Those who hang around here regularly will know that we plan to release
the final version of OpenLP 2.0 at the end of October. As one can
imagine, with such a momentous release we'd like to make a big noise
about it. Because OpenLP is open source, it is primarily driven by its
users, whether they are developers, or just folks that hang out in the
forums and want to help out in whatever way they can. With the upcoming
release of version 2.0, we are going to need lots of help from YOU.
Here's how you can help:
Web Site
We are in the process of completely rethinking the web site and making
it more product-centric. We want to include some new elements in the
site that we haven't relied on in our marketing previously.
One of the things we want to display on the new site are testimonials
from users of OpenLP. If you use OpenLP, and like it, please either post
your testimonial in the forums or e-mail it to support (at) openlp.org
and we'll include it on the new site. Be genuine in your testimonial,
mentioning what you like about OpenLP and why you use it. Don't be too
shy of pointing out one or two things that currently irritate you about
OpenLP, honest testimonials give a far better reflection than purely
positive ones.
To be completely honest with you, hearing of a megachurch using OpenLP
does far more for OpenLP's reputation than a small church. We will
display all testimonials with equal status regardless of the church
size, but we'd love to have some from the bigger churches out there.
We also want to show off photographs of OpenLP in action. If you have a
high quality photograph of OpenLP in use in your church, we'd like to
use it on the site. We have a couple on our Facebook page, but we want
more and we want better ones. The minimum requirements for photographs
are 5 megapixels on a proper digital camera, not a mobile/cellular
phone. These too can be e-mailed to us at the address listed above.
Please be aware that not all testimonials and/or photographs will
necessarily be accepted. We are looking for top quality content for our
site, and if yours doesn't make the grade we won't include it. If you
really want yours included, contact us and find out why it was not
accepted, and we can work with you to bring it up to the inclusion
standard.
User Guide
We're still looking for people to write and/or translate the user guide.
It is already laid out, it just needs content. You don't need to be a
developer to write it, we will help you get set up. The user guide uses
a formatting system called reStructuredText, in a similar vein to
Markdown or wiki formatting.
If you'd like to help out, please contact us at that same e-mail
address, or via the contact
page, and we'll get you up
and running in no time at all.
Fixing Bugs
Of course we're still fixing bugs in OpenLP. If you come across any,
please make sure to e-mail a full bug report to bugs (at) openlp.org.
If you encounter the error window, you *MUST* either use the
E-mail button to e-mail us directly, or use the Save button to
save the report to a file, and then send us that file. If you just send
us an e-mail saying that an error occurred, we can't help you, or figure
out what the bug is. The information in that error window is vital.
If you try to do something and it doesn't work, but it doesn't show the
error window, please make sure you can reproduce the bug (can you do it
again and again?) and list in as much detail as possible the steps you
took to reproduce it. Also include which version of OpenLP, which
operating system and its version, your distro and your desktop
environment if you're using Linux, your graphics card, and any other
information you think is important. For example:
Action Performed: I tried to add a new theme.
Expected Result: A new theme listed in the theme manager.
Actual Result: After running through the Theme Wizard successfully,
my new theme did not appear in the theme manager. It did appear
after restarting OpenLP though.
Steps to Reproduce:
Click on the New Theme button in the Theme Manager.
Run through the creation process, selecting any combination -
this bug affects all of them.
At the end of the process, click the finish button.
Notice that the new theme is not visible in the Theme Mananger.
Restart OpenLP and see the new theme.
Computer Details: Kubuntu Linux 12.10 (beta), LibreOffice 3.6,
nVidia GeForce 5600, VLC 2.03
Before you submit a bug report, please search through our existing bug
reports and make sure you're not reporting one that already exists.
Additionally, we need to be able to reproduce your bug before we'll add
it to that list, so your bug may not show up for a day or two. Relax, as
long as you sent it to bugs (at) openlp.org, we have it and are looking
into it.
Tutorials
We are also still looking for more tutorials for how to use OpenLP. If
you've written a blog post, we'd love to link to it. If you've recorded
a screen cast, let us know so that we can include it in our playlist on
YouTube. If you've written up a PDF or some other document, we have
plenty of space to host it - e-mail it to us and we'll put it up.
If you have any other bright ideas on how to show people how to use
OpenLP, we're very much open to them!
Marketing
Lastly, we need to generate buzz! If you have a blog, please blog about
us. If your church has a web site, see if you can link back to our site.
If you have a podcast or a vodcast, please feature us - we welcome
interviews! Of course you can also find us on all the big social
networks, like Facebook,
Twitter,
YouTube and
Google+.
We'll be releasing a press kit in a few days with helpful information
and useful buttons and icons for people to use on their web sites and in
their blog posts.
Any Other Help
If you think you can help us in another way not listed here, please
contact us and let us know your ideas - we're always open to more ideas.
