Summary of Dev Chat held December 10, 2014

Trac Tickets

#6006: User/Member Types API
* Additional testing and feedback welcome. @johnjamesjacoby will be testing with HyperDB and separate servers.

#6008: Remove HTML from post_title for groups
* @johnjamesjacoby opened the discussion on where to place the link/button to create a group in the Groups directory since it was decided in a previous devchat that the link/button will not be inserted within the title tag of the Groups directory page.
* @im4th  suggested  adding the link as the last item in the navigation tabs.
* Decision: Move forward with adding the link to create groups/blogs at the end of the item nav tabs per image linked to above. This is only for the BP Theme Compatibility templates. There will be no changes in the BP Default theme.
* Update: Discussion was reopened by @djpaulgibbs some hours after the meeting regarding the placement of the links. @im4th has posted new screenshots of the link to Create a Group four days ago. The issue is not resolved at this point.

#4988: bp_has_activities to accept multi scope
* @im4th reported that he has tested the patch and gave a positive feedback.
* @rayisme will work through the tiny hide_sitewide issue to get this feature into BP 2.2.

#5733: Use wp_cache_add_global_groups() so cache is applicable throughout multisite
* @johnjamesjacoby will be adding the new version of the patch used for Flox.
* @rayisme proposed fixing the original count caching discrepancy issue for multisite installs, i.e., switch those count cache groups temporarily to ‘bp’, then conduct an audit of the cache groups at later date.
* Core devs discussed alternative and better ways of caching for bp_blogs_get_blogmeta() for multisite installations with different configurations .
* Cache for multisite is relative to root blog by default and the global cache group could be removed eventually.

BuddyPress 2.2 Release Schedule

• BuddyPress 2.2 RC1 – January 7, 2015
• BuddyPress 2.2 – January 28, 2015
• @johnjamesjacoby will be packaging the 2.2 release. He mentioned that he will also use that day as an opportunity to train anyone else who’s interested in packaging releases someday. There’s a checklist of things to do on release date.

BuddyPress Codex Update

• @hnla gave an update of improvements and changes to the codex per his latest post in this blog.
• Main issues in the codex are the missing navigational elements like the hidden breadcrumbs and the links to child/grandchild pages in the sidebar which make it hard for people to find information.
• Related trac ticket: https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/5906 re BP Codex Theme Adjustments. @johnjamesjacoby will be checking the issue.

Slack log

• 12/10/14 – https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/buddypress/p1418241896000161

#4988, #5733, #6006, #6008, #dev-chat

Member Type API

BuddyPress 2.2 will introduce the basics of a Member Type API. The primary goal of the API is to provide a common framework for the storage and retrieval of arbitrary member types, a common task on BuddyPress sites. See #6006 for more background.

The new Member Types page on the BP Codex outlines the details of the API, so that developers can get acquainted with the new tools.

In BuddyPress 2.2, BP will provide native support for a number of features beyond the mere fetching/storage of member type data. When BP detects that member types have been registered by a plugin/theme, the following items will be exposed:

• Member queries (bp_has_members() and BP_User_Query) can be filtered by 'member_type'. This allows developers to filter member lists in directories and elsewhere.
• A Member Type metabox will appear on each user’s Community Profile page in Dashboard > Users. Admins can use this metabox to view and change the member type for the current user.

We think that these tools will serve as the foundation for various new features in plugins, themes, and in future versions of BP itself. See, for example, #5192 (show different xprofile fields to different types of members) and #6060 (on Dashboard > Users, display member types and allow filtering by member type). Developers: as you start using this framework, we hope you’ll provide us with feedback and ideas for improving it in future releases.

#2-2, #5192, #6006, #6060, #member-types

Summary of Dev Chats held November 26 & December 3, 2014

Trac Tickets

#6006: User/Member Types API

• @boonebgorges asked for dev feedback in addition to @im4th’s in order to commit the new API for early testing.
• @djpaulgibbs has since conducted a code review of the patch a la WPcom VIP code reviews.
• Update: As of this writing, @boonebgorges has committed the new API to core.
• Testing and feedback welcome.

#5733: Use wp_cache_add_global_groups() so cache is applicable throughout multisite

• @johnjamesjacoby works on improving the speed and performance of BuddyPress sites in multisite and multi-network environments.
• Included in ticket is a proof-of-concept patch and a revised bp-multi-network file based on his work on Flox, across 8 networks.
• An audit of current usages of cache methods used throughout BP will be conducted.

#4988: bp_has_activities to accept multi scope

• @r-a-y and @boonebgorges work on allowing multiple scopes for bp_has_activities() using same nested query syntax introduced by @boonebgorges in upcoming WP 4.1.

#5839: BP_XProfile_Query – filtering user query results by xprofile field matches

• @boonebgorges has committed the new API to trunk.
• Testing and feedback welcome.

#5669: Help plugins to generate activities for their post type(s)

• @im4th has committed new functions and hooks to support tracking custom post types in the Activity Streams without requiring the Blogs component to be active (multisite).
• Announcement Post: https://bpdevel.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/about-post-types-and-buddypress-activities/
• Codex Article: https://codex.buddypress.org/plugindev/post-types-activities/
• Testing and feedback welcome.

Adding BuddyPress support for the WP REST API

• @modemlooper has a base plugin created at https://github.com/modemlooper/BP-API which is updated to current develop branch of WP-API
• The status of this project and call for volunteers to help build this will be posted in this blog sometime soon.

Limited BuddyPress Codex Access

• At this time, access to the codex admin dashboard has been restricted due to a deluge of spam posts last Thanksgiving weekend. The same goes for access to the bbPress codex.
• In addition to @johnjamesjacoby’s work in stopping these spammers, @hnla reported spammers who used github to host spam materials and fought with the spammers relentlessly along with @netweb and me. We compiled a list of said spammers and have removed the users from respective codex and sites’ forums. As of yesterday, these spam users were also blocked from the WordPress.org support forums.
• The new process to get access to the codices will be posted soon. Thank you for your patience.

Guest Commit Access

• Guest commit access for the BuddyPress 2.2 development cycle has been granted to @tw2113. He will be continuing his recent focus on improving BP’s inline documentation.

BP Core Attachments

• BP Attachments is being redesigned as a shared library which will include functions to to set up the attachments environment (API) as a foundation for other components to use rather than a stand-alone component.

Slack logs

11/26/14 – https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/buddypress/p1417032280001942
12/03/14 – https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/buddypress/p1417636775002453

#dev-chat, #slack

#4988, #5669, #5733, #5839, #6006

Summary of Dev Chats held November 12 & 19, 2014

Trac Tickets

#6006: User/Member Types API

• Patches by @boonebgorges provide the minimum set of functionalities to support for “user/member types” to begin with. Kudos. There is no UI yet at this point but developers can already use the API when BP 2.2 rolls out.
• Proposed new taxonomy ‘bp_user_type’ for this new feature will be discussed at a later date along with related tickets for a generic BP taxonomy and the Group taxonomy.

#6005: No-js bulk deletion of messages

• Improvements to the Messages interface for no-js support has grown to some major changes in the Messages template screen, Messages loop, and legacy (theme compatibility) JS and CSS.
• Decision: Move forward with the improvements.

#6008: Remove HTML from post_title for groups

• This involved removing the HTML markups (links/buttons) inserted in page titles. Consequences for removing the markups are: member/group names in the title of pages will no longer be clickable and that a decision has to be made where to relocate the “Create a Group” and “Create a Site” buttons.
• Decision: Move forward with removal of HTML from post_title for groups and blogs. New locations for the “create” button/links removed will be decided at a later date.

#5839: BP_XProfile_Query – filtering user query results by xprofile field matches

• @boonebgorges introduced BP_XProfile_Query which will allow for an easier way to get a list of users who match a given set of xprofile terms. At this time, only plugin developers will be able to use this feature as the UI for this API will not be built until much later.

#6026: And if the Blogs component had Single items?

• @imath is taking on the Blogs Component and has started work exploring the different avenues for improvement. Screenshots and link to the plugin he created during discovery are available in the ticket.

Tickets re Messages Component

• @slaFFik has volunteered to work on tickets relating to the Messages component for the BP 2.2 cycle. It’s his 5% for WordPress via BuddyPress 🙂

BuddyPress Translations

• @djpaulgibbs has been trying to get BuddyPress translations in order. Previously, he contacted each validator by email to follow up on translations. Last week, he posted at the make.wordpress.org/polyglots blog to find better ways of communicating with validators about outstanding translations.
• @slaFFik reported that translations are being pulled from the 2.0 version instead of from the 2.1 version. @boonebgorges pointed to ticket he posted at Meta Trac to follow up on this recurring issue.

2015 BuddyPress Survey

• The day after the 11/12 dev chat I posted in this blog and at the BP Support forums to open the floor for questions they would like to see in the survey.
• Survey preparation through posting of survey results can be tracked at #5980.

BuddyPress Codex

• Codex team needs a curation tool akin to the Recent Codex Activity updates used before or just a page template which renders a list of each revision done in any codex page.
• New sections have been added to the Codex: Administrator Guide and User Member Guide.
• @hnla and I continue work on with updating pages, moving other pages to Archives, and creating new pages as needed.

Welcome Screen

• @djpaulgibbs is still working on some sweet ‘welcome screen’ functionality for BP 2.2.

Slack logs

11/12/2014 https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/buddypress/p1415822670000366
11/19/2014 https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/buddypress/p1416427220000990
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#5839, #5980, #6005, #6006, #6008, #6026, #dev-chat, #slack