🤖 GitLab Bot 🤖 requested to merge release-16-9 into master Jan 31, 2024

Overview

Process Improvements? Have suggestions for improving the release post process as we go? Capture them in the Retrospective issue.

Preview page (shows the latest merged content blocks, for reference use until the Friday the milestone ends)
View App (shows the introduction, MVP and latest merged content blocks, for reference use between the Monday of release week and Wednesday, the day before the release date)

Release post:

Intro
Items
Images
MVP Nomination Issue
Retro

Related files:

Release post task and branch ownership:

The Release Post Manager (RPM) is solely in charge of changes to the release post branch. To avoid potential merge conflicts later during content assembly, it is imperative that Technical Writers do not merge updates from master to the release post branch even if it is falling behind or if there is a conflict. The RPM will take care of conflicts as part of the content assembly process on the Monday of release week and work with the Technical Advisor as needed.

Handbook references:

People:

Release post manager	Tech writer	Technical Advisor	Social	PMM lead	Product Operations DRI	Release post manager shadow
`trizzi`	`lyspin`	`csouthard`	DRI: `@social` for Slack Checklist item	`tbd`	`@justinfarris`	`tbd`

Response time SLA:

To accommodate the tight timelines of tasks during the Monday of release week and the release day, members of the release post team are asked to commit to one-hour response times in Slack during their working hours on those dates.

Release post kickoff (`trizzi`) due Wednesday, 2024-01-31, 15 days before the release day

Note: There are several tasks in this checklist that can be done any time before the listed due date. If a task says "no earlier than", it is important to follow that guideline.

Opening tasks

Due date: Wednesday, 2024-01-31, 15 days before the release day

Calendar

Schedule a coffee chat with the previous RPM to get advice and updated information.
Schedule a 25-minute retrospective meeting with the release post team as soon as possible after the release day.
Schedule two weekly 15-minute standups using this agenda template.
- Avoid scheduling them on Mondays when possible due to time zones and holidays.
- Invite the TW Lead, Tech Advisor (required), and PMM Lead
- If time zones pose a challenge, use #16-9-release-post-prep for virtual standups at a consistent time/day.
Review the major due dates in the standup agenda.
- If any fall on weekends, holidays, or Family and Friends day, inform your release post team in #16-9-release-post-prep to make necessary arrangements.
Confirm that the release post bot initialized the release post with initial commits by the 3rd of the month. Ex. You may expect to see 3 commits for Init release post for 16.x,Updated removals content, and Updated deprecations content. If no initial commits are visible, the automation may have failed. In this case, reach out to your technical advisor for support.

`#16-9-release-post-prep`

Create a 16-9-release-post-prep channel in Slack.
1. Invite lyspin, csouthard, tbd, tbd. There is no need to invite the social team to the channel.

Update the #16-9-release-post-prep Slack bookmarks in the #16-9-release-post-prep channel:

MR: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_requests/132734
Preview page: https://about.gitlab.com/releases/gitlab-com/
Review App: https://release-16-9.about.gitlab-review.app/releases/2024-02-15/gitlab-16-9-released/
Retro issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/issues/34816
MVP nominations: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/issues/34815

Paste the following in #16-9-release-post-prep:

Hi team! This channel is to discuss production-specific topics that don't concern the broader product team. By keeping our conversations in this channel, we can help keep #release-post clean.

:brain: TW Lead and Tech Advisor, please take a minute to look over your roles in the Handbook and consider a coffee chat with the previous team member in your role.

- [TW Lead](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/release-posts/#tw-lead)
- [Tech Advisor](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/release-posts/#technical-advisors)

Also, lyspin, just a gentle reminder not to merge in changes from master to the release post branch. I will take care of all changes to the release post branch; even if there is a merge conflict or things are falling behind.

`#release-post`

Update the #release-post Slack bookmarks in the #release-post channel:

MR: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_requests/132734
Preview page: https://about.gitlab.com/releases/gitlab-com/
Review App: https://release-16-9.about.gitlab-review.app/releases/2024-02-15/gitlab-16-9-released/
Retro issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/issues/34816
MVP nomination: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/issues/34815

Paste the following in #release-post:

Hi team! I'll be your release post manager for 16.9! I'm joined by lyspin as our TW Lead and csouthard will be our Tech Advisor for this release.

Confirm Slackbot reminder

Due date: Monday of the week the milestone ends, 2024-02-05

Paste the following in #release-post (Note: this can be scheduled in advance):

:hourglass_flowing_sand: **Release post item MRs must be merged to `master` by the 2024-02-12 at 4p UTC / 11a ET / 8a PT.**
The script that will merge your MRs from `master` and into the upcoming release post MR will run on 2024-02-12 at 4p UTC / 11a ET / 8a PT.
Please be sure your release post items have been merged into `master` and ready to go.

Content assembly and initial review (`trizzi`) Monday to Friday the week before release week (10 to 6 days before release day)

Timing of Final Content Assembly and Structural Check

On the Monday of release week, Final Content Assembly and Structural Check steps will start around 8 AM PST.

Coordination between the RPM and TW Lead is necessary if they are in different time zones to minimize disruption. Starting time may be adjusted, but Final Content Review with CEO and CProdO must start by 12 PM PST on the Tuesday of release week to allow time for feedback and changes.

Final merge related tasks (`trizzi`) due by the Friday the milestone ends

Due date: the Friday the milestone ends, 2024-02-09

Engineering managers listed in the MRs are responsible for merging content blocks (release post item MRs) as soon as the implementing issue(s) are officially part of the release. All release post items must be merged on or before the Friday the milestone ends. Earlier merges are preferred whenever possible. If a feature is not ready and won't be included in the release, the EM should push the release post item to the next milestone.

To assist managers in determining whether a release contains a feature. The following procedure documented here is encouraged to be followed. In the coming releases, Product Management and Development will prioritize automating this process both so it's less error-prone and to make the notes more accurate to release cut.

Due date: the Friday the milestone ends, 2024-02-09

In the #16-9-release-post-prep channel, remind the team that from the Monday of release week and the release day, release post team members are asked to maintain a one-hour response time in Slack during their working hours. This is to ensure the smooth progression of time-sensitive tasks during this window.
```
:waves: Hi Team - This is a reminder that we have a 1 hour SLA from the Monday of release week and the release day.  Here is a list of each of our timezones and working hours in UTC.  Hopefully this will make coordination during the 1 hour SLA windows for a little easier.
```

Content assembly (`trizzi`) due on the Monday of release week

Due date: Monday of release week, (2024-02-12), at 4 pm UTC (11 am ET / 8 am PT) and NO earlier

Once content assembly is confirmed complete, paste the following in #release-post:

**Content assembly is complete**
Any _unmerged_ release post items that need to be _in_ the upcoming release post or any _merged_ items that need to be _removed_ from the release post can be modified by <https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/release-posts/#adding-editing-or-removing-merged-content-blocks-after-the-18th-and-before-the-22nd%7Cfollowing these steps>.

On the release-16-9 branch:

Hi Team - I'm the release post manager for release 16.9. This is a reminder that the MVP for this release is due on the Tuesday of release week.

Ensure that the social sharing text is available and correct on the release post. This text comes from the title: element in sites/uncategorized/source/releases/posts/2024-02-15-gitlab-16-9-released.html.md and should appear below the post introduction inside the social sharing block. View the release post in the Review App and look for Click to tweet! to find the social sharing text.

Hand off for TW review (`trizzi`) due on the Monday of release week

TW review cannot proceed if content assembly is incomplete. Only perform these steps if the content assembly verification you performed above has passed.

Due date: Monday of release week, 2024-02-12

Final content review (`trizzi`)

Due date: Tuesday of release week, 2024-02-13

Note: The final review should happen after the TW Lead structural check is complete.

Verify content and post for review

Check to be sure there are no broken links in the View App (use a dead link checker like Check my Links. Note that the link to the GitLab Runner CHANGELOG.md will be broken at this time. This is expected and will be resolved by the Runner team at the time of publication.
Check the Review App URL on social media with Meta Tags. Make sure that in both cases, you can see the cover image of the release post displayed along with social sharing copy.
1. If the cover image is not displaying or you see other error messages, resolve these issues by consulting with the Tech Advisor or Social team as needed. Also try checking the title:, description: and twitter_image: values in the release post markdown file as these are used for generating then social media metadata.
2. You may get a warning from Facebook that says Missing Properties - The following required properties are missing: fb:app_id - this can be ignored.
Check deprecations in Docs to see if there were any deprecations listed with a planned removal date for the current milestone. If so, make sure that you see those deprecations listed in the removals section of your release post page (View App). If there's any missing, alert the PM DRI to get it resolved.

Mention @Sid, @david in the #release-post channel when the post has been generated for their review per these communication guidelines.

@Sid, @david - The 16-9 Release Post has been generated and can be reviewed at `https://release-16-9.about.gitlab-review.app/releases/2024/02/15/gitlab-16-9-released/`.  The 16.9 release post MR is `https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_requests/132734`
Please share your feedback by 6 pm UTC (1 pm ET / 11 am MT/ 10 am PT) on DAY. Thank you for your review!
Note: Currently there are no known issues/adjustments to the content.
cc: @justinfarris, lyspin, @social

Capture any feedback from Slack into a single comment on the Release Post MR with action items assigned to the DRIs to address. Check the content review guidelines for more details.

Prepare and merge to `master` (`trizzi`) from Tuesday of release week to the Thursday, release day

Due date: Tuesday of release week, 2024-02-13

Incorporating Feedback

Make sure all feedback from CEO and Product team reviews have been addressed by working with the DRIs of those areas as needed.
If you receive feedback about the ordering of the primary items, you might need to adjust the order.
If needed, re-order secondary items by adjusting the titles in the content blocks. More information to consider about altering secondary items in the content review guidelines and feature order technical instructions.
Make sure there are no open feedback items in this MR or in the #release-post channel.

Branch maintenance

Check if the number of features you added in the introductory paragraph has changed. To get the number, do a hand count of just the features (top, primary, secondary) in /data/release_posts/16_9, and also count the number of items in the performance improvements and the usability improvements files in the current release-16-9 branch. Do not include bugs, upgrades, etc. You can use an approximate count (i.e. 40+ instead of 43). Remove the backticks around the number if you have not already.
Check if the number of merged community contributions you added in the introductory paragraph has changed. Remove the backticks around the number if you have not already.
Verify that the MVP content has been updated and rendering correctly. The fullname and gitlab fields should not be set to false in the data/release_posts/16_9/mvp.yml file, instead they should be populated with the nominated contributor's details.
Avoid rebasing the release post branch against master until after 0000 UTC the Wednesday before the release day to avoid other pipeline failures that then will require manual intervention by the technical advisor.

Announcements

Alert the product team of the top/primary items in Slack.

PMs can use this query (update it with the current milestone) and check with their EMs to verify the features did make it into the release.
Post in the #release-post channel:

_Hello PMs! The following features are top/primary!_

Review App: https://release-16-9.about.gitlab-review.app/releases/2024/02/15/gitlab-16-9-released/index.html

(Tag the PMs for the top/primary features listed in the release post).

_Please let us know if any of your merged primary release post items shifted out of the release after the Monday of release week and will not make it into the final release packages by the release day._

Top/Primary items can move.
1. It is the RPM's responsibility to make sure any top/primary items mentioned in the introduction are accurate prior to the release day, because release post items can sometimes move in/out of the packaged release after the Monday of release week, and this could affect the themes, headline, etc.
2. If you learn that any top/primary items have moved in/out of the packaged release after the Monday of release week, communicate this directly to stop or start associated actions, with the DRIs for:
  1. Technical Marketing (the TMM team), who produce demo videos per release.
  2. Social Marketing, who produce feature campaigns per release.
  3. Corporate Communications, who lead media outreach and may have produced a press release.
  4. Any other related efforts you're aware of, for example related blog posts.

Post a comment in the #whats-happening-at-gitlab channel.

Hey all!
This month's release post is almost ready!
Take a look at the preview and either report any problems in `#release-post`, or leave a comment to the release post MR.
MR: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_requests/132734
Review App (this link is temporary and should only be shared internally):
https://release-16-9.about.gitlab-review.app/releases/2024/02/15/gitlab-16-9-released/index.html
cc trizzi

Create the What's New MR

To complete these tasks, you will need to

Due date: Release day, 2024-02-15

At 12:30 UTC

Read the important notes below.
Say hello in the #releases channel to let the release managers know you're online and awaiting their signal in #release-post to start the release post's merge process.
1. Release Managers will alert you in #release-post if there are any issues with the release. You can follow along on the release issue to see the packaging progress on the release day. Check the issue list to find the issue (example issue). The #releases channel is also a good place to track any updates or announcements.
2. If everything is okay, the packages should be published around 13:30 UTC, and available publicly around 14:10 UTC.
Check to make sure there aren't any alerts on in the #release-post and #whats-happening-at-gitlab channels.
Check to make sure there aren't any alerts on this MR or merge conflicts.

When packages are published (usually around 14:00 UTC)

After the release manager confirms that the packages are publicly available by pinging you in Slack:

Announce to the team in the #release-post channel that you are starting the final merge process, you will reach out for help if the MR fails, and that you will lead collaboration with the appropriate team members to resolve any problems.
```
:waves: Hi Team - I am starting the final merge process for the 16-9 Release Post ([MR](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_requests/132734))!  I will reach out for help if the MR fails and collaborate with appropriate team members to resolve any problems.
```
1. Depending on the complexity of the failure it is recommended that you first try to resolve the issue yourself and then reach out to the #dev-escalation channel per What to do if your pipeline fails or you have other technical problems.
Merge release post MR:
1. Remove "Draft:" from the title of the MR
2. Uncheck Delete source branch
3. Check Squash commits
4. Add the MR to - the merge train.
Wait for the pipeline. This can take anywhere from 20-45 minutes to complete.
Check the live URL on social media (after the MR is merged) with Meta Tags. Make sure that in both cases, you can see the cover image of the release post displayed along with social sharing copy.
1. If the cover image is not displaying or you see other error messages, resolve these issues by consulting with the Tech Advisor or Social team as needed.
2. You may get a warning from Facebook that says Missing Properties - The following required properties are missing: fb:app_id - this can be ignored.
Check for broken links again after the post is live.
Hand off for social and blog teams: Mention @social and @Sgittlen in the #release-post Slack channel. Be sure to include the live URL link.
Share the links to the post in #whats-happening-at-gitlab in Slack.
Merge (or request a maintainer to merge) the "What's New" MR after the images referenced in that MR have been checked to load correctly locally.

After the MR is merged

Keep an eye on Slack and in the blog post comments for a few hours to make sure no one found anything that needs fixing.

What to do if your pipeline fails or you have other technical problems

For assistance related to failed pipelines or eleventh-hour issues merging the release post, reach out to release post technical advisors for assistance in the #dev-escalation Slack channel. Cross-post the thread from #dev-escalation in #release-post so all Product Managers and release post stakeholders are aware of status and delays.

Important notes

The post is to be live on the release day at 15:00 UTC. It should be merged as soon as GitLab.com is up and running on the new release version (or the latest RC that has the same features as the release), and after all packages are publicly available. Not before. Ideally, merge it around 14:20 UTC as the pipeline takes about 40 min to run.
The usual release time is 15:00 UTC but it varies according to the deployment. If something comes up and delays the release, the release post will be delayed with the release.
Coordinate the timing with the release managers. Ask them to keep you in the loop. Ideally, the packages should be published around 13:30-13:40, so they will be publicly available around 14:10 and you'll be able to merge the post at 14:20ish.
After the release post is live, wait a few minutes to see if anyone spots an error (usually posted in the #whats-happening-at-gitlab or #company-fyi channels), then follow the handoff to social team checklist item above.
The tweet to share on Slack will not be live, it will be scheduled during a peak awareness time on the release day. After the tweet is live, the social team will share the tweet link in the #release-post and #whats-happening-at-gitlab Slack channels.

Other reviews

Ideally, the team should complete all the reviews by the Tuesday of release week, so that the 2 days before the release can be left for fixes and small improvements.

Structural check

Due date: Monday of release week, 2024-02-12 (lyspin)

The structural check is performed by the technical writing lead: lyspin

When starting the structural check:

For suggestions that you are confident don't need to be reviewed, change them locally and push a commit directly to save the PMs from unneeded reviews. For example:

Obvious typos, like this is a typpo
Minor front matter issues, like single quotes instead of double quotes, or vice versa
Extra whitespace

For any changes to the content itself, make suggestions directly on the release post diff and ping the author in the suggestion comment, so they can find it easily.

In the release post MR diff:

Remove any .gitkeep files accidentally included.
Check the cover_img: license block in /releases/posts/2024-02-15-gitlab-16-9-released.html.md. If the image was generated by Marketing (which it often is), remove the cover_image: license block. If the content assembly checklist point Verify the presence of a cover image in... is selected, this should mean the cover_img: license block is not in the MR diff.
Search for available_in: [free, premium, ultimate] and change to available_in: [core, premium, ultimate].

In the Review App:

Check for duplicate entries.
Search for the text gitlab-ci.yml and ensure there is a period before the filename, for example, .gitlab-ci.yml.
Check that features introduced in this release do not mistakenly reference previous releases.
Check all dates to ensure they refer to the correct year.
Check the anchor links in the intro. All links in the release post markdown file should point to something in the release post YAML file.
Run a spell check against the release post's Review App (View App) page. For example, you can use Webpage Spell-Check for Google Chrome.
Confirm the list of deprecations and removals in the release post matches the list in the docs. The release post only lists breaking changes, so if there is a difference between the two lists, check this first. In the docs, all H3 titles that apply to the release should be listed. Ping the RPM if there is a mismatch.

In general:

Report any problems from the structural check in the #16-9-release-post-prep channel by pinging the reporters directly for each problem. Do NOT ping @all or @channel, and do NOT leave a general message that no one will pay attention to. If possible, ensure open discussion threads in this merge request track any issues.
Ping the release post manager in Slack #16-9-release-post-prep to let them know your review is over and they can start final content review.
Approve the release post merge request to communicate you have completed your tasks.

After the Monday of release week

Be available for MR reviews for late submissions on the Tuesday and Wednesday before the release day. Remember that members of the release post team have a one-hour response time in Slack during their working hours on these dates.
Within 1 week of the structural check, update the release post templates and release post handbook with anything that comes up during the process.
Set a reminder for yourself on the Friday the milestone ends of the following month to prepare for the versioned documentation release.

Release highlights

tbd shares the release highlights to be distributed to the PR and Field Enablement teams on or before release day of the month. Detailed process here.

Create Product marketing issue with PMM-Release-Post template.
Create release highlights - 3-4 themes with description.
Share with PR and Field enablement team and tag release post manager.

Edited Feb 20, 2024 by Lysanne Pinto

Release post - GitLab 16.9