workspaces for web application process
Project Flow & Tracker installation profile is now ready in basic, non-UI form at https://github.com/victorkane/ProjectFlowAndTracker/tree/6.x-1.0-alpha1 on the 6.x-1.0-alpha1 branch. Be sure to change to that branch after cloning the project or else before downloading the tarball. Instructions are on the README.md file for that branch.
The installation profile includes the following:
Now close to “Chicago” release candidate and more usable than ever, the Project Flow & Tracker project has been made public and promoted to front page so you can browse the read-only functionality. I believe browsing from business model to roles to user stories to constituent tasks and back again is the best way (in theory and in practice) to understand what has been achieved at this point.
Much greater usability has been achieved, which is something that will be receiving a great deal of attention as a jQuery based UI layer is implemented in the next phase.
Features driven development in the Drupal sense involves placing code into versionable text files and packaging functionality into reusable components rather than relying on error prone user interface based configuration with scripting stored in the database along with the content rather than in code. It has been a great step forward for Drupal developers. It is simply a joy to once again be able to develop without infecting the code repository with database dump blobs. And to be able to install functionality in multiple servers running different applications irrespective of the content production workflow. But it is not without its contradictions and limitations, which I would like to mention in this article for the sake of discussion. However, while I will propose ideas for a better solution, I am mostly concerned with leveraging development in code right now by finding a comfortable process for using features driven development today, based on the promise of Adrian Rossouw‘s now classic “Database Is Silver, Code Is Gold” article The Development -> Staging -> Production Workflow Problem in Drupal.
Even though I’m being very quiet about this until I can launch a fully usable staging, good solid progress is being made thanks to the productivity of Panels Everywhere and the panel layout plugins from the Precision theme:
Planning to be in Chicago to present new version of Project Flow & Tracker (“Chicago”).
It should be basically usable in a couple of weeks. It’s based on Panels Everywhere and OG, and a sub-theme of NodeOne’s Precision theme.
An exclusive theme, logo, icons and graphic design work is being done by Buenos Aires designer Juan Villegas.
Functionality basically the same as always, now a little more Scrum’d up I would think. Full details available soon.
Subscribe to commits: http://github.com/victorkane/ProjectFlowAndTracker/commits/master.atom
From the Github README:
“The all new ProjectFlowAndTracker Chicago based on Panels Everywhere and OG
PFT is bootstrapping itself, being used for its own creation, and will be usable soon.
You’ve heard about the advantages of Panels Everywhere. Now its time to actually get it going. A drush makefile, a few configuration steps, and we should have a starter site up and going and never have to look back on ugly, deficient and crippled admin/build/block.
In a recent Buenos Aires Drupal Dojo online virtual lab, we did just that, so I shall lay out a series of simple steps here on the basis of what we learned together that night.
Let’s summarize the advantages of Panels Everywhere, take the steps to get it going, and think about next steps.
So today finally Project Flow & Tracker meets Open Atrium, and does so in style. My friends at Development Seed just told me about the new availability of the feature server code (w00t! out just a couple of days right here: http://code.developmentseed.org/featureserver/dashboard), not to mention a spanking new theme, singular,
“a minimal theme that can be rebranded quickly and simply using background images a la Twitter. The theme comes with several prepackaged backgrounds and site administrators are encouraged to upload their own.”
also out just a couple of days, and which can be found at http://code.developmentseed.org/singular/dashboard . Singular and depends on the base theme Tao: http://code.developmentseed.org/singular/dashboard (also fresh meat!).
So we will be diving right in. Here are the steps we will be taking, so hang on to your mice, it’s going to be a fun ride:
Time to commit our work to bzr!
Dedicated to the compadres at #drupalcampla http://2009.drupalcampla.com/
Today we witness the birth of PFT “Paris” as a feature, that is, based on the Open Atrium compatible features family of modules which promise plug and play feature components for Drupal. It should also serve as a useful tutorial on how to get started with features (and a smidgeon of drush and bzr too!). And you can download the whole shebang and enjoy Project Flow & Tracker lite. What we’ll do:
Based on the principles of ideas and architecture over coding, community based collaboration over individual and isolated effort, I have decided to redo my Project Flow & Tracker agile based project management tool based on the new Open Atrium “do-it-yourself project” kit. Not only do I get a huge kick in the butt for starters, but I can give back all the new functionality I develop as shareable features. Talk about win-win!
Just so’s you know, things are jumping at Project Flow & Tracker:
So there you have it folks, short and sweet. Remember: for every 1000 hours you and your client (their work counts too) spend working on a project, 400 at least should be spent on writing and running functional acceptance tests. Sound like too much? You need… Project Flow & Tracker.