VirtueMart and VirtueUpload
To fully understand the history behind Projectfork we'll have to go back to January 2006. Back then, I was tasked to create an online shop for my dad's company, using VirtueMart. I had to make a lot of modications to the system, including the ability for customers to upload files related to the products they wanted to purchase. Realizing that others could have a use for this kind of feature, I decided to publish it on the VirtueMart forums (exact date: 2006/01/15).
This small modification quickly evolved to a full blown Joomla! 1.0 component called "VirtueUpload" for managing order attachments with all sorts of configuration options. Although VirtueUpload received a lot of positive feedback, I've later abandoned the project and VirtueMart - but that's a different story. However, VirtueUpload has left it's mark on VirtueMart and it still exists today with (almost) the same name and a new developer:
- Many thanks to Matthijs Alles for the credits in the description and the great work you've done, keep it up!
Kyle Ledbetter
It's interesting to see the long lasting impact VirtueUpload had on VirtueMart. Who would have thought of that? Not me! But that's not the point of why I'm telling you all this. Kyle Ledbetter - a name that is probably well known in the Joomla! universe by now - contacted me some time after the release of VirtueUpload through the VirtueMart forums. Unfortunately the private messages are no longer there...I would have loved to read them again and see how it looked like the first time we got in touch.
Anyway, he was super excited about the work I've done with VirtueUpload and he needed it for one of his projects with some small modifications. I think it was about a T-Shirt shop, not sure. I was only 19 years old back then and fresh out of school. I never had any real contract work or experience "on the field". So this was sort of a "first time" experience to me, doing contract work (over the internet, with a complete stranger, someone from far away...god I was excited!). For whatever reason - I suppose I was intimidated and wanted to leave a "professional" impression -
I pretended to be much more mature and experienced than I actually was. Kyle gave me the job to make the necessary VirtueUpload modifications and was happy with the end result. So he came back to me with new and different projects on a regular basis. We've been working together since then!
Hydra
Kyle and I worked together a lot. He lived in the USA (still does) and I lived in Germany (still do). All communications went through email, including project information, login details, discussions etc.. It was then when I realized we had to re-organize things, with all the projects running at the same time and too many information that could be made more transparent. I wanted to have a platform where we both could store and share project related information and get a better picture of the progress.
So I've tried out a few collaboration systems that were out there at the time, but couldn't find anything that suited me. Some systems were too simple, others were too complex etc. So I simply decided to write my own system that would do everything exactly the way I needed it. I've worked on this in my spare time between projects and during weekends until it was finally done.
Since I was pretty good at modifying VirtueMart and had gotten used to the way it was technically built and structured as a Joomla component, I've re-used a lot of it's structure for Hydra. Hydra was the original name of the project. What's in a name: A "hydra" is a greek mythological creature with a single body and multiple heads. In my interpretation, the heads are the people who collaborate on a project (the body).
Where have you been?
Just like VirtueUpload, I decided to make Hydra available to the public (this time on JED). And this is the day (2006/11/20) we celebrate today - the original, public release date of Hydra! Looking at the first page of the JED listing reviews, you can see that Hydra was quite a success when it started. And the first reviewer titled it "Where Have you Been?".
Not only was Hydra a success, but it was also the first project management extension available for Joomla! I had never aimed to making a "successful" extension. All I wanted was to give back to Joomla! and share my work with the community. People started asking for more features, improvements and support. So I've taken on the responsibility to further maintain and develop the component in my spare time.
The death of the Hydra
Only 4 months after the release of Hydra (2007/03/26), I received an urging letter from a company who wanted me to cancel or rename the project. Turned out they had a trademark on a similar product with a similar name (which I will not mention here :P). I didn't want the project to go down since I had invested a lot of time and work into it and decided to start a community "contest" for finding a new name.
Silence and reinvigoration
Now guess which name has made the race? Projectfork. I don't remember who suggested it and what his thoughts behind the name was. But to me, this interpretation stuck:
"In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software."
- Wikipedia
In other words, "Projectfork" is a fork of the "Hydra" project. Simple as that. Unfortunately though, the new development of Projectfork never happened until late 2007/early 2008. I felt burned out, having spent most of my free time on nothing but giving forum support and code development. I had a lot of contract work at that time and I needed to start making a living. I couldn't "afford" spending so much time on this project anymore.
So I left the project renamed, unfinished, until I eventually got tired of doing contract work. I knew I had abandonded Projectfork, just like I did with VirtueUpload. But I wanted to pick it up again and get the "job" done. But the circumstances weren't right, I needed to make a living and developing Projectfork at the same time was just not possible. So I've approached Kyle and told him about my plan to bring Projectfork back from the dead.
Open source matters and money, too
Since I was tired of contract work and wanted to bring Projectfork back, I had to find a way to financially support the development of Projectfork somehow. Kyle agreed on funding and helping with the project and that he would get back the money he had invested later.
I would like to point out here, that Kyle and I never met in person at this point. He didn't even know where I was living exactly. Yet he trusted me and in my vision to make Projectfork one of the greatest Joomla extensions out there. My plan of bringing Projectfork back and making it a viable project never included turning it into a commercial product. For as long as I am developing and leading this project, Projectfork will remain free software for everyone to use. It's what I "owe" to Joomla! and it's my way of giving back to this awesome project!
The Joomla! experience
(Left to right: Tobias Kuhn, Gary Gisclair, Wendy Bair Gisclair, Will Mavis, Kyle Ledbetter, Melinda Ledbetter)
Projectfork is more than just a product, it is a part of me, a part of what I've experienced with Joomla! and everyone else involved. Now I didn't want to bore you with every single detail and there are a lot more things I could tell you about (long articles oh noes!) so this is where the story ends, for now. Looking back at those 4 years with Joomla!, Projectfork, Kyle and a lot of other people, I am very proud of what I've achieved and what troubles I've been through so far.
In the future...
...we will have flying cars and hologram interfaces. And Projectfork will be there too! Seriously now, if you've read this far, then you know I've been looking for a project management tool that suited my needs and that I couldn't find anything back then. The ultimate goal of Projectfork is to give you the kind of system that suits your needs. And the way I imagine this to work is by having a modular system in place that can be modified and extended infinitely. As you know, this is exactly what Projectfork is capable of. But there's something missing: A platform with many developers who create and publish Projectfork extensions on it.
And this is exactly what is coming next. Imagine a platform like JED, combined with more social features and direct integration into every Projectfork installation. End-users will be able to find extensions more easily, developers will finally have a proper place to present their work, update notifications, individual support forums for every single extensions etc. etc. the list goes on. I'm still hammering out all the details, but expect some news and maybe even an alpha early next year.
(Fun) trivia
If you've read this far, here are some details laugh about, maybe:
- I don't remember when I revealed my age and inexperience to Kyle, but I think he was surprised
- Kyle and I tried to meet for the first time in Paris, early 2008. But Kyle mixed up the date when we've wanted to meet and so I've waited 2 hours under the Eiffel Tower on that day (damn it was cold)....but he never showed up!
- We've finally met in summer 2008 in Texas and I got a cold the second day I got there from the air conditioners (they are not common in Germany)
- I wrote large parts of Projectfork 2.0 during that summer, mostly in hotel rooms
- I haven't met Kyle since that summer in 2008
- Kyle and I use Skype a lot, but we only use the chat function. We never use webcam or VoiP (I don't know why that is)
- I never went to a Joomla event. I wouldn't know what to tell people...and I'm shy...
- I'll probably attend to the JAndBeyond event next year (first time experience, here i come!)
- I'm turning 24 next sunday (11/28)
- Now that I wrote all this stuff, I feel embarrassed and need a beer...Happy birthday, Projectfork!
