# New Developer

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820>\
**Category:** Dev/API Corner\
**Tags:** other-dev\
**Created:** [January 7, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820 "2009-01-07T21:46:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![HatWearingFool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea666f/32.png) [@HatWearingFool](https://forums.plex.tv/u/HatWearingFool)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/1 "2009-01-07T21:46:23Z")

</div>

On going development
NOTE: I discovered Lighthouse while typing this up, I've decided to submit anyway in case someone else runs into the same thought I did. Maybe a mention of lighthouse is warranted on the "how-to-compile" page. I'll pick a unassigned bug off light house and see what I can do :)  
  
Hello everyone,  
  
I've been using plex for about 5 months now and I've decided that I'd like to contribute. So far I was able to get everything set-up and have managed to compile & debug the code. Thanks a bunch for the really great "how to compile" page in the wiki by the way. I had a couple of small items to try out (just to learn my way through the code), but have discovered while scanning the forums lots of phrases like "we are currently working on that" or "we will no longer develop features for the current library since a complete re-write is currently underway". I was wondering if there is an easy way to tell what is currently in development? It would certainly suck for me if I added something only to have it wiped out because the piece I worked on was undergoing a complete re-write.  
  
Sorry if I should be able to tell this already. I've never used GIT before (I will be reading up on this week).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![HatWearingFool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea666f/32.png) [@HatWearingFool](https://forums.plex.tv/u/HatWearingFool)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/2 "2009-01-07T21:49:52Z")

</div>

I still don’t seem to be able to easily find tickets that say stuff like “Don’t fool with this class because it will be destroyed with a complete re-write of the library”. Am I missing something obvious? I’ll have some time to spend going through lighthouse tonight. Along with GIT this will be the first time I’ve ever used it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![elan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/elan/32/5_2.png) [@elan](https://forums.plex.tv/u/elan)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/3 "2009-01-07T22:40:51Z")

</div>

Hello, and welcome!  
  
  
  
We should definitely tag items in Lighthouse with “wontfix” as well as “starter” (something that’s good for someone starting out).  
  
  
  
Why don’t you let me know where your interests are (e.g. “I love subtitles!”) and I would be happy to suggest some stuff you might be interested in? Otherwise, feel free to contact me via email to discuss more 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TheShow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TheShow](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TheShow)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/4 "2009-03-11T20:27:11Z")

</div>

Hi,  
  
  
  
i would also like to contribute code. Is there some more documentation on the code out there? Or just the “How to compile”-Wiki page and the code itself? Is there any good place to start or will the debugger be my best friend for the next days? 😃  
  
  
  
Best Regards

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![elan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/elan/32/5_2.png) [@elan](https://forums.plex.tv/u/elan)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/5 "2009-03-11T22:16:58Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> i would also like to contribute code. Is there some more documentation on the code out there? Or just the “How to compile”-Wiki page and the code itself? Is there any good place to start or will the debugger be my best friend for the next days? 😃

  
  
If you can build the code, you're doing great :)  
  
The best way to learn it is to just poke around in the code, in a debugger, or try to work on some feature or bug.  
  
Cheers, and welcome!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![aaronjb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@aaronjb](https://forums.plex.tv/u/aaronjb)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/6 "2009-03-12T00:06:54Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> the debugger will be my best friend for the next days? 😃

  
  
Fixed that quote for you ;)  
  
That's certainly the approach I took - after staring at the code for a very long time I eventually decided to just build it and start stepping through the area I was having trouble with, which proved most enlightening..  
  
'course then I went on holiday and erased all that knowledge with far too much good Tequila -\_-   
  
I recommend skipping that last step ;)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TheShow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TheShow](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TheShow)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/7 "2009-03-12T16:10:20Z")

</div>

Hi,   
  
  
  
ok i started with setting everything up for compiling and it works. but i have still a question.  
  
why does the “How to Compile” Wiki says that i have to set PLEX\_HOME to /Applications/Plex.app/Contents/Resources/Plex?  
  
I don’t have Plex installed there. So this won’t work. But setting PLEX\_HOME to the Resource folder of the app i build does also not work, because of all the missing resources. But where are this resources? Maybe I’m just blind or stupid 😃  
  
This are my first steps with XCode so maybe I’m missing something.  
  
  
  
UPDATE:  
  
Ok got this working with setting PLEX\_HOME to the root of the project dir and copying the MediaStream skin to the skin plugin.   
  
Are there any plans to reorganize all the files?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jam](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/jam/32/186050_2.png) [@jam](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jam)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/8 "2009-03-12T19:15:46Z")

</div>

No, PLEX\_HOME should really be set to the Plex folder inside a released app bundle. Things like the skin, keymaps, media server, scrapers etc. are developed independently of the main app and copied in before release.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TheShow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TheShow](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TheShow)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 9:35am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/9 "2009-03-13T09:35:09Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> No, PLEX\_HOME should really be set to the Plex folder inside a released app bundle. Things like the skin, keymaps, media server, scrapers etc. are developed independently of the main app and copied in before release.

  
  
What is the reason for this? Wouldn't it be easier to have everything in the same repository? So everybody who can fix/change something can do it the the repository?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TheShow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TheShow](https://forums.plex.tv/u/TheShow)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2009, 9:46am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/10 "2009-03-14T09:46:06Z")

</div>

Ok I debugged the code now for two days.  
  
But can now someone point me to a bug/feature which would be a good starting point and where no one is already working on?  
  
Thanks in advance!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![holzi](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/holzi/32/68_2.png) [@holzi](https://forums.plex.tv/u/holzi)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/11 "2009-03-14T14:14:05Z")

</div>

look around here: [http://plexapp.lighthouseapp.com](http://plexapp.lighthouseapp.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kent](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/kent/32/184_2.png) [@kent](https://forums.plex.tv/u/kent)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 8:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/12 "2009-03-15T08:10:07Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> Ok I debugged the code now for two days.  
>   
> But can now someone point me to a bug/feature which would be a good starting point and where no one is already working on?  
>   
> Thanks in advance!

  
  
  
I've logged a few that are very minor and I can't imagine would impact anything else if you got them sorted out. Admittedly they are library related, which isn't ideal given it is getting replaced, but it might be a good place to start poking around:  
  
This one is probably the best - it is simply a wrong default answer to a question.  
[http://plexapp.lighthouseapp.com/projects/...-default-answer](http://plexapp.lighthouseapp.com/projects/15067/tickets/224-deleting-sources-remove-items-from-library-wrong-default-answer)  
  
This one is a bit more complex...  
[http://plexapp.lighthouseapp.com/projects/...second-question](http://plexapp.lighthouseapp.com/projects/15067/tickets/225-deleting-sources-no-way-to-back-out-from-second-question)  
  
Do note that neither of these have been vetted to make sure the consensus is consistent with my opinion. I think they are no brainers, but others may disagree.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-developer/820/13 "2019-12-20T20:21:29Z")

</div>

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
