Field Status

The Future

I have lots of upcoming changes in my life including work, moving to a new house, son starting kindergarden, etc. For the past several months I have focused on client work and have not put any time towards any of my projects. The ones that were alive and kicking have now been left for dead and others barely made it past the planning phase while some have a few lines of code started. It isn’t that I don’t have any interest in my projects anymore but more that I haven’t been managing my time very well. I have had plenty of free time away from client work and the family that doesn’t get put to good use. After doing some thinking on my projects and what I really want to do with them I have made some choices and will outline some here.

2532|Gigs

www.2532gigs.com | Version 1.2.2 (stable) | OpenSource
The Now: This was first complete opensource project and has had a great following, plenty of downloads, and is still in use. However, we haven’t had a release since January 29, 2008 which was just bug fixes. We have a few bugs still not fixed and several features half completed. We did start work on the next full featured version and completed several new features and fixed a few bugs but it never got completed and after several months it is still sitting on my HD.
The Future: Several new and amazing features have already been completed and tested along with a few bug fixes. I plan to refocus and start a rewrite of the script to fit the new features and some future plans I have for it. This script is far from dead but will be on life support for a little bit longer. Goal is to have a new stable version by the end of the year.

FieldStatus

www.fieldstatus.com | Private Beta Next | Web App
The Now: FieldStatus came about from a client script who needed a way to notify their club members of the status of their fields (it was a soccer club) via email and text messages. They were using a web app but that site was not only lacking some features but hadn’t been updated in some time and their contact email was bouncing. It is hard to use a site when there is nobody behind it. The project which started out as an opensource project turned into my first web app instead. The project has been started with lots of code laid down but currently no version to test (or at least public).
The Future: I have been excited for this app since starting it. I have talked to several clubs and organizations who would like to use it and the prices they are willing to pay (most use the same dead site my client used before). This will be a paid service with a free version for smaller clubs/orgs. This is also far from dead and might be above 2532|Gigs on my list. My goal is to have a private beta by the end of the year.

undergroundCMS

no url yet | No Releases | OpenSource
The Now: This started about from 2532|Gigs and the lack of a really good cms designed for bands and venues. I started planning and some outlining code until a new project called StashCMS was released the same month I started coding my CMS. StashCMS had most of the features I had planned to include and although the design was lacking and some minor features needed it was a great start for a first release. I didn’t see a need to continue this script when there was a really good alternative to use. I later was going to volunteer to code for StashCMS but before I could after the first main release the script died and the developer stopped providing support and said no future development.
The Future: As I noticed from the people using StashCMS and the forums with people still looking for support or new features, there is still a place for a great CMS designed around bands/venues. So, when I thought undergroundCMS was dead it looks like it might come back to life sometime next year. No real goal for this but to see if while working on 2532|Gigs I can have a first beta release early next year.

Some other projects that are not dead yet but I still don’t have much information on including In The Falls which right now I don’t want to give out too much information, Team Management System which is in private beta for a client right now and will have a release early next year (this won’t be opensource, it will have a fee attached). There you have it, some of my past and future projects and some plans for them. Lets see how things go. I plan to blog more on the projects as I start the back up and get some releases ready.

Updates Soon

I know the site has been lacking on posts the past several weeks and I do plan to get back to posting. For those who follow me on twitter know how busy I have been between work, looking for new clients, coaching my sons soccer team and still working on settling since the move. For some reason it always takes us months to get settled into a place. We have boxes that haven’t been touched still, nothing on any walls, etc. I have also been working on a new design to put up here for the past several months and its still not finished. Looking at it now, I don’t even think that I like it. Might just use a theme for now and set my goal for my design in January. I also haven’t forgotten about my OpenSource Projects either. 2532|Gigs is still an active project however development has been on hold for awhile. I talked with Nick (the other developer) and we have plans to pick back up on development in the coming weeks and release a new version very soon and shoot for v2.0 early 2008. FieldStatus is just about ready for its first release. I have been working on it the past few weeks bug fixing and putting the final touches on it. Its currently in use on a client site and works great. It will be released as an OpenSource script until January 2008 when it will be moved to a hosted app with several price levels. More details on this will come later this year. Thats about all I have for now. Things will calm down in November and I will be back to posting and developing some of my projects (and some new ones next year).

Field Status

UPDATE: I’ve posted a screen shot of the current alpha version here.

My newest project is Field Status. I started planning the project a few weeks ago and last week started coding. Field Status is a script for schools, clubs, and organizations that have fields that are open or closed due to weather or improvements. Basically it allows instant field communications between the club and its members. It offers a way for the club to change the status of a field to Open or Closed via a Web-Based Control Panel. You can also attach a short message to the status update. It has a built in mailing list that offers your club a chance to receive status changes via email or their cell phone. The club is also able to include the current status of each field on their website via one simple line of php. They also include the (un)subscribe email form on their site. The Control Panel allows you to view the email addresses in the database, add new ones or delete current ones.

The script came about when a client of mine, a soccer club in Lawton, Oklahoma wanted a better way to communicate their field status with its members. They have two soccer complexes and with thousands of kids in the club they have several teams with practices at different times and needed a way to communicate with the coaches and parents on when fields are open or closed without delays. The script is currently in an alpha release. I have a few copies running in different environments (php4, php5, mysql4, mysql 5, etc) and so far everything is good. I still have a to do list to finished the script but its coming.

I plan to make this my first hosted project. The script will be up for download on sourceforge during its beta phase and the first stable release. I plan to provide it as a hosted script that will allow you to register, create your club, add fields, and update status via the Field Status website. It will require no downloads and no installation as it will be hosted on its own server. All users will have to do is copy and paste a couple of lines of code (to show the current status of each field) and copy and paste a few lines for the subscribe form to their own site. All my projects and scripts in the paste have been opensource downloadable so it will be interesting for this project to be hosted. Currently I’m the only developer but I’m looking for somebody to join to help get the project moved from what I have to a hosted app. I still have several things on the to-do list before its ready to be used. Currently the installer, user system, user security (salted md5 passwords), change field status and emailing status to users is complete and working. I just gotta finish the settings, subscribe forms, and status include. Hopefully I’ll have the first beta up for download by the weekend. If anybody is interested in joining as a developer let me know. The script is written in php/sql. I’m hoping to have a demo up by then as well.

Developer Needed

This is pasted from my post on the 2532|Gigs Forums. I am looking for one or two developers to join on a new project (debating on whether it will be a downloadable script or a hosted app (web 2.0 style). For more information just contact me at twofivethreetwo@gmail.com. I am hoping to finish planning and actually start coding within the next week or two and hope to get something online soon after that (at least a beta version).

I am in the process of starting a new project. I am still debating whether the project will be a downloadable (opensource) script or a hosted script (i’ll provide hosting, domain, etc). The basis of the script is a status updater. There is a site called statusme.com which allows sporting clubs to communicate with members about the status of their fields. One of my clients actually uses the site. It seems that the site hasn’t been updated in years and has come into alot of problems with its system and the contact form doesn’t seem to go anywhere. I have been asked by several of the clubs who use this site if I could come up with an alternative. I thought it would be great to create and useful script for them and others. My first thought was a hosted app (web 2.0 style) like statusme.com but have also thought about releasing it (maybe doing both). I haven’t started the script yet (just thinking about things and outlining things) but I’m looking for some help (one or two developers is all).

Here is the current outline (basic) for what the script will do (if its a hosted app). The club will register (and all that goes with that, confirming email, etc). They will then be able to log in and set the field status to Open or Closed and attach Additional Comments (a text field) to it and update the status. The status is then updated and an email is sent out to everybody that has opted to get emails from that club (each club will basically have their own mailing list). We will provide code snippets to allow them to put a (un)subscribe form on their site (without having to send users to our site, if its hosted). We will also post code snippets on different ways to display the status on their site. I mainly want two ways. One is text ‘Open’ and ‘Closed’ and the second is image (a green light and red light). It has been suggested to add a text messaging feature to allow users to get text messages (but this isn’t on my list right now).

The project is still in planning so if your a developer and have time to spend on developing this project let me know. I am open to suggestions and ideas so feel free to be creative and since its still being planned, I would like more input. If your interested email me at twofivethreetwo @ gmail . com