Redmine

For transparency, here's a disclosure of the accompanying email I sent to the user (and CC JPL):

Dear Petr,

our plugin directory is only helpful for our users if they find plugins they can actually use with vanilla redmine.
This is why today, I removed 19 of your plugins from our plugin directory on redmine.org: All were either not available for download, i.e. the page linked to did not provide a link to the plugin, or were marked "EasyRedmine only" on the linked page.
Our users were already quite upset, see the attached ratings and comments for some reactions...

I'll carefully review all plugins in the coming months and clean up those that are not / no longer for download or don't work with the redmine versions released from redmine.org.

I want to explicitly state that this cleanup is not intended to harm individuals or companies, but for the best of our users, who use the plugin directory to find plugins that work with redmine (contrary to plugins that only work in forks of redmine).

Sincerely yours
Jan Niggemann

Next batch

Removed http://www.redmine.org/plugins/virtuemart-integration, the website linked to (http://www.easyredmine.com/online-store/easy-redmine-plugins/easyredmine-virtuemart-e-commerce) 404s and the plugin can not be found using the search function.

Annotated
http://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_luxury_buttons and http://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_kpi.

Removed direct "Buy" link from http://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_report_filters

I would like to volunteer to help clean up the Plugin pages - with the aim of making Redmine look like a more vibrant, active community.

Many plugin owners have failed to update their pages -so the plugin looks abandoned - but in reality many have been forked on GitHub and a newer version is available!

But because volunteers like me can't edit the plugin pages -we can't help to tidy up right now!

In contrast, the Theme page is editable -and I have updated and tidied that page once or twice a year for some time.

Tasks for Plugin pages:

• show that plugins DO support newer Redmine: change Github URLs to forks that are newer
• have a new field 'date of last update': currently the only date at the top is data the plugin started: but a key question for plugin users: is how recent is the activity on this plugin?

A secondary task - would be to edit forums - where old plugins are discussed: to place at top of page a message that explains the discussion is old and show a URL to the latest plugin / or state that p"lugin is not needed as Redmine version X onwards includes that functionality."
eg Redmine Collapse plugin

For now - here is some tidying needed:

Add a text block to the top of the Plugin Template: to encourage use of the 'fork' link in Github to find newer forks (some visitors to the site may not be GitHub savvy)

Delete - (the service linked to is dead): http://www.redmine.org/plugins/bugcam

This Plugin has a fork that supports Redmine 3
- http://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_charts2
- this fork: https://github.com/jp-yendo/redmine_charts2

State it supports V2 and change github to better fork, as I listed in 'review' at footer
- http://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_carousel

Same again: the new fork here supports 3 and 2
- http://www.redmine.org/plugins/mmqb

more plugins that need editing:

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/backlogs
- show more recent fork that supports 3 eg: https://github.com/JohnBat26/redmine_backlogs
- delete URL (that page no longer relevant): http://www.redminebacklogs.net/

https://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_auto_percent
- delete: because core Redmine now does this already

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/projectstreeview
- instead of the 'redmine team note' at the top: update the Plugin compatibility data and insert the new fork: that way when someone searches for plugins that support 3: they will find this one! Currently they will not find it!

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/extended_spent_time
- change github fork: and 'Compatible with' to 3.2

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_better_gantt_chart
- newer fork says Compatible with 2.4: and a reviewer says compatible with 2.5
- this one: https://github.com/kulesa/redmine_better_gantt_chart

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_issue_reminder
- newer fork says compatible upto 3.0
- https://github.com/Hopebaytech/redmine_mail_reminder

more plugins to update@

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/clear_plan
- add COMMERCIAL warning at top.
- consider: are the 5-star ratings bogus? (are from users no longer in the system, who all gave 5-star rating at a similar time)

Consider: a change to the Plugin template:
- add two text-area fields:
- WHY is this functionality useful, and WHEN
- WHAT this plugin does

eg this plugin is not very helpful:
- http://www.redmine.org/plugins/close_column
- when it only gives the WHAT 'This plugin adds a first and last closed date column to issue lists.'

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_close_button
- change github to the fork at the page bottom: which seems to be the original creator of the plugin anyway
- update 'compatible with'

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/commit_relation_editor
- remove it - as it says, is not need for RM > 1.4

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/advanced_roadmap_v2
- add note at top to say it is a fork of this, which is also being updated:
- http://www.redmine.org/plugins/advanced_roadmap

more plugins to tidy

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_gantt_with_date
- add banner at top: "Redmine 3.2.0 has the same feature which this plugin provides"
which is what is said at GitHub:
- https://github.com/vividtone/redmine_gantt_with_date

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/monitoring-controlling
- add banner at top to say: "works in Redmine 3 after renaming the plugin directory to redmine_monitoring_controlling (ie use underscores between words)
- as that is what people say down in the reviews
- update Compatibility too

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/project_alias
- add at top that it works wth 3 with fork: http://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_project_alias_2

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/quick-project-planner
- add Commercial warning at top, based on the experience of the reviewer at the page bottom.

Delete - (the service linked to is dead): http://www.redmine.org/plugins/bugcam

Done

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/backlogs
- delete URL (that page no longer relevant): http://www.redminebacklogs.net/

Done

https://www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_auto_percent
- delete: because core Redmine now does this already

Done

http://www.redmine.org/plugins/clear_plan
- add COMMERCIAL warning at top.

Done

- consider: are the 5-star ratings bogus? (are from users no longer in the system, who all gave 5-star rating at a similar time)

All accounts had yahoo email addresses, had no activity except for the 5-star ratings and were only used once - on the day of account creation... I deleted all those accounts and removed all those 5-start ratings as they were clearly bogus.

I am hesitant to change plugin pages to something else, because the plugin pages are actually "owned" by the plugin creators, who would find their name connected to a plugin URI that is not "their" plugin.

What do you think?