[wplug-internet] Membership Database design

[Pat Barron]

Good points, all.  We definitely should have a requirements doc rather 
than just dumping out code (that may or may not need to be replaced later).

I think we have a pretty good schema now, so key points in the 
requirements that I think we need to nail down are:

1)  What functions does a user need to be able to perform?  What 
functions does an administrator need to perform?

2)  What does the UI look like?  From a user perspective?  From an 
administrator perspective?

3)  How do we handle authentication?  How do we handle authorization 
(i.e., how do we keep track of who is an admin and who is not)?

4)  Do we try to integrate this into MediaWiki, or do it standalone?  
(I'm personally a fan of the latter approach, as I think it's more 
flexible, and doesn't put us at risk of being broken by a future 
MediaWiki upgrade - even though it means, yeah, people have to have Yet 
Another Username - but this is one of the reasons we have been exploring 
the idea of setting up an LDAP directory, which could be used to help 
solve the problems in item #3 above).

I think the easiest way to proceed from here is to set up a GitHub 
repository, and that way we can use the Issues system in GitHub to track 
the open work (and who is doing it), and we can keep all that traffic 
off this mailing list.  It also opens up potential participation to 
people who aren't on the mailing list.

Alternatively, we could use something like Fossil, and tie it into a 
system like TRAC (does TRAC have a Fossil plugin?) and host it 
ourselves.  But as distasteful as Git can be, I think there's more 
"critical mass" in terms of people who are familiar with it.  I'll be 
happy to set up that repo (and we can start by putting the requirements 
doc in there) if we want.

--Pat.

On 1/13/2015 11:26 AM, Joe Prostko wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 12, 2015 at 9:28 PM, John Lewis <oflameo2 at gmail.com 
> <mailto:oflameo2 at gmail.com>> wrote:
> >
> > Final warning!
> >
> > If I don't see a line of PHP code posted to the wplug-internet mailing
> > list by Wednesday, I will just start dumping code.
>
> Maybe I simply missed out on all of this somehow, but before I write a 
> single line of code, I need to see a requirements document or some 
> such thing to see what the scope of this is (even if I help write said 
> document). I've wasted too much time over the years as a developer 
> implementing something according to what I was told, and then had to 
> throw away a lot of code over and over as the requirements changed.  I 
> don't have a ton of patience for that nowadays, especially when it 
> comes to volunteer projects that are competing with time for my day 
> job and any freelance work I'm doing on weeknights and weekends.  I 
> have no problem throwing away code that I write that is "garbage", but 
> I am less ecstatic when I have to rewrite a ton of code due to me and 
> the client (or whomever) having different ideas of what all needs 
> implemented and how.
>
> Yes, it's a contact/membership database that needs interacted with, 
> but are we going the MediaWiki plugin route, or is this all standalone 
> outside of MediaWiki? How do we plan on interfacing with Stripe and 
> other payment outlets?   I remember Vance and Pat looking at a page 
> showing the schema as decided in the past and all of that, so 
> obviously there has been some work and discussion done previously.  
> Anyway, my point is I'd prefer there being no room for interpretation 
> since it should be all explicitly laid out, and we just have this all 
> decided before the actual work begins.  That is why I didn't really 
> give a ton of input on the schema layout either, since I prefer doing 
> work like that after the requirements are stable.
>
> Also, I don't see the value in posting code to a mailing list.  That 
> should live in a code repository somewhere where interested parties 
> can see it and any trusted developers can contribute to it.  I don't 
> mind setting up a Fossil repository on our VPS, but if we'd rather use 
> Git/Hg/whatever on a service like Github or Bitbucket (or hosted via 
> something like Gitlab), I'm not opposed to that either.
>
> If you want one line of code though, here you go.  ;)
>
> <?php
>
> (Okay, I'm joking obviously, and I am glad you are trying to keep this 
> project moving.  I don't know if using terms like "Final warning!" are 
> a good motivator though.  Terms like that tend not to motivate people 
> doing work on a volunteer project, where people work on what they want 
> when they want when they have time.  That type of language certainly 
> doesn't motivate me anyway, quite honestly.)
>
> Keep in mind everything I stated above is my opinion.  If you'd rather 
> just start dumping in a bunch of code that may or may not ever be 
> used, feel free.  I like to take a more systematic approach though 
> when given the choice so I don't end up with an unmaintainable mess.
>
> - joe
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> wplug-internet mailing list
> wplug-internet at wplug.org
> http://www.wplug.org/mailman/listinfo/wplug-internet

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.wplug.org/pipermail/wplug-internet/attachments/20150113/68a5ccd8/attachment.html>