Twitarr v5

edited August 2014 in JoCo Cruise
I'm planning some changes to Twitarr for this year.

In addition to technical changes (faster on older phones, mongoDB instead of Redis, non-ember version) there are some NEW FEATURES!

The biggest feature is the addition of FORUMS. One thing I noticed last year was that people wanted to have more focused conversations on the boat, such as shadow cruise events (Dance party!) or experiences (Non-disney Jamaica makes me sad) or what have you. The twitter stream 'o consciousness doesn't really facilitate conversations. I could do like twitter does, and have threads run through the stream, but I feel that is hard for people to understand and won't work well on a phone.

I'm thinking there will be a way to start a forum post from a twitter-style stream post. So if you see something that is worthy of more discussion then a link will take you either to the existing forum or start a new one. This will replace replies in the twitarr stream.

The UI will be much more mobile focused. I'm removing as many of the bells and whistles as seems practical.

Seamail will look a little more SMS-like than last year. You'll also be able to invite people to an existing conversation. Should help with scheduling.

Search - probably the most requested feature. Not 100% certain how this will work but I'll figure it out.

Seamails will mark as read once you've read them. That was a borderline bug from last year.

Profile photos are a possibility. It's on the backlog.

Tracking forums might be a useful thing too. I'll have to put more thought into that.

Unliking posts because phone has tiny buttons.  :)

...

I think that's about all I've got for now. Thoughts?

(I suppose it's technically not v5, but it helps to associate the version to the cruise iteration)

Comments

  • Technically there was paper-Twitter on the first cruise, so call it v5 ;-)
  • I really like the stream -> forum mechanic. That sounds awesome!

    I can have the server up for you at any time for testing. I know it's probably not convenient this far out, but let me know when it would be useful.
  • It would be convenient for me, since that means I can test CruiseMonkey integration against it as I develop...
  • have Windows 8.1 phone, can test ;)
  • @gbadsen Speaking of Windows phone, we need to test your phone heavily this year.
  • Those are fantastic ideas, and this sounds really exciting.  The forum-ish concept is particularly great - then a dedicated topic would be much easier to read through and understand.  Thanks so much for your work on this!

    If you have need of Android testers, I'd happily do that.
  • How about hosting a text only copy of Wikipedia?  Someone else brought this up (I wish I knew who so I could give credit where credit is due), and I thought it was a great idea.  It seems pretty reasonable, given it just needs to run as a LAMP server.

    @kvort_the_duck, what are you planning on using for hosting/running Twittarr?  Apache?  If so, it should be pretty easy to get them to run together on the same server.
  • @grimoire: He's using nginx. Should still be very doable.
  • I think Wikipedia is a good idea and hereby nominate Someone Else to do it.  :)

    I can help with nginx, although it seems like a common enough use case that there will probably be exact instructions somewhere.

    Glad everybody likes the forums - now we just need an implementation!  :)

    @gbadsen - I'd like to get an early start on integration between Twitarr and CM this year. So anytime you're able to stand up the server is good by me.

    >>>>>>  Nathan
  • edited August 2014
    I'll pick up Wikipedia.  Should be fun!  :)

    What flavour (and version) of Linux?
  • @origamislayer The new non-ember UI is getting testing on a Windows Phone before any other device :)
  • @wingar: Good. I was heartbroken when I heard @gbadsen didn't have access to what his hard work enabled.
  • I'm unfamiliar with what happened, can you share?
  • Is there a thread here anywhere for CruiseMonkey suggestions? (That assumes @RangerRick actually *wants* suggestions, of course!)
  • Essentially Twitt-arrr worked on every Windows phone except his :-(
  • @Grimoire - recent version Ubuntu server, I think. I'm almost 100% certain it was debian based, probably because I asked for it to be so.
  • (Ubuntu is indeed based on Debian.)
  • Hey! Sorry I've been incommunicado! I can get the server up this weekend. I still have the vm from last year - do you want me to stand that back up, or build something brand new?
  • I don't suppose there's any particular reason we need to update it unless your infrastructure needs something newer, Kvort...
  • Vagrant! Docker! A three laptop CoreOS cluster!

    Okay maybe not.

  • At least patch the vm for Shellshock?
  • ...and turn off SSLv3?  ;)
  • Yes. There will be much patching and securing, for sure. The big question is whether the OS/infrastructure was ok, or whether a different setup would be better.
  • Hmm. 

    I'm pretty sure I installed RVM on there so I can upgrade JRuby easily. It'd be very helpful to have the nginx config since I don't think I remembered to save it. I can remove Redis easily enough. The only thing I'll have to do is add MongoDB, but I'd have to do that anyway.

    So yes, same server would be stellar.  :)

    >>>>>>>  Nathan
  • @chetman - I consider Ubuntu to be a subset of Debian. It's "a debian", in the parlance of ... me.

    This is versus "a red hat", which does a number of unnatural things like not having /sbin on the path, and using a package manager that hates me.

    Aptitude only has a minor loathing for me, so it's a step up.
  • Yum/RPM hates everyone
  • I started another thread but realized that ?all? the people I'd like to talk to are here (and thereby may get notified by bumping here).

    I've decided to spearhead getting Fibbage onto the boat. It has server and client craziness (plus you play on your cell phone), so it isn't quite simple. I've gotten in touch with Jackbox Games and they are willing to help out. But I have many questions. :]
  • edited November 2014
    We using the same program as last year? (for me it was Android)
  • edited December 2014
    For those developing and deploying "Twit-Arr":

    My registration for the domain "twit-arr.com", which I registered prior to JCCC3, is expiring soon. The domain is useful because the internal networks on ships generally allow DNS resolution even if one is not paying for Internet access, and so the eponymous host name (and host names within the domain) could be set to resolve to an internal address on the ship.

    Would anyone like to take it over? Or should I let it lapse?
  • How much does the hosting cost? I don't know that I want to take it over but I'd be willing to help keep it available (financially).
  • I would also be willing to help keep it afloat financially.

  • edited December 2014
    I pay $11/yr for the registration -- a trivial cost. It just does not make sense for me to hang onto it, since I am not involved in the creation of the system and haven't even been on the past two cruises.
     
    Hosting is separate and can be done by anyone with a server, or the domain can be "parked" at a registrar for free. I just figured it should be in the custody of one of the people who are actually developing and deploying the system... or maybe given to the "home office" for Drew to manage. I'll approve a transfer to any of the above if it is requested; just let me know.
  • piepie
    edited January 2015
    i'll happily take it over. where is it registered? when will it expire? you can contact me at [email protected]
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