Project Updates

Sun, 03 Sep 2023 23:14:04 +0200

scott@loves.tech

I took a hiatus for a few months for personal reasons, but I am back working on Hubzilla related projects again.

To my chagrin, I had some technical issues with some of my hubs. There was a weird situation where I could receive notifications and messages, but it wasn't sending any out. It appears to be a compatibility issue with my server. But to be fair, that was a test server and it was old and needed to be replaced anyway, but still.

As some of you may have noticed by the change of my channel address, I have moved to a new server. If you sent a message before I migrated to the new server, I might have missed it.

Now that we are getting close to officially launching several websites and public hubs, we have partnered with web hosts and developers that are familiar with Hubzilla. All of our websites will be migrating from the test server to production servers. That means they will be faster, and we have support staff familiar with Hubzilla to keep things running.

It is now time for me to transition from playing around with Hubzilla to turning it into something professional. By the end of the year, we will be launching new websites and new services related to Hubzilla. And we will be releasing themes and addons on Neuhub, as well.

To get a sneak peak of one of our new themes, check out:
https://dev.neuhub.org/page/documentation/home

I am excited to officially launch some new websites and services, and am excited to be working with new partners to make that happen.

More updates to come.

mehr anzeigen 21 comments

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 04:31:40 +0200

Tejan Ausland

tejan@hubzilla.monster

Welcome back. I noticed that you were making some changes on GitHub for the past couple of months, so I was wondering when you were going to start posting again.

I like the new theme. When can I get it?

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 05:22:04 +0200 zuletzt bearbeitet: Mon, 04 Sep 2023 05:23:50 +0200

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@Tejan Ausland It's not ready yet, but it is close. I have a developer working on a notifications addon. As soon as that is done, and after a few other changes, the first version of Red Tab will be released, hopefully later this month.

The theme is workable now, so you are welcome to test it out yourself.

If you want to test it out without impacting your own server, I can set you up as a beta tester on biztechtonics.net which will be a public hub when it is launched. We can clone your account, so you can post from either hub.

If you are interested, send me a DM.

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 05:53:31 +0200

Tejan Ausland

tejan@hubzilla.monster

Thanks, I will take you up on that offer. I will talk to your privately to get it set up.

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 09:30:41 +0200

Papa Dragon

thomas@caselibre.fr

Nice theme! Do you think it would require much work to adapt it for a Streams website?

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 10:18:59 +0200

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@Papa Dragon

Nice theme! Do you think it would require much work to adapt it for a Streams website?

Short Answer:

I have not installed Streams yet, but it is my understanding that it would not be hard.

I plan on supporting both Hubzilla and Streams, and any MIT licensed forks.

Long Answer:

There will be some changes though, since some of the paths have changed. For example, if we include widgets with the theme, they would all need to be changed to use namespace Code\Widget instead of namespace Zotlabs\Widget.

If I am aware that there is a difference, I usually put both in the source code, with the Streams one commented out. For example: https://github.com/WisTex/Neuhub/blob/main/widget/Examplewidget/Examplewidget.php

After I release the Hubzilla version, I will work on a Streams version. Volunteers would make it happen faster, of course. ;)

It should be noted that I am creating two versions of the theme.

The first is Red Tab, and it basically would be Redbasic rendered with the Tabler UI Kit, with the exception of the primary layout. Hubzilla and Streams have different versions of Redbasic at this point, so your site would look different depending on which platform you are using.

The second is Neuhub Tab, which will eventually have everything redesigned. We will go through every single tpl file and update it to be more in line with how the Tabler UI Kit would do it, or how I would do it personally. The notification system will be updated, the entire navigation system will be changed, and it will support traditional forum style views in addition to the current stream style view.

The first would be much easier to adapt to Streams, since it just uses Redbasic for most of its components anyway. The second one would take more time, because every module, addon, and widget would have to be changed to be compatible with Streams.

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 12:42:40 +0200

Mike Macgirvin

mike@macgirvin.com

For example, if we include widgets with the theme, they would all need to be changed to use namespace Code\Widget instead of namespace Zotlabs\Widget.

Not necessarily. That's all resolved by the psr-4 autoloader config in composer.json. I don't know if that will fit your needs, but I'll mention it because this knowledge might be useful to somebody.

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 13:17:35 +0200

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@Mike Macgirvin

Not necessarily. That's all resolved by the psr-4 autoloader config in composer.json. I don't know if that will fit your needs, but I'll mention it because this knowledge might be useful to somebody.

It would be great if we can create one version that works on both Hubzilla and Streams.

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 14:52:30 +0200

Mike Macgirvin

mike@macgirvin.com

The story about the Zotlabs directory is that in psr-4 the top level namespace is generally a "vendor". This was fine when I was building products, so I gave it the name of my psuedo organisation at the time - Zotlabs. A place where free ideas were born.

I am not selling anything anymore. The whole idea of vendors and brands seriously makes me want to vomit.

Since the top level is just a directory containing source code, I thought I should just call it code. So I did.

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 23:00:54 +0200

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@Mike Macgirvin

I am not selling anything anymore. The whole idea of vendors and brands seriously makes me want to vomit.

Since the top level is just a directory containing source code, I thought I should just call it code. So I did.

Calling it Code makes sense to me. It also makes it easier for anyone looking at the code to know where the code is.

And a brand is just a name plus reputation. If they're human, it's called reputation. If it's an organization, it's called a brand. If it's an author's pen name, that is a brand too. The real problem is that most commercial organizations have a bad reputation (i.e. brand) because they screw over employees and customers and the environment.

The fact is, if you sell your time for money (i.e. as an employee or independent contractor), you are the equivalent of a vendor. You're still selling something to someone. The only difference is that they pay you by time instead of paying you for the value you produce. And in most countries, you get taxed on 100% of your income instead of profits.

The unethical wealthy don't want you to realize that if you sold your skills directly to the consumer or to businesses, you wouldn't need a job and could make more money. The government wants to keep people as employees because they collect more tax revenue.

It is ironic that hating the wealthy works in their favor. They get to keep everyone else poor and employed by discouraging them from starting their own businesses. It's a system of exploitation. The unethical people don't want good people to become wealthy, because that would mean that the good people would have power, and the good people could change things for the better and interfere in unethical people's plans.

So, as I see it, people need to start their own businesses or side hustles, as they call it, not to overlord over others or to take advantage of others, but for independence and prosperity. It's harder for a corporation to bully you if you have alternate streams of income. And you get to take advantage of the tax benefits the wealthy use.

And, quite frankly, I would rather use a brand than posting my personal name on everything is do. To me, that would feel to vain. I don't like being in the spotlight.

We may disagree about brands, but I want you to know that my intentions are pure. Yes, I want to make money. But I also want to empower people. I'm tired of the mindset that to win someone else has to lose. It is possible to build win-win situations, and that is what I strive for.

I know this is off topic, but I still thought it was something important to say.

P.S. If anyone wants to discuss this further, I can open a new thread. I love discussing ways to make the world a better place.

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 23:52:34 +0200

Mike Macgirvin

mike@macgirvin.com

No worries. Hopefully we can have different viewpoints without it affecting how we get along. Making the world a better place is my only goal. Going about it in the traditional manner just wasn't doing it for me. I do sell my time for money. But not here. This remote outpost of the fediverse is my garden where I plant seeds of a better world and care for them -- and then watch them all get trampled and uprooted and killed.

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 00:07:34 +0200

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@Mike Macgirvin

No worries. Hopefully we can have different viewpoints without it affecting how we get along. Making the world a better place is my only goal. Going about it in the traditional manner just wasn't doing it for me. I do sell my time for money. But not here.

I'm a "live and let live" type of guy. I'd rather create a workable solution for everybody, if I can, than have conflict. And if we all thought alike, the world would be a boring place. So no worries here either.

@Mike Macgirvin

This remote outpost of the fediverse is my garden where I plant seeds of a better world and care for them -- and then watch them all get trampled and uprooted and killed.

Well, let's change that. Your work is amazing. It is time we polish it up and make it shine.

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 00:41:52 +0200

Bill Statler

billstatler@forum.statler.ws

I'm not seeing the "trampled and uprooted and killed" thing, though. Failing to spread well, yes. But there's really not much that the ActivityPub Fediverse can do to hurt the Zot6/Nomad Fediverse, besides refusing to communicate with us. We're still here, and if they collapse we'll still be here.

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 05:55:54 +0200

Tejan Ausland

tejan@hubzilla.monster

@Scott M. Stolz

The second is Neuhub Tab, which will eventually have everything redesigned. We will go through every single tpl file and update it to be more in line with how the Tabler UI Kit would do it, or how I would do it personally. The notification system will be updated, the entire navigation system will be changed, and it will support traditional forum style views in addition to the current stream style view.

What do you mean when you say you will updated every tpl file? How much are you going to change?

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 06:04:08 +0200

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@Tejan Ausland

What do you mean when you say you will updated every tpl file? How much are you going to change?

Most of the stuff will be minor. Some small tweaks that make it look more modern. But some things, like the connections page and the directory will be redesigned to use Bootstrap cards instead of how it is presented now. Same information and functionality, but a different look.

The most radical change will probably be the forum-style views, where you can view a paginated list of posts by title.

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 07:37:26 +0200

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@Bill Statler They can't even refuse to communicate with us. They only have ActivityPub and nothing else. It's us for whom ActivityPub is optional. So whether we continue to communicate with them or not is our decision, not theirs.

If anything, Mastodon instances could start defederating our instances one by one due to the disturbing stuff we do. You know, quotes, over 500 characters in one post and that. But everything else that isn't Mastodon largely doesn't shy away from doing the same disturbing stuff because it's perfectly normal for them, so Mastodon instances would also have to defederate from e.g. Firefish instances just because they're Firefish instances and not Mastodon instances.

If there's going to be a rift through the Fediverse, it won't separate the projects that use Zot/Nomad from everything else. It'll separate Mastodon from everything else.

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 08:08:55 +0200

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@Jupiter Rowland

If there's going to be a rift through the Fediverse, it won't separate the projects that use Zot/Nomad from everything else. It'll separate Mastodon from everything else.

@Jupiter Rowland I think Mastodon is popular because a lot of Twitter refugees landed there. It is similar enough to Twitter (now X) to be a relatively easy transition. It is good as a replacement for Twitter, but it is not representative of what the fediverse is capable of.

Personally, I am not worried about Mastodon, or even other ActivityPub projects. I am solely focused on advancing and propagating the technology behind Hubzilla and Streams, especially OpenWebAuth.

I think the key is to build strong local communities within Hubzilla. Add a new theme. Add some really good content. I think in the end, Hubzilla and Streams would be the winner, simply because it is so extendable. You can literally build anything on it. You want a content website, sure. You want discussion boards, that too. You want a personal information manager, yep, you can add modules that provide that too. A communications suite? Yeah, that too.

We just need to show people what Hubzilla and Streams is capable of.

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 10:02:49 +0200

𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼

chris@im.allmendenetz.de

It is time we polish it up and make it shine.

@Scott M. Stolz your could create with your work the missing link for people who are used to a certain webdesign... I finde your work really promising.

besides Web design for colors Hubzilla and also streams have a major problem with menus / navigation. Newcomers just don't find all the buttons and functions... we need multilevel menus where we can organize things on more than two levels so that things can be found on a logical way or as we know it form other software. This would help a lot - i think

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 19:40:04 +0200 zuletzt bearbeitet: Tue, 05 Sep 2023 19:41:10 +0200

_jayrope

jrp@hub.kliklak.net

@𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼 I just put most borders: 0; and .fa {font-size:250%}; and so already have a much more clear picture with big icons everyone can find. Also i put post editor toggle and channel activites button on top of the left messages pane, so that i don't always need to scroll down far just to write/click them. That is in redbasic on HZ.

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 21:14:54 +0200

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

@𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼 I agree. The navigation is a big issue for me as well. That will be a major focus in my themes.

I think it is one of those things where if a person is already very familiar with Hubzilla or Streams, they might not see the need for a different layout, but for people who have never seen Hubzilla or Streams before, a more user-friendly interface will help them a lot.

I also think it is something that has to be shown. When they see it, they will see that it takes less clicks to find something, and most people appreciate that. It is hard to visualize without a demo of it.

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 21:19:45 +0200

𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼

chris@im.allmendenetz.de

@_jayrope sorry i should have been more precise -

"Newcomers just don't find all the buttons and functions in the backend"

i quid like your fronted-end color scheme - and would be glad if you could post me the code / css file - thanks

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 21:49:30 +0200 zuletzt bearbeitet: Tue, 05 Sep 2023 21:50:37 +0200

_jayrope

jrp@hub.kliklak.net

@𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼 Thanks for the flowers, work in progress: https://hub.kliklak.net/view/theme/redbasic/css/style.css - anything above

/**
 * Redbasic

is new