[kforge-dev] Re: kforge trac/svn access problems, plus a feature request

Sat Jan 14 14:54:43 UTC 2006

Dear Ori,

Thanks for this. It's great to get feedback. Comments interleaved below:

Ori Peleg wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> First, let me say that kforge interests me _a lot_ - where I work we are very
> much in the market for a system that allows easy Subversion+Trac installations
> set up and management per project, and access control is a big plus too
> (read-write, read-only, and no-access, per project). I've only skimmed your
> sites so far, but I'm sure I'll be back.
> 
> See 'Trac/SVN access problems' below to see why this isn't a Trac ticket :-)
> 
> x. 'Projects' should list all projects by default
> 
> Or maybe have it a configurable option.
> Did I simply miss this feature? Possibly...
> 
> For a SourceForge-sized repository, I suppose it makes sense. But for a group or
> small company, this is too fine-grained.
> 
> For example, on KnowledgeForge, there are 8 registered projects. I have to guess
> their first letter to find them :-)

I agree with you on this one and it's been on the list for a while. The 
main reason it hasn't been done is that while useful we haven't felt it 
has very high priority. Furthermore we are developing a complementary 
package registry system (called Open Registry/CKAN) that aims to 
complement KForge by taking care of tracking packages and projects. We 
plan to have a first release of this in the next 3-6 months. More 
information about this is at:

http://www.okfn.org/kforge/wiki/OpenRegistry

> x. Trac/SVN access problems
> 
> From https://knowledgeforge.net/project/kforge/, when I click on 'Trac' or 'Svn'
> I arrive at the 'members' section, this is why this message isn't Trac tickets
> instead :-)

Another bug/feature. This is because at present the permissions system 
isn't allowing you see to information on services because you aren't a 
project member. This is probably not desired behaviour and we are in the 
process of updating the permissions system and this will be changed.

Note also that this just restricting your access to information about 
the project service. The actual project service is available at:

http://project.knowledgeforge.net/kforge/trac/trac/

the format being:

http://project.<domain-name>/<project-name>/<plugin-name>/<service-name>

You can read more at:

http://www.okfn.org/kforge/wiki/KforgeGuide

> x. Reading Trac without registration
> 
> I was required to register to access Trac. Maybe read-only access is preferable
> as a default?

You were? That is odd as can access:

http://project.knowledgeforge.net/kforge/trac/trac/

without registration (I have set the kforge project to allow read-only 
access)

> I guess this isn't as big an issue in corporate settings, I know it isn't in
> mine, but seems restrictive for FLOSS development.

agree and it should be the case that you can access it ....

> x. Registering loses navigation location
> 
> I registered to get to Trac, then logged in. My navigated location was lost, I
> had to navigate back to projects/kforge and click 'Trac'.
> 
> It would be nice if after logging in I would be forwarded to where I originally
> tried to get, kforge's 'Trac'.

Good point. Another important usability feature that we'll be looking to 
add.

Regards,

Rufus