As part of our Development Team recruitment drive, we thought we would bring you some insights as to what it is our existing Dev Team members do and how they got involved. We are please to present the first in our '10 Question Interviews' series, and Who better to start with than Robert Campbell, aka Calguy1000, the project leader...

1. What do you do in the Dev Team?

I am project manager, head of the programming team for CMS Made Simple and head systems guy.

In my role as project manager, I try to keep the team together and moving forward towards our goals without deviating too much. This is done by largely working with the other dev team members to make sure things get done in a timely manner. I also usually organize and chair our monthly meetings and other housekeeping duties like adding and removing access to various things, as needs arise. Also, if a decision needs to be made that either doesn't need a vote by the membership or cannot wait for a vote, the decision usually fall on me.

The programming team manages everything related to the CMSMS core. This includes implementing new features, fixing bugs, cutting releases and managing beta programs. As head of this team, I am influential in deciding what new features or bug fixes will be included in a version and when that version will be released.  I also work with the other programming team member(s) and dev team members to manage those lists of features, new content, new ideas, etc.

As the head systems guy, I am largely in charge of managing the servers, managing users on those servers, managing email, upgrading server software, dealing with attacks, dealing with system difficulties and whatever else comes up that is system related. I am one of the only users with access to the servers. Since that root access is tightly controlled, and I have years of linux/unix administration experience. If there is something that needs to be done as root.. it usually falls to me (unless somebody manages to get ahold of Ted first).

2. What is it that made you want to get involved with the Dev team for CMS Made Simple?

I was a programmer and a project manager for numerous years before I found CMSMS. I found CMSMS because I wanted a simple PHP based package for my personal website that I could easily build on. CMSMS fit the bill perfectly and I have been with it ever since.

3. How long have you been involved?

I found CMSMS in 2004, just shortly after its initial releases.  Something like version 0.079 or something like that.

4. What do you find to be the most fulfilling part of your role as a CMSMS Dev Team Member?

The best part of being a part of the dev team is when you see all of the great reviews that our professional users give CMSMS and some of the great things they do with our work.

5. What has been the biggest challenge you have faced as a dev team member?

The biggest challenge I face for CMSMS is in making sure that people know who we design CMSMS for. The dev team learned long ago that CMSMS would never be a replacement for Microsoft Frontpage, or a drag and drop site builder for novices. It's a tool built for professional web builders. However, it's hard to educate the public to that fact and it comes up every day.

6. What keeps you motivated as a dev team member?

I still have a lot of great ideas (and get more regularly) as to what CMSMS could do, or what we could add on. I want to see many of those ideas through. Additionally, we have haven't finished getting CMSMS into the market that we want, or adding features. I want to see that through too.

7. If you could be a "dictator for a day" for CMS Made Simple and implement one "fantasy function" immediately into the Core, what would it be?

Heh, some people will tell you that I AM the dictator :) but that is far from the truth. Most features and even bug fixes are discussed at length, and go through a "sales process" where we convince the other dev team members that the features are good ideas. Â

However, that aside: The one thing that is on (or near) the top of my list of things to do for CMSMS is to completely change the admin login stuff to make that more flexible, and to implement modules for a flavor of multi-site control. This would allow one CMSMS install to be the 'master' and others to be 'slaves'. It would allow central user management, module management and be flexible enough to grow as time goes by. This would probably involve some kind of RESTFUL interface for the admin console.

8. Have there been any commercial or personal successes that have been because of being in the DEV Team?

I have been a part of many commercial CMSMS successes. I have written modules, added features to those modules, or solved problems for many (hundreds) of websites that use CMSMS or successful commercial ventures.

9. What do you do when you are not wearing your "dev team hat"

Well, I read a lot (gotta keep up with technology you know), and I'm a big fan of watching new movies. And when I am not doing that.. in the winter time I'm blowing snow :). However, in the summer time it's time to work on my truck or go camping.

10.  What is your favourite thing about CMS Made Simple as it works right now?

The best thing about CMSMS is how flexible it is.  The various templates, modules and plugins are extremely powerful. There are millions of websites that can be built without having to do any work in php, or have any programming knowledge.  However, you still need to know stuff about design, html, css, systems stuff (like Linux permissions, and finding error messages), and basic debugging skills.

Do you have what it takes to join the Dev Team?

If you want to find out more about the roles we are recruiting for then take a look at http://www.cmsmadesimple.org/about-link/join-the-dev-team. There you can read about the roles and also send us a message if you think you are the right sort of person to join our extended family.