The Documentation Team has traditionally hosted a documentation sprint at all of the North American DrupalCons, and this past year, also at DrupalCon London (I'm not sure if there were sprints at earlier European DrupalCons or not). [If you're not familiar with the term "sprint", the DrupalCons usually have a day, either just before or just after the main DrupalCon event, where people get together and work in a big room, and we call that a "sprint".]
But I am probably not going to be at DrupalCon Denver -- as a freelancer the expense (time away from paying work, conference fee, hotel, air travel) is hard to justify for the minimal professional benefit I get out of the conference. And I'm wondering whether the effort of organizing and running a Documentation Sprint is worth it anyway.
I realize that many current regular contributors to Drupal documentation (including me!) started out at DrupalCon Documentation Sprints. But one main reason for that seems to be that people are timid about editing documentation pages -- when you tell them to click "Edit", they react with "Really, I can do that?" (hopefully we have somewhat mitigated that now with the recent redesign of docs pages, which puts several additional "edit" links on them). I also think some of the "virtual sprints" that Ariane and I organized over the past year were more effective in bringing in new documentation contributors than the DrupalCon sprints.
The other benefit of having a sprint would be to get some specific documentation written or updated, but again, I think that the virtual sprints have been more effective at that as well.
So... I'd like to open this up for discussion:
a) Do you have any thoughts about the pros and cons of having DrupalCon Documentation sprints, and of having an understanding that Documentation Team leaders must go to every DrupalCon (at their own expense) and host a sprint?
b) If you feel strongly that the sprints should continue, and you're going to be at DrupalCon Denver, would you consider hosting the sprint? We have a guide here: http://drupal.org/node/424194, and I would probably be able to participate via IRC, but not in person.
Comments
So... here's what I think,
So... here's what I think, looking from both the perspective of how I got into docs (yes, through a sprint - the one in DC), and from the perspective of having led several of them.
1) There's no way that docs leads should have mandatory attendance. It is just too big of a financial burden.
2) That said, it's obviously really fun and a good learning experience for those who attend.
3) A small number of those attendees will work on docs more long term.
4) But wait...many of the attendees are repeat offenders and know how to work on docs already!
5) Maybe whoever is there should just all sit together and sprint on docs!
6) And of course Jennifer can join virtually if in person isn't an option.
Moral of the list: it's great if it happens and is led in person, but if there enough people who want to sprint on docs, by golly I'm sure they can find each other and still sprint on docs. ;)
This year I'm not missing code sprints because...
Since first attending DrupalCon DC I've missed the code sprints. I'm convinced that this has made it more difficult to get involved.
This year I'm planning on being at the code sprint. If we decide on a documentation sprint I'd be happy to help on the ground.
Snake Hill
We looked at sprint apps
We looked at sprint apps today and were very sad to realize that there wasn't going to be a docs sprint. :(
To help this along, we'd be happy to offer one of the free DrupalCon sprint lead tickets to someone who's willing to take on leading a docs sprint (and probably has some kind of prior experience and/or sign-off from Jennifer/Ariane).
Just to clarify...
I think what webchick is offering is a free DrupalCon Denver admission ticket to someone willing / capable of leading a Documentation Sprint the day after the main conference. Which would be great!
Probably anyone who has participated (in person) in a few DrupalCon Docs Sprints could do it, with a little coaching (which I'd be glad to provide).
And one more thing... I think there is supposed to be a "novice" or "office hours" core patching sprint at Denver... so maybe we could hook the API docs contributors up with that (if I'm correct that this is happening)? Which would mean the Docs Sprint would be people working on http://drupal.org/documentation (the recently-renamed Community Documentation area).
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My 2 cents
I haven't attended enough documentation sprints to know how effective they are around a table compared to over IRC. It would of course be awesome to have a documentation sprint at Denver as well, but I don't see it as a necessity (and I'm sad to say that I can't take on to lead a sprint at the moment).
However!
I do think that face-to-face meeting are really useful when it comes to discussing how documentation should work, and planning out documentation infrastructure. There are a lot of ideas, and actually meeting in a room makes it easier to align ideas and efforts. If more people feel like me, I don't want to miss the opportunity to at least schedule a birds-of-a-feather session and have a talk.
Yes! But DrupalCon is not the right place
I agree with what you're saying -- it is always good to get people together for this type of discussion.
However, DrupalCon Docs Sprints are not a good place to get any discussion done -- the sprint leaders are too busy trying to get newcomers up to speed. And DrupalCon in general is tough - everyone has so many obligations (presentations, sessions they want to attend, volunteer responsibilities, staffing their company's booth, etc.), it's hard to find time to get people together. BoFs are OK but not always all that well attended due to schedule conflicts. Before/after DrupalCon is often a time when companies have retreats (it may be the one time per year they get their whole distributed staff together), and also the Drupal Association often has a retreat or meeting or something then, so that doesn't work either.
So the only solutions are:
- Skype calls
- IRC
- Getting people together in person, which requires funding and a time commitment.
The Association has indicated that this year it might be sponsoring some in-person sprints -- see http://groups.drupal.org/node/198723 -- we might want to figure out what the Docs Team wants to meet to discuss/work on, and try to make the cut of important things to bring people together on?
Drupal programmer - http://poplarware.com
Drupal author - http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920034612.do
Drupal contributor - https://www.drupal.org/u/jhodgdon
A note about DA sponsoring
Sadly, it was clearly replied to my comment that the DA will only be sponsoring in person events for developers... http://groups.drupal.org/node/198723#comment-661753 I'd encourage others to pipe up if they think that's not acceptable.
@Johan - I think it'd be great to get together less formally (maybe a BOF) and talk about plans again.
I'm in for a BoF, though I
I'm in for a BoF, though I still have to book... hopefully things haven't gotten too expensive.
BoF in Denver?
I won't be in Denver (unless something changes)... I might be able to join a BoF via Skype though, if someone has a mic/speaker "phone" setup.
Drupal programmer - http://poplarware.com
Drupal author - http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920034612.do
Drupal contributor - https://www.drupal.org/u/jhodgdon
Yes to a BOF
I'm very interested in contributing, but I haven't done so yet. So the BOF may be the shove I need.
Contributing...
The Contribute to Docs pages have been extensively revised lately, so they should help you get started if you're interested:
http://drupal.org/contribute/documentation
We also have "docs office hours" every Tuesday, where you can come and get oriented in IRC:
http://groups.drupal.org/node/145039
and if that time doesn't work for you, reply here:
http://groups.drupal.org/node/203273
I'll also be announcing a "sprint" in the next few days -- watch groups.drupal.org/documentation-team -- it should be a good way to get oriented and start contributing!
Drupal programmer - http://poplarware.com
Drupal author - http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920034612.do
Drupal contributor - https://www.drupal.org/u/jhodgdon
Hi all. I'm the documentation
Hi all. I'm the documentation lead for the Omega Theme project. I would be glad to help or lead the charge or whatever if this is still an item open for consideration.
Omega Handbook - http://drupal.org/node/819164
Docs sprint is not just for docs :-)
The docs sprint has traditionally been the onboarding process for people who want to sprint but don't know what to do, and we've gotten some people involved who turned out wonderfully. So it would be great to see this come to pass. Jennifer, you've done a fantastic job organizing these in the past, so I hope you can pass on your expertise to others. Better yet, just come anyway :-)
Let's have a Novice sprint then...
That may be... mostly because people send novice sprinters to the Documentation table, and we always have some tasks ready for the novices that show up.
So I think it would be great if someone wanted to organize a New to Sprinting table and have people work on Novice issues across the board. I'd be happy to provide some tasks for people who want to work on docs for such a sprint. But let's not call it a Documentation sprint, assume the Documentation team leaders will organize it, or limit it to documentation tasks (which not everyone wants to work on anyway).
Also, if I'm not mistaken, the totally awesome xjm is organizing a Core Office Hours sprint for Denver, which will hopefully fill some of the void.
Drupal programmer - http://poplarware.com
Drupal author - http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920034612.do
Drupal contributor - https://www.drupal.org/u/jhodgdon
I would like to jump in here
I would like to jump in here wherever makes the most sense to the folks who have been working in this area and know it best. I am available in IRC, skype, etc. Please make use of me and help me find a clear path to making a positive contribution to this effort. I am currently reading through http://drupal.org/node/424194 http://drupal.org/contribute/documentation & http://xjm.drupalgardens.com/blog/core-office-hours
Any other required reading is appreciated.
Guide available too
Oh, and I would add that I've downloaded from my brain everything I know about organizing a Docs Sprint, and put it here:
http://drupal.org/node/424194
There are also guides there for organizing other types of sprints, I think...
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Drupal author - http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920034612.do
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Core office day sprint
jhodgdon asked me to post a little info here. Here's my original proposal for the core office hours-style sprint:
http://xjm.drupalgardens.com/blog/core-office-hours
I'm hoping to attract both novices and people who are currently active in core. Part of the goal is to introduce people to how our issue queue and patching processes work. (We might hold a training-type session early in the week to that end.) We'll have novice and non-developer friendly tasks like triaging issues and writing issue summaries and change notices. I also always promote API documentation issues as an excellent way for novices to contribute patches.
Not sure whether or not this info helps a decision. :) A list of sprint leads is being announced Jan. 30 (I think), so maybe it would be good to wait for that and see what all is covered?
One more thought...
We just had a fairly long and somewhat repetitive of what's here discussion in the #drupal-contribute channel about sprints...
I will just summarize here...
A few points that have probably been already made:
- At past DrupalCons, the "documentation" sprint has really been the "anyone who doesn't fit into the other sprint tables" sprint.
- rfay pointed out above that this has served well as an "onboarding" to new contributors. jhodgdon pointed out above that while this might be true, not many of the people have showed up again as documentation contributors, so the sprint doesn't really benefit the documentation team.
- This has also meant that not all the people who end up at the "documentation" table are really interested in documentation -- they just don't have anywhere else to go.
- The docs team leadership shouldn't have to be responsible for running this sprint for onboarding all newbies. They should be focused on the documentation team and things that actually benefit Drupal documentation.
- The past docs sprints have mostly worked on the Community Documentation pages, but these are not part of the responsibility of the Docs Team any more, so having sprints that work on them does not really make sense for the docs team leaders to spend time/energy on.
So... What could be useful:
Have a "novice programmers" sprint area -- I think xjm's Core Office Hours sprint (assuming it happens) will be good for that -- this will help people who are PHP programmers but either new to Drupal or new to contributing get up to speed on patching and other procedures.
Have a "novice non-programmers" sprint area. Gather tasks from Documentation and other areas (theming, evangelizing, ???) -- see the Getting Involved pages for ideas. Get new contributors with varied interests on-boarded towards contributing to Drupal with meaningful tasks.
We might have one or more focused documentation-writing sprints for experienced docs contributors. These would be treated like other sprints at DrupalCon -- with groups of people that can actually contribute. These might or might not require the physical presence of the docs team leader, since the experienced contributors are probably used to working via IRC etc.
The question is how to organize (2), because it would be rather bad if non-programmers came to the Denver sprint day and were told "we have nothing for you to do, sorry, just go home". I think the steps would be:
a) Find a coordinator, other than the docs leader or someone who is already committed to leading a different sprint.
b) Before the sprint (like NOW), the coordinator would coordinate an effort to gather tasks from the documentation leader and others, spanning the range of what's on the Getting Involved pages. The tasks would need to be complete with enough explanation that they can be done unsupervised (or a supervisor provided at the sprint, or via IRC). Note that this task list could become a great resource for the Getting Involved section of drupal.org, if the tasks were generic enough. We'd need to have some kind of format for gathering the tasks (node template?) and a place to put them (a gathering point somewhere in the Getting Involved guide presumably?).
c) On the sprint day, the coordinator would help match tasks to new arrivals, and getting people connected to IRC etc., but the new arrivals would be working pretty much on their own (or gathered in groups doing similar tasks).
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Drupal author - http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920034612.do
Drupal contributor - https://www.drupal.org/u/jhodgdon
Title of sprints
Instead of calling it "novice programmers" vs. "novice non-programmers", how about "New Contributors: Coders" and "New Contributors: Other Contributions". :)
Drupal programmer - http://poplarware.com
Drupal author - http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920034612.do
Drupal contributor - https://www.drupal.org/u/jhodgdon
I like this. It's both less
I like this. It's both less specific and also more helpful. Say I'm an experienced PHP dev, new to Drupal. I do KNOW that I'm a novice programmer? If so, AM I?
I think it's really important
I think it's really important that this is getting said in public, as it's been a big weight for the docs leadership to carry at cons, and as much as we love new contributors, it's not fair that this extra responsibility fall to the very limited resources of the docs team.
Also, I think if/when the curated per-project docs infra ever comes to fruition, then it will be a real asset for sprints, as docs maintainers for each project (including core) will be able to sprint and work with their project team rather than off in another room as "docs team". That's really what docs team are anyway, people documenting various projects!
New Contributor Tasks section -- add your tasks!
I just stared a New Contributors Tasks section for the Getting Involved guide:
http://drupal.org/new-contributors
I've added 3 tasks to it already... My hope is that others will add tasks (and sections) there too, and that it will be useful to anyone who is (a) new to contributing and trying to figure out how or (b) organizing a sprint.
There are even instructions there (on a child page) for how to add a new task, with a template and everything. :)
I'm going to make a planet post about this, and (gasp!) tweet it, etc... but consider this a call to action!
Drupal programmer - http://poplarware.com
Drupal author - http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920034612.do
Drupal contributor - https://www.drupal.org/u/jhodgdon
Sprint funding?
I'm just curious - did anyone receive sprint funding for docs? I withdrew my application since I was stepping down and no longer committed to being there the full day to lead things. But I also got a rejection letter for the application - wasn't sure if that was because I'd withdrawn my application or not. And I know Jennifer isn't going so also assuming she didn't have an application in.
But I had nominated several other of the more involved team members to get funding to join the sprint. So yah, just curious if anyone on Docs Team heard anything about this or if the leads backing out resulted in nobody getting funding (which I am guessing is the case).
For anyone who does want to sprint on docs, just remember - just because there's not a "formally led" sprint doesn't mean there won't be anyone working on docs at sprint day. All we have to do is sit together and work on docs, and it's a sprint. ;)
(probably not)
I think the lack of replies means "no". :-/
Indeed... well, assuming I'm
Indeed... well, assuming I'm still standing at the end of the week, I'll look for whoever else turns up and we can all sit together. We'll call it DocsCamp instead of Docs Sprint. ;)
Denver - New Contributors Sprint
I haven't had a chance to go through all of the sprint documentation that has been provided in this thread, but wanted to throw my hat in the ring to help support this. I was at SandCamp 2012 and tried to work with Ezra on a COD Distro Sprint and we spent a huge amount of time trying to get me up to speed with Drush and Drush_Make. It definitely wasn't a good use of his time and while I can't speak for him, I was very frustrated and because I work in a Windows environment I was never really able to get Drush_Make working properly.
If I had known that there was XY and Z that had to be installed and functional before attempting to sprint, that would have been a great assist. I think that making sure that potential New Contributors have the basics handled before the Sprint is a really good idea or conversely that the New Contributor Sprint is specifically focused as a workshop to bring us all up to speed knowing that it's mostly just configuring systems and installing components or whatever else is needed to be able to proceed. Call it "step 0" on the way to contributing. Maybe creating some sort of a "bundle" of instructions and resources needed and posting it to the Denver site with a sign-up and a quick skills check-in for those interested would be useful.
As a new contributor I don't know if it's appropriate for me to be in any sort of leadership position for this, but I am certainly willing to do whatever needs to be done to help get this running in Denver. If it's just a BOF, thats fine, but I hope this doesn't get lost in the shuffle. I'm going to go over the documentation provided and see what I need to do, but please consider adding me to the organizing group for this effort. Thanks
This thread isn't as much
This thread isn't as much about the documentation of sprinting itself as much as it is about holding a sprint to make edits to the broad array of documentation on Drupal.org... for example, handbook pages dealing with theming or site configuration.However, having a getting started guide specifically for people who are new to sprinting could be very useful. I have a feeling that this exists in bits in pieces around the Drupal.org handbooks, but if someone could organize that into a cohesive set, it would be pretty fantastic.
Edit: I'm silly, this thread is about the documentation of contributing since Jennifer posted that handbook page that she created. It would be great to bring more information into those pages.
Teeth cut
We had a Documentation Sprint at DrupalCampMD.org which got three people delving into contributing to Documentation. We're going to continue and I'm pulling people in from our company help with what we started. So...
Snake Hill
Contrib docs
I think this thread is kind of split between the practicalities of what Docs enthusiasts should do at the Denver sprint, and the more overarching issue of how Docs Team is positioned in the community. The latter is going to be an ongoing discussion. But as far as the former, there are several options for the immediate question of what to do at the sprint without a team lead present:
1) Have sprint leaders step up and organize.
2) Put up a sign that says "DOCS!" somewhere and just all sit together and work as a group, the more experienced folks helping the new arrivals. (This is personally what I think should happen - organic organization isn't bad!)
3) Also - just to broaden the options, remember that contrib projects would probably LOVE LOVE LOVE a bunch of help with their docs. Maybe people can also sit with groups of contrib sprinters and work on docs for those projects too. Lots of options.