From the DjangoVillage 2014 event at Orvieto (Italy). These slides are generated PDFs from the original presentation on slides.com (powered by reveal.js). I apologize for the poor quality. See the original at http://slides.com/bittner/creating-a-collaboration-platform

1. Creating a
Collaboration
Platform
Leveraging the Django Eco System
live slides @ tinyurl.com/djangoeco

2. > whoami
Peter Bittner
ex-java head of swd, ex-php team lead
agile cto, entrepreneur
django@bittner.it
github.com/bittner

3. Agenda
1. Modern Fairy Tale (With A Lot Of Grim)
2. Why Django? (Is For The Lonesome Hacker)
3. Research (The Django Eco System)
4. Development (Strategies For The Lonesome)
5. Real World Example (The Demo You Deserve)
* {
* Disclosure: blunt Django propaganda

4. Modern Fairy Tale
(With a Lot of Grim)

5. Collaboration in a Non-Profit
Nightmare on Club Street
1. Several people, different background,
common goal, different approaches
2. Volunteers start enthusiastically (website)
3. A website alone doesn't cut it
4. Documents chaos (e-mails, dropbox, etc.)
5. No transparency, slow response
6. Finger-pointing leads to frustration
7. People quit

6. I Have a Dream
"... that one day there will be efficient online collaboration"
1. Website always up-to-date (for everyone)
2. Everyone (!) can contribute
3. Full control over content going live
4. We coach & publish (we don't write!)
5. Issue lists, work on documents, updates
6. Everyone transparently informed
7. Everyone is happy & feels heard

7. Can't We Solve This Problem
Easily?
Cloud platforms exist, but they are so much
1. revenue / CRM / PM focused
2. cluttered with features
3. restrictive & administrative by nature
4. a pain to use with inconsistent UI's
5. expensive for large audiences
Alternative = DIY software solution

8. Woke Up Soaking Wet
1. No money to spend
2. No programming resources (except yourself)
3. No alternatives left
Must take a technology for lonesome hackers

9. Why Django?
(Is for the Lonesome Hacker)

10. The Lonesome Hacker
Job Description
Choose web framework & eco system
Identify usable extensions / plugins
Integrate them into a single experience
Fix shortcomings of single extensions
Add missing extensions
Do web design

11. Why Django
Is for the Lonesome Hacker
1. All popular frameworks have broken eco systems
(Joomla!, Wordpress, Drupal, ...)
2. Django too (not worse than the others)
3. Python = executable pseudo code
4. Django = for perfectionists with deadlines
try it
customize
read code
More reading at:
jacobian.org/writing/why-django/
youtube.com/watch?v=n8KnFywpXOE

12. Research
(The Django Eco System)

13. Resources
Extensions / Packages = "Apps" in Django
Where Do I Find Django Apps?
...
big brother of nsa (google)
djangopackages.com
django-apps.com
elweb.co/33-projects-that-make-
devcharm.com/pages/79-must-have-django-packages
code.djangoproject.com/wiki/DjangoResources

14. Components
1. CMS
2. Blog
3. Newsletter
4. Events & calendar
Collaboration Features
1. Social login & user profiles
2. User groups & spaces
3. Issue lists
4. DMS (or integration)
5. Wiki (or the like)
6. Discussion forum (or the like)

15. What to Look at
Indicators for Good Apps (Projects)
commit activity / last commit
commit count
few open / lots of closed issues
few or no open / lots of closed PRs
decent documentation
demo system and/or screenshots

16. Probably Good Choices
Forums
CMS + Blog
+ Wiki
django-cms + django-blog-zinnia
mezzanine
askbot (Q&A)
misago (forum)
emencia-django-newsletter
django-todo
mayan (scanned docs)
django-media-tree
django-allauth
python-social-auth
Social login
Newsletter
Documents
+ Assets
Issue lists

17. Missing Choices
No (Usable) Ready-to-Use Apps Yet
User groups & spaces (django-activities)
User profiles (django-userena)
Integration of dropbox & friends
Integration of chat/phone/video services

18. Development
(Strategies for the Lonesome)

19. Lonesome Hacker's Advice
Be lazy Don't write a platform from scratch
Don't write new apps from scratch
Be autonomous
Script & automate everything
Write tests before changing code
Prepare for exchanging components
Make your life easier
Push your changes into official repos
Build on work of others & share
Deploy early - in Production env

20. More Advice
No-brainers
Infrastructure as code
Figure out how other (successful) projects do it
google.com/search?q=django+best+practices
Quality is key
Drastically improve bad projects quickly (or kick them!)
Invest in your own project! (docs, pep8, packaging)
Focus on your MVP
Don't get overwhelmed by the vast choice
Note down interesting projects & build a roadmap

21. Biggest Challenges
To Create a Unique Experience
1. Integrate single apps
2. Every artifact referable (user, group, article,
blog/wiki/event entry, issue, ...)
3. Simplified, unified user experience (front-end
editing for everything)
4. Combine intranet and public world (without
confusing users)

22. Obvious Constraints & Duties
For Creating a Product
One app must be leading system
Integrate into this app (e.g. plugins)
Massive integration tests
Massive caution upgrading apps

23. Real World Example
(The Demo You Deserve)

24. django Organice
pip install django-organice
Core Apps
django-cms (leading system)
django-blog-zinnia (blog, events, jobs)
emencia-django-newsletter
Interesting to Mention
App type = project generator + meta package
Themes as separate apps with asset pipeline
(Bootstrap, Sass, UglifyJS2)

25. django Organice
Lonesome Principles Obeyed
1. Documentation
2. Easy to start & get it working
3. Scripts for (almost) everything
4. Role models: zinnia, pootle, ...

26. Questions?
(I'll Try to Give Good Answers)

27. Peter Bittner, django@bittner.it
@peterbittner
The dream lives on at
github.com/bittner/django-organice
@organice_io
THANK YOU
for your precious time!

28. Image Credits
https://www.google.com/search?q=nightmare+elm+street (similar image search)
https://www.google.com/search?q=django+unchained (similar image search)
http://welcometoclubsilencio.blogspot.ch/2010_04_01_archive.html
http://www.morgenpost.de/kultur/article112144530/Wie-Maerchen-der-Gebrueder-Grimm-jugendfrei-wurden.html
http://www.philanthropyconsulting.com/2014/01/dream/
http://beartoons.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Bearman-Cartoons-Occupy-Elm-Street21.png
http://www.bluesoft.net.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/django-logo-e1392910534114.png
http://disfunctions.de/ubuntu/der-ubuntu-software-store-zukunftsmusik/
http://www.celarity.com/how-to-write-a-standout-job-description/
http://www.startupfreak.com/the-missing-piece-puzzle-company/
http://www.licensinglinenews.com/Newsletter/Edition-48-August-2007/National-Code-of-Practice-for-Induction-for-Construction-
Work-declared.aspx
http://carriekish.com/tag/leading-questions/