Release post - GitLab 12.8 (!39892) · Merge requests · GitLab.com / www-gitlab-com

Tim Rizzi requested to merge release-12-8 into master Jan 30, 2020

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

Review App: https://release-12-8.about.gitlab-review.app/blog/index.html

Release post:

Related files:

Features YAML link: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-12-8/data/features.yml
Features YAML Images link: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-12-8/source/images/feature_page/screenshots
Homepage card: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-12-8/source/includes/home/ten-oh-announcement.html.haml
MVPs: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-12-8/data/mvps.yml

Handbook references:

Blog handbook: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/
Release post handbook: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/release-posts/
Markdown guide: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/technical-writing/markdown-guide/

People:

Release Post Managers: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/release-posts/managers/
Release Managers: https://about.gitlab.com/community/release-managers/

Release post manager	Tech writer	Messaging	Social
`@trizzi`	`@msedlakjakubowski`	`@williamchia`	DRI `@wspillane`, `@social` team mention for Slack

Initial checklist (Author)

Due date: 2020-02-14

The PM leading the post is responsible for adding and checking the following items: @trizzi

General contributions

Due date: 2020-02-17 (17th)

All contributions added by team members, collaborators, and Product Managers (PMs).

Note: the release post has shifted to a changelog style system, to reduce the time and effort required to assemble the post after freeze. Contributions are made through individual feature YML files, which are reviewed prior to merge.

Contribution instructions

Note: A prerelease version of the release post is available at https://about.gitlab.com/releases/gitlab-com/. To view your contribution once you've raised a merge request, use the View App button on the merge request.

Create a new branch from master for each feature/deprecation, and open an MR targeted at the master branch using the Release Post Item template.
Add one YML file for each contribution in data/release_posts/unreleased/. See data/release_posts/unreleased/samples/ for format and sample content. Images should be placed in /source/images/unreleased/.
- Note that the structure keys need to be preserved, like features:, then top:, then the feature content.
Perform the reviewer checklist
Ask the group's PMM and tech writer (see Product stages, groups, and categories) to review the MR. The MR should be reviewed and approved in time to be merged alongside the feature itself, with the PM performing the merge once reviews are complete. If you don't have access to merge, assign the MR to someone who does.
Content area reminder:
- Primary features
- Improvements (secondary features)
- Deprecations
- Community contributions
Primary or potential top feature? Engage PMM early to generate compelling videos, content, etc.

Reviewer checklist

Make sure feature description is positive and cheerful
Check Feature name
Check Feature availability (Core, Starter, Premium, Ultimate badges)
Feature is added to data/features.yml (with accompanying screenshots)
Check all images size < 300KB (compressed)
Check that documentation is updated and easy to understand
Check Documentation links (all feature blocks contain documentation_link)
Run the content through an automated spelling and grammar check
Validate all links are functional

Feature blocks

Due date: 2020-02-10

Product Managers are responsible for raising MRs for their feature blocks and ensuring they are reviewed by the PMM and technical writer by the due date. Communicating priority about which release post items are most important can help PMMs and TWs make decisions on which to review first.

Feature blocks should also include any epics or notable community contributions that were delivered.

To enable Engineering Managers to merge their feature blocks as soon as an issue has closed, please ensure all scheduled items you want to include in the release post have feature blocks MRs created for them.

PMs: please check your box only when all your features and deprecations content is complete (documentation links, images, etc.). Please don't check if there are still things missing.

Note: be sure to reference your Direction items and Release features. All items which appear in our Upcoming Releases page should be included in the relevant release post. For more guidance about what to include in the release post please reference the Product Handbook.

Recurring blocks

Due date: 2020-02-15 (15th)

The following sections are always present and managed by the PM or Eng lead owning the related area. Each should be :

Mention the below individuals after feature freeze
Add GitLab Runner improvements: @DarrenEastman !39992 (merged)
Add Omnibus improvements: @ljlane
Add Mattermost update to the Omnibus improvements section: @ljlane

Final Merge

Due date: 2020-02-17 (17th)

Engineering managers listed in the MRs are responsible for merging as soon as the implementing issue(s) are officially part of the release. All release post items must be merged on or before the 17th of the month. 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 to automate this process both so it's less error prone and to make the notes more accurate to release cut.

Content assembly (Author)

The PM leading the post is responsible for adding and checking the following items: @mention

Due date: 2020-02-18 (18th)

Review

Ideally, complete the review until the 4th working day before the 22nd, so that the 3rd and the 2nd working day before the release could be left for fixes and small improvements.

Content review

Due date: 2020-02-18

Performed by the author of the post: @trizzi

Structural check

Due date: 2020-02-19

The structural review is performed by a technical writer: @msedlakjakubowski

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. Ex:

clear 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 be sure to ping the reporter for that block in the suggestion comment, so that they can find it easily.

Add the label review-structure.
Pull master into the release post branch and resolve any conflicts.
Check frontmatter entries and syntax.
Check that images make sense and render fine.
Remove any .gitkeep files accidentally included.
Add or check cover_img: license block (at the end of the post). Should include image_url:, licence:, licence_url:.
Ensure content is balanced between the columns (both columns are even).
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 dead link checker, e.g., Check my Links and ping reporters directly on Slack asking them to fix broken links.
Pull master into the release post branch and resolve any conflicts (again).
Report any problems from structural check in the #release-post channel by pinging the reporters directly for each problem. Do NOT ping @all or @channel nor leave a general message to which no one will pay attention. If possible, ensure open discussions in the merge request track any issues.

Post a comment in the #company-announcements channel linking to the review app + merge request reminding the team to take a look at the release post and to report problems in #release-post. Template to use (replace links):

Hey all! This month's release post is almost ready! Take a look at it and report any problems in #release-post.
MR: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_requests/39892
Review app: https://release-12-8.about-src.gitlab.com/2020/02/22/gitlab-12-8-released/

Remove the label review-structure.
Assign the MR to the next reviewer (Marketing).
Within 1 week, update the release post templates and release post handbook with anything that comes up during the process.

Further reviews

Due date: 2020-02-20 (the 2nd working day before the 22nd)

Marketing review (PMMs - messaging lead): @mention
- Write the introduction (by the 6th working day before the 22nd)
- Write social sharing text for the tweet announcement after the release post is live
- Check/copyedit feature blocks
- Check/copyedit features.yml
- Check/copyedit homepage blurb (check /source/includes/home/ten-oh-announcement.html.haml)
- Mention Scott W. (@sfwgitlab) for final check
- Remove the label review-in-progress
- Assign the MR back to the author

On the 22nd

The author of the post is responsible for merging the MR and following up with possible adjustments/fixes: @trizzi.

At 12:00 UTC

Read the important notes below
At ~12:30 UTC, ping the release managers on the #releases Slack channel asking if everything is on schedule, and to coordinate timing with them:
- If anything is wrong with the release, or if it's delayed, you must ping the messaging lead on #release-post so that they coordinate anything scheduled on their side (e.g., press releases, other posts, etc).
- If everything is okay, the packages should be published at 13:30 UTC, and available publicly around 14:10 UTC.
- Ask the release managers to ping you when the packs are publicly available (and GitLab.com is up and running on the release version)
Mention @sumenkovic to remind him to send the swag pack to the MVP
Check if all the anchor links in the intro are working
Check if there are no broken links in the review app (use a dead link checker, e.g., Check my Links)
Pull master and fix any conflicts
Check if there isn't any alert on Slack's #release-post and #company-announcements channels
Check if there isn't any alert on this MR thread
Check if the social media copy is ready

At 13:50 UTC

Check if there aren't any conflicts. If there are any, pull master again and fix them.

Once the release manager confirmed that the packages are publicly available:

Unlock features.yml just before merging.
Merge the MR at 14:10-14:20 UTC.
Wait for the pipeline. It should take ~40min to complete.
Check the look on social media with Twitter Card Validator and Facebook Debugger.
Check for broken links again once the post is live.
Handoff social posts to the social team and confirm that it's ready to publish: Mention @social in the #release-post Slack channel; be sure to include the link and social media copy.
- A member of the social team will schedule the posts at the next available best time on the same day. The social team will mark the Slack message with a ⏳ once scheduled and add scheduled times to the post thread for team awareness. Further details are listed below in the Important Notes Section.
Share the links to the post on the #release-posts and #company-announcements on Slack.

Important notes

The post is to be live on the 22nd at 15:00 UTC. It should be merged and 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 once 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 (https://about.gitlab.com/community/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.
Once the release post is live, wait a few minutes to see if no one spot an error (usually posted in #company-announcements), 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 22nd. Once the tweet is live, the social team will share the tweet link in the #release-post and in the #company-announcements Slack channel.
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.

Edited Feb 22, 2020 by Tim Rizzi

Release post - GitLab 12.8