[wp-hackers] GSoC updated application template and Ideas list, chats

[Jane Wells]

We've gotten a handful of applications already for GSoC, but they are  
largely terrible in format, with students pasting the template in and  
just posting a link to wp-hackers archives or their own blogs. To  
prevent this from happening anymore (since it means the students just  
get an email from me telling them to fix their apps), I've updated the  
application template to be very clear on what to include and what not  
to include. Any student planning to apply to GSoC, please get the new  
template to submit your application:

http://codex.wordpress.org/GSoC_2010_Application_Template

Also, I've updated the Ideas list after a conversation with Matt  
(Mullenweg) about priorities, so it's worth looking to see the couple  
of new things. Of note, I've removed the widgets repository idea,  
since it has clearly caused some kerfuffle, and that's not something a  
student project should have to deal with. Likewise, Ryan removed the  
user roles project idea, which also has too many politics around it  
for it to be a good fit for a student. Newly added project ideas  
include things like progress bars for plugin installation, ajax paging  
in the admin, column sorting, mega Trac ticket attacking, etc. The  
updated list is at:

http://codex.wordpress.org/GSoC2010.

Note: a lot of students are asking about ideas from this list. That's  
awesome. However, we expect more than a hundred applications, and  
probably only around 10 slots. Therefore, if you propose an idea from  
the list, and 20 other students propose the same idea from the list,  
your chances go down. If you love one of the list ideas, great: apply  
for it. You may also want to apply for an idea of your own creation,  
just to up your chances that it won't be a duplicate idea. If you do  
this, make sure each project idea is submitted in a separate  
application; don't put them both in one. Also, indicate in each  
application that you have submitted a second idea, and identify which  
one would be your first choice.

Don't forget, we have scheduled IRC chats with potential mentors to  
let you bounce ideas around and get some live feedback that will help  
improve your applications. These chats will be held in #wordpress-gsoc  
on irc.freenode.net at the following dates/times, the first of which  
is a few hours from now:
Wednesday, March March 31 at 20:30 UTC (4:30pm eastern)
Saturday, April 3 at 21:30 UTC (5:30pm eastern)
Wednesday, April 7 at 20:30 UTC (4:30pm eastern)

Thanks, and good luck!
Jane