Next steps for Materialize

[DanielRuf]

Yesterday I had archived (and now unarchived) the materialize repo due to very troubling behavior of some members. I do not want to get into details.

But here is what we can do next:

we ...

• need community guidelines and have to enforce them (Code of Conduct already exists but is not enforced) by moderating issues (when you see that a discussion escalates, inform the involved parties that there are rules to keep in mind)
• need a new release (stable) - let's drop the "beta" from the version
• should provide some short-term roadmap for users
• should bring some issues and PRs forward
• need a team of maintainers who can keep the project alive

Happily @jshster stepped up and contacted me. He would like to support the project and I have invited him to the groups for members and members with write access.

Please give him a warm welcome. And let's discuss the next steps.

[DanielRuf]

@materializecss/maintainers @materializecss/members-write-access

[Smankusors]

Welcome, @jshster 🎉

First of all, I'm sorry for my inactiveness as a maintainer. Having not being employed by those who are using this framework makes my motivation reduced to really small 😢

I do have a plan for the future Materializecss, which is following what https://github.com/moment/moment/ did. If there's any bug, and there's a PR, we would happily review it and merge it. We will not plan any new features or something that will break existing implementations. Any new users should be redirected to better frontend frameworks that are more supported and maintained.

But! If we have enough motivation to move this framework forward, I can see why not to plan the new v2. Unfortunately, I might not follow the movement.

(and I should have already released the new version v1.1 yesterweek or yestermonth, oh welp I'm so bad at this 🤦‍♂️)

Anyway, let me know what do you guys think

(edit: did this sent twice? Welp, my mouse with its accidental double clicks)

[jshster]

@wuda-io By moving the CSS to Grid, do you mean moving to Flex? As for Typescript that's not something I'm familiar with so I'll have to defer to others on this suggestion.

[wuda-io]

Typescript:
No fear, it is just easier for development and a sub-set of javascript. So we can handle the object oriented part better as some components may inhertit from others. The TS-Code is then compiled to JS-Code, so for the users of MTFW would not be any noticeable change.

Grid:
The Grid is a new CSS-System which replaces the old float and position:relative and is pretty awesome and simple,
since you can add for example a gap between the columns. This is not possible atm with the current version.
Yes it is similar to flex but also used for multiple rows and columns. I dont know flex very well 😅

Also I try to get opencollective to work atm so we have some budget for developers.
Then, if we have some support I would be willing to commit fixed amount of time to bring this project forward.

Thanks ppl

[Smankusors]

hmm at the second thought I think I will try to release the 1.1 this week

for the Typescript, well you can just think it's Javascript, but with types defined like Java. Every JS syntax is compatible with TS, but not vice versa btw.

[Smankusors]

btw, I need a review on the CHANGELOG I generated on #258 before I release 1.1 🙏

cc @materializecss/members @materializecss/maintainers

[LoganTann]

At work, we've moved to JSDoc (@typedef and @type tags) in order to stay backward compatible while getting benefits from types in our IDE. I think it's a good idea to encourage contributors to adopt jsdoc.

About CSS grids, taking inspiration in bootstrap's source code to ditch float: left while keeping the same classes syntax is a good idea.

I need to take some time to review changelog, but it looks fine to me

[hbhanoo]

redirected to better frontend frameworks that are more supported and maintained.

Would love to get these pointers
I'm more of a backend dev, so I'm not as up-to-speed on recommended alternatives. I integrated materializecss into my project to get going quickly

[jshster]

My question would be.... what is MaterializeCSS missing that you need? Rather than immediately jumping to "better supported or maintained" frameworks.

[jshster]

Hi again all, quick question. I was just reviewing the PR relating to autoComplete but it appears the discussion has stalled. I'm not sure what the "industry standard" is for Open Source but I'm wondering if we need to open a Slack group or something where those with Project Write access can discuss the current state of things and how we get the new release done. I'm particularly interested in the autoComplete as it has breaking changes so I'm curious how we implement that (eg. Just put out V1.2 with a warning about the lack of backwards compatibility). Interestingly the AutoComplete is the one component I ended up using a third party because I couldn't get it to work the way I needed - which essentially related to the original object/id structure!! As I said I'm really learning here. Anyway just an idea.... thoughts everyone? And Happy Easter to those celebrating.

[DanielRuf]

There is a Gitter link in the readme: https://gitter.im/materializecss/materialize

[wuda-io]

Happy Easter! 🐇
I am looking to open a new pull request next week with breaking changes, the only things missing are the tests and the documentation.
See you soon.

[Smankusors]

I'm not sure what the "industry standard" is for Open Source but I'm wondering if we need to open a Slack group or something where those with Project Write access can discuss the current state of things and how we get the new release done.

unfortunately Slack on free version can't save all the messages, so I do like to avoid it. While Gitter... welp I'm not really active there

Interestingly the AutoComplete is the one component I ended up using a third party because I couldn't get it to work the way I needed

do you mean PR #245?

ouch yeah that PR stalled because we are confused when to release that 😅

@wuda-io btw, I think any breaking changes require migration docs. I mean the documentation about how to adapt the old one to the new one. Wdyt?

[jshster]

Hey, I was just referring to some documentation and wondered.... has anyone been able to connect with Alvin (original owner of project) regarding updating the materializecss.com website to point them at the new version? Also has any thought been given to a new website that we can maintain documentation and whatnot?

[DanielRuf]

There is already a new website at https://materializecss.github.io/materialize/

The original creators never didn't reply / give feedback.

[LoganTann]

What a coincidence; I might contact one of them today via Twitter.
If that person is indeed the owner, what would you want to ask ?
@jshster

[jshster]

Not sure how I hadn't seen this until now. That new site definitely looks like it will do the job.
@LoganTann only question was really whether they can redirect to the new site. He clearly isn't interested in progressing the original project so surely time to pass the torch... .and too many people are landing on the old site and getting disgruntled etc at the lack of movement... all the while, we're having these discussions!

[LoganTann]

all the while, we're having these discussions!

Unfortunately, I still haven't received any reply.

I don't know how the creators really feel about the project, nor their personal situation, but I'm sad to see that this project has been suddently abandoned and attempts to get it up and running have been ignored

[wuda-io]

Hello everyone! I just wanted to summarize what are the next steps too take Materialize forward.

• Create an opencollective account
• New Domain (materializeweb.com)
• Create E-Mail Address
• Release 2.0.0

What do you think? Please comment.
Thanks.

[LoganTann]

I guess by domain he meant registering for materializecss.org ?

About open collective, it seems a good idea if some people wants to sponsor or donate to this community project

[Smankusors]

to be honest I'm not really interested on opencollective though...

@wuda-io btw do you want to lead these? I can give you write access on this repo

[wuda-io]

@Smankusors yes that would be nice. Also how can i reach you directly?

[Smankusors]

@wuda-io alright added 🎉

hmm you can reach me at LinkedIn if you want https://www.linkedin.com/in/smankusors/

[wuda-io]

Ok, after a long pause, the first step is finally done! https://opencollective.com/materialize

[jshster]

Hey guys, someone on Gitter has created another Starter template. Looks like a pretty solid base for people getting started and I thought might be worth including on the website. https://spontaneous-sunburst-b6dd63.netlify.app/index.html. Repo can be found here: https://github.com/ohNegative/static-materialCss Thoughts?

[Smankusors]

pretty good 👍 . I think it should be included as third party templates or something? Because it's hosted on different repo...

just some notes for improving this template:

• use consistent font
• speed up the fade duration, or don't use it at all (the visitors like to have a fast content)
• more contrast between foreground and background, particularly on "Make an appointment with...." section in the home
  • currently it's hard to read
  • can be achieved by choosing lighter background, or use css filter on the background to lighten it up

[jshster]

Hey guys, the guy that created the starter template has taken on board the feedback and updated everything.

Got those updates published:
updated the framework version to 1.1.0
sped up the fade in
removed the Playfair font (so users can use their own font of choice)
updated the font color to white in the "appointment" section so its easier to read
See changes here: https://spontaneous-sunburst-b6dd63.netlify.app/
Let me know if you want me to make any more updates.

[wuda-io]

Hey @jshster! Looks pretty awesome.
We should add it to the template section.
Are there any more dependencies than materialize?

[jshster]

@wuda-io there are no other dependencies. He's even used the CDN for the Materialize references.
I'd like to have a crack at adding this in to the website but I haven't got a clue where to start. First question - am I able to? Second question .... can someone point me in the direction of how I can add it to the home page?

[Smankusors]

of course you are able to 😀

wait, do you want to put it on the home page? or the getting started page?

[rotexdegba]

Hi @everyone, I have used materializecss in the past and loved its simplicity. I stopped using it because I thought it had been abandoned. Then I found this repo today & I'm a bit excited. I want to start a new web project & was contemplating using bootstrap 5. Is there a guarantee that this fork of materialize will continue to be maintained?

I really don't care much for new shiny features. I am instead more interested in stability of the existing features in materialize and bug fixes for existing feature that are broken as long as the project will continue to be made compatible with the latest browser versions across the dominant platforms. I think this should be a reasonable goal for this project in order to make the best use of the time of those developers committed to maintaining this project.

I feel the current set of features it has are good and adequate enough and just bug fixes should be the goal moving forward and if a group of developers feel they want new and shiny features, they could fork the repo. I think continually adding new & shiny features would drain the limited developers time and it's much better to have a stable & continuously maintained package that people looking to start new project can rely on moving forward. If these are the goals for this project moving forward, then I would definitely be happy to start using it again in new projects and contributing to helping out with its maintenance.

Cheers!

[Smankusors]

I think personally since I don't handle any projects that uses materializecss anymore, I find myself not really motivated on bringing big changes to the materializecss. But if there's any PR I would like to review it in my free time.

If you look for stability, I think materializecss is already stable enough
But if you look for new features and faster releases, I don't think we have it...

Different maintainers on this repo might have different opinion than me though.

[rotexdegba]

Yeah it's stability & ongoing compatibility with the latest versions of modern browsers that are my key priorities.

[wuda-io]

Hello @rotexdegba

The main goal for this project is to keep it stable and reliable. No new features are planned.
You are correct, we just keep this fork modern and up to date with established tech.
Like some near target points are

• remove jQuery because it is not required any more
• move to typescript for healthier code and types
• add themes for enhanched usability

I think we are in sync by maintaining the existing features and getting the best out of this tool.
This is already work enough.
Thanks for using Materialize.

[rotexdegba]

@wuda-io Thanks for the clarification. I appreciate all the work you guys have done on this fork and based on your feedback I have more confidence to go ahead to use materializecss in my future projects.

Cheers!!

[danice]

Hello! I have done a proof of moving some components to typescript and it works quite well. See in refactor: Move Code to Typescript the explanation. #267

[wuda-io]

Short Update: jQuery aka Dom-Cash is now removed from the Codebase in dev-v2-Branch!
Also thanks to @danice for starting with the TypeScript Part!

Following roadmap i would suggest:

2.0.0-alpha

• Bring back the waves Dependency (currently not working)
• Fix Components Forms, Range and ScrollSpy
• Remove jQuery from Documentation (from the language areas)
• Document Dark-Mode and Themes incl. JavaScript short code at beginning

2.X.X

• Making interfaces for all Component Options
• Adding Tests for Timepicker
• Remove innerHTML and use HTMLElement instead to prevent code injection
• Update Design in direction of M3 (Buttons, Cards)

[wuda-io]

Hello friends!

New Major Release

Good news, the version of 2.0.0 alpha is ready!
I will proceed now to merge the v2-dev branch into main branch and make a new major release in the upcoming week.
Since there will be some major changes, it is marked as an alpha release. Some things will probably change over the course.
The codebase is now completly written in TypeScript and jQuery is no longer a dependency.
Also the building process, due to the use of webpack has changed a lot. So lets hope the release works as expected.

New Documentation

Docusaurus and Eleventy:
I looked into docusaurs over the last weeks and also tried to use other static site generators like eleventy for our purpose.
But I was not satisfied either way. Docusaurus is nice and all, but it would be too much of a dependency. Reasons: Forced use of React and swizzling many of the components because of changing class-names with the risk of using many unsafe parts) and not exchangeable with another tool. Also we should use our own components to create the Page itself. So users can see Materialize in action as they use it.

Markdown
Then I wanted to rewrite the docs in markdown, mainly for easier maintenance and reading docs on GitHub directly too. But it seemed, there was no real advantage and Markdown has many limitations and is more of a downgrade. Finally came to the conclusion that we should stick to the old Pug and clean up there (also there is many conversion from html to pug left to do). We can still change the direction later and use another tool. From pug to markdown or markdown to pug is not so much difference and can be exchanged more easily.

Old Documentation

If you want to use old versions we try to host them on a v1.materializeweb.com subdomain in the near future.
For now, you can download old versions via the Release Page
If you want to look at older docs, please check out the specific version of this Repo and look at it locally.

Hope you all are doing fine!
Thanks! Have a good day.