Project coordination and Time planning

Workspaces Software (General)
1

Hello everyone, and belated happy new year. I wanted to post below an outline of ongoing projects that need to be completed in the very short term, as well as ideas for projects that can be considered for the upcoming year. Please let me know your thoughts and specifically @hugi and @matthias, where our technical priorities should be.

Currently active

1. Webkit Directory

There is already a directory here, which has to be maintained to keep domains and aliases pointing to the correct sites.

I suggest we stick to one directory to not create double the maintenance work - so any proposals here will need to be incorporated into the existing directory.

Estimated time

10-15 hours. Deliverable by 2 February 2021.

2. Tell form configuration interface

What it does

A simple interface that creates the configuration posts required for forms and posts the configuration to the platform. Will allow faster and easier deployment of forms.

Estimated time

46 days - final deadline 15 March 2021.

Prioritised

1. Form consent template

This is to enable consent for those who did not previously provide it upon answering a form.

What it does

Users are sent a link to a form with a specific ID that points to their original answer, upon confirming the consent checkbox their account status is changed.

When do we need it?

In January - @hugi and @bojanbobic

2. ParticipIO / Multisite Template

What it does

A webkit template that allows for nested pages and dynamic page routing. Example: http://webkitsandbox.netlify.app

When do we need it?

Fix any remaining bugs and write documentation this month.
Check with @hugi for participIO requirements.

Future Projects

These are proposals mostly discussed with @nadia, ordered in terms of priority (to be discussed).

1. Read template

What it does

Provides a readable interface for posts and comments. Example: Edgeryders

Estimated time

TBD - bug fixes include layout and design quirks, responsiveness, open graph tags for social media.

3. Aggregate templates

What it does

Automatically aggregates posts from tags on a single page, minimal set up, allows SSNA visualisations to be posted to a gallery section.

Estimated time

Estimate 3-4 weeks to set up and test, depends mainly on how easy it is to export SSNA visualisations as images to the platform.

4. Crowdfunding Template

What it does

Allows products or services to be displayed and paid for, while tracking numbers of contributors and setting goals.

Estimated time

6 to 8 weeks - half the work has been completed (Edgeryders), Stripe payments confirmed to work for payments. Needs extensive testing.

@nadia, @hugi, @matthias, @alberto

Let’s discuss below what needs to be done soon, and where the focus should be in the more long term. Thanks!

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Super helpful. Id move the Crowdfunding template to the bottom. And move the Read template to the very top of new projects though, followed by the tell form configuration.

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Also, If I understood correctly the Webkit Directory could help us with part of the work on putting together the inventory of minisites - right? What is then missing is the info about where/how to edit the contents of each respective webkit site. is there anyway to have that automatically added for each site in the webkit directory?

There is the manual for the webkit, but it does require more than basic tech skills 📗 Webkit Manual and it doesnt tell you where the different things are/picked up from which makes it difficult to collaboratively work on different sites, delegate etc

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@nadia Yes, it’s basically a directory so when you go to a URL, live.edgeryders.eu knows which configuration (and site) to load. You can know the configuration page by looking at the ID in the directory - but it would be more practical to have links in there, I agree. I’ll look into making this more practical, without disrupting the structure (which needs to remain in the YAML code format for the site redirects to work).

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So these are the top priorities afaic:

  • Tell form configuration interface. dDebugged- ready to use in max. 1.5 months
  • Webkit directory/ inventory of webkit sites, where to edit their contents and the tags used to pick up contents in sections of the different sites. Ideally within 1 month.

As soon as I have the go ahead that the above is feasible from @hugi and @owen, then I can go ahead and draft contracts etc.

6

Sorry, we cannot promise this until Owen and I have had time to sit down and look at the requirements. I can do that earliest late next week. It sounds feasible though, so you can plan with that number, just be ready for it to change if we reach another conclusion.

@owen, are you available for a project specification session on Thursday next week at 13:00?

This task is not clearly defined enough for me to make sense of if it can fit in the same time frame. I would need it specified in more detail.

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@nadia These two proposals seem fine to me with caveat below

@hugi Thursday next week works, let’s put it in for 13:00.

Regarding the directory, I think what @nadia is getting at is a coherent centralised location linking to all the configurations. I don’t see whether that involves any technical / programming work rather than extending the existing directory with clear links to configurations and specifying the tags that are used to pick up content.

If I am missing something @nadia it would be good to clarify this point - are you looking for a website listing all the sites and their configuration information? or a discourse post that looks like the inventory you proposed here?

is there anyway to have that automatically added for each site in the webkit directory?

If you want the above functionality, this would need to be a website that picks up the configuration posts and aggregates them - there isn’t a way (that I know of) to automatically update a post within Discourse based on the content of new posts. It may be possible as a custom plugin, but out of my scope.

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@hugi and @owen re: the directory, in an ideal situation we would like to have aggregated in one place the information in a format similar to/ comparable with Inventory of Minisites

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How long would it take you to manually fill in the info into the wiki containing the Inventory of minisites, vs coding something that does it dynamically @owen?

If it is significantly lower and can be done within the next two weeks then that would be the better option.

The reason being it would unlock the ability of the rest of the team to work in parallel with adapting content of some of the current sites to upcoming activities…making full use of the time taken to build the tell form generator.

10

Sure.If you want to coordinate in more detail to also take into account UX work, then I would recommend looping in @MariaEuler in planning.

Re deadlines: the Key requirement is that if ever there are any anticipated delays we are informed at least a month in advance so that we can adjust communications plans etc accordingly.

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@owen and I just had a conversation. For the next 6 weeks, Owen will focus on building a form generator. The goal of this project is:

  • Enable generating a form through an interface, without having to edit code in a Discourse topic
  • Enable editing an existing form through the interface
  • Enable signing in to the form generator with your Edgeryders login, and then seeing all the forms you have created
  • Enable all moderators and admins to list and edit any form

We are splitting this into a few deliverables:

Step 1 - design:

  • Product design wireframes, first version (1 week)
  • Product design feedback and iteration (1 week) with @nadia and @MariaEuler
  • Final design (1 week)

Delivery - a complete design and specification on Figma (total 21 days)

Step 2 - software development:

  • Developing according to specifications (18 days)

Delivery - code pushed to GitHub

Step 3 - Testing

Delivery - code with bugfixes pushed to GitHub (7 days)

@nadia - the above is not equivalent to time billed. That should be worked out with @owen. This timeline is about how long it will take to do, given the pace at which we think it’s good for us to work. We leave it to @owen and @nadia to figure out a good contract based on these deliverables.

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We are moving the 6 week sprint forward by 2 weeks in order for @owen to:

  • Compile a comprehensive inventory of all existing webkit sites as well as how/where their contents, design and functionality are edited.

  • Go through each site one by one and check their current state to:

    • archive /retire the ones no longer in use
    • Of the ones currently in use or under development, flag which ones are incomplete/need more work:
      • Check if they display properly on mobile, and all desktop browsers - if not, indicate this on the inventory wiki (but do not do any work on actually fixing them)
      • Check each section of the page where content is being dynamically picked up and displayed from the edgeryders.eu platform - and note which tags are being used for each section.
      • Create an inventory of URLs linked to from the site (assuming there is some way to do so quickly/with little effort)
      • A general remark on what the overall impression is with regards to Clarity of purpose, effectiveness, ease of use, esthetics.

  • Allocate time to helping the three project teams update their sites:

    • Scifi Economics Lab: Nadia + Ivan + Alberto + Hugi + Joriam +Yudha
    • Research Network: Nadia + Amelia
    • Future of work: Nadia + Bojan (remote and distributed work, covid response, freelancers)
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can you ping me here again once that step is reached?

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Will do. Right now it’s delayed for the reasons above.

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