launchpadnews

We in the Launchpad team are proud to announce the 21st August 2008 release of Launchpad 2.1.8!

This release brings two items of good news for anyone who commits code to branches registered in Launchpad:

• Karma for commits: Launchpad now awards karma for code commits to project branches.
• Feeds of each person’s code commits: as well as a feed that shows which branches you work on, Launchpad now gives you a feed of all the commits you’ve made to branches in Launchpad.

To subscribe to your own branch commits feed, visit your code overview page and click the feed icon in your browser’s address bar.

There’s more about karma for commits in our blog post.

Bugzilla and Trac plugin beta now open

Sharing the same bug report and comment history between communities is one of Launchpad’s most useful features.

With the beta of our new plugins for Bugzilla and Trac now open, projects who run their own external bug trackers can now also share bug comment histories with Launchpad.

Graham Binns from the Launchpad Bugs team blogs about how to take part in the beta, if you run a Bugzilla or Trac instance.

Regular updates on the Launchpad API beta

If you’re following the beta of the Launchpad API, you can now get regular updates on what’s new from Leonard Richardson, one of the Launchpad team working on the API.

Leonard’s posts are in the Launchad News blog’s API category.

Full details of Launchpad 2.1.8

Full details of the features and bug fixes that went into this release are on the Launchpad 2.1.8 milestone page.

If you come across any bugs in Launchpad, please report them.

We’ll be releasing Launchpad 2.1.9 on the 17th September.

In the mean time, join us each Thursday at 18.00 UTC in #launchpad-meeting on Freenode for the Launchpad team meeting and also any time on the launchpad-users mailing list.

I’m thrilled to announce the release of Launchpad 2.0!

This brings together new features from the past nine months of Launchpad’s development and introduces two exciting beta features.

And, of course, if you’ve visited Launchpad recently you’ll have seen our new, simpler, layout and navigation.

Let’s take a look at the key new features in this release.

Restful web services API and Python library

One of our main goals for Launchpad 2.0 has been to make it easier to manipulate data in Launchpad.

With this release, we’re introducing a beta test of two things that will enable you to develop external applications that can authenticate,
query and modify data in Launchpad’s database:

• a restful web services API
• and a Python library to access the new API.

Initially, the API will provide access to file and search for bugs, as well as the people and teams systems.

We’ll announce full details of the API and Python library later this week; keep an eye on this blog!

In the mean time, apply to join the Launchpad Beta Testers team if you’d like to take part in the beta.

Closer integration with Bugzilla and Trac

Often, bugs in free software affect more than one project. Launchpad lets projects share the same bug report and comment history so they can worth together on a fix.

Up until now, that’s only been available where each project uses Launchpad as their bug tracker. With Launchpad 2.0, we’re introducing a beta test of two new GPL plugins — one for Bugzilla, one for Trac — that enable projects to share a comment history between the bug as it’s tracked in Launchpad and in external trackers.

If you would like to help beta test the new plugins, let us know.

Simpler page layout and navigation

One of the most obvious changes in Launchpad 2.0 is the web interface’s new design. Our aim has been to simplify the layout and navigation. There’s more in our blog post.

New tour

Want to show someone what Launchpad’s all about? Send them to our new tour!

Other new features that make up Launchpad 2.0

Since our 1.0 launch in April 2007, we’ve introduced many new features that make up Launchpad 2.0, including:

• Code review: public discussion and voting on proposed code merges.
• Mailing lists for teams.
• Personal package archives: publish Ubuntu packages in your own apt repository.
• Atom feeds for bugs, branches and project announcements.
• Plus: binary file downloads, improved universal search, translation string search and support for more external bug trackers, amongst other improvements.

As ever, we’d love to hear what you think of our new release. If you come across a problem, please file a bug. Otherwise, send us an email, in particular if there’s something you really want to see in a future Launchpad release.

The Launchpad team is proud to announce the 1st July 2008 release of Launchpad 1.2.6!

New features in this release include:

• two great improvements to code review, including an email interface
• a new interface for bugs, translations and distribution pages
• and more control code imports!

Read on for more about what’s new and how it affects you.

Code review by email

Launchpad’s new code review system gives you a public place to discuss and vote on proposed code mergers. What’s more, you can easily access the discussion directly from both the target and source branch.

This month, we’ve added an email interface to make it easier to fit Launchpad-based code review into your workflow.

Read more in our blog post on code review by email.

Nominate a code reviewer

More improvements to Launchpad’s code review!

If you’re involved in a merge proposal - as the owner of either the source or target branch - you can invite someone else to give their view on the proposal.

Visit any of your merge proposals to trigger an email invitation to take part in your code review.

Bugs, translations and distribution pages now easier to use

We’ve revamped the bug view, translations and distribution pages to make them easier to use.

Read more in our blog post on the simplified bug page, translations and distro page UI.

More control over code imports

Launchpad’s code imports give you all the benefits of Bazaar’s distributed version control for code that’s stored in CVS and Subversion repositories.

Now you can get far more detail on the progress of individual code imports direct on that import’s overview page.

Michael Hudson, the Launchpad developer whose been working on the new code import system, explains more in our blog post.

Other changes this month

Launchpad’s now running Bazaar 1.6b3, which will pave the way for quicker uploads to projects that already have code in Launchpad. Stay up to date with the latest Bazaar release news.

For full details of the bug fixes and features that make up this release, take a look at the 1.2.6 milestone page.

Stay in touch!

Thanks for your bug reports, feature ideas and other feedback! If you come across any bugs, please report them.

If you want to get in touch for any other reason, join us in #launchpad or on launchpad-users.

July’s going to be an exciting time for Launchpad. Keep an eye on this blog!

The Launchpad team is proud to announce the 29th May 2008 release of Launchpad 1.2.5!

New features in this release include:

• voting and commenting on code branch mergers
• new Launchpad-wide search
• and translations search!

Read on for more about what’s new and how it affects you.

Vote and comment on proposed branch mergers

Launchpad’s merge proposals are a great way for project contributors to get their code considered for inclusion in the main line.

Now, branch owners - and anyone else who’s interested - can vote and comment on merge proposals.

Aaron Bentley, who’s been working on the feature, says:

“These changes make it easy to discuss and tweak proposed changes to a branch. You can browse the branch which contains the changes then comment and vote directly on what you’ve seen.”

Comments build into a threaded conversation about the branch. You can also vote either on the branch as whole, or use custom tags to apply your vote to a specific aspect of the work.

Take a look at one of the first branch merger comments.

This is just the start for this feature. Keep an eye on future Launchpad releases!

Launchpad-wide search

Want to find something in Launchpad quickly? Our new site-wide search looks for results right across Launchpad - in bug reports, branch descriptions, people, teams, projects, blueprints and more.

Try it out using the search box at the top-right of most Launchpad pages or on the dedicated search page.

Translations search

Finding typos or untranslated strings in translation files is now far easier, thanks to Launchpad’s new translations search!

Right now, you can search for a word or phrase within a particular translation file.

You’ll find the translation search box towards the top-right of translation file pages. As an example, take a look at the French translations page for Wordpress.

Other changes this month

• Packages now have an estimated build start time. Pick a package from Ubuntu’s pending queue to see an example.
• You now have the option of automatically subscribing to a team’s mailing list at the same time as joining the team. Edit your subscription options.

For full details of the bug fixes and features that make up this release, take a look at the 1.2.5 milestone page.

Launchpad podcast

Each week we’re producing a Launchpad team podcast, called Launchpod! In it we interview people who are doing cool things with Launchpad and talk to Launchpad developers about what they’ve been working on.

If you’ve got a question about Launchpad, let us have it and we’ll answer in the podcast. Post your questions on the podcast’s wiki page.

Subscribe to the podcast feed.

Stay in touch!

Thanks for your bug reports, feature ideas and other feedback! If you come across any bugs please report them.

If you want to get in touch for any other reason, such as with ideas for our new podcast, join us in #launchpad or on launchpad-users. See our Feedback page for details.

There’ll be more in Launchpad 1.2.6 at the end of June!

The Launchpad team is proud to announce the release of Launchpad 1.2.4 on 1st May 2008!

New features this month include:

• the ability to build PPA packages for multiple series and copy packages from one PPA to another
• a new design for project code overview pages
• an easier way for casual contributors to post to mailing lists.

Read on for more about what’s new and how it affects you.

Copying PPA packages

Building on other people’s work and publishing packages for different Ubuntu releases are now easier. You can copy packages both:

• from other PPAs directly into any PPA you can upload to
• and to different distro-series within the same PPA.

For an example, take a look at the Ubuntu Mobile team’s PPA
package copy page.

There’s more in the PPA quick-start guide.

New project code overview page

Project code overview pages have an improved page layout. Tim Penhey, who created the design, explains the changes:

Usually, people want to know a couple of things from a project’s code page: how active it is and which are the important branches.

You can now see, at a glance, how many commits, branches and code contributors a project has. And there’s a new branch listing that highlights which branches are associated with a series.

Take a look at the Bazaar project’s code overview page for an example.

Contributing to mailing lists without subscribing

If you need to make a one-off post to a mailing list you may not want to subscribe. Now you can make a post and Launchpad will hold it for the list’s admins to moderate.

See the mailing list user guide for more.

Other changes this month

• Project bug contacts are now called bug supervisors. More about the change.
• Watches on bugs in Gforge and Savane based trackers are now supported.
• You can now subscribe to all the bugs affecting a project group, project series or distribution series. More about bug subscriptions.
• A distro’s PPA overview page now shows you recent uploads, most active archives and supported series.

For full details of the bug fixes and features that make up this release, take a look at the 1.2.4 milestone page.

Help us test Launchpad

If you want to help us test new features, we’d love to have you in our beta team.

Find out more about our beta programme.

Stay in touch!

Thanks for helping us make Launchpad a success! If you come across any bugs, please report them.

If you want to get in touch for any other reason, please do.

There’ll be more in Launchpad 1.2.5 at the end of this month.

We’re proud to announce a much requested new feature as part of Launchpad 1.2.3: mailing lists in Launchpad!

If you run a team in Launchpad, you can request a mailing list straight away on your team’s overview page. Once the list is active, each team member will have the option to subscribe.

If you don’t yet run a team but you’d like to create a mailing list that wouldn’t be covered by an existing team, create a new team and then request a list.

There’s more in our guide.

And there’s plenty more going on in this release, including:

• Translations can now have up to six plural forms.
• Each project’s files are now available to download from its overview page.
• You can search for PPAs by name and keywords.
• We’ve revamped branch listing pages to give you quicker access to commit messages and author information.

As with all new software, there may still be some bugs in this new release. If you come across something that looks like a bug, please report it.

See the full Launchpad 1.2.3 release announcement.

It’s time for another Launchpad release and this is one with something for just about everyone!

• Faster PPA builds: we’ve cut the time it takes to build packages in PPAs. The moment you upload your source, Launchpad starts building.
• More bug notifications: now you can subscribe to get bug mail about any milestone, project, package or distribution.
• Savannah bug watches: keep an eye on bugs tracked at savannah.gnu.org and savannah.nongnu.org
• Easier branch registrations: we’ve improved the UI on the branch registration page.
• Karma fiends take note: registering branches and linking branches to bugs or blueprints now earns you karma! Find out more about karma.

There’s also exciting news for Launchpad beta testers! You can now apply to use Launchpad to run a mailing list for a team you’re involved with. Find out more about the mailing list beta.

Not a beta tester yet? Learn more about our beta programme and find out what you’re missing!

Read the full Launchpad 1.2.2 release notes.

Today we unleashed Launchpad 1.2.1, our first release of 2008!

Highlights include:

• Delete PPA packages in the web UI: no more sysadmin requests to delete a package from your PPA. To delete packages from your PPA visit: https://launchpad.net/people/+me/+archive/+delete-packages
• Branch feeds: get the latest commits associated with a person, team, project or individual branch in your feed reader. Take a look at the Bitlbee project’s branch feed
• Code hosting project overviews: quick-glance overview of branches and revisions made to projects with code hosted on Launchpad. See Bazaar’s overview page.

Don’t forget our logo competition! Send us your design for the chance to win an Ubuntu messenger bag.

Read the full Launchpad 1.2.1 release notes!

Welcome to the last Launchpad release of 2007! The highlights of Launchpad 1.1.12 include:

• Project announcements: get the latest news from a project or
  distribution directly on its Launchpad overview page. Or subscribe
  to its Atom feed.
• Bug feeds: subscribe to an Atom feed of all the bugs related to any distribution, project, team and person in Launchpad. Also subscribe to individual bugs.
• Higher quality bug reports: if you’re a project owner you can now ask Launchpad to display your bug reporting guidelines to people who file bugs against your project.
• Launchpad is running Bazaar 1.0.0. Congratulations to the Bazaar team on this new release!

Read the full release notes for more on what’s new in this release. See you next year when we’ll be back in January with Launchpad 1.2.1!

Welcome to Launchpad 1.1.11, the penultimate Launchpad release for 2007!

We have two big pieces of news this month!

• Personal Package Archives are now out of beta and available to all Launchpad users and teams. Find out more in our quick-start guide at help.launchpad.net/PPAQuickStart
• Launchpad Translations is now much quicker and rock-solid. Expect exports and imports in half the time and next to no timeouts.

So, what else is new in Launchpad 1.1.11?

Distribution Management and PPA (Soyuz)

• Personal Package Archives are now available to all Launchpad users who have signed the Ubuntu Code of Conduct and imported a GPG key into their Launchpad account.
• Accepting or rejecting packages from the upload queue web interface now sends appropriate emails. (Bug 152400)

Code Hosting

• Error messages generated when pushing to a branch using bzr+ssh are now much clearer. (Bug 93606)
• The branch action ‘Register merge proposal’ has been renamed to ‘Propose for merging’ as it makes more sense to the casual user. (Bug 162763)
• Launchpad’s branch mirroring system should now be more reliable. (Bug 121331)

Bug Tracker

• Several improvements to the text bug view page (e.g. edge.launchpad.net/bugs/1/+text) including the addition of: comments, tags, attachment URLs and the relevant component (for bugs reported against distribution packages). (Bugs 139327, 54333, 139398)
• Launchpad tracks how each bug affects different projects and communities. A text view is now available for each of these instances. For example: bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-session/+bug/26419/+text (Bug 130051)
• Email addresses in bug descriptions are no longer visible to anonymous users, including search engine spiders.
• Distribution bug package pages now show the total number of bugs that are open, critical, unassigned and in progress. (Bug 107402)
• Users can now perform advanced searches within textual bug listings (pages ending in +bugs-text) in the same way as they can for graphical bug listings (pages ending in +bugs). (Bug 51836)

Answers

• Email addresses in questions are no longer visible to anonymous users, including search engine spiders.

Translations

• The speed and reliability of Launchpad Translations should now be significantly improved following a major refactoring. Translations exports and imports are expected to be twice as fast and day to day translations use will be much quicker. (Bug 30602)