Dreamwidth.org: Pre-Launch

This page details the five main coding projects that must be completed by the launch of Dreamwidth.org. The site cannot launch, even in beta, without these projects being completed.

It should be noted that the projects listed here are only those which are connected to the code. There are other launch-based projects that need to be considered, but these are outside the scope of this document.

Site scheme

Bugzilla items: Bug #104: Create site scheme look files from Photoshop mockups

Description of project: This is the site scheme that the service will use, which will not be released under the GPL. Note that this is different from the Dev Schemes and will go a long way to defining the feel of the site, as it will be present on nearly every non-journal page. As such, the design is incredibly important.

Headed by: xb95

Status: Mockups of the main page have been created by grrliz. After the mockups are received as PSDs, the current plan is that jproulx will convert it to HTML/CSS (although depending on the timeframe, this may be covered by chasethestars instead), and janinedog will convert this to a .look file for use with the code.

Watch/Trust/Friend

(also known as Project WTF)

Bugzilla items: Bug #80: Project WTF: Backend Implementation

Description of project: The development of the two-tier edge system, whereby users no longer have a single 'friend list', but a 'watch list' and a 'trust list'. These two lists are completely independent of each other and can be used to watch someone without granting them access to your trust-only entries, or to allow someone access without watching them. This is considered one of the main shortcomings of the friending system in LiveJournal.

Headed by: xb95

Status: The backend for this project is half-completed, but needs finishing. This will mostly be undertaken by xb95. After the backend is finished, work will need to be done on the frontend - the interface that people will see on the site. Anybody wishing to help with this part should contact xb95.

Invite codes

Bugzilla items: Bug #107: Invite Code System

Description of project: The invite code system supplied in the plain livejournal repository, sans ljcom, is broken. (And even the code with ljcom has bitrotted, caused by LJ not actually using invite codes any more.) The aim of this project is to re-implement the system in dw-free, and to use it in Dreamwidth.org itself.

Headed by: pauamma, afuna

Status: The backend is complete, and a sample not-for-production hook has been made. A console command, make_invites, is available to people with the payments priv in order to create new invite codes.

Considerations: Business logic will still need to be considered and implemented in dw-nonfree - for example, how will users receive new invite codes?

Payment system

Bugzilla items: n/a

Description of project: The Dreamwidth.org-specific payment system to allow users to pay for accounts, additional extras, etc.

Headed by: xb95

Status: Currently, the code for the payment system is not very integrated with Dreamwidth. The payment structure needs to be finalised; this is being undertaken by xb95 and synecdochic. Finally, implementation and testing is still needed.

Journal import system

Bugzilla items: Bug #89: Project Import & Interoperability

Description of project: Dreamwidth must be able to import journals from other sites based on the LiveJournal code. Currently, no such facility is available in either livejournal or ljcom (and even if it existed in ljcom, it would be unusable in Dreamwidth), although there are a few means to export journal entries, including via XML-RPC and a user-facing export facility which can be run by month. The aim of this project is to code an import facility.

Headed by: foxfirefey

Status: foxfirefey is currently building the Importing page on this wiki, with suggestions for how to code this and considerations needed. Some code to import journals from LJ-based sites to another LJ-based site is already available; it is possible that this can be ported and run as a TheSchwartz job.

Considerations: A current discussion on how to import comments while preserving privacy is in progress on the dw-discuss mailing list.