New Forum Board!

General discussion about MantisBT Plugins

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Starbuck
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Joined: 14 Feb 2006, 02:53
Location: USA
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New Forum Board!

Post by Starbuck »

Hey Everyone - We're going to try something new here. Many of the questions in the general forum boards follow this pattern:
Question: Can I do 'this' with MantisBT ?
Answer:
- You can with a plugin.
- You can with a change to the core.
- No, you cannot.
Well, this is software, we can do anything we want. The unstated essence of those answers is the same:
If you or someone you know can code with PHP,
and you or this person reads the docs on how to create plugin,
then, yes, this can be done.
But if you do not know how to code and do not want to motivate someone to write code for you,
then, no, you will not be able to do what you want with the current resources.
However, most people interpret the answer as:
I don't know how to code,
and I don't want to pay anyone for what I want,
therefore, I will simply do without this.
(And maybe) I need to look some other software that has this feature.
It doesn't need to be like that. You don't need to completely re-work your entire issue tracking policies and re-educate all of your users, simply because a feature isn't built-in to the core.

All FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) has exactly the same challenges, and usually the same solution.
The core is created for free by people who give of their time. The core can't possibly include all imaginable features. So a plugin mechanism is built-in to allow people with specific needs to do whatever they want.
The next step is to use the tools to get the functionality.
The next step is not to leave the platform to find another one, and possibly end up in the same position later.
We (collectively) can do better!

The goals of this new section include:
  • Encourage people to learn more about MantisBT plugins, just to know that anything is possible.
  • Encourage people to refer developers here.
  • Help developers to learn more about the platform.
  • Build an ecosystem where there are many more plugins available, as with WordPress or Drupal, Eclipse or NetBeans, phpBB or XenForo, Firefox or Chrome, Android or iOS. All of these platforms thrive with innumerable plugins, and we should too.
  • Help to ensure good plugins get ongoing maintenance.
  • Provide a forum of understanding for the processes of Free and Open Source Software, and the roles of FOSS producers and consumers.
  • Facilitate sharing code and information about plugin development.
  • Provide a single place where people can ask for specific plugins, and ideally to offer motivation to developers to create solutions.
  • Provide a place for developers to showcase their work, announce new plugins, ask for feedback, and post updates on their progress.
If you know a feature isn't in MantisBT but you'd like to see it, let's talk about a plugin. Some requests might be better processed as requests for a change to the core, but there's nothing wrong with creating a plugin and then later pulling it into the core. But if Mantis does have the functionality, you may be referred back to other sections. Similarly, if you are referred here from one of the other forums, please link back to your original request and explain in detail what you'd like to do. All of these things revolve around turning a No answer into Yes, allowing you to get on with selling your own services or widgets, or doing whatever you do where you make use of MantisBT.

There's a lot there. We will probably need a few sub-boards here to keep it organized. For now, let's use this one "General" board for everything and see how it works.
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