The project I'm going to need volunteers for is the one I discussed in this topic. I won't discuss the details of the project here, but I've discussed them with a senior phpdn member, and surprisingly (to me at least), has his approval and support. The project is going to start out limited in scope, as doing it to the fullest extent would require many large resources that I'm (or we as a group) are not capable of producing. If the limited scope version goes well though, I'm confident we could get funding, either from companies or users of the project -- in which I believe there will be many.
So why would you want to join a project that at the moment you know nothing about?
Good question.
As the spearheader of the project, I'm confident in my motivation and management and communication skills enough to the point where there will be an actual launch of this web site (unlike many projects (some here) that you may seen or heard of).
Also, from the conversations I've had with the senior phpdn member, there may be reasoning to give this project it's own forum here and perhaps call it a phpdn project.. with access to the forum limited to the small team of volunteers. If that doesn't go down, a forum will be hosted somewhere. Either way, we will have constant communication.
I plan on running the project as a democracy, so to speak.
The Volunteers
Sad to say, but I'd like to limit the volunteers to people whos skills I am familiar with (likely forum regulars and people who have proven their intricate knowledge of coding/databasing/communication with extensive posts in the past).
As a volunteer, you will need to have the following skills.
- Writing and reviewing (capable of understanding what's going on when reviewing) php code.
- Optimizing php code to produce the most elegant solution with maximum effectiveness and minimal server resources.
- Good communication -- essential to the project -- or any project for that matter.
- Able to look past personal biases (ie. if the group votes for a motion that you disagree with)
- Databasing skills -- especcially heavily loaded databases, maybe under a stressed environment
- Patience. I plan on drawing a complete outline and planning the entire planning process.. which will be detailed and may take a little while to get together completely.
In addition, to make sure this project stays on track, I'd like to have either a) a personal messenger contact where I can tell you to read something from time to time or b) an email address that you check often enough to not let a need-to-be-read topic sit for 5+ days without being read.
I'd also like for you to be able to keep the project a secret until launch. Don't want someone else beating us to the punch
All credit will be given where due, and who knows, maybe we'll turn enough profit in the end to make us all happy for life or get an offer from google to buy us out for $1.6 B... (okay okay.. i'm a little too excited there). But in the end, even if it's a monumental failure, you'll want to volunteer for this project because it's the first attempt of its kind and you love programming.
whew.. I typed lots.