LDS IT executive requests help for internal IT projects

David May 21st, 2009

No, the LDS Church hasn’t released the source code for its internal applications to Open Source, but it is looking for help from the community. They need help with project management, design, development, and testing (QA). From the blog of Joel Dehlin, the LDS CIO,

The Church has been working to figure out a way to allow folks who want to contribute to its missions to do so. We’re ready for help!

We now have applications you can work on, a sandbox with web services, source control, bug tracking and even a requirements for participation. :)

The most immediate need is the re-write of the stake and ward web site. We are working on an International web site (10 languages to start with) which will allow members to log in, and view or print their stake/ward directory, see a list of ward leaders, read the ward/stake blog, edit & view the ward/stake/Church calendar, and so forth.

Interested?

Read more here.

The first component you can start on immediately is the calendar portion. It’s built on our Java stack, which you can read about here. You can also read up on our “community development best practices.”

Even though the Stake and Ward Web Site project will be using Java, there are other projects mentioned on the site which are architected around web services for more flexibility in the actual implementation of the project.

Advanced Debugging with JavaScript

David February 4th, 2009

Though targeted for designers, A List Apart offers a good article on debugging JavaScript. The projects at http://tech.lds.org/wiki include several which include an AJAX front-end and Restful Web Services on the back, so having a good understanding of debugging JavaScript is important. Using JavaScript frameworks such as jQuery are very helpful, but it is still important to know how to debug your code at a foundational level.

FamilySearch Developers Conference makes an impression

David March 13th, 2008

FamilySearch logoI attended the first annual FamilySearch Developers Conference in Provo, Utah yesterday at the BYU Conference Center. The FamilySearch Webservices team and 3rd party developers presented the basics of utilizing the API as well as examples and initial product offerings which will incorporate this functionality. It is my opinion that this will affect the entire genealogy research industry as much as the introduction of the GEDCOM standard did back in the 1980’s. Where the industry has made incremental improvements for researchers, the New FamilySearch (NFS) will change the way that genealogy is researched.

Although I haven’t developed an application using these resources prior to this conference, I have enrolled on the development site at http://devnet.familysearch.org and have reviewed the documentation.

Here are the sessions which I attended:

  1. Keynote - “Brave New Platform: Changing the World of Genealogy”, Ransom Love, director of strategic relationship, FamilySearch (LDS Church)
  2. “Family Tree, Authorities, Ordinance Reservation, Common Identity, and Future Opportunities”, Gordon Clarke, API and Third-Party Program Manager, FamilySearch (LDS Church)
  3. “GedLink”, John Finlay, professor at Neumont University and open source creator of PhpGedview.
  4. “PAFSDK”, Gaylon Findlay, creator of Ancestral Quest and PAF 4.0/5.0
  5. “PHP NFS Library”, John Finlay, professor at Neumont University and open source creator of PhpGedview.
  6. “Bungee Labs web framework”, Matt Misbach, BungeeConnect.com
  7. “FamilyTree Combine/Separate”, Rob Lyon, FamilySearch Web Services API Team Lead, FamilySearch (LDS Church)
  8. “Record Search”, Tim Crabb & Robert Lee, FamilySearch (LDS Church)