-----Forwarded Message----- From: SourceForge.net Team <noreply@...34...> To: mental@...3... Subject: SourceForge.net: Notice to project admin of upcoming project web and statistics changes Date: Thu, 05 May 2005 12:33:34 -0700

Greetings,

This message provides an overview of upcoming changes to the SourceForge.net statistics system and the project web service. You are receiving this message because you are presently listed as an administrator of a project hosted on SourceForge.net, and we deem these changes to be important enough to notify all active project administrators. This is a one-time mailing. See the BOTTOM of this message if you are no longer active on SourceForge.net.

A. Project Web Service

A significant amount of recent work has gone in to improvements to the scalability and security of the project web service. On 2005-05-23, we will be remounting project group directories read-only on the project web servers (they will remain read-write from the shell server).

This may impact existing project web applications. All projects are encouraged to review our new documentation and modify their application configuration as needed. http://sf.net/docs/E07/

This change is being made in accordance with the previous site mailings announcing project web changes, referencing the Master RFE at: http://sf.net/tracker/index.php? func=detail&aid=1109940&group_id=1&atid=350001

Additional details regarding the project web service, limitations, and the best ways to manage project content under this service, may be found in the recently-released Project Web, Shell and DB service guide, at: http://sf.net/docs/E07/

B. Statistics

B0. Introduction and timeline

The SourceForge.net team has been working for nearly a year to complete a total replacement of the existing project and site statistics infrastructure. It is our pleasure to announce that this work is reaching completion, and to provide some details to manage your expectations about the launch of the new statistics service.

We expect to announce no later than 2005-05-16 the timeline for deployment of the new statistics system. This announcement will be made via the the Site Status page. https://sourceforge.net/docs/A04/

B1. Scalability, performance, outage reduction:

The statistics system has been completely re-engineered as to cope with the growing size of the site user base, and of our service offering. With the launch of this new system, there are bound to be a few bugs (though we've performed extensive QA review of these changes and systems to try to reduce the problem set). We ask that all statistics related bugs found post-launch be submitted to us for review (even if they seem minor, or duplicative to those previously reported) at: https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=1&atid=200001

B2. Project ranking formula change:

One of the changes which is expected to most impact projects is the alteration of the project ranking formula. This change may significantly alter the top project rankings, giving greater ranking to those projects who are not just frequently-downloaded, but also those projects who are active in using the Tracker and communication tools provided by the site.

The OLD project ranking formula was: log (3 * # of forum posts for that week) + log (4 * # of tasks ftw) + log (3 * # bugs ftw) + log (10 * patches ftw) + log (5 * tracker items ftw) + log (# commits to CVS ftw) + log (5 * # file releases ftw) + log (.3 * # downloads ftw) -- This has been detailed in our older Site Documentation as seen at: https://sourceforge.net/docman/display_doc.php?docid=14040&group_id=1

With the new statistics system launch, we expect to provide new Site Documentation. The new documentation will include the final form of the NEW ranking formula. The new ranking formula splits project rankings in to three components: traffic, development, and communication. We expect the new ranking formulas to be:

Traffic: ( (log(last 7 days download total) / log(highest project download total)) +(log(last 7 days logo hits) / log(highest project logo hits)) +(log(last 7 days site hits) / log(highest project site hits)) ) / 3

Development: ( (log(last 7 days cvs commit total) / log(highest project total)) +( (100-last file release age (days, max 100)) / 100 ) +( (100-last admin login age (days, max 100)) / 100 ) ) / 3

Communication: ( (log(last 7 days tracker artifact #) / log(highest project total)) +(log(last 7 days ML post count) / log(highest project total)) +(log(last 7 days forum post count) / log(highest project total)) ) / 3

Total: total = traffic + development + communication

All of the 'highest' figures reference totals for the last 7 days. In the case of 'log(last 7 day site hits for this project) / log(last 7 day site hits for the project with the most site hits)', for example: If Project X is the busiest site this week with 10,000,000 hits and Project Y has had 200,000 hits then it's Y score = log(200,000) / log(10,000,000)

We believe that this ranking method gives us the capability to better evaluate project activity, and to more directly reflect total product activity in how projects receive site exposure via the top site rankings.

B3. Post-launch components and your feedback

After the initial launch of the new statistics system, we will be working to complete the components to track CVS activity and mailing list activity. These components have not yet been completed, and are expected to launch at a later date (to be announced after the initial shake-out of the new system).

Additional statistics system enhancements are also under consideration for implementation after the initial launch. Once the initial launch has occurred and you have had opportunity to examine the new facilities, we encourage you to contact us (via our Feature Request Tracker) regarding enhancements you would like to see. https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=1&atid=350001

B4. Documentation

The release of new documentation (within the SourceForge.net Site Documentation collection) is expected to coincide with the new statistics system launch. Links will be provided to the new documentation from our Site Status page and Enhancements page. An itemized overview of the major changes carried by the new statistics system will be listed on the Enhancements page at time of launch. https://sourceforge.net/docs/A03/ https://sourceforge.net/docs/A04/

B5. Existing statistics data

Existing statistics data (from the old statistics system) has been carried forward to the new statistics system. For the time period that the new system has actively been pulling real-time data from our servers, we plan to recompute project ranking data. All other project statistics should match those found in the old system.

C. Conclusion

Regarding Project Web:

As documented here, project group directories will be remounted read-only on 2005-05-23. All writable files will need to be placed in the /tmp/persistent directory structure (create a subdirectory for your project). Additional details may be found in section A, above.

Regarding Statistics:

We are considering the completion of our new statistics system to be very high priority, and are taking only the time we need to ensure a highly consistent and functional system has been implemented. We expect to announce no later than 2005-05-16 the timeline for deployment of the new statistics system. Additional details may be found in section B, above.

We hope that your team will find added benefit through our efforts, and encourage your continued support and feedback.

Thank you,

SourceForge.net staff http://sf.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=1&atid=200001

--------------------------------------------------------- When the SF.net team sends out a site-wide email, we sometimes see replies that look like this: "Hey! I didn't ask to be on this list! You spammer. I hate you! I hate your dog! (insert other colorful phrases here)." The truth is, we've only sent this mailing to registered project administrators on SourceForge.net. If you do not believe you should have received this mailing, use the link above to submit a Support Request and we'll be glad to assist you.

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