Olaf Alders

Lots of great stuff is happening with MetaCPAN. Here's a quick (and incomplete) list.

First off, Yanick Champoux has been doing some excellent work to add module up and downvoting to the MetaCPAN API. His work is on Github He has also created a Greasemonkey script to allow module voting to begin on search.cpan.org. We plan on incorporating it into the cpan-mangler as well, so that you can vote on search.cpan.org without needing GreaseMonkey.

Yanick's work will pave the way for module commenting, bookmarking etc. The great thing about this is that we'll be able to collect data on most loved and hated modules/distributions without being tied into any one particular search site or application. This is the sort of data which can make getting an overview of CPAN much easier. Yanick will likely post about his work in greater detail, but it's pretty cool stuff. It could change how you approach your search for new modules.

Secondly, Shlomi Fish took the initiative and started a #metacpan channel on irc.freenode.net Please stop in for a chat. We'd like to hear your ideas and, even better, we'd love to hear from anyone who would like to contribute. If you've never been involved in an open source project, this is a project which could use your help. There are lots of directions to move in, fun toys to play with and many ways which you can make an impression on the project. That's not to say that the old and the grizzled aren't welcome -- they certainly are as well!

Thirdly, some bug fixes from MetaCPAN have been backported to iCPAN. An updated app should be sent to Apple for approval in the next couple of weeks.

Lastly, we're still looking to get greater coverage of CPAN authors in our index. If you haven't forked our project and added yourself to the list, please do so. It takes about 10 minutes.