Magazine Progress System Faq

[kbf_private_joker]

We have a new system for tracking our progress on the magazines. The URL is http://www.retromags.com/wip. Anyone can view the tasks, but in order to add/edit the content, you will need a login. We all know that retromags has grown in popularity over the last 6 months. When I started contributing scans, there were only about 4-5 other people doing the same. Now there are probably over 1 dozen. This is awesome, however, it can be frustrating to a newcomer who really wants to contribute, but doesn't know what others are working on or what magazines we still need to acquire. Hopefully this system can alleviate that problem.

To answer a few basic questions:

1. How do I add a task?

- First you will need a login. When signing up, make sure to put email as your form of communication. After that you login and select in the drop-down list in the upper left the magazine. On the menubar there is a link called "Add new task". Click that and then you can add a new task. Please try to see if anyone else has added that magazine before opening a new task.

2. What are all the filters on the left side of the task edit screen for?

- Because the Flyspray system hasn't reached version 1.0 yet, all of the options on the left side are really for software development, but they can really be applied to any type of todo list.

Task Type: either magazine or poster

Category: Edited or raw scan (a lot of the uploaded mags are still in an unedited state, so this will differentiate)

Status: The major milestones, starting with "Missing" all the way to "Uploaded to Retromags"

Assigned-to: Select if you want to be in charge of completing the task

Operating System: ignore

Severity: This is similar to priority (below), but has the benefit of adding color coding to the task. For example, a high priority task will show as red, while one marked as very low has the lightest color. I usually use them as follows:

- High: Missing the magazine

- Medium: Someone has the mag, but it isn't scanned yet

- Low: Magazine scanned, and even possibly uploaded, but not edited yet

- Very Low: Magazine scanned, edited, and uploaded (no additional work required on it)

Priority: ignore

Reported version: ignore

Due in version: ignore

Due date: ignore

Percent complete: Useful for letting people how far you are on the scan. I also put raw scans at 80% to show that there is still some work left on it. 100% means no other work required.

Private: ignore

3. I have one of the missing magazines. What do i do?

- If you are willing to sacrifice it for the good of the site, edit the task and add a comment that you have it. Also, change the status to "In Possession".

4. I see something called "My Searches" at the top. What is that for?

- This is one of the coolest features of the system. On the tasklist page, you'll notice that there is a "Search this project for" button and an "Advanced" link. If you click the link, you can apply a filter on the tasklist. In the bottom right, there is a "Save search as" section. Add a name for that search and then you can use it from anywhere in the site and immediately see the search. It also saves sorted lists in the sort order you used. These searches are very useful for seeing what is missing and what other people are working on.

5. I see when I open a task that a vote can be cast. How does that work?

- The way I see things working with voting is that other people can vote on the magazines they want to see scanned next. Only issue is that I don't think the votes can be reset after the magazine is done, but of course then it will have a different status.

Probably more questions to come later as people ask them. Please PM me if anything doesn't make sense or you have a question.