One of the things we’ve been planning to do with The Lounge as our new advertisement provider is to allow project owners with a single click to opt in to have their advertisement revenue go to charity. We believe that pooling individual projects together would provide a nice charitable donation.
However, we haven’t been able to finalize on a charity yet. We’re thinking maybe a non-profit that’s focused on Open Source or education in IT? But maybe people would prefer a charity like Habitat for Humanity? We wanted to get your input what charities come to mind that we should check out.
Today we deployed the latest version of the CodePlex software.
Use Advertisements from The Lounge
With a single click, CodePlex project owners can now host advertisements on their project pages from The Lounge.
Project owner can see advertisements appear on the Home tab, the Downloads tab, the Discussions tab, and the Issue Tracker.
You can visit the CodePlex documentation for more information on hosting advertisements from The Lounge.
Insert Code Snippet in Discussions
We’ve heard your feedback. You can now insert a code snippet into a discussion post via the Insert Code Snippet button.
This will display a window for you to post in your code and to preview with syntax highlighting.
Browse / Download Latest in Source Control
In this deployment, we’ve updated the Source Code tab to bring you the browse or download the latest version.
RSS Feed Updates
Again, we’ve heard your feedback. We’ve tweaked the CodePlex site RSS feed based on your feedback. New Projects and New Releases are listed first with their descriptions, whereas most popular and most downloaded are listed at the bottom.
Since we just deployed today, you’ll have to wait for the next RSS update (anytime after noon PST tomorrow).
http://www.codeplex.com/rss.ashx
New Wiki Markup Macros
and last but not least, we’ve added a few macros to the collection.
Superscript: ^^I am superscript^^
Subscript: ,,I am subscript,,
Strikethrough ~~I am strikethrough~~
Horizontal rule (4 dashes on single line)
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Yesterday, we deployed the latest version of the CodePlex software. In this release, we continued to work on the email notifications for work items feature by adding the ability to filter just by the work items you’re tracking.
We also made optimizations in our web architecture to improve server utilization for better handling the increased traffic levels.
Black Duck Software announced this morning that CodePlex projects are now searchable via Koders.com and have also been incorporated into its open source Knowledge Base repository.
You can find out more information in the Black Duck / CodePlex press release located at http://www.blackducksoftware.com/news/releases/2009-05-19
and on Port 25 announcement at http://port25.technet.com/archive/2009/05/18/microsoft-teams-up-with-black-duck-software.aspx
Just a few minutes ago, we deployed the latest version of the CodePlex software.
Work item #14459: Wiki hyperlinking from an image
Thanks to a voting campaign that started on Twitter on April 9, this work item became our #1 most requested feature almost overnight. Because we use Agile to deploy a new release every 3 weeks, we were able to provide a quick turnaround to this request.
This is basic format for image hyperlinking:
[image:<Friendly Name>|<image name or link to the image>|<URL pointed to by image>]
For example:
[image:My Image|http://www.domain.com/myimage.jpg|http://www.domain.com]
[image:My Image|my_image.jpg|http://www.domain.com]
New Homepage Tweaks
We made some tweaks to our homepage. http://www.codeplex.com
The major change I’ll call out is that we moved the project search to the left, since it is the primary action people visiting the homepage will take.
TinyMCE Editor
We’re now using the TinyMCE Editor for our discussion boards.
Flot chart
We’re now using the Flot chart for our project stats page.
Today (April 9), we deployed the latest version of the CodePlex software.
Work Item Notifications via Email
Our #3 most requested feature is Mail notifications to track work item updates. Starting with today’s deployment, you can now subscribe to a work item to receive email. See the bottom of the work item for the “Email me” checkbox For those of you not subscribed via RSS, no more having to revisit the CodePlex site to check the status of your bug or feature request.
You will receive an email notification when the work item status changes (example below):
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <notifications@codeplex.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 5:29 PM
Subject: Status updated to Active for Issue: Error when trying to start application [ProjectName: bug#]
To: me@my_email_address.com
User projectOwner1234 has updated Issue: Error when trying to start application.
Status has changed from Proposed to Active.
View the full issue online.
You are receiving this email because you are tracking this work item on ProjectName. You can unsubscribe at the bottom of the work item.
or someone leaves a comment (example below):
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <notifications@codeplex.com>
Date: <whatever time it is now>
Subject: New comment for Issue: Unable to save file [ProjectName: bug#]
To: me@my_email_address.com
User projectOwner1234 has commented on Issue: Unable to save file.
"We’re investigating the issue. Thanks for reporting it. One workaround you can do is..."
View the full issue online.
You are receiving this email because you are tracking this work item on ProjectName. You can unsubscribe at the bottom of the work item.
In future releases, we’ll add the ability to subscribe project-wide for work items. But as life in the agile world goes, one step at a time.
Direct link download
Another feature we’ve added in this release is the ability to directly link to a file in your releases page.
For example, on the xUnit.net project’s release page, you can directly download the xunit-1.1.zip file from the following new link.
http://xunit.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=16811#DownloadId=50312
Downloads Tab
We renamed the “Releases” tab to the “Downloads” tab.
The majority of the visitors to our site are looking for something to “download,” and may not necessarily associated “downloads” as “releases.” We hope by making this single change will help visitors find what they are looking for faster and easier.
We’re always looking for feedback.
Since I announced Rawr as the project of the month after nearly a week went by in March, we decided to make Rawr (http://rawr.codeplex.com) the project for April. And I have to be honest that I haven’t carved out the time that I’ve wanted to work on the project. But this week will be different! I’ve just made a public commitment =D
Additionally, I’m still brainstorming ways of tracking interest and participation. Maybe people could comment to this blog post whether they are interested in the project or how they’ve contributed?
Also, thanks to those who have submitted a project nomination. You can nominate any OSI-licensed project by contacting me at saraf at microsoft dot com.
Just wanted to share a landmark day we recently had on the team. This past Monday (March 23, 2009), we broke our all-time record for the most visits in one day: 115,646.
Our new record is less than 10% over our normal traffic levels, indicating we’ll have a new record for monthly visits as well.
Our success depends on the quality of our projects. Happy project owners = happy users. A huge Thank You to all of our CodePlex Project Owners for making CodePlex a success.
Last year, I ran a series called Visual Studio Tip of the Day on my personal blog. The 382-tip series was very successful, and each post usually got several comments from users.
Today, I’ve started a similar series for CodePlex Tips on my personal blog, where I’ll explain the ins and outs of the CodePlex software, while collecting user feedback on how to improve the site. I’ll also share future UI designs for specific tips that I have designs for.
You can view the CodePlex Tips series at
http://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/tags/CodePlex+Tips/default.aspx
On Thursday (3/19), we deployed the latest version of the CodePlex software. This release focused primarily on various infrastructure improvements to improve performance, especially during peak traffic hours.
During the infrastructure improvements, we were still able to add a couple minor feature enhancements to our syntax highlighting, specifically adding support for PHP and CSS files, as shown below.
From http://phpexcel.codeplex.com/SourceControl/changeset/view/26162#172239
And from http://cssfriendly.codeplex.com/SourceControl/changeset/view/24242#9858
What is the Open Source Club?
The Open Source Club (OSC) is a group of volunteers who contribute what they can to the specified open source project each month. If you’ve ever wanted to contribute to an open source project, but didn’t know where to start or didn’t have much time, this is your chance.
Even if you just spend 20 minutes just writing up a bug report, a “how-to” user guide, or a blog entry about the tool, it counts! It’s about making the most of the time you have right now to contribute.
Project for March: Rawr
Rawr is a program for comparing and exploring gear for characters in the MMORPG, World of Warcraft. It has been designed from the start to be fun to use, and helpful in finding better combinations of gear, and what gear to obtain. (.NET, WinForm, C# 3.0, XML)"
The Rawr project is looking for
- Issue Tracker management - going through the issue tracker, sorting out bugs from what should be on the discussion boards, figuring out which bugs are still reproducible, and so forth
- Writing documentation for the end user
- Software Testing – for those familiar with World of Warcraft
- C# and .NET WinForms developers to fix bugs and help with features
- Blogging about Rawr and getting the word out
If you have time to help, go to the Rawr project and jump in. Contact Astrylian for any help getting started.
Special thanks to Rawr for volunteering to be our first project!
We’re looking for projects!
If you’re a project owner that could use an extra set of eyeballs on your project, or if you know of a cool project that could benefit from this, please let us know.
Projects must meet the following criteria:
- Uses an OSI-approved License
- Is active on CodePlex
- The project owner wants to participate =)
If interested or want to nominate a project, contact Sara Ford.
Why did we started the OSC?
We started the Open Source Club because we want to help Open Source projects become as successful as possible.
Why a “club?”
It’s been our experience that many consumers of open source software would like to contribute back some way. It’s just a matter of finding the right project with the right needs at the right time, which can at often times be challenging. There’s also a matter of time commitments. Even if a potential contributor finds the perfect project, he or she may not have enough time to commit to finishing the task. Thus, projects are left without contributions, and potential contributors are left wishing they could have helped.
One solution is to harness the potential of as many contributors as possible and focus their combine efforts into just one project at any given time. For example, imagine if 20 people wanted to contribute just an hour once a month to a project. That would be the equivalent of nearly 3 full-time days of contributions to a project.
Similar to a book club model, the Open Source Club will announce a project for the month. Then people in the community can choose how to assist that one project in whatever way makes sense for him or her.
How is a project chosen?
Since we’re just getting started, the OSC Leadership Team (Jim Holmes, Leon Gersing, James Avery, and Sara Ford) will select the project of the month.
Thanks to Jim Holmes, Leon Gersing, and James Avery for sharing these ideas with me, knowing good and well I would be “called to action” to make these great ideas happen!
On Thursday, we deployed the latest version of the CodePlex software.
Project subdomain URLs
All project pages are now in the form of projectname.codeplex.com. A few months ago, we introduced this feature at the project homepage level. Now, we’ve implemented it site-wide.
Separate RSS feed for release reviews
We’ve heard feedback that there was too much noise in the RSS feed for release updates. We created a separate RSS feed for reviews, so moving forward, you can get updates when new releases come out without any of the user reviews.
We deployed the latest version of the CodePlex software on Friday, Feb 6. Work items in the issue tracker now have a custom field where you can add or edit whatever text you want, in case you need additional fields not already supported. You can search for your Custom field text in both the basic and advance views.
Behind the scenes, we focused on miscellaneous fit and finish work to some of the new features that came out late last year.
A couple of weeks ago, I attended CodeMash 2009 in Sandusky, Ohio - my second time attending as Program Manager for CodePlex. The first year, I spent 2 days sitting non-stop with project owners and site visitors, collecting feedback about the site. Their feedback would play a significant role in determining the priorities for upcoming features. Now that a year has past, we wanted to share with you how CodePlex has grown.
| Site Traffic | 2008 | 2007 | % increase from 2007 |
| Visits | 19,493,502 | 8,891,178 | +119% |
| User Hours | 2,804,898 | 1,237,356 | +127% |
| Unique Visitors | 9,811,365 | 4,532,440 | +116% |
| New Registered Users | 66,553 | 38,651 | +72% |
| New Projects | 4,542 | 2,130 | +113% |
New Features
Over 2008, we had 12 new releases of the CodePlex software, with the following top 9 features:
- Subversion client support – server hosted SVN Bridge allowing SVN clients to “just work” against the CodePlex TFS servers
- Site redesign – new look and feel, upgraded UI. The end of the nuclear waste green era.
- Silverlight hosting – okay, technically not deployed within 2008, but who’s counting =D
- Project statistics – see daily statistics of page views, downloads, and visits
- Ratings and reviews – rate and review project releases
- Project Discussions mailing lists – get notifications and discuss projects via e-mail alongside the online discussion boards
- AJAX Source code browser – easily browse source code before download with file tree view and source code syntax highlighting
- Search improvements – added sort by relevance or ratings, search by development status or license type, and search term highlighting
- Discussions rich text editor – write Discussions posts using a WYSIWYG editor
Top New Projects of 2008
These are the top Open Source projects created in 2008, by page view count:
- WPF - This is the main site for updates on the WPF roadmap and the portal for accessing the WPF Toolkit and the WPF Futures releases.
- Silverlight - The Silverlight Toolkit is a collection of Silverlight controls, components and utilities made available outside the normal Silverlight release cycle.
- CompositeWPF - The Composite Application Guidance for WPF and Silverlight is designed to help you more easily build enterprise-level Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Silverlight client applications.
- MVCSamples - This project is for prototype and sample ASP.NET MVC Sample applications.
- Unity - The Unity Application Block (Unity) is a lightweight extensible dependency injection container with support for constructor, property, and method call injection.
- White - Automate windows applications
And as for 2009?
We’re waiting to hear your feedback! Let us know what we can do.
