Flarum Development Lessons

askvortsov

Hey everyone! I am excited to announce a new service designed to help developers looking to start with Flarum development. It's always challenging to get started with a new framework/project, so my goal is to help cross that initial bridge with Flarum.

What is it?

I'll sit down with you (over video call) and walk you through developing a Flarum extension. This could be a great way to get started with Flarum extension development if you're stuck on the documentation, or get some help if working on a complex extension. If you're interested in contributing to the Flarum core project or adopting maintenance of an abandoned extension, that's also something I can help with. Alternatively, a live call to answer questions, explain the ecosystem, and/or work through a basic extension can also be a useful resource for experienced developers looking for a quick crash course in Flarum.

Generally we'll schedule one or more 1-2 hour sessions, spaced out so it's not too overwhelming.

Who am I?

I am a Flarum core developer and author of extensions including categories, PWA/Push Notifications, and Moderator Warnings. I have a fair bit of experience teaching/explaining programming concepts through past organizations. Outside of Flarum, I've also worked intensively with Django.

What do you need?

You'll need an idea for the extension you're hoping to make or change.

You should also be familiar with the following concepts:

Basic programming/syntax in JS
Basic programming/syntax in PHP
Basic understanding of web development (HTML, CSS, HTTP)

Pricing is negotiable depending on your circumstances and whether you plan to make the extension open source, private, or premium. In the past, I've charged ~$50/hour for open source extensions. My goal for this service is to help grow the Flarum developer ecosystem, Going forward, half of the price will be donated to your choice of:

The Flarum foundation
The Friends of Flarum team
The FreeFlarum project

How do I start?

Message me on Discord via askvortsov#3485 to discuss your idea!

That all being said, I'm very open to feedback and suggestions for things that could be improved, or additional services that could be offered. Looking forward to working with y'all!

luceos

Not that Sasha needs anyone to vouch for him, but even so I can absolutely recommend him.

askvortsov

I've spent some time thinking about what I want this service to be, and I've decided to make a few changes.

My primary goal here is to make it easier for developers to get involved / grow in the Flarum ecosystem. More and better developers means more extensions, core contributions, ecosystem (free and paid) services, and better community support. In the long term, it's great for the project. So I'm going to be changing pricing to reflect that, for developers working on (or trying to improve) open source extensions, ecosystem projects, and core contributions.

Firstly, 100% of any fees will now be donated to your choice of Flarum, FoF, or FreeFlarum. My goal here isn't to profit, but to lower the barrier of entry for extension devs.

Secondly, the service will be discounted, especially so for people who have shown a track record of activity in the community (made extensions before, provide support to others on our community forums, etc). The main reason I'm charging at all is that my time is quite limited, and I want to ensure that you're commited to putting in what it takes, and don't just vanish after a month.

Thirdly, I'm broadening support from just helping with extension development to anything from that to core contributions to launching services around Flarum.

Of course, several expectations still apply:

You should read through the extension development documentation (which also applies to a lot of core architecture) before we set up a private call. You should also be familiar with basic programming, and be willing to put in the time and work. I'm here to help you learn, not to do it for you.
If possible, you should try and reach out in public channels (The dev tag here on Discuss, or #extend/#internals on our discord) first.
If there's something that the docs didn't explain well, but you come to understand better after a private call, we can work together to improve/add documentation for that topic.
I reserve the right to advise a different course of action if I feel like an idea won't benefit the community at large, or if support in a public channel is more adequate.

askvortsov

Hey everyone, wanted to bump this real quick. I am glad to run 1:1 sessions to help developers get into open source Flarum extension development and Flarum core contribution. See askvortsov for the most up-to-date description of this service.

Ralkage

So I had my first learning session with @askvortsov this morning, and I haven't felt this accomplished in a long time. He was very patient with me, especially with my lack of programming experience and my lack of concepts. Today I learned what the results of strict teaching can do for someone who has always been apprehensive about teachers in general. Honestly, I didn't feel rushed, and I was able to fix an issue with the FriendsOfFlarum Forum Statistics Widget! Did I mention that he helped me understand how to handle basic permissions? 😃

I would recommend him as a teacher to just about anyone wanting to dive in and learn about Flarum or even how to create your very own extensions!