Getting started with the Tech Team

What we do

• System Administrators, Software Developers, and Bug Reporters -- Help us monitor our servers, refactor our PHP, develop new features and fix the existing bugs.

For non-programmers

• Create an account on the public Bug Tracker, start reporting bugs (use the bug? link in the bottom of every CouchSurfing page)
• Help out users in the CS Cockroach Group

For programmers: Getting started

Prerequisite:

• It doesn't hurt to have used the site for as a regular surfer or host for some time and having formed a few friend links at least - we need developers to have at least some idea of what areas the site might need developing and who seem to gel well with the community and its philosophy (this is to make sure the few developers we have don't become overwhelmed by having to deal with a whole lot of controversial changes done by people lacking real-life surfing/hosting experience and knowledge on whom to consult on those changes)

Here are the six steps to having running code on the CouchSurfing site!

1. Get in touch with Anu to explain your background, intentions with working on CS code and areas of expertise in web development (server maintenance / PHP&MySQL / layout loosely defined as current main areas to be focusing on).
2. You will need to sign our NDA agreement. If you want to talk with someone about this, message Joe. You will need to email a copy to us and fax a copy to the NZC Contact fax number.
3. There are several people that will help you as you're getting started. You'll need to get access to the code, the private mailing list, a special wiki for developers, and development snapshots of the database. You'll also need to get apache, PHP, mysql, and Subversion running right on your machine. If you are on a windows machine, the people that can help you through this process are Anu, Rich, or Kasper. If you have a mac or linux machine, Joe, Gardner can help you.
4. You may come with certain bugs you want to fix or areas of the site you want to work on, but if you are looking for things to do, there are many many ideas and examples in the public Bug Tracker, the Category:Requests for Enhancement and Category:Feature Requests pages on the wiki, and the Brainstorm and Cockroach groups on the CS site.
5. The best written guide to understanding the code is on the other wiki. Other good resources are: the public and private email lists, our our IRC channel, and the NZC Contact voice telephone number, as well as the doc/* directory in the source.
6. When you're ready to submit code, read the Tech team guidelines to learn about how your code will be reviewed and what kinds of processes we use to figure out what goes on the live site.