Since the launch of the BuddyBoss Platform we’ve used GitHub as a source-code repository, version control system and an issue tracker.
However as our teams have grown over the past 12 months, and our development processes have changed, we’ve run into limitations and inefficiencies, effectively out growing the way in which we use GitHub and therefore will be switching to JIRA as our issue tracker.
The switch to JIRA is an exciting one, but it will have changes to the way some customers have previously interacted with us, and therefore I wanted to explain this decision and the impact it may have.
What’s Changing?
GitHub will continue to be our source-code repository, and used for Version Control. We’re still committed to keeping the BuddyBoss Platform as an open-source plugin, and it will remain available on GitHub to be cloned, and for developers to submit pull requests to.
However, the Issues tab where you can view and submit new issues found within the codebase will be closed within the next month as we migrate all those links into our internal bug-tracking project on JIRA.
Any new Issues submitted will be automatically closed during this transition, before the tab is entirely disabled.
Why Now?
Over the last ~20 weeks our Product Team began switching development processes and release cycles by using an AGILE methodology.
This means we break projects into several phases, enabling our team to react quickly to requirement changes without having an impact on release dates. You only have to review our Release Notes to see we’ve consistently released sizable updates every 2 weeks.
In addition to this release timeline, we’ve been able to deliver a higher quality product with a far greater level of QA.
By moving to JIRA, it promotes continual use of this methodology for our product team and provides greater tools, especially during the planning and reporting phases.
The Impact For You
For most customers, this will have zero impact. In the past 3 months we’ve been decreasing the amount of GitHub links we’ve shared to customers, so unless you’re using GitHub to track an issue, you probably won’t notice the switch.
However, where you will notice a change is the level of communication from our support teams in your tickets.
From a Support perspective, our system will now directly integrate with JIRA; this opens up communication between Developers and Support; making us far more aware of what issues are currently being worked on, ones that have passed QA and anything that is, or has been, released.
Therefore, our support team will be updating you far more frequently as developers work on your issue, and I hope this new level of communication gives you confidence in our teams ability to get an problems resolved as quickly as possible.
For BuddyBoss Platform users who do not have access to support, the GitHub Issues tab was the only place for you to submit these issues; a form will now be available on the BuddyBoss Resources website for you to submit issues into our JIRA project.
Internally we’ll have more tools for reporting, giving us more accuracy with our development timelines. It also helps us work across teams and provides a more sustainable pace for developing new features, while simultaneously working on outstanding issues.
With 2022 just starting, we’ve got a lot of projects on the go and this new way of working has really helped lay the foundations to what will be one of our busiest years yet. we can’t wait to share more details to you over the coming months, but if you have any questions feel free to ask below.
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