linux.conf.au 2010 will be held in Wellington from 18 January to 23 January 2010

19 June, 2009

Easy Ways to Help Improve the LCA Website

If you know Python and are interested in helping to improve the LCA conference management system, zookeepr, then you can:
look on the bug tracker for low priority / wishlist bugs which haven't been assigned to anybody yet.
Alternatively, we'd love to have others help out in these general areas:
  • make it work in different browsers
  • improve readability/usability of forms (stylesheet tweaks?)
  • add more witty/funny comments

How to get started with zookeepr

Grab the latest branch from Launchpad:
  1. Download Bazaar
  2. Signup for an account on Launchpad
  3. Identify yourself to Bazaar:
    bzr launchpad-login username
  4. Create a local branch of zookeepr:
    bzr branch lp:zookeepr zookeepr.trunk
Then install the latest development version of pylons:
  1. Download the Pylons installer
  2. Install pylons:
    python go-pylons.py my_pylons_python_dir
  3. Add this shortcut to your ~/.bashrc:
    alias pylons="source /full_path_to/my_pylons_python_dir/bin/activate"
Follow these instructions to install zookeepr and its dependencies, then:
  1. Initialise the environment:
    source ~/.bashrc
    pylons
  2. Initialise zookeepr (from within your bzr branch):
    python setup.py develop
    paster setup-app development.ini
  3. Start the application:
    paster serve --reload development.ini
  4. Connect to your own zookeepr instance: http://localhost:5000/"
  5. Login using the default credentials: admin@zookeepr.org / password
Yes, the initial setup is a bit of a PITA. Unfortunately, it's unlikely to change since we are, as you can imagine, currently focusing our energies on organising a conference :)

But if you want to help simplify the bootstrapping/installation process or if you're keen on improving the developer documentation, we definitely want to hear from you!