Launchpad itself

what is the difference between a project and a team?

Asked by Arthur Hebert

My question is in the similar vein to this one: https://answers.launchpad.net/launchpad/+question/13210.

I am starting a new open-source project, and I have come to launchpad in search of tools to
- host code and revision control
- translate code into multiple languages
- communicate with people who are contributing code and people who are interested in its progress
- manage features and bugs

So far I am excited by what I see, but I am confused by the apparent similarities between a Project and a Team. I started a Project, because that's where the tour landed me, and then I posted code to the Project. I then wanted a mailing list for the Project and found that that requires a Team. So I created a Team and looked for a way to associate it with my Project, but couldn't find one. As far as I can tell, I can do all of the things a Project can do with a Team (i.e. have a main page, host code, file/manage bugs and blueprints, ask/answer questions). A Team then seems to have more options for people management and mailing lists, etc.

I expected that I would be able to add a mailing list to my project and have people become members/contributors of the project and/or of the mailing list.

Is there a popular or prescribed workflow for managing code and translation and having a mailing list in launchpad?

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Leonard Richardson
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Best Leonard Richardson (leonardr) said : 		#1

The simplest way to make a connection between a team and a project is to make the team the maintainer of the project (edit details of the project, then select the 'people' tab).

The basic difference between projects and teams is that a project is a focus for development and a team is a group of people. Mailing lists go with teams because a mailing list is also a group of people. You can't host code for a team or file bugs against a team: the "code" and "bug" tabs track what the team has been doing in Launchpad's projects.

Revision history for this message
Arthur Hebert (ahebert) said : 		#2

This answers my question. Thanks!

I realize now that I could have figured this out with some more link-clicking. I think it would be useful if there was a document/webpage on launchpad that walked through how to setup and use an example project. The tour from the homepage skims the surface, and learning how to use the site by introspection feels time consuming if you want to set up something simple quickly.

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Arthur Hebert (ahebert) said : 		#3

A quick follow-up: mere minutes after my last response, I found the help pages: https://help.launchpad.net/. This has much of the overarching information I was hoping for, such as the articles about Teams (https://help.launchpad.net/Teams). My first thought was, "why isn't this help site linked on every launchpad page?" Then I realized that it is, with the link titled "Help improve Launchpad." I overlooked that previously, because when I am looking for a specific answer, I am focused on _getting_ help rather than _giving_ it, which is the difference between a "Help" link and a "Help improve our site" link.

On one hand, I like the idea of encouraging people to contribute by asking questions via the Answers tab. But that's less helpful when the question has been answered in the help documentation.

I would revise my suggestion to _create_ documentation, and, instead, suggest that documents from help.launchpad.net be included in the search for existing information under the Answers tab. So, when I go to ask a question, I am first prompted to search for existing relevant questions/answers. The results should include relevant searches of help.launchpad.net.