Create a tutorial on how to set up and maintain a pod about diaspora-project-site HOT 10 CLOSED

You mean a separate guide beside the existing one? How would you assure to not essentially duplicate it? What about adiing "Verbose mode" to the existing guides?

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+1 for keeping guides in one place in the wiki

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Here is my point of view: For technical people, the wiki is enough. If we have to improve something, it has to be done there. For non-technical people, even a more verbose tutorial would not be enough. The software itself should be improved with an UI for the installation, so nothing to do with diasporafoundation.org

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Jonne, I'm thinking of something to explain the basics to people (like myself) who have read the installation guides and other information currently available, but who are still left puzzled about what is needed to run a Diaspora pod.

It would start with the basics: minimum hardware/software requirements to run a pod. And optimum hard/software requirements. And variations of the above for pods of different sizes, say 1 user, 5 users, 10 users, 20 users and 50 users, especially for expected traffic/bandwidth. The various options for hosting: hosting it on a machine you own; renting a hosted VPS; any others?

The various issues likely to be encountered before and during installation, and the various issues likely to be encountered while the pod is running. So that someone can decide whether installing and running a pod is likely to be something they could consider taking on.

How simple it is (or isn't) to update the pod when a software update is released.

Really basic stuff like that, which could help reassure the less technically minded about how they might cope (with the online help available from more experienced Diasporans) with installing and running a pod themselves.

Once someone has digested this introductory information and decided to give it a go, then they can be referred to the installation guides.

I've read the installation guides and everything else I can find about installing and running pods many times in the 2.5 years I've been involved in Diaspora, and I still don't understand what I would need to do to make this successful, or what it would involve.

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The software itself should be improved with an UI for the installation, so nothing to do with diasporafoundation.org

I agree, but in the meantime, before this has been achieved, a guide of the type I'm talking about might be an interim solution to help people who are interested in running a pod.

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IMO this has no place on df.org while the main installation guides are in the wiki. That would just seems weird and inconsistent to me. And all that content would fit into a verbose mode of the installation guides or some additional wiki page(s) that are linked at the start of it.

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@goobertron - I applaud what you're trying to do, but making the pod instructions more accessible may have a few unforeseen ramifications.
At this stage, running a pod requires some hefty technical experience. It took me almost 2 years to get it right, and only with some guidance.
Knowledge of both your operating system and running web services shouldn't be taken lightly.
The primary OS of choice is Linux. If you (the perspective Podmin) are interested in running a pod, then you should have a good, if not expert knowledge of your server environment.
The wiki as it is, is more than adequate for a knowledgeable administrator. Perhaps it could use some specifications regarding volume of users, vs recommended specs etc.
Would tweaking the current Wiki not be advisable first, that way we don't have a flood of inexperienced podmins/administrators trying to run pods?
I mean, if I've been running servers for upwards of 15 years real world, and I struggled... imagine what a university grad student would be confronted with if he thought he had all the information provided by pretty documents, only to let the pod drop if something went wrong. He needs to know how to fix it if something does go wrong.
I think that's more my point. He needs to be resourceful; watchful and ever present on his pod. A pod that is here today, gone tomorrow might as well have never existed, and then the people trying to help have wasted the time and effort on a pod that no longer exists.
Maybe look at some of the work done by the Poddery guys with packaging D* on Debian. I think if anything, they could really use documentation.
I'm not trying to dis your efforts, I think its wonderful that you're thinking outside the box. I'm just wondering if it could be better focused on something that might be a little more useful.
If, however, you choose to continue with this specific endeavor, I would be more than willing to help with explanations and research. :)

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I was just thinking about it... On the Wiki, there is

1. Installation guides
2. Updating
3. Integrating other social networks
4. Custom splash page
5. PayPal sidebar integration
6. Website copy editing
7. More...

Can I suggest that perhaps we take @goobertron up on his offer but to create a single wiki page entitled something like 'Hosting a Pod: An Introduction' that can be listed above 'Installation Guides'?

In this way, he can answer the questions of system specs; common queries for new Podmins; what does the term XXX mean etc. So more or less "softening" the Installation Guides, without directly altering them?

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Thanks everyone for your feedback. It sounds as though there's a consensus for doing this on the wiki, and I'm fine with that.

I'm not intending to over-ride anything that is currently there, such as installation guides, but to supplement that information.

@Starblessed, I certainly wouldn't want to say 'anyone can easily host a pod' if that's not the case at the moment. I've been wanting to host a pod for three years, but it hasn't yet got to the stage where it feels within my capabilities. However, one of the things I'm lacking is quality, easily accessible information about all the considerations to make before deciding whether to set up a pod. Some of it is there, of course, but there is room for more to supplement this.

Don't forget that one needn't set up an open pod; it could be a pod just for the podmin alone, or for them and a few friends who understand that they might not be able to keep it open and functioning reliably all the time. More pods is good even if some of these are small and might be up and down sometimes. I guess mine would be like that if I set it up, but I'd still like to try.

So telling people like me just how hard it can be is valuable information. I might decide that currently it's not a good idea for me to try to set up and run a pod, but at least then I'd know this based on information, not based on a lack of information.

Of course there are now the Bitnami installers, about which I know nothing, but which may make the installation process, if not the maintenance process, easier. Installers like this might encourage a flood of less technically minded people to try hosting a pod as it is (apparently) more or less a one-click installation, so it would be the more valuable to have some good, easy to understand information available to them to help them decide whether they should do it, and to help them a bit when things go wrong.

It's fantastic that you'd be interested in helping me to write this. I'm thinking mainly background information, things to consider before deciding whether to set up a pod. Something like 'Hosting a Pod: An Introduction' is a good approach. If a person decides they want to try, we then lead them to the installation guides. I'd like also to include a selection of common problems faced by podmins, such as Sidekiq workers getting overloaded, although this particular problem might be faced only by podmins of larger pods, who will be more expert sysadmins. But the sort of problems a podmin is likely to encounter at one time or another. Not to be a comprehensive help section, of course; just to give them a flavour of what being a podmin might entail before they make the decision.

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I'm closing this issue as we're going to do this work on the wiki rather than the project website.

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