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Volunteers to join ground-breaking project [closed]

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 2:09 am
by s.dot
The Project

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. ;) We will vote on perhaps everything.. with popular vote winning. Collective minds are way better than one. Also, the project even in a limited scale, is too grandiose for any one person to take on on their own.

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.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 4:07 am
by Kieran Huggins
Secrecy turns me right off in general, but I'm curious. Count me in for the info session.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 4:09 am
by Benjamin
I'm intrigued. I'd like to be a part of something that ends up being successful. God knows I've got the skills.

I'd like to join and volunteer a specific number of hours per week. I can't promise I'll stay if I don't believe in the idea, but it's better for you to have developers that believe in the cause anyway.

So, whatever the next steps are, let me know.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:40 am
by The Phoenix
Like others, I'm definitely curious, and will attend for an info session. Whether that becomes a full-fledged involvement?

We shall see. But for now, you have my ear. :)

Re: Volunteers to join ground-breaking project

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:09 am
by onion2k
scottayy wrote:I plan on running the project as a democracy, so to speak. ;) We will vote on perhaps everything.. with popular vote winning.
Don't do that. Seriously.

Re: Volunteers to join ground-breaking project

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:43 am
by Benjamin
onion2k wrote:Don't do that. Seriously.
No doubt. This is the main reason why I haven't pushed anything on the devnetstore and why nothing much has been done. Just layout the requirements and let's get to work.

Re: Volunteers to join ground-breaking project

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:47 am
by patrikG
onion2k wrote:
scottayy wrote:I plan on running the project as a democracy, so to speak. ;) We will vote on perhaps everything.. with popular vote winning.
Don't do that. Seriously.
Seconded. Make decisions transparently, but not as a group - and especially not with regards to voting on key decisions. Base them on sound reason and in how far they match and further your vision for the project. Disagreements are human - don't shy away from them. It's how we deal with them that is a matter of individual maturity.

Another thing: be very, very clear about project roles, especially your own. You can't be everything (developer, project manager, designer, infrastructure admin, liaison officer etc.). Either develop or don't. Since it's your project and your vision you're trying to get off the ground, either be project manager or project director.
Be clear about individual rewards from the outset and have everyone agree on them.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:10 am
by Zoxive
Mmm. was this posted twice? Or did i just see a glitch in the Matrix?

I thought no one had posted here and i posted i would help if i was needed. (About an hour ago) But now its gone, and there is ~6 other posts from earlyer, None the less, I would still like to help out in a community project.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:14 am
by s.dot
astions wrote:I'm intrigued. I'd like to be a part of something that ends up being successful. God knows I've got the skills.

I'd like to join and volunteer a specific number of hours per week. I can't promise I'll stay if I don't believe in the idea, but it's better for you to have developers that believe in the cause anyway.

So, whatever the next steps are, let me know.
This is the perfect answer.

Secrecy does cause a fair amount of curiosity, so to thwart a bit of curiosity, this project involves non-textual, non-keyword searching (onion may now have a greater idea than most, as i've asked him a few questions).

And okay, the democracy thing can stay or go (i'm flexible).. but we can discuss that later. I'd like to keep this topic based on volunteers!

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:37 am
by feyd
The key to any good project (that's kept on track) is a good design document in my eyes. So what I propose is that ~scottayy takes some time to write (and write) such a document so that, if for some reason he's hit by a truck, anyone else working on the project can further the goals of the project based on the outline. While a design document can be terse, I prefer it to be verbose. As an example, my typical design document is a minimum of 40 pages. There is no code in my design documents, those are reserved for technical design documents (which are a supplement to the design document for the engineers working on the project.)

I will contribute whatever I can. I think this could potentially be a parallel to the resurrection of Phuse, personally. The two projects could share a fair amount of resources. :)

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:56 am
by s.dot
Phuse?

I'd like to have feyd on board as a potential concept developer and logic/best practices interpreter, if at all possible. :-D

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:08 am
by feyd

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:33 am
by s.dot
Nice.

So far I've got on board
- myself
- astions
- feyd
- zoxive
- everah
- The Phoenix

The rest of you expressed too much interest in the idea rather than working on a project, except zoxive. I'm going to search the boards for your posts just to get inside your mind for a bit ;d and then decide on that one.

Ideally, 2 more volunteers would be great.

EDIT| Looked up some of zoxive's posts. Looks more than good.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:35 am
by feyd
Zoxive wrote:Mmm. was this posted twice? Or did i just see a glitch in the Matrix?
It did get double posted, and removed quickly. Unfortunately, your response was in the second post. ;)
In the duplicate thread, Zoxive wrote:I would love to help, if you need me.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:14 am
by RobertGonzalez
I am curious and busy as hell, but I am seriously looking for a huge project to work on as a team. I have been dying to get myself mixed up a with a team of developers just so I can get my feet wet in a multi-developer, worldwide (perhaps) project. If you have room for me, I am in.