Developer forums structure ?

[erland]

I'm a bit confused regarding the structure of the developers forum section.

We currently have:
- Beta
- Developers
- SqueezeOS Software Platform

1.
What is "Beta" forum used for, is this just for beta testing issues regarding SqueezeCenter or should beta testing issues regarding the Controller/SqueezeOS software also be posted here ? How does a end user know if something is implemented on the server side (in SqueezeCenter) or on the client side (in SqueezeOS) ?

2.
What about beta testing issues regarding functionality visible on the Controller that is really implemented in SqueezeCenter, should this be posted in the "Beta" section or in the "SqueezeOS Software Platform" section ? I suppose it is quite hard for all the beta testers to know where a particular functionality is implemented.

3.
What is "SqueezeOS Software Platform" use for, is this a forum for developers or end users which have questions regarding the SqueezeOS platform ?

4.
If I have a developer question regarding how something should be implemented in a Controller applet, should this be posted in the "SqueezeOS Software Platform" section or in the "Developers" section ?

5.
If I have a developer question regarding how something should be implemented in the part of SqueezeCenter that implements the JSON responses which is used by SqueezeOS, should this be posted in the "SqueezeOS Software Platform" section or in the "Developers" section ?

6.
What about third party applets for the Controller, should these be posted in the "SqueezeOS Software Platform" section or in the "Third party plugins" section ?

As a developer who doesn't know all the code in detail, it is also sometimes a bit hard to know if the question belongs in "SqueezeOS Software Platform" section or in the "Developers" section. Some parts that are visible in the Controller is really implemented in the SqueezeCenter software.

I'm not even sure where questions like the above should be posted, it's partly developer related but it is probably someone responsible for the web forums that needs to take care of it.

I'm not really looking for answers on the questions, the best solution would probably be to change the names of the different forum sections to make it more clear where to post things.

[mherger]

Developer forums structure ?

Here's my POV (which isn't the official voice):

> What is "Beta" forum used for, is this just for beta testing issues
> regarding SqueezeCenter or should beta testing issues regarding the
> Controller/SqueezeOS software also be posted here ?

Yes, I'd say so.

> How does a end user
> know if something is implemented on the server side (in SqueezeCenter)
> or on the client side (in SqueezeOS) ?

He hardly does.

> What about beta testing issues regarding functionality visible on the
> Controller that is really implemented in SqueezeCenter, should this be
> posted in the "Beta" section or in the "SqueezeOS Software Platform"
> section ?

Beta. IMHO the SqueezeOS Software Platform goes way beyond what we're seeing on the Controller right now, like playback. These topics belong in the "SqueezeOS..." forum. All stuff which isn't even beta yet.

> What is "SqueezeOS Software Platform" use for, is this a forum for
> developers or end users which have questions regarding the SqueezeOS
> platform ?

According to the above developers.

> If I have a developer question regarding how something should be
> implemented in a Controller applet, should this be posted in the
> "SqueezeOS Software Platform" section or in the "Developers" section ?

That's where everything's getting a bit confusing... I'd say Dev, as it's not SqueezeOS core development. But you should get an answer in either of them.

> If I have a developer question regarding how something should be
> implemented in the part of SqueezeCenter that implements the JSON
> responses which is used by SqueezeOS, should this be posted in the
> "SqueezeOS Software Platform" section or in the "Developers" section ?

Dev.

> What about third party applets for the Controller, should these be
> posted in the "SqueezeOS Software Platform" section or in the "Third
> party plugins" section ?

Dev.

--

Michael

[pippin]

Dev.

> What about third party applets for the Controller, should these be
> posted in the "SqueezeOS Software Platform" section or in the "Third
> party plugins" section ?

Dev.

???

I would say: Developer Questions: Dev, Announcements etc: 3rd Party plugins since the latter is no issue for Dev forums at all.

I would say part of your (and my) confusion comes from the fact, that there are no USER forums on Jive.

[mherger]

Developer forums structure ?

>> > What about third party applets for the Controller, should these be
>> > posted in the "SqueezeOS Software Platform" section or in the "Third
>> > party plugins" section ?
>>
>> Dev.
>
> I would say: Developer Questions: Dev, Announcements etc: 3rd Party
> plugins since the latter is no issue for Dev forums at all.

Announcements, yes. But questions regarding the dev belong in the Dev forum.

--

Michael

[dean]

Developer forums structure ?

I propose that the "Developer" forum be renamed "SqueezeCenter
Developer Forum" and made the focus for that forum on SqueezeCenter.

Reactions?

[pippin]

I propose that the "Developer" forum be renamed "SqueezeCenter
Developer Forum" and made the focus for that forum on SqueezeCenter.

Reactions?

Why? Add confusion. Where do Questions on 3rd party plugin development go then? for example? Lots of issues will not be limited to SC and/or Jive so you will always have to browse both if you are looking for something. The Dev forums are not overly crowded, so why split traffic?

[dean]

Developer forums structure ?

So do you propose that we retire the Jive forum? As you say, the
traffic isn't overwhelming, so that might just make sense.

[bklaas]

I think I'm with Pippin. The traffic volume in Developers is, at least currently, entirely manageable. I think anything development: skins/plugins/SBC/SqueezeOS/SC/SN/whatever can safely all go here.

If there's a place where things need splitting, it's the now-overrun general forum. The volume is now too high for me to effectively keep up with things.

#!/ben

[erland]

So do you propose that we retire the Jive forum? As you say, the
traffic isn't overwhelming, so that might just make sense.

This would make it a lot clearer:
- Beta = Beta testing issues on SqueezeCenter and Controller
- Developers = Developer discussions regarding future features/bugs in SqueezeCenter and Controller and third party plugins/skins/applets.

I would also suggest to rename "3rd party plugins" to "3rd party software" to make it clear that this is also the place to announce third party skins, third party SqueezeOS applets and third party scripts/tools.

If we want to be able to have end user discussions on feature requests on SqueezeOS platform, I would suggest that you create a new section called "Features wishes" under the user forums. This could be used for both SqueezeOS and SqueezeCenter features. This might also make it easier to catch wishes for new features from users that don't like to mess with the bug tracking system. We just have to be strict to instruct users to really register a feature request in the bug tracking system at the end of the discussion.

I also have to agree with Ben that the General section really need to be split, because it's starting to be too much posting there even if you read it once a day. The problem is just how to split it. It would be nice to be able to focus/ignore all the "problem/support" issues posted by separating these in a separate section. But I guess you would like to avoid real support issues to be posted there and instead contact the support crew, so it might be hard to find a suitable name.

A "How do I do this" section might also be a way to separate questions from the "General" section.