Automatic Update of Packages from Version Control Repositories

Contents

Importing Packages from Version Control Repositories

Automatic Update of Packages from VCS

Increasing the Exposure of Packages to Interested Users

Disabling Automatic Updates

Added and Removed Files

New Package Page Design in Beta Testing

Importing Packages from Version Control Repositories

Since 2011 the PHP Classes and JS Classes sites can import packages from Git, SubVersion and CVS version control system (VCS) repositories.

This means that authors that have submitted packages to any of the sites can import the files of from the VCS repository all at once with a few clicks instead of uploading files one at a time as in the past.

Packages that were previously uploaded manually can also be updated from VCS. Just follow the link in the respective package page that says Import files from a CVS, SubVersion (SVN) or Git repository.

Automatic Update of Packages from VCS

Now the PHP Classes and JS Classes sites can also automatically update packages that had its files updated in the origin VCS repository.

This means that regularly, the sites are monitoring the origin VCS repository to see if there are new or changed files. Changed files can be automatically imported without manual intervention of the author.

Increasing the Exposure of Packages to Interested Users

When an automatic update happens, the site will send a notification to the author to let him know about the update. Like with the manual package updates, users that previously downloaded the updated packages are also notified by email to download the latest version.

Authors that have integrated their accounts with social networks like Facebook and Twitter, will have an automatic post be sent to their timelines, so their followers become aware of their package updates.

This way, it is expected that each author package can get greater exposure without much effort from the authors.

Disabling Automatic Updates

If for some reason an author does not wish that his packages be automatically updated from the VCS repository page, just go on the page for the respective package repositories and uncheck the option that says Automatically update every day.

[Disabling automatic updates]

Added and Removed Files

If previously imported files are removed from the VCS repository, the site will automatically flag the files as removed. Removed files become invisible to regular users, but authors may still recover them if the removal was accidental.

If there are any new files in the VCS repository, for now the site cannot update them automatically because the author needs to specify what is the role of each new file. This is necessary because depending on the roles of the files that each package has, it may be rated or not in terms examples and documentation.

In this case, the author receives a notification to come to the site and import the package from the VCS repository, picking the right file roles as needed.

New Package Page Design in Beta Testing

Since January a new design for the package pages is being created to make those pages more usable and faster to navigate.

This is a long awaited update to the site navigation. It is the result of a study carried on with the help of several users that volunteered to go through a design thinking process giving interviews and providing feedback.

The new design is being implemented now and it will be available for evaluation from beta testers in the next weeks. If you are interested to test it and you are available to give feedback before its public release, please go on this survey page to express your interest.

Meanwhile, please post a comment to this article if you have any questions or comments to make regarding the new automatic VCS update feature or the upcoming design of the package pages.