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Tuesday, 04 March 2008
Shared Source - revisited
As some of you might know, - my job in Sitecore has been slightly redefined. I’m now VP, Technical Marketing. Basically I will still be working hard on whatever I’ve done recently, but will slowly move into the more strategic and technical marketing direction.
This doesn’t mean you will start seeing less technical blog posts here. I will have to keep up my tech skills, - and perhaps it will be so even more. But it means that Sitecore will strengthen our profile in regards developers.
So, what have we been doing so far?
Xpress: First, - around 3 weeks ago, we launched Sitecore Xpress Personal Developer Edition. This product, - as most of you know is free for developers to use for their personal web site, - or if they want to build a personal web site for somebody else. You can find more information about the product here: http://xpress.sitecore.net. Go ahead, - download it and get a free full working Sitecore!
Shared Source revisited: Next, - yesterday, we launched the next step in building a strong developers community. The previously (free) shared source modules that were maintained by Sitecore only, has been converted into real shared source projects. This meant that everybody who wants to can contribute to existing modules, share code, build new projects, branch existing modules into a new direction etc. They can also build work groups, track changes or use any of the other tools Sitecore provide to get the community going. Jimmie Overby is our shared source coordinator, - and I’m sure you can get much more information from his blog http://sharesitecore.wordpress.com or from our “how to contribute” on Sitecore Developer Network: http://sdn.sitecore.net/Resources/Shared%20Source/Contrib....
This is great news, - and extra great because we also see other partners, and their commercial modules moving into same direction with sharing the source. http://mcore.wordpress.com/2008/02/26/6/.
Now, what other initiatives do we have?
MVP program: We still have the Most Valuable Professional program running (MVP). This program is built to recognize developers who adds a bit extra effort in either blogging, - or doing other cool technical achievements in regards to Sitecore. It’s a yearly award… I’ll make sure to publicize some information about the program soon on our developer network.
Crestone Beta: Finally we’re giving developers and Sitecore partners a chance to join the closed Sitecore Crestone Beta program. As only a limited number of beta testers will be allowed to participate, and they will need to be various profiles, not everybody will be selected for the program. But, - if you think this is something for you, - go to the Beta Program invitation page on our developer network, and fill out the application form: http://sdn.sitecore.net/crestone.aspx.
So, what’s in future?
Modules strategies: Along with the shared source modules, - we need to build a strong strategy for how developers can share modules, - or how partners can contribute to the Sitecore portfolio of products. Over the next 2-3 months I will spend some time focusing on this.
Developer Network, version 2: We also need to have a look at our developer network. It badly lacks features and cool search capabilities. Sounds simple? It’s not… We need to coordinate with the documentation team, - re-organizing the more than 5000 articles and pieces on SDN, - re-categorize them etc. Building the site is the easy part, - not so for the content. I think this will be something we’ll be working with over the next year. But it’s an ongoing process.
09:40 Posted in Sitecore | Permalink | Email this