supported in the future release of PowerPhlogger, Phlogger3.
If you find some time doing a translation, please join the development mailing lists (pigalle-devel, yabook-devel) and let us know. Existing translators of PowerPhlogger will be notified as soon as the first alpha release of Phlogger3 is out.
Thanks a lot for your great help!
There are several ways you can start contributing to PHPee.com projects. As first steps you should:
1. Get the code.
Either install a snapshot or do a CVS checkout.
2. Find a bug to solve or a feature to implement.
If you decide to implement a new feature, it might be worth discussing it in the lists first, to test water, get feedback from lead developers and see if anybody is already working on it or if it fits at all into the general direction of the project.
3. Submit a patch.
There are two ways to do a patch. You could make a copy of file you edit beforehand, and create a patch with:
diff -u file.php.orig file.php > file.php.patch
or do it with CVS:
cvs diff -u file.php > file.php.patch
Submit your patch to the project's development mailing list. Please include your patch as a text/plain attachment. Be prepared to be met with a critical analysis of your patch. In case your patch is refused, ask why and either correct your patch or constructively argue your point. In case you receive no feedback, try bumping the issue once after a day or three. If you still do not receive an answer, maybe your patch is not worthwhile. Keep it in case someone raises the issue in the list sometime in the future, but otherwise sleep on it.
As general points to remember:
- Respect the project coding standards, otherwise your patches will not be commited. You can find the coding standards in your sourdough directory under sourdough/doc/CODING_STANDARDS or directly from CVS.
- Work within the framework, that is use the available classes and mechanisms.
- Monitor the development mailing lists, the discussion board, and those of the apps you work on.
Lastly, remember that, although you work on the project on your own goodwill, this does not grant you any specific privileges. The lead developers make the final call. Sometimes, they may make decisions that you may not agree with. Obviously, you are entitled to voice your opinion and argue your point, but stay civil, do not drag it out and respect their decisions.
That is pretty much it. One last thing: do not do it for an ego boost, do it for the love of coding. The unfortunate truth is that contributing to an OSS project will most likely never get you the kind of fame Linus Torvalds or RMS enjoy, nonetheless, as with any Open Source project, your contribution will be greatly appreciated by the community.
