The team is now working on the WordPress Interactivity API. This unblocks the same UX Frontity framework enabled but directly in WordPress Core, fully compatible with the new Site Editor.
@santosguillamot and I thought this morning that maybe it would make more sense to not open the “doc issue” in each of our PRs, but once all the PRs of that feature have been merged and we are writing the Final Implementation (and creating the demo video) in the FD.
We think we can make a better summary of the feature and the things that need to be documented as part of the Final Implementation, and it would be much more useful for you.
What do you think guys?
juanma42
I agree. I think this will simplify the understanding of the features to document them
luisherranz43
Awesome! Let’s try it then as see how it goes
luisherranz44
@juanma, @mburridge: At some point @santosguillamot and I proposed to be the ones helping you to document the next features because we want to understand what you need.
If you still want, we can do that for the Google Ad Manager package.
mburridge45
So should we be approaching one of you two and not the developer who implemented the feature when we want to document a feature and need more clarification/information?
juanma46
@luisherranz@SantosGuillamot@mburridge I’ve tried to wrap up here the resources and conversations we’ve had regarding the documentation, specially those about the workflow for documenting new features
1. Documentation Sites
The main site affected by features documentation is
in the WIKI of the API Reference docs repo there are the Guidelines for API reference docs with the criteria followed to document every piece of information (syntax, arguments, types, is mandatory, …). These guidelines takes into account the constraints we have for working with gitbook.
2.2 What is the workflow to follow to document a new feature after it’s released
Regarding this conversation, the most interesting proposal from a documentation point of view is having a Final Implementation section in every Feature Discussion that has been released
From the Final Implementation section proposal I’ve marked w/ those that are most interesting for DevRel for features documentation
Final implementation
Pull Request → Link to the PR where it was implemented.
Requirements → For example, for the @frontity/yoast package, you have to install the Yoast plugin ^14.0
Functionalities → List of the final functionalities that were included in the final implementation, with a detailed explanation of each one: how it works, how to use it (install a package? add a new setting?) and a code example/screenshot/quick video if relevant.
Out of Scope → List of the functionalities that were finally discarded or slated for a future time. Until we finish the implementation this may change, so I think is good to do a recap here.
API changes
Backward compatible changes→ List of the changes that are backward compatible.
Breaking changes → List of the breaking changes and how to migrate your old project.
Deprecated APIs → List of the deprecated APIs.
Technical explanation → How the feature was implemented. We explain the code
Demo → Full video explaining how to use the feature and its functionalities. This can be added afterwards. We could even include a CodeSandbox like we did with the wp comments.
2.4 Are we going to use TSDocs for documenting the code?
This will affect anyone modifying the code of the themes/packages as these comments are required to pass the PR checking and being able to merge the PR’s
From here we can have a meeting if you want so we can clarify some final points.
For me the key things that would help DevRel to document new features are
The creation of. The Final Implementation section and content suggested by Mario Following this workflow:
The PRs of that feature have been merged and the Feature has been released
The Final Implementation section is added to the FD
In my opinion it seems we are aligned, so I think we can organize ourselves asynchronously. We have already started working with this workflow, but it doesn’t apply to old features. So let’s keep an eye and see what could be improved.
We must remember to update the wiki once we see if the new proposed process makes sense.
Apart from that, my only suggestion is to create a different Template for the Final Implementation, based on the Implementation Proposal template, but with the new questions suggested by @juanma.
The DevRel team will add or remove sections from that Template over time when they start doing real work and learn what they need and what they don’t.
What do you think?
luisherranz49
Yes, that was our idea.
Actually, maybe you could do it with Mario and the developer who implemented the feature because the idea was that Mario would learn about your needs to incorporate them in our workflow, and the developer answers your technical questions.
What do you think @santosguillamot?
By the way, you mentioned that you wanted to work on the Google Ads Manager package, which was created by David, but you reached Michal, who is the supporter this week.
I guess we have to make a decision about that as well: Should you work with the original developer or the supporter?
In my opinion, it should be the original developer. Actually, sometimes times there will be more than one developer involved, so you should reach whoever wrote the Final Implementation.
SantosGuillamot50
I don’t fully understand it. We have this Final Implementation template, that is the one Juanma was referring to. It is also here as markdowwn. Do you mean to change it? I agree it will need some iteration.
Yes, sure. I can be there to analyze the process and the developer in charge of the feature to solve any technical question.
I agree it will be better to contact the Developer who wrote the Final Implementation, who should be the one with more information about the feature.
Maybe we should have some easy way of identifying attribution.
mburridge52
David53
That case is strange. Maybe I didn’t write the final implementation because I was on summer holidays? I don’t remember. The one who writes the FI is usually someone who has been involved on the implementation, so reaching the author should be enough.
Anyways, for this specific case, yes, it’s better if you contact me instead of Michal.
luisherranz54
Haha, sorry. I meant once you start working on documenting new features again
luisherranz55
There is another thing we need to work on regarding the Code <-> Documentation workflow: major releases.
Should we assign developers to review the docs PR? Do you see a clear benefit there? It’s an honest question - I don’t know have a strong opinion about it myself.
If the answer above is “yes”, then I would suggest that we only assign one person to review a PR at a time. Once a PR is reviewed by 1 team member, the original creator can assign it to another team member. As the original PR creator is in charge of merging the PR once they deem it ready, there is no risk of having the reviewer merge unfinished changes.
I’m aware that this process might at first seem a bit slower, but I think it’s not the case. I think that it fits rather nicely into the “blocked by default” mindset and just makes the process a bit more async.
Let me know your thoughts
1 Like
juanma60
Hi @mmczaplinski
Yes, we will always need a review from a developer to assure we’re being accurate in our explanations and to review we’re not forgetting anything critical
The review from the other DevRel member is to check that our explanations are enough to understand the feature (taking the role of someone who read the docs about the feature for the first time). Also is a way to give visibility about the features documented
I think you’re right. We can assign first the review to the developer for accuracy and once we have his review we can add the other DevRel member as reviewer to check form, grammar and ways of explaining the feature