Windows Mobile Software Development Rules & Wiki Links [MUST READ BEFORE POSTING] - Windows Mobile Software Development

Hello folks.
Firstly, if you want to ask a question about anything it must be posted in the QUESTION & ANSWER SECTION.
Please be aware that recently Development and hacking has been divided into a few new sub-forums to cover what usually would all go into the one Development and Hacking Forum.
This gives us the change to make Development and Hacking more clearer in general. (and clean out some threads that never belonged here in the first place)
But at the moment some new threads are still being posted to the Development and hacking Forum.
So maybe it is a good moment to clarify the new divisions in short.
1. Windows software development
What the Development and Hacking thread used to be intended for in the olden ages. For Questions about coding Apps in progress Development and Cooking tools. All within the Windows Mobile OS platform and off course tools for this platform to be used on a PC platform.
2. Windows themes
Skins, backdrops, Skins, Backdrops etc etc you get the idea. For Windows mobile or Apps running on Windows Mobile.
3. Windows applications and games
Finished Applications and games for Windows Mobile. Threads in the Windows software development section can be moved to this thread once you consider them out of Beta and such.
The most important thing to begin with is, to not post new threads to the development and hacking forum, unless it fits here. But post these to the new appropriate subforums.
Thinking of posting a new thread???​
Use the search button on the top bar between "New Posts" and "Quick Links"
If any mod, including myself, continue to find new threads about topics that have threads already existing.
The thread will be locked with no notice and/or up to a temp BAN!!.
Mods, including myself, are not here to keep the forum organized after the fact, we need your help to keep it organized, clean and grouped.
To the dedicated members that care to keep this forum, subforums included, clean and organized and grouped.
Please start reporting threads to the mods to take action. Using this button.
Thank You and happy easy searching.
​
If you already have a thread in the development and hacking forum you can request to move it to a more appropriate subforum.
Please feel free to contact me madnish30(WM SD FORUM MOD) if you want a thread to be moved or closed.Of course even if you do not own the thread you can still send me a recommendation on where a thread would belong better.
ATTENTION
If you have a REQUEST OR IDEA for any NEW OR EXISTING APPLICATIONS/SOFTWARE/THEMES/GAMES/HACKS ETC it must be posted in the QUESTION & ANSWER SECTION.
ALL POSTS MADE IN THE DEVELOPMENT & HACKING SECTION REGARDING THIS MATTER, WILL BE CONSIDERED A VIOLATION OF DEVELOPMENT & HACKING SECTION RULES AND DEALT WITH APPROPRIATELY
Also, if you have an idea for an existing application/software/theme or would like to request changes to the above, you should post your comments and ideas in the specific thread where the original application or theme is found, or post your threadn in the Question & Answer Section.
The Development & Hacking Section is open for users to post there contributions (application/themes/software) to the XDA Community, and is open only for this reason. Any post which does not do this, makes searching for a specific application or theme impossible.
If you have any questions, or need any help with figuring out where your thread should be opened , Please feel free to contact me madnish30(WM SD FORUM MOD).
I thank your for you time, and help.
Cheers.
madnish30

A Few Wiki Pages That Might Be Helpful, Please See before posting a New Thread:
Please see this Wiki page about Software, Tools, and Development.
And this one about Various Guides.
Here is a FAQ Wiki Page.
- If Any of you feel that some other page is worthy of being stickied and/or being added to this post, please feel free to PM me and i shall do the appropriate.
​

Related

"Dev" UserGroup

Why not just create a "Developer" forum usergroup for all the Android/Winmo developers who create ROMs/Mods/Themes and use that rank to filter out who is allowed to create new threads in the respective "Dev" forums of each phone? It's maddening to see so many [Q]'s among all the ROM titles and would REALLY clean things up, not to mention push all the other Q/A and help traffic into the forum sections they actually belong in, resulting in greater topic exposure, and by extension, potentially expedited help in dealing with problems.
Have a simple process of a message appearing when a non-dev clicks on the new thread button in the Dev section, and have it say "Sorry, you are not a recognized developer. Android/WinMo developers are the only ones allowed to post here, all questions and other discussion belong in the Q/A forum of this phone (Link here). To apply, simply PM (some moderator), tell that moderator you are a Dev, and you will be able to post.
You're not going to have to ask for proof from Devs who want to post, because since the majority of help threads created in the Dev sections are made by people who simply don't know better, are new, or don't understand the difference between forum sections. There won't really be censorship, because no user who needs help with xyz gps issue is going to go through the trouble of trying to fill out a Dev rank request forum when they suddenly realize they are posting in the wrong forum, and will move to the correct one.
It won't even be difficult to implement, just look through the dev forums and start granting people who are already android/WinMo developers the Developer usergroup. It's not even like they need extra permissions, the only extra permission they'd have is being able to post in their Development and Hacking forum.
Love XDA, Cheers!
+1 to this idea.
It won't be hard to implement, but it will be a constantly time consuming job for the Administrators to monitor the boards to appoint certain users to such a 'Rank'.
Along with this idea... why not a 'Community Assistance' rank for those who don't necessarily develop, but rather help users with issues they may have: answering questions, providing tutorials for help, sharing resources, etc..

[25/7/11] Updated Rules Of The Development Section **Please Read, Then Read Again**

I'll get straight to the point....
Despite stickys and forum announcements most of us are still finding ourselves becoming terribly, terribly vexed at the amount of [Q]'s cluttering the dev section...
Therefore, from now on, if you do not follow the rules outlined below, you will be infracted. Break them again and you may find yourself unable to post anything at all on any forum!!
[Q]Surely thats a bit harsh aint it??
[A]Not really....
We've tried to be nice about it but that clearly doesnt work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you cannot read and abide by the simple rules in this sticky then I dont know how you're going to manage to hack your device without running into trouble.​
The Dev section is NOT for asking questions.....
The Dev section is NOT for general topics..........
All threads posted MUST be prefixed with a description of the thread, [ROM] / [Kernel] etc etc.....*
*(Not planning on being particuarly strict on this. You guys (the devs), know how to title a thread.... just a pointer for new devs.)
Basically, unless your thread is to actually release something or discuss something of a very technical and n00b unfriendly nature, it doesnt belong here!
Pretty simple really.....
If you see something that shouldnt be here then PM me....
I will try to check in as reguarly as I can but I have a few sections to keep an eye on and believe it or not, a life outside XDA
Yes thats right, there is life outside XDA
Post What Where:
General - general technical discussion items, news, anything else that does not fit into the other fora categories.
Accessories - any items to do with components and/or accessories relating to your device.
Rom Development - only meant for very advanced technical discussion directly related to ROM development activity and the delivery of actual ROMs and ROM components ONLY. Nothing else goes in here.
Themes & Apps - anything to do directly with the development of themes and/or applications. Nothing else goes in here.
MOD EDIT: BEFORE POSTING ANY THREAD IN THE DEVELOPMENT SECTION, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING:
If you have developed a ROM, or are working with others to do so, the development forum is somewhere to discuss and share ideas, post useful feedback and logs or crash dumps, and to discuss a common goal developers are trying to achieve.
It is NOT the place to post your question because it gets higher traffic, or because more experienced users frequent it. Doing this just annoys those who are working on the device, and drives them away. Developers don't want to wade through 20 threads of "Help me urgently" to find their threads for porting and fixing camera issues etc. Similarly, if a thread is designated as discussion for developers say, porting a camera fix, please do not post in there asking "When will it be ready?", "Can I flash this yet?" etc. This is both completely disrespectful to those working on the project (you evidently haven't read the important posts in the thread), and also is making it harder for developers to find comments from other developers or testers when required.
Similarly, don't make loads of "Thanks for your work here" posts in an active development thread. It's just as annoying to developers as asking when something will be ready. If a ROM is complete, then go ahead and thank the developer if you wish, but don't go into threads for devs only, and interrupt it to post "thanks". It's basically spamming, and is treated as such.
If you are posting in development, you should have read every sticky and notice there, and should be actively developing or helping in the development of something. Developing isn't installing a ROM, or using a tweak, it's creating a ROM or other hack or tweak. If you haven't read for several days before starting out on XDA, you are likely about to ask something already solved. I registered on XDA when I first wanted to post, and that was to join in a discussion on something. Sure, join up and ask a question, but read the information available in General and Q&A first, as your question will have been asked before. Search is your friend here, become familiar with it.
Regarding when to post in development if you are not actually developing something, there is one occasion where it's acceptable. If you find a leak of a new ROM, which isn't already posted, and you verify it's legitimacy via either running it, or based on the source you obtained it from, then this is assisting in development, and should be posted in development. If you want to ask when a leak will be available use search first, then if not already in discussion, open a thread in general or Q&A.
If you have a problem flashing a ROM, this is NOT related to development. It's up to you to determine if it is specific to a particular ROM, and post useful information in that developer's existing thread for the ROM. If it happens on more than one ROM, and isn't a known issue (remember you should read several times more words than you post), then find out what you are doing wrong. Check guides written by others, try to repeat the problem and see if it happens every time. Something needs to be reproducible to be fixed effectively.
Once you have identified what you need help with go to the device Q&A forum (general if device lacks one), and make a clear, informative thread that explains the issue, and what you have tried doing to fix it. Did you re-download the ROM? Did you ask a friend to flash it for you, to reduce chance of user error? What steps (exactly) did you follow? What errors did you see (exact wording)? Did you double check all the steps? Did you do a wipe or hard reset?
If you make a clear, concise, yet detailed post, you will find help forthcoming, and should get the problem sorted very quickly. If someone suggests you try something, report back on what happened, did it work etc. Then, next time someone has this issue and searches, they will find this and have a verified and tested solution.
So remember... before you start a thread in development, ask yourself what you are developing. If you can't answer, then stop, step away from the post button, and think about where you are posting. Would it be better in General or Q&A, or is some more time with your best friend, search, required?
Can this be posted on all dev boards please? It is sorely missed...
Dr.Romca said:
Can this be posted on all dev boards please? It is sorely missed...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Truely ! I read them , cuz i am making other improved and detailed versions of other people's tutorials , more like the Arabic for the Jxmatteo 1.2 , and the storage thing , and other stuff ... so i don''t want to mess up with the rules since i am enjoying helping people ...
hm
The spirit of XDA
Read this from the beginning till the end​
Henry_01 said:
Read this from the beginning till the end​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good read
Sent from my Wildfire S A510e using xda premium

[Q] "Request new forum rules" sticky or "Request new forum" forum?

[Q] "Request new forum rules" sticky or "Request new forum" forum?
Reading through all forum request posts and threads throughout this "About xda-developers.com" forum and "(requests) From the Users to the Mods & Admins" thread I wondered whether it's time to create:
a sticky with "Request new forum rules" (ie. a sticky that explains what needs to be achieved before a new forum request is honored, like amount of requestees, anount custom ROMs built, first hacks, rooting, modding, etc. done)
a "Request new forum" forum, so admins and ops can easily spot new forum requests without having to cleanout and check existing Q&A forums like this one...
Regards,
Nika.
Especially Android is a very fast-growing OS with new great devices nearly every week and many not-so-mainstream phones and tablets besides HTC and Samsung and the rest that really should get some attention.
But I would never be completely satisfied with a product w/o root or Custom ROMs simply because I know that the manufacturer won't support it as long as the community would or I can't use essential stuff like Backups.
However I'm not quite talented with all the hacking and development stuff, so xda is my prime source for that.
After a little bit more than 3 years passive reading I had a first request but found quite a mess.
It seems like nobody knows where to request new forums and even the Mods say different things where to post. The only thing they say in common is that these posts are in the wrong section and are therefore being ignored.
In short words: a central, easy to find (been trying to find the 'right section' for quite some time) place for these kind of requests would be great! Thanks for your efforts
btw: I don't mean to criticise the Mods/Admins or the forum itself. I just want to share what I experienced as a not so noobish and not so active user
The new thread is here:
[Requests] Ask for new forums here

Stop!!!before you post - read this now!!!

Thinking of posting a new thread???
Use the search button on the top bar between "New Posts" and "Quick Links"
Threads posted in the wrong fora will be moved initially; however, for repeat offenders, the moderating team will look to take action to rectify the situation in a manner it believes is appropriate
WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE.
It is the responsibility of all users to keep the fora organised and clean. We need you to do your bit to keep things orderly.
To the dedicated members that care to keep this forum, subforums included, clean and organized and grouped.
Please start reporting threads to the mods to take action. Please use the REPORT button to do so.
Thank You and happy easy searching.
Forum Searching | Posting | The Basics: (Make sure you've read them before starting a new thread)
Forum Rules - http://forum.xda-developers.com/announcement.php?f=642
Forum Search - http://forum.xda-developers.com/search.php
Google Forum Search - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=304582
Advanced Searching - http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index...lopers Forum
XDA "Mantra" - http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...9&postcount=45
Post What Where:
General - general technical discussion items, news, anything else that does not fit into the other fora categories.
Q&A (Questions and Answers) - all questions, irrespective of type, get posted in here whether they be theme related, accessory related, technical, etc.
Accessories - any items to do with components and/or accessories relating to your device.
Rom Development - only meant for very advanced technical discussion directly related to ROM development activity and the delivery of actual ROMs and ROM components ONLY. Nothing else goes in here.
Themes & Apps - anything to do directly with the development of themes and/or applications. Nothing else goes in here.
BEFORE POSTING ANY THREAD IN THE DEVELOPMENT SECTION, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING:
If you have developed a ROM, or are working with others to do so, the development forum is somewhere to discuss and share ideas, post useful feedback and logs or crash dumps, and to discuss a common goal developers are trying to achieve.
It is NOT the place to post your question because it gets higher traffic, or because more experienced users frequent it. Doing this just annoys those who are working on the device, and drives them away. Developers don't want to wade through 20 threads of "Help me urgently" to find their threads for porting and fixing camera issues etc. Similarly, if a thread is designated as discussion for developers say, porting a camera fix, please do not post in there asking "When will it be ready?", "Can I flash this yet?" etc. This is both completely disrespectful to those working on the project (you evidently haven't read the important posts in the thread), and also is making it harder for developers to find comments from other developers or testers when required.
Similarly, don't make loads of "Thanks for your work here" posts in an active development thread. It's just as annoying to developers as asking when something will be ready. If a ROM is complete, then go ahead and thank the developer if you wish, but don't go into threads for devs only, and interrupt it to post "thanks". It's basically spamming, and is treated as such.
If you are posting in development, you should have read every sticky and notice there, and should be actively developing or helping in the development of something. Developing isn't installing a ROM, or using a tweak, it's creating a ROM or other hack or tweak. If you haven't read for several days before starting out on XDA, you are likely about to ask something already solved. I registered on XDA when I first wanted to post, and that was to join in a discussion on something. Sure, join up and ask a question, but read the information available in General and Q&A first, as your question will have been asked before. Search is your friend here, become familiar with it.
Regarding when to post in development if you are not actually developing something, there is one occasion where it's acceptable. If you find a leak of a new ROM, which isn't already posted, and you verify it's legitimacy via either running it, or based on the source you obtained it from, then this is assisting in development, and should be posted in development. If you want to ask when a leak will be available use search first, then if not already in discussion, open a thread in general or Q&A.
If you have a problem flashing a ROM, this is NOT related to development. It's up to you to determine if it is specific to a particular ROM, and post useful information in that developer's existing thread for the ROM. If it happens on more than one ROM, and isn't a known issue (remember you should read several times more words than you post), then find out what you are doing wrong. Check guides written by others, try to repeat the problem and see if it happens every time. Something needs to be reproducible to be fixed effectively.
Once you have identified what you need help with go to the device Q&A forum (general if device lacks one), and make a clear, informative thread that explains the issue, and what you have tried doing to fix it. Did you re-download the ROM? Did you ask a friend to flash it for you, to reduce chance of user error? What steps (exactly) did you follow? What errors did you see (exact wording)? Did you double check all the steps? Did you do a wipe or hard reset?
If you make a clear, concise, yet detailed post, you will find help forthcoming, and should get the problem sorted very quickly. If someone suggests you try something, report back on what happened, did it work etc. Then, next time someone has this issue and searches, they will find this and have a verified and tested solution.
So remember... before you start a thread in development, ask yourself what you are developing. If you can't answer, then stop, step away from the post button, and think about where you are posting. Would it be better in General or Q&A, or is some more time with your best friend, search, required?

WAY TOO MANY SECTIONS...organize and clean this up...

This site when I downloaded Windows Mobile ROMs for friends was well structured and organized.
Now its a ****ing mess. Too many sections and too many sections inside sections inside subsections.
The visiting audience for this site has nothing to do with the original purpose of the site now. Times change and the site needs to evolve.
First, all "old" devices/discussions/etc. need to be in a archive section (maybe even read only). If people want older information, they can search in there. Hell maybe even a "http://archive.xda-developers.com" site is neccesary.
XDA born projects (such as Xposed) should, with time, be given their own section as well.
Next, the general sections need to be cleaned up. They (Android, iPhone, Windows Phone) should have a General, Apps, Q&A, OS tweaking and thats about it. Also a "Classic section" might be in order: Blackberry and other OS (not based on Android) should be there as well
After that, all devices, with a 1 user base to a 10000000000000000000000 user base should have their own section. Users should be able to generate that section against a bot, or, XDA should read off some site (gsmarena) and generate a section off that when a phone is added. Later, XDA can decide to hide or read only that section (example, something gsmarena does a lot is if they hear a rumor, they add it like the Galaxy S9 is already on there problably. That section should be read only and/or hidden)
The site has become a horrible unorganized bloated mess and needs to be cleaned up.
The visiting audience for this site has nothing to do with the original purpose of the site now. Times change and the site needs to evolve.
First, all "old" devices/discussions/etc. need to be in a archive section (maybe even read only). If people want older information, they can search in there. Hell maybe even a "http://archive.xda-developers.com" site is neccesary.
This is already implemented. All older forums go into an archived section, but still accessible for users.
XDA born projects (such as Xposed) should, with time, be given their own section as well.
Already in place, have a look here: XDA Community Apps Popular sections like xposed have their own development section., Even Popular ROMS can have their own forum Custom ROM Central
Next, the general sections need to be cleaned up. They (Android, iPhone, Windows Phone) should have a General, Apps, Q&A, OS tweaking and thats about it. Also a "Classic section" might be in order: Blackberry and other OS (not based on Android) should be there as well
We dont currently support iphone, but do have general places already:
Android General
Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting
Android Software and Hacking General
Windows 10 Mobile
Just to name a few examples.
Considering we are the number one site for all things android, with a 6 million user base. We are setup very well. We do have a team of moderators to run the site, but we like users to help out and report things that are breaking our forum rules, or threads that are not in the correct sections, eg: questions not being put into Q&A forums.
Moderator Information,
Thread closed as member has posted this more than once.

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