Scrum, scrum, scrum
Scrum is an agile method used in software development and its use has already proved its value in the development of TYPO3 Phoenix. The circumstances the Phoenix team works under are very different than usual for a development team. Under ideal circumstances a development team would have a daily stand-up meeting each morning to discuss the work they have done the day before and to discuss the work they are going to do (it is called a stand-up, because the meeting is done standing up to minimize the time spent on the meeting - in general meetings like these should take no more then 15 minutes). The Phoenix team works distributed and many of the developers working on it are also running a daily business. Therefore our “Daily Scrum” doesn't take place as a in-person stand-up meeting but as a Skype conference call every day at 17:30. The number of people attending also varies a lot - sometimes it's a diploma thesis, at other times an important client meeting which keeps team members from participating.
The first sprint contained 4 stories the team wanted to realize. That goal was met, but not within the given time frame. Scrum is also about continuous learning so the lesson learned here was to have a better look at the available days for development. In our case the Dallas conference mainly interfered with our plans to deliver in time. Exactly on the last day of May the release notes for Sprint Release 1 were published by Robert while on his way to the PHP conference in Berlin. The team was very happy with the results as all outstanding issues were resolved and everyone got to know the way of working a lot better. Many congratulations and enthusiastic re tweets were also received by the team. After all, is the first website which is really powered by what will become TYPO3 5.0. (more info about the Phoenix project can be found on Forge and on this micro-site).
CoSCoB
We use the term CoSCoB as an abbreviation for the Combined Steering Committee and Board Meeting. This time we got together Munich to decide about the new bylaws that were necessary because we wanted to allow for a new team that is going to check the way budget is allocate and spent by the Association. The Business Control Committee. We hope to create more transparency like that for the outside world. The Steering Committee welcomed Kian Gould and Eike Diestelkamp as new members and said goodbye to Dominic Brander. Thanks Dominic for all your work. Dominic remains leader of the Certification Team.
Three more people under contract
To hire more people we had to take a very close look at the money the TYPO3 Association available and we decided to take some money that we have put in a sock somewhere for emergencies. An association of course needs to have a reserve for bad times or for whatever unexpected might happen. Furthermore we put our trust in our ability to raise more money through the Frankfurt conference and through the fund raising effort that is underway. To speed up development of the current branch, TYPO3 version 4.x, budget was allocated to the leader of the core team, Oliver Hader, to be able to work on a more permanent basis. In effect this means Oliver will be able to spend like 20 hours a week on the current branch. Jens Hoffmann works for 2 days a week on the design of TYPO3 Phoenix, our new next gen CMS, together with Robert and Karsten. I myself the writer of this article am employed for also about the same amount of time to coordinate the different committees and teams and for instance writing articles like the one you are reading now. We definitely like to hire more manpower for the Phoenix team, especially an ExtJS specialist. The design Jens has created for that heavily depends on that. Our budget is limited at the moment, but we have set the wheels in motion to lift that limitation.
Fund raising
Kian Gould has set into motion a project to raise funds. The idea is to attract a part-time fund raiser. For that purpose several companies have donated or lent money to this initiative. The fund raiser will call companies that are using TYPO3, but are not a member already and explain the benefits of becoming an association member. However much we want someone in that position it is hard to find someone that qualifies. If you are interested in this very rewarding job and you think you have the skills to work as a fund raiser please check out this page and apply for the job.
Become a TYPO3 Association member!
We might not even need a fund raiser to convince you to also become an association member if you are not already. There is a chance you are not a TYPO3 member. OK so why do you need to become a member of the TYPO3 Association?
By becoming a supporting member, individuals and organisations mainly fund core development of TYPO3. The decision about what the funds are used for, is made in the Steering Committee and by the various teams. These decisions are communicated to the community and - in more detail – to the supporting members. Your funds will also serve for other purposes as laid out in the bylaws, but expressly not for funding time other than in development.
You can read more about the TYPO3 Association and why you should be a member on it's website-
Backend Cleanup Operation
Inline with the current focus on backend improvements Joey Hasenau has started the Backend CleanUp Project that aims at having full browser compatibility also including IE6. The team already fixed their first issues although they still have to finetune the workflow (i.e. when and how to commit stuff). The major problem the team faces is the acceptance of the goals among the developers who prefer cutting edge features instead of taking a step back to assure maximum compatibility. Now it would be cool if there were more people who delegate stuff that matches the team's skills to our issue tracker so we can take care of it and they get free up their mind for more important things. Please check out the teams page on Forge. The team can use your help if you are able to dedicate time on a regular basis.