Release post - GitLab 11.4

Review Apps: https://release-11-4.about.gitlab.com/2018/10/22/gitlab-11-4-released/

Release post:

• Intro: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-11-4/source/posts/2018-10-22-gitlab-11-4-released.html.md
• Items: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-11-4/data/release_posts/2018_10_22_gitlab_11_4_released.yml
• Images: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/tree/release-11-4/source/images/11_4

Related files:

• Features YAML link: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-11-4/data/features.yml
• Home page banner: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-11-4/source/includes/hello-bar.html.haml
• MVPs: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/blob/release-11-4/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/product/technical-writing/markdown-guide/

People:

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

Release post manager	Tech writer	Copyedit	Messaging Lead	Social
@jramsay	@eread	xx	@johnjeremiah	xx

General contributions

Due date: 2018-10-12 (6th working day before the 22nd)

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

Author's checklist

Due date: 2018-10-12 (6th working day before the 22nd) - @jramsay

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

• Label MR: ~"blog post" release release post ~P1
• Assign the MR to yourself
• Add milestone
• Update the links and due dates in this MR description
• Make sure the blog post initial files, as well as this MR template contain the latest templates
• Add authorship (author's data)
• Ask the Marketing reviewer to add the introduction
• Add MVP (feature block)
• Add MVP to data/mvps.yml
• Add cover image (image_title) (scaled and compressed)
• Add social sharing image (twitter_image) (scaled and compressed)
• Make sure all feature descriptions are positive and cheerful
• Make sure all features listed in the direction page are included in the post
• Mention the release managers to remind them to add the upgrade barometer section
• Mention the team leads to remind them to add the performance improvements: Yorick, Douwe, Sean, Remy, Stan, Kamil, Tim Z., Clement, Andre
• Ping @atflowers and @aoetama to add the Release Radar webcast link
• Make sure Upgrade barometer is in
• Check which one is the top feature (with Job and William)
• Check if deprecations are included
• Alert people one working day before each due date (post a comment to #release-post Slack channel)
• Remove remaining template sections
• Make sure all images (png, jpg, and gifs) are smaller than 300 KB each
• Run the release post through an automated spell and grammar check
• Perform the content review

Recurring blocks

Due date: 2018-10-12 (6th working day before the 22nd)

The following sections are always present, and managed by the PM or Eng lead owning the related area:

• Add GitLab Runner improvements: Fabio
• Add Omnibus improvements: Joshua
• Add Mattermost update to the Omnibus improvements section: Victor
• Add Performance improvements: Douwe, Sean, Kamil, Yorick, Tim

Feature blocks

Due date: 2018-10-12 (6th working day before the 22nd)

The Product Managers are responsible for adding their feature blocks to the release post by the due date for general contributions. PMs are also responsible for adding any notable Community Contributions.

PMs: please check your box only when all your features and deprecations were added with completion (documentation links, images, etc). Pls don't check if there are still things missing.

• Andreas (@akaemmerle)
• Daniel (@danielgruesso)
• Fabio (@bikebilly)
• James (@jramsay)
• Jason (@jlenny)
• Jeremy (@jeremy_)
• Joshua (@joshlambert)
• Victor (@victorwu)

Tip: make your own checklist:

• Primary features
• Improvements (secondary features)
• Deprecations
• Documentation updated
• Documentation links added to the post
• Community contributions
• Illustrations added to the post (compressed)
• Update features.yml (with accompanying screenshots)

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: 2018-10-15 (5th working day before the 22nd)

Performed by the author of the post: @jramsay

• Label MR: ~"blog post" release review-in-progress
• Check all comments in the thread (make sure no contribution was left behind)
• Check Features' names
• Check Features' availability (Core, Starter, Premium, Ultimate badges)
• Check Documentation links (all feature blocks contain documentation_link)
• Make sure documentation_link links to feature webpages when available
• Update home page bannersource/includes/hello-bar.html.haml
• Features were added to data/features.yml (with accompanying screenshots)
• Check all images size < 300KB (compress them all with TinyPNG or similar tool)
• Pull master, resolve any conflicts
• Make sure all discussions in the thread are resolved
• Mention Mark Pundsack to remind him to review
• Assign the MR to the next reviewer (structural check)
• Lock features.yml with File Locking on the 21st

Structural check

Due date: 2018-10-17 (3rd working day before the 22nd)

Performed by technical writers: @eread

• 1. Structural check
• Add the label review-structure
• Check frontmatter (entries, syntax)
• Check image_title and twitter_image
• Check image shadow applied correctly: {image_noshadow: true} when an image already has shadow
• Videos/iframes wrapped in <figure> tags (responsiveness)
• Wrap text
• Check headers in sentence case
• Check feature and product names in capital case
• Check if images are harmonic/consistent
• Add/check cover img reference (at the end of the post)
• Columns (content balance between the columns)
• Meaningful links (SEO)
• Badges consistency (applied to all headings)
• Double check documentation updates
• Check documentation links (point to /ee/, not to /ce/)
• Check about.gitlab.com links: relative URLs
• Check the anchor links in the intro
• Remove any remaining instructions
• Remove HTML comments
• Run deadlink checker
• Pull master
• Update release template with any changes (if necessary)
• Post a comment in the #general channel linking to the review app + MR reminding the team to take a look at the RP and report any problems in the #release-post channel. (Do NOT ping @all or @channel)
• Remove the label review-structure
• Assign the MR to the next reviewer (copyedit)

Further reviews

Due date: 2018-10-18 (2nd working day before the 22nd)

• Copyedit (content team): @erica
  • Title
  • Description
  • Intro
  • Grammar, spelling, clearness (body)
  • Homepage Blurb
  • Tweet social sharing text (for Twitter, FB, and LinkedIn)
  • Assign the MR to the next reviewer (marketing)
• Marketing review (PMMs - messaging lead): @johnjeremiah
  • Write the introduction (by the 6th day before the 22nd)
  • Check/copyedit feature blocks
  • Check/copyedit features.yml
  • Check/copyedit homepage blurb
  • Check/copyedit social sharing text
  • Mention Job for final check
  • Remove the label review-in-progress
  • Assign the MR back to the author

Merge it

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

Last check before merging

• Read the important notes below
• Mention @matteeyah 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
• Pull master and fix any conflicts
• Check if there isn't any alert on Slack's #release-post and #general channels
• Check if there isn't any alert on this MR thread
• Check if the tweet copy is ready and someone is ready to share on social media
• Ask the release managers to ping you when the packs are publicly available (and GitLab.com is up and running on the release version)
• Unlock features.yml just before merging
• Merge the MR
• Wait for the pipeline
• Check the look on social media with Twitter Card Validator and Facebook Debugger
• Share on social media

Important notes

• The post is to be merged on the 22nd at 15:00 UTC and as soon as GitLab.com is up and running on the new release version, and all packages are publicly available. Not before.
• 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.
• After merging, wait a few minutes to see if no one spot an error (usually posted in #general), then share on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or make sure someone (Emily vH, JJ, Marcia) does.
• Keep an eye on Slack and in the blog post comments for a few hours to make sure no one found anything that should be fixed

data/release_posts/2018_10_22_gitlab_11_4_released.yml

@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ features:
     - name: "Suggest code owners as merge request approvers"
       available_in: [starter, premium, ultimate]
-      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/code_owners.html' # required
+      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/merge_requests/merge_request_approvals.html#codeowners-file'
       image_url: '/images/11_4/suggest-approvers.png'
       reporter: jramsay
       team: create
@@ -120,6 +120,30 @@ features:
         Lorem ipsum [dolor sit amet](#link), consectetur adipisicing elit.
         Perferendis nisi vitae quod ipsum saepe cumque quia `veritatis`.
+    - name: "Support for Git protocol v2"
+      available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
+      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/administration/git_protocol.html' # required
+      reporter: jramsay
+      team: create
+      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/46555'
+      description: |
+        Developers fetch refs many times a day to check if the current branch
+        is behind the remote branch. Git protocol v2 is a major update to Git's
+        [wire protocol](https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/technical/pack-protocol.html)
+        which defines how clones, fetches and pushes are communicated between
+        the client (your computer) and the server (GitLab). The new wire
+        protocol improves performance of fetch commands and enables future
+        protocol improvements.
+
+        Previously, all responses to fetch commands included a list of all
+        all references in the repository. For example, fetching updates for a
+        single branch (e.g. `git fetch origin master`) would also retrieve a
+        complete list of all references. In the case of large projects this
+        could be over 100,000 refs and 10s of megabytes of data.
+
+        Git protocol v2 is supported from Git v2.18.0 and is opt-in. To enable
+        globally run `git config --global protocol.version=2`.
+
     - name: "Lorem ipsum"
       available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate] # required
       gitlab_com: false # required if the feature is NOT available in GitLab.com. Else, delete this line.
@@ -135,13 +159,95 @@ features:
 # SECONDARY FEATURES
   secondary:
-    - name: "Group-level file templates"
-      available_in: [premium, ultimate] # required
+    - name: "Highlight @mentions for yourself distinctly"
+      available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
+      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/issues/issues_functionalities.html#13-mentions'
+      image_url: '/images/11_4/highlight-yourself-distinct.png'
+      reporter: victorwu
+      team: plan
+      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/49036'
+      description: |
+        When collaborating in a long discussion in an issue or merge request, often
+        many users are involved, making it difficult to quickly at a glance, see 
+        comments that are directed at you.
+        
+        With this release, @mentions for yourself (i.e. the current user), are highlighted
+        in a different color, allowing you to easily see which comments involve you,
+        helping you focus on them quickly.
+  
+    - name: "Include new issues created in burndown chart"
+      available_in: [starter, premium, ultimate]
+      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/milestones/burndown_charts.html'
+      image_url: '/images/11_4/burndown-chart.png'
+      reporter: victorwu
+      team: plan
+      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/6174'
+      description: |
+        Burndown charts help teams track work, as it progresses throughout a milestone.
+        Usually, the scope of work is decided and agreed on before the milestone 
+        begins. But occasionally, there will be important exceptions to the rule,
+        (such as an emergency bug or security fix) and new scope needs to be included,
+        in the form of new issues. 
+        
+        With this release, the burndown chart now accounts for these
+        new issues that are created in the middle of a milestone, resulting in an
+        uptick of the line in a burndown chart.
+  
+    - name: "Expanded weight values in issues API"
+      available_in: [starter, premium, ultimate]
+      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/api/issues.html'
+      reporter: victorwu
+      team: plan
+      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/6822'
+      description: |
+        In a previous release, we expanded the allowable values of issue weight
+        from a small number to effectively unlimited, any number greater than zero.
+        
+        With this release, we've brought this flexibility to the issues API as well, 
+        allowing users to set this field with the new expanded number range with
+        the API.
+
+    - name: "Lock discussion quick action"
+      available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
+      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/quick_actions.html'
+      image_url: '/images/11_4/lock-discussion-quick-action.png'
+      reporter: victorwu
+      team: plan
+      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/39173'
+      description: |
+        Locking discussions in issues and merge requests is helpful to direct conversations
+        to newer issues (or merge requests). It can also be used to control abusive
+        or otherwise unproductive behavior.
+        
+        With this release, we now have quick actions to lock and unlock discussions,
+        making it easier to type a comment and lock/unlock all one action.
+        
+        Thank you [Mehdi Lahmam](https://gitlab.com/mehlah) for the contribution!
+
+    - name: "Close epics"
+      available_in: [ultimate]
+      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/group/epics/'
+      image_url: '/images/11_4/close-epics.png'
+      reporter: victorwu
+      team: plan
+      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/7013'
+      description: |
+        Similar to issues and merge requests, you can now close (and re-open) epics
+        in GitLab. The epics list now has the Open, Closed, and All tabs, just like
+        issues. So when you have completed all the work in an epic, or it is no
+        longer relevant, you can close it, and it won't appear anymore in the default
+        list view.
+        
+        You can close (and re-open) an epic via buttons on the epic, via quick actions 
+        in an epic comment, and also via the API, exactly like issues.
+
+    - name: "Improve Admin Area settings UI"
+      available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
       documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/#amazing' # webpage or documentation - required
       image_url: '/images/X_Y/feature-a.png' # optional - recommended
-      reporter: jramsay
-      team: create
-      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/5987'
+      reporter: akaemmerle
+      team: manage
+      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/44998'
       description: | # supports markdown
         Lorem ipsum [dolor sit amet](#link), consectetur adipisicing elit.
         Perferendis nisi vitae quod ipsum saepe cumque quia `veritatis`.
@@ -150,12 +256,13 @@ features:
         Voluptate eveniet, adipisci earum sed harum nostrum
         itaque beatae, repellat sunt unde.
-    - name: "Support for Git protocol v2"
+    - name: "Explore project by filtering stars"
       available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
       documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/#amazing' # webpage or documentation - required
-      reporter: jramsay
-      team: create
-      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/46555'
+      image_url: '/images/X_Y/feature-a.png' # optional - recommended
+      reporter: akaemmerle
+      team: manage
+      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/47203'
       description: | # supports markdown
         Lorem ipsum [dolor sit amet](#link), consectetur adipisicing elit.
         Perferendis nisi vitae quod ipsum saepe cumque quia `veritatis`.
@@ -164,29 +271,63 @@ features:
         Voluptate eveniet, adipisci earum sed harum nostrum
         itaque beatae, repellat sunt unde.
-    - name: "Lorem ipsum"
-      available_in: [premium, ultimate] # required
+        Thank you for this contribution, [jacopo beschi](https://gitlab.com/jacopo-beschi)
+
+    - name: "Display your status message in user menu"
+      available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
+      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/#amazing' # webpage or documentation - required
+      image_url: '/images/X_Y/feature-a.png' # optional - recommended
+      reporter: akaemmerle
+      team: manage
+      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/51393'
+      description: | # supports markdown
+        Lorem ipsum [dolor sit amet](#link), consectetur adipisicing elit.
+        Perferendis nisi vitae quod ipsum saepe cumque quia `veritatis`.
+
+        Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit.
+        Voluptate eveniet, adipisci earum sed harum nostrum
+        itaque beatae, repellat sunt unde.
+
+    - name: "Redesign settings pages: Group settings"
+      available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate] # required
       gitlab_com: false # required if the feature is NOT available in GitLab.com. Else, delete this line.
       documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/#amazing' # webpage or documentation - required
       image_url: '/images/X_Y/feature-a.png' # optional - recommended
-      video: 'https://www.youtube.com/embed/enMumwvLAug' # example - optional - overrides image_url
-      reporter: pm1 # required
-      team: teamname # required
-      issue_url: '' # required
+      reporter: akaemmerle
+      team: manage
+      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/49417'
       description: | # supports markdown
         Lorem ipsum [dolor sit amet](#link), consectetur adipisicing elit.
         Perferendis nisi vitae quod ipsum saepe cumque quia `veritatis`.
         Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit.
-        Voluptate eveniet, adipisci earum sed harum n
-    - name: "Improve Admin Area settings UI"
+        Voluptate eveniet, adipisci earum sed harum nostrum
+        itaque beatae, repellat sunt unde.
+    - name: "Display code language percentage on project overview"
       available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
       documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/#amazing' # webpage or documentation - required
       image_url: '/images/X_Y/feature-a.png' # optional - recommended
       reporter: akaemmerle
       team: manage
-      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/44998'
+      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/51457'
+      description: | # supports markdown
+        Lorem ipsum [dolor sit amet](#link), consectetur adipisicing elit.
+        Perferendis nisi vitae quod ipsum saepe cumque quia `veritatis`.
+
+        Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit.
+        Voluptate eveniet, adipisci earum sed harum nostrum
+        itaque beatae, repellat sunt unde.
+
+        Thank you for this contribution, [Johann Hubert Sonntagbauer](https://gitlab.com/johann.sonntagbauer)
+
+    - name: "Download two factor authentication codes as files"
+      available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
+      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/#amazing' # webpage or documentation - required
+      image_url: '/images/X_Y/feature-a.png' # optional - recommended
+      reporter: akaemmerle
+      team: manage
+      issue_url: 'https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/47963'
       description: | # supports markdown
         Lorem ipsum [dolor sit amet](#link), consectetur adipisicing elit.
         Perferendis nisi vitae quod ipsum saepe cumque quia `veritatis`.
@@ -195,6 +336,8 @@ features:
         Voluptate eveniet, adipisci earum sed harum nostrum
         itaque beatae, repellat sunt unde.
+        Thank you for this contribution, [Johann Hubert Sonntagbauer](https://gitlab.com/johann.sonntagbauer)
+
     - name: "Lorem ipsum"
       available_in: [premium, ultimate] # required
       gitlab_com: false # required if the feature is NOT available in GitLab.com. Else, delete this line.
@@ -212,6 +355,19 @@ features:
         Voluptate eveniet, adipisci earum sed harum nostrum
         itaque beatae, repellat sunt unde.
+    - name: "Geo improvements"
+      available_in: [premium, ultimate]
+      gitlab_com: false
+      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/administration/geo/replication/configuration.html'
+      reporter: akaemmerle
+      issueboard_url: 'https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/boards/796982?scope=all&utf8=✓&state=opened&label_name[]=Geo&milestone_title=11.5'
+      description: |
+        We continually focus on improving our [Geo](/features/gitlab-geo/) feature for distributed teams. Some of the noteworthy improvements in GitLab 11.4 include:
+
+        - xx
+
+        You can also read about [how we built GitLab Geo](/2018/09/14/how-we-built-gitlab-geo/).
+
 # Omnibus and performance (required)
     - name: "Omnibus improvements"
@@ -226,12 +382,17 @@ features:
     - name: "Performance improvements"
       available_in: [core, starter, premium, ultimate]
-      performance_url: https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/merge_requests?scope=all&utf8=%E2%9C%93&state=merged&label_name%5B%5D=performance&milestone_title=X.X # Link to the merged MRs in the corresponding milestone
+      performance_url: https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/merge_requests?scope=all&utf8=%E2%9C%93&state=merged&label_name%5B%5D=performance&milestone_title=11.4 # Link to the merged MRs in the corresponding milestone
       reporter: pm1 # required
       team: teamname # required
       description: | # supports markdown
-        Lorem ipsum [dolor sit amet](#link), consectetur adipisicing elit.
-        Perferendis nisi vitae quod ipsum saepe cumque quia `veritatis`.
+        Some of the more noteworthy performance improvements in GitLab 11.2 include:
+
+        * [Rendering Markdown with many label references is faster](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/48221)
+        * [Issue discussions with many cross-project commit references are faster](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/43094)
+        * [Fetching related branches for an issue runs fewer queries](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/43097)
+        * [Fetching environments for a merge request runs fewer queries](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/43109)
+        * [Computing recipients for notification emails runs fewer queries](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/47496)
 # EXTRAS (Optional)
 # extras:
@@ -241,11 +402,16 @@ features:
 # MVP
 mvp:
-  fullname: "" # Name Surname
-  gitlab: # gitlab.com username
-  description: | # example (supports markdown)
-    Lorem ipsum [dolor sit amet](#link), consectetur adipisicing elit.
-    Perferendis nisi vitae quod ipsum saepe cumque quia `veritatis`.
+  fullname: "Tuomo Ala-Vannesluoma"
+  gitlab: tuomoa
+  description: |
+    Tuomoa added support for the very popular and highly requested feature
+    [GitLab Pages access controls](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/merge_requests/18589)
+    for GitLab installations from source. For updates on support for Omnibus
+    installations follow this
+    [merge request](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/omnibus-gitlab/merge_requests/2583).
+
+    Thank you, Tuomoa, for your ongoing contributions to make GitLab even better!
 # COVER IMAGE LICENCE
 cover_img: