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Make default template instructions more clear, change to author/reviewer checklist title

Michael Friedrich requested to merge default-template-clear-instructions into master

Why is this change being made?

Based on the discussion to encourage for more change transparency in Add Reviewers Checklist to default MR template ... (!127693 - closed) we learned that additional checkboxes for reviewers add more work, and may not really solve the problem of missing transparency on communicating changes.

In the discussion, we identified 2 smaller changes

  • Authors and reviewers both need to tick off the checkbox.
  • The HTML comment help is not rendered on MR creation. This decreases visibility, and hides the instructions to actually take action to tick off the checkboxes later. ( bug )

While creating this MR, I also thought about the "say why not just what" code comment, and made it a bold formatting markdown text instead.

Additionally, the text CHANGEME is added which requires team members to replace it with an actual reason. MRs that leave FIXME in are easier to filter and add automated comments later on.

All MRs to help increase transparency

Related issues

  1. Updates to handbook pages which have a large im... (gitlab-com/content-sites/handbook#90)
  2. #32287 (comment 1378655775)

Author Checklist

  • Provided a concise title for this Merge Request (MR)
  • Added a description to this MR explaining the reasons for the proposed change, per say why, not just what
    • Copy/paste the Slack conversation to document it for later, or upload screenshots. Verify that no confidential data is added, and the content is SAFE
  • Assign reviewers for this MR to the correct Directly Responsible Individual/s (DRI)
    • If the DRI for the page/s being updated isn’t immediately clear, then assign it to one of the people listed in the Maintained by section on the page being edited
    • If your manager does not have merge rights, please ask someone to merge it AFTER it has been approved by your manager in #mr-buddies
    • The when to get approval handbook section explains the workflow in more detail
  • If the changes affect team members, or warrant an announcement in another way, please consider posting an update in #whats-happening-at-gitlab linking to this MR
    • If this is a change that directly impacts the majority of global team members, it should be a candidate for #company-fyi. Please work with internal communications and check the handbook for examples.
Edited by Michael Friedrich

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