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panna ([personal profile] panna) wrote in [site community profile] dw_dev2010-03-25 12:55 pm
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Calendar functionality (GSOC 2010)

Hello!

I'll very shortly introduce myself here, just not to be out of the blue :P :
I'm Ania, a Computer Science student from Gdynia, Poland who would like to participate in this year's Google Summer of Code (GSOC). 

And - yes!- the point:
I'd be pleased to create a tool that would be useful for DreamWidth Members: a calendar - on-line time organizer. ( http://wiki.dwscoalition.org/notes/Summer_of_code#Calendar_Functionality )

I would do as much as I can to create a practical, intuitive and configurable tool that could meet Your expectations, therefore I'd be very thankful for any requests, suggestions, advice.
 
Below I attach an outline of the calendar functionality. It bases on the requirements from Dreamwidth GSOC ideas page and the research I conducted among my family and friends about the functionality that they look for in this kind of utilities or they think this tools lack of: 
 
 
I TECHNICAL FEATURES
 
1. Synchronization handling (proposition below is a open list of possible options): 
a. iCalendar format (RFC2445) - used e.g. in Google calendar
b. CSV format
 
2. Exporting calendar to printable format
 
 
II USER FEATURES
 
 3. Multiple calendars
- Calendars may share information with each other
 
4. Events
a. Relating events to categories
  b. Support for recurring events
- Choice of recur period
c. Possibility to set a note
d. Possibility to assign file, etc
e. Possibility to assign to persons, groups...
 
5. Group events
a. Group events - possibility to create events shown in group members calendars
b. Event invitations
 
6. Notifications (highlighting on calendar, pop-ups, email)
a. Reminder of incoming events
b. Reminding of past - not done events
 
7. Reconfigurability and personalization
a. User's ability to control calendar's visibility (public, private, among group)
b. Calendar features personalization
c. Configurable time zone
d. Configurable calendars days (e.g. Mon-Fri), hours, …
e. Configurable design
 
8. Design
a. Skin personalization
b. Coloring events depending on it's category, priority
c. Highlighting events that are of a high priority, are already delayed, etc...
d. Pinning images in the background of an event/day/… view
 
9. Searching
a. Pick a data/month/year and search through the portal for specified by User data, events
b. Displaying history concerning specific category, person meet, etc
 
10. Others
a. Todo notes -> events to place in time in the future
b. Events -> todo notes  -possibility to "unschedule" an event
 
 
III WORTH CONSIDERATION
 
11. Interesting fields to look at
a. Weather calendar
- Displaying background views for e.g. future week weather
- Retrieving data from web service
 
b. Sms notification about important events
- Possible only for particular phone operators
 
c. Integration with MS Outlook



Once again - I'd be very thankful for any comment, suggestion or criticism and for your attitude to this subject. I'm looking very forward to this.

Thanks!
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cesy: "Cesy" - An old-fashioned quill and ink (Default)

[personal profile] cesy 2010-03-25 12:11 pm (UTC)(link)
How would group calendar events interact with communities or custom access groups?
northern: "northern" written in gray text across a raven (Default)

[personal profile] northern 2010-03-25 12:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Sounds like a great thing to do! Good luck!
denise: Image: Me, facing away from camera, on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome (Default)

[staff profile] denise 2010-03-25 01:35 pm (UTC)(link)
This looks like a great start!

The major piece of feedback I have: it would be very good to tie this in to the existing security models we have (access list/custom access groups). That way, people could put events on their calendar that were only visible to people they'd given access to, or create new access groups ("everyone but Denise") and make events visible to those. (That would be particularly useful for, say, planning someone's surprise birthday party.)

In general, DW users are very concerned about privacy and security, which is something to keep in mind as you design things: people want to make sure that things are seen only by the people who they let see them.
brownbetty: (Default)

[personal profile] brownbetty 2010-03-25 04:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I have always wanted to be able to track my period on-line using a service that I already am subscribed to, so if events could be set to private or semi-private (using the existing DW WTF groups?) that would be pretty super.
dimitar: Hiking in the Alps (Default)

[personal profile] dimitar 2010-04-04 01:25 am (UTC)(link)
Some support from a fellow GSoC student - this looks totally awesome! Inspiring me to put some more effort in my proposal :)
panna: (Default)

Functionalities summary

[personal profile] panna 2010-04-07 11:51 am (UTC)(link)
Hello!
This is a draft of my proposal for the Calendar functionality. I'd like to present hera the functional aspects of the application and ask for comments: both indicating essential features as well as concepts that need to be reconsidered.


  1. 1. General description

    2. The calendar I'd like to implement is a functionality that would allow dw Users to

    1. a. Organise their own time

    2. b. Inform/obtain information about events that are public or shared with other users

    3. c. Search through date

    4. d. I'd like to propose here somthing more than some basic calendar functionalities - something that maybe isn't crucial for this tool, but gives it a different, special meaning:)




  2. 2. The focus

    3. I'd like to draw the special attention in the project to:

    1. a. User friendliness


      • - Releasing alpha-versions of calendar functionalities for obtaining dw Users opinions

      • - Trying to make the most popular functionalities set in as little clicks as possible

      • - Possibilities to personalize the calendar look


    2. - Draw special attention to security aspect (as I was already suggested to do:) )

    3. b. Extensible code design


      • - While implementing, I'd do my best to create the code according to so-called the "good practices" that I've already learned and I very (very) hope to learn during the project. I'd try to prepare the code for any possible future extensions.

      • - Well… I'd do my best to stick to http://wiki.dwscoalition.org/notes/Programming_Guidelines and other suggertions





  3. 3. Main features

    4. There are some essential features that I find the calendar/organiser should undoubtfully have (cause otherwise it couldn't be called so:P)

    I've divided the into three categories:

    • - The blue ones - basic calendar functionalites

    • - The green ones - some functionalities my family members, friends and I found useful

    • - The pink ones -thoughts that may not be exact describtion of a calendar/organiser, but are some personal (created in cooperation with my friends) imaginations, visions of making a practical tool a kind of thing that could intersperse it's casuality








    I'd like to describe more precisely the pink ones - the ones that (I'd love if) give the calendar the THING :) (but this are very-very drafts that I'd like to extend in the nearest hours) :



    Weather calendar:
    Displaying the weather (it now would see it as an icon) for the nearest days, regarding e.g. Dw User profile's location - according to information achieved from webservice.



    Idea calendar: organise your time chaotically:P
    This is a concept of a calendar that randomly could suggest ideas from the categories set - which could be e.g.: activities, quotations, interesting topic, movies, music, book, etc.
    There're, I think, various activities, titles, thougths that we even don't have idea of or we forgot that it is an interesting thing:) I may call it one-look idea giver, thoughts reminder (like: oh! I read this book in my childhood! It was great! Maybe I can present it to my friend!).



    Sms notifications:
    This seems to me as a bit of challenge. I don't know yet anything about the solutions for this issue and it may overwhelm me, but if Dw Users would find it important and if the the time let's I'd enjoy at least searching the subject and present possible (maybe in future implementation - or maybe in this summer's) ways:)






  4. Security issue
    --I'm about to sum up everything i've already learned about this issue and write it down.







Questions:



  1. 1. I'd very welcome any comment on which functionalities Dw Users find at least practical, which one (including of course -as I've already learned - security:P) are really important and which may seem a dud;)



  2. 2. This is a quote from Dw GSoC propositions: "Bonus points if the user can schedule events through their application of choice and have those events show up on the web site."


    • - I would like to ask for some examples of this "applications of choice". The way I see it now is that those applications can export the data a format that I should put consideration into implementing; like XML, iCalendar, etc.

    • - If it is so, which formats should be suported?




  3. 3. Well… I'm not familiar with Perl (my experience yet are some lectures on it, but I do have already some experience in script languages:) ), (but I can assure that I'd put down to both language learning and trying to take advantages of good practices of it!) and I'd be very thankful for some suggestions on the libraries that I should put greater consideration to while trying to suggest some technical solutions for the features.



  4. 4. I wonder if I could know how important is the calendar functionality for the Community:) There're e.g. also client applicationts that I'd really enjoy designing of, especially as there was already a "Desktop/mobile client brainstorm post"
    thread set up by Denise. However, I don't know if I should propose more than one proposition.



  5. 5. Should I post my posts (like this one) in some other place(s)?



I'm already very-very thankful for such a bunch of responses I'was already given! And (again:P) - for the (I'd call) "general GSoC posts" that in diverse way guides at what dw is and help to acclimate here:P

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