So you and your mate decide to spend the day programming your new pet project. As you do. You agree a time and place. You turn up ready to go. But you're not ready to go. Why? Because you haven't thought about the practicalities. You've been too busy with your day job.

Well, maybe you'd do better, but Jon and I made the most basic of errors. But despite this we had a great day - productive and enjoyable. So I thought I'd share a report on the day that you might find amusing, but also might help you if you decide to do something similar. It's basic as hell - but it's the little things that get ya!

1. Bring the power supply for your laptop (this one's mine - still can't believe I did this!). Thankfully there was another Dell laptop at the office that I could steal for the day. Schoolboy error number one.

2. Ensure that the power works in the room you'll be working in.

3. If there is a codebase in a repository somewhere already, then make sure each team member has logged in and has downloaded the latest codebase in preparation to hit the ground running. I'd logged in and changed my avatar - but hadn't changed my password, so I was locked out. Schoolboy error number two. Also, there is a difference between being able to log in and being able to download the code, depending on the granularity of the security settings of the system you're using.

4. Have plenty of refreshments on hand, and know how everyone takes their tea. A very important one this, and thankfully Jon was on it, plenty of tea flowing all day. (I know, real developers drink coffee, but we're just pretending to be geeks).

5. Ensure your codebase builds and is stable - no last-minute changes! The last thing you want is to be tweaking it while the other members of the team twiddle their thumbs while you fix your mistakes. Bring new code by all means, but don't commit until you're sure it's going to work - at least then you won't stop others from getting on with it. Basic SVN best practices.

6. Make sure you're using the database you think you are, and have the latest version online on your server (if you are running a demo site like we were). Messing about downloading database publishing wizards and the like is just more time wasted.

7. Have all of the tools you're going to need installed and working on your laptop. Make sure you have enough disk space free for the tools you'll need too (schoolboy error number three).

8. Have your usernames/passwords/connection strings/etc somewhere central that everyone can access them. Using a forgotten password link while everyone sits around waiting for the email to arrive is not very productive.

9. Factor in time for excited tweeting.

Timeline

09.30 - 10.00 Fun with power cables and SVN - WASTE.

10.00 - 11.00 Architecture chat.

11.00 - 12.00 Database issues, getting latest database onto the server, installing database publishing wizard and worrying about twindling disk space - WASTE.

12.00 - 13.00 Let the real work begin! Creating Umbraco document types, getting existing code onto server, getting site finally finally working. Started on user controls.

13.00 - 14.00 Excellent slap-up lunch. We deserve it.

14.00 - 16.30 Awesome burst of creation. Site grows and grows. Not much said, lots of tea drank.

16:30 User signup live and tested on live site! Can browse to members, their blogs and galleries, etc.

16:30 - 17:30 Testing, more development and wrap-up.

Completed

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Summary

So we've created the bare bones of a social networking platform based on Umbraco in a matter of hours. This is a testament to Umbraco's ease of use rather than our programming prowess that's for sure. It shows you how much is possible with Umbraco in a short time - imagine if we'd actually been organised! We have a second day of SocialFront development planned for later in the month and hopefully we'll be releasing the lot before the end of the year. As I said in the Introduction to SocialFront we are hoping to provide the foundation for Umbraco developers to build on, and we're hoping that folk will get involved. Having both worked on a number of large social networking sites, and with Jon's extensive experience with the existing systems out there, and knowing what the Umbraco community is like, we are confident that we are starting the development of a system to rival the best of the paid-for social networking platforms out there. We have plenty of ideas for future development, but first step is to get the code out the door so people can see it and use it and get involved. Watch this space!