Titanium Community Questions & Answer Archive

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Please fix the KitchenSink! And, of course, further development of it would be more than welcome! ;-)

Bearing in mind that, second only to the API docs, the KitchenSink is the most important and useful training resource to which developers have access, I am very disappointed that bugfixing and development of it seems to be almost non-existent.

As an example, several months ago, I submitted a git commit containing fixes for every single syntax error that the KS contains (about 300 errors!), and then posted a notification to the devs. Despite this, the fixes weren't merged. OK, I admit that syntax errors are a trivial issue, and probably don't cause any problems with the app's functionality but, on the other hand, there really is no need for them! The work was done - all you had to do was merge it.

However, the KitchenSink contains SO many bugs that do cause functionality not to work but which also could be easily fixed. If Appcel does not have the manpower to properly maintain the KS then, surely, should it not just hand it over to the community?

I also raised the subject with Appcel some time ago of utilising the community more effectively, but there seems to be little change. It's such a missed opportunity, IMHO. If there are any planned developments in this area going on behind the scenes, then I am sure I'm not the only one who would be interested to hear about them.

Hal

— asked September 17th 2010 by Paul Dowsett
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3 Answers

  • Accepted Answer

    +1

    I put "Community Development" as my priority in the recent survey, and too have asked appcel about utilizing the community. I was told (quite helpfully) to take a pull from github :P

    would appear then if you do nothing gets done about it

    1) fix the Q&A

    2) fix kitchenSink

    3) sort out a team for the Q&A / docs (community based or otherwise)

    [edit] oh and answer tickets [/edit]

    — answered September 19th 2010 by Richie Mortimer
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    2 Comments

    • Richie - your three points are pretty much what I had in mind. Just to add to what you have said:

      1. imo, the reason the Q&A isn't currently very useful is because there are no sort options within a thread and, equally as important, the search facility is very bad (it doesn't bring up enough relevant answers). A simple search syntax would improve it greatly without a great deal of work:
      • Quotes used to specify phrases
      • A plus in front of a word or phrase to specify that results must include it
      • A minus in front of a word or phrase to specify that results must not include it
      1. Obvioulsy the API docs would be the ideal place to have comments about features that don't currently work, but I realise that this may be easier said than done. Hence, the KS would be the next best thing. I suggest that when a feature doesn't work on a particular platform, a note be included within the code to explain it, preferably with links to the relevant lighthouse tickets so that users can add themselves to the watch list. The community could probably do most of this work.
      2. imo, there needs to be a community manager, dedicated to interfacing with the community and responding to, and implementing, any ideas that surface.

      — commented September 19th 2010 by Paul Dowsett

    • Note that the fixes have now been committed to appcel's KitchenSink, and should be released with 1.5.

      — commented November 4th 2010 by Paul Dowsett

  • I also agree wholeheartedly, especially about the lack of utilization of the existing community. Because of this, I'm currently working on creating an independent Titanium Mobile resource and training site. The site will include guides and tutorials to help developers get started, and maybe most importantly, a proper forum so the community can flourish and grow.

    If you're interested in helping, you can contact me directly at doug@codetini.com or use our contact form: Contact Us

    I'll be sure to update the community as the project progresses.

    — answered September 19th 2010 by Doug C
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    2 Comments

    • Doug

      I think your idea is admirable, but I fear that it could also dilute the community. I would much prefer appcel get its act together. If appcel fails to announce any plans, or fails to implement any improvements, in the near future then I agree that your suggestion could be an alternative.

      — commented September 19th 2010 by Paul Dowsett

    • Hal,

      While I most definitely agree with you that further fragmentation of the community might not initially sound like the best thing to do, I think it may be the smart thing to do. I think that the community expects too much from Appcelerator. You'll note that Appcelerator is nice enough to open source their product and allow us to use it for commercial purposes at no cost. Should we really also expect them to build a community and support non-paying users? Obviously, they are a for-profit business, and I don't think it would be smart for them to prioritize supporting non-paying users. They need to put all of their resources into furthering the development of the Mobile SDK. I plan on contacting Appcelerator to see what they plan on doing as far as developing the community, as well as additional resources.

      Having said this, I do think they should have merged your KitchenSink patch, or otherwise taken care of the many syntax errors KitchenSink contains. Hopefully, they will soon.

      Doug

      — commented September 19th 2010 by Doug C

  • Can you post your source somewhere? I'd love to have a version without all of those warnings.

    — answered September 19th 2010 by Avichal Garg
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    1 Comment

    • Hi Avichal

      Can you see me in the KS network list?

      Hal's KitchenSink

      Bear in mind that my repo doesn't contain any of appcel's changes since the end of May, so I am not sure how useful it will be to you.
      I really wouldn't consider spending any time improving the KS until we have an official word from appcelerator about the way forward.

      If we are going to have a community-led KS, then it needs to be promoted by appcelerator on the website, or else we risk no-one finding it and the effort going to waste.

      — commented September 19th 2010 by Paul Dowsett
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