🤖 GitLab Bot 🤖 requested to merge release-16-2 into master Jul 03, 2023

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 untill the 17th)
View App (shows the introduction, MVP and latest merged content blocks, for reference use between 18th - 21st)

Release post:

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 18th 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
`tgolubeva`	`rdickenson`	`csouthard`	DRI: `@wspillane` & `@social` for Slack Checklist item	`brianmason`	`@justinfarris`	`mmacfarlane`

Response time SLA:

To accommodate the tight timelines of tasks during the 18th-22nd of the month, 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 (`tgolubeva`) due by the 7th

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: 2023-07-07

Calendar

~~Schedule a coffee chat with the previous RPM to get advice and updated information~~. cbalane is on PTO, not able to schedule a coffee chat within a reasonable time.
Schedule a 25-minute retrospective meeting with the release post team as soon as possible after the 22nd.
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 #16-2-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 #16-2-release-post-prep to make necessary arrangements.

`#16-2-release-post-prep`

Create a 16-2-release-post-prep channel in Slack. https://gitlab.slack.com/archives/C05GEUV2VPB
1. Invite tbd, csouthard, brianmason, mmacfarlane. There is no need to invite the social team to the channel.

Update the #16-2-release-post-prep Slack bookmarks in the #release-post channel:

MR: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_requests/126593
Preview page: https://about.gitlab.com/releases/gitlab-com/
Review App: https://release-16-2.about.gitlab-review.app/releases/2023/07/22/gitlab-16-2-released/
Retro issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/issues/34344
MVP nomination: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/issues/34343

Paste the following in #16-2-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, tbd, 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/126593
Preview page: https://about.gitlab.com/releases/gitlab-com/
Review App: https://release-16-2.about.gitlab-review.app/releases/2023/07/22/gitlab-16-2-released/
Retro issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/issues/34344
MVP nomination: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/issues/34343

Paste the following in #release-post:

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

Confirm Slackbot reminder

Due date: 2023-07-10

Confirm ProdOps Slackbot posted a message titled, Release post reminders in #release-post
- If no message is present, post a message in #16-2-release-post-prep directing the Tech Advisor to investigate.

Content assembly and initial review (`tgolubeva`) 12th - 15th

Timing of Final Content Assembly and Structural Check

On the 18th, 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 19th to allow time for feedback and changes.

Various tasks and followups due by the 15th

Due date: 2023-07-15

~~Notify Sid and David if the 19th (final content review) is a holiday or weekend. Send the message in #release-post and cc the TW Lead.~~ July 19th is on a Wednesday.

Final merge related tasks (`tgolubeva`) due by the 17th

Due date: 2023-07-17

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 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 automating this process both so it's less error-prone and to make the notes more accurate to release cut.

Due date: 2023-07-17

In the #x-y-release-post-prep channel, remind the team that from the 18th-22nd, 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 18th-22nd.  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 (`tgolubeva`) due on the 18th

Due date: 2023-07-18 at 4 pm UTC (11 am ET / 8 am PT) and NO earlier

On the release-16-2 branch:

Verify the presence of .yml files in the 16_2 data directory: data/release_posts/16_2/.
Verify the absence .yml files in the unreleased data directory: data/release_posts/unreleased/.
- In case there are files left, discuss with the Tech Advisor whether to move them manually or to delete them.
Verify the presence of image files in the 16_2 image directory: source/images/16_2/.
Verify the absence of image files in the unreleased image directory: source/images/unreleased/.
- In case there are files left, discuss with the Tech Advisor whether to move them manually or to delete them.
Do a check of the blog post and ordering of content blocks for secondary items to confirm they are grouped by stage in descending alphabetical order.
- Be sure to wait until after the content bot runs. Otherwise, content may be missing or incomplete.
- If any of the steps above cannot be verified, content assembly may have failed. Mention csouthard in a comment on this MR and in #x-y-release-post-prep and proceed with the steps below. Optionally, you may choose to move the files manually by following the steps outlined here.
- If the length of one column is much longer than the other, you can force a block of content from the left to the right or vice versa by adding a force_left: true or force_right: true to an entry's yml file. (Example)
Update the release post intro in the sites/uncategorized/source/releases/posts/2023-07-22-gitlab-16-2-released.html.md with 4 primary features to highlight. To do this:
1. Make sure to remove the backticks around the features.
2. Make sure to update the feature placeholder text for title: and description:.
3. Link the release post items mentioned in the intro to the item blocks within the release post. For example, for a feature named "Define test cases in GitLab", the link from the introduction should point to #define-test-cases-in-gitlab.
4. Count the feature blocks to get the total number of improvements and add it to the intro, replace the XX in from the XX improvements and remove the backticks in sites/uncategorized/source/releases/posts/2023-07-22-gitlab-16-2-released.html.md. This count includes the top feature, primary features, secondary features, usability improvements, and performance improvements. Do not count bugs, upgrades, etc. You should use an approximate count (i.e. 40+ instead of 43) because the number can shift after the release post goes live.
5. Replace the XX in We thank our community for the XX contributions with the count of merged milestones found in this chart. Remove the backticks as well.
6. Pick a primary feature entry to be the top feature and change the type from primary to top.
  1. If you are unsure what to pick, you can solicit feedback from @product-team in #release-post.
Update the yml block that will announce the release post after it is published.
- The release post kickoff task has already created a branch and MR in the project that generates the homepage. But, you will need to update a few fields with information about this release post. You will be updating the contents of the card block that has event_type: "Release".
1. Follow this link to edit the contents of index.yml in the 16-2-release-post-changes branch.
  1. (If the link doesn't take you directly to the section to edit, use your browser's find command to search for event_type: "Release" to quickly locate the yml block you will be updating.)
2. Update header and data_ga_name with a copy/paste of the blog title. For example, GitLab X.X released with Feature A and Feature B.
3. Update the href line with the URL of the blog. For example, /releases/2021/06/22/gitlab-14-0-released/.
4. Move the cover image to /source/images/<release> and update the location in image in line 221. (Generating images for releases after 16.0 may need a design resource.) 🙈 Confusing instructions
5. Commit your changes with a commit message of "Updates to release post homepage content".
6. Add @mpreuss22 and an engineer on the Digital Experience team Conversion Group as a Reviewer (commonly @justin.vetter).
7. Ping @mpreuss22 or @justin.vetter in #digital-experience-team on Slack to review the changes, with a link to your MR.
```
@Michael Preuss, @Justin Vetter - the [GitLab X.Y release post changes MR](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/digital-experience/buyer-experience/-/merge_requests/2555) is ready for your review.
```
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/2023-07-22-gitlab-16-2-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 (`tgolubeva`) due on the 18th

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: 2023-07-18

Final content review (`tgolubeva`)

Due date: 2023-07-19

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.
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 16-2 Release Post has been generated and can be reviewed at `https://release-16-2.about.gitlab-review.app/releases/2023/07/22/gitlab-16-2-released/`.  The X.Y release post MR is `https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_requests/114276`
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, tbd

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.

Create the What's New MR

To complete these tasks, you will need to

Identify the 3-7 items for What's New and create the MR by following the guidance in Creating an MR for What's New entries.
Post the following message in #backend_maintainers on Slack: I am the release post manager for XX.Y and will need help merging in the "What's new" notification following the publication of the release post. This will be a time-sensitive MR on the 22nd (15:00-19:00 UTC). Could I please request a volunteer or two to be ready and available to help merge the MR when I have it ready to go? Thanks! cc: @a_akgun
Create and finalize the MR draft by 11:59 PDT on the 21st.
Tag in any maintainers who respond to the above message in #backend_maintainers as Reviewers, to review and approve.
If you do not have merge rights on gitlab-org/gitlab, mention to the maintainers you've tagged above that you will need them to merge this MR after the release post is live on the 22nd. (There is a task on the 22nd reminding you to merge or request to merge.). If a release happens over the weekend, changes will not be reflected until a deployment happens on the Monday after the release.

Prepare and merge to `master` (`tgolubeva`) 20th - 22nd

Due date: 2023-07-20

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_2, and also count the number of items in the performance improvements and the usability improvements files in the current release-16-2 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.
Avoid rebasing the release post branch against master until after yyyy-mm-21 0000 UTC 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!_

(Provide link to Review App (**View App**) and 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 18th and will not make it into the final release packages by the 22nd._

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 22nd, because release post items can sometimes move in/out of the packaged release after the 18th, 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 18th, 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/126593
Review App (this link is temporary and should only be shared internally):
https://release-16-2.about.gitlab-review.app/releases/2023/07/22/gitlab-16-2-released/index.html
cc tbd

Due date: 2023-07-21

Check if all the anchor links in the intro are working.
Confirm there are no broken links in the Review App (View App) with a dead link checker like Check my Links).
1. 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 total feature count statement in the introductory paragraph to make sure the number stated is accurate, and if not, update it. To get the number, do a hand count of the top feature, primary features, secondary features, and performance improvements (do not count bugs, upgrades, etc.) in /data/release_posts/16_2 on the current release-16-2 branch.
If needed, use the /rebase quick action to rebase master on to the release-x-y branch. If you receive an error that the rebase cannot be scheduled, consult with the Tech Advisor.
Check to make sure all unresolved threads on this MR are resolved and there are no merge conflicts. If you need help resolving merge conflicts or other technical problems, ask for help from the Technical Advisor in the #dev-escalationchannel in Slack then cross-post to the #release-post channel to make others aware.
In the #releases channel, post the following: " I'm the release post manager for X.Y. I'll be awaiting your cue that packages have been released to push the release post live. Please let me know if there are any changes to the typical timeline."

Due date: 2023-07-22

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 22nd. 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 13:30 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 16-2 Release Post ([MR](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_requests/126593))!  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.
Remove "Draft:" from the title of the MR and 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 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 live URL link and social media copy (you can copy/paste the final copy from the Review App).
Share the links to the post in #whats-happening-at-gitlab in Slack.
Ping an engineer on the Digital Experience Conversion Group team to merge the homepage update MR (link to the MR should be found in here).
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 22nd 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 22nd. 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 19th of the month, so that the 2 days before the release can be left for fixes and small improvements.

Structural check

Due date: 18th (rdickenson)

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

Before the 18th

You can see all release post items for a release by running a query in GitLab. For example, to see all release post items for 15.10:

https://gitlab.com/dashboard/merge_requests?scope=all&utf8=%E2%9C%93&state=opened&label_name[]=release%20post&label_name[]=release%20post%20item&label_name[]=Ready&milestone_title=15.10

Replace <15.10> with the required version number.

The release post .yml files are located in https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/tree/master/data/release_posts/unreleased. To save time, you can check their frontmatter in advance of the structural check on the 18th.
The release post images are located in https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/tree/master/source/images/unreleased. To save time, you can check the size of these images in advance of the structural check on the 18th.

On the 18th

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:

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.

In the www-gitlab-com repository:

Remove any .gitkeep files accidentally included.
Add or check cover_img: license block in releases/posts/2023-07-22-gitlab-X16-2-released.html.md. Should include image_url:, licence:, licence_url:.
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 reflects the deprecations and removals in docs. On the docs pages, all H2 titles that apply to the release should be listed as bullets at the bottom of the release post. Ping the RPM if there is a mismatch.

In general:

Report any problems from the structural check in the #16-2-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 #16-2-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 18th

Be available for MR reviews for late submissions on the 20th and 21st. 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 17th of the following month to prepare for the versioned documentation release.

Release highlights

brianmason shares the release highlights to be distributed to the PR and Field Enablement teams on or before 22nd 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.

https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/brand-product-marketing/product-marketing/-/issues/7153+

Edited Jul 22, 2023 by Tatyana Golubeva

Release post - GitLab 16.2