[Feedback requested] Proposed phases and timeline for Discourse migration

[Janet Swisher]

Given that our biggest blocker for migration (email replies) has been
fixed, and the other issues have a workaround or a plan for fixing, I
believe we are ready to move forward with the migration process.

Please let me know if I have missed any steps, factors, or considerations.

I see this as happening in 3 phases:

1. Initiation of Discourse
2. Transition from mailing lists to Discourse
3. Shutdown of mailing lists

Here are the steps that I see for each phase:

=Initiation

* Create Discourse category and mail-in address for MDN.
* Announce change and timeline officially on all lists, with
instructions on joining Discourse and setting up email-only usage if
desired.
* Change mailing list settings so that footers and other automatic
messages describe the change and link to how to join Discourse. (See
[1] for details.)
* File a bug to remove MDN mailing lists/google groups/newsgroups from
the master "Forums" list[2], preferably replacing them with links to
Discourse.

=Transition

* Begin using the MDN category on Discourse.
* Report any issues encountered in early usage.
* Change links to the mailings lists on MDN to point to Discourse.

=Shutdown

* Send announcement of final switch-over.
* Change mailing list settings to reject all postings, with a message
directing the user to Discourse. (See [1] for details.)

The timeline for these phases could be this:

* Initiation: Starting the week of May 29
* Transition: Starting the week of June 5
* Shutdown: Either the week of June 19 if things are going well, or
the week of July 10, if we want more transition time, and to avoid
the weeks of the All-Hands, Canada Day, and US Independence Day.

[1]
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OaWBUapRPmNjzoOZJpnxDctYAn9ji3KgFMbgasl5ql0/edit?usp=sharing

[2] https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/forums/
--

Janet Swisher <mailto:jREMOVE...@mozilla.com>
Mozilla Developer Network <https://developer.mozilla.org>
Community Strategist

[Stephanie Hobson]

Hi Janet,

This sounds logical and well thought out to me.

S.

On Tue, May 30, 2017 at 12:25 PM, Janet Swisher <jswi...@mozilla.com>
wrote:

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[Chris Mills]

All sounds good Janet.

One thing that just sprang to mind — could/should we have a separate discourse category for MDN learning area discussions? MDN-learn or whatever? I could then monitor this and save you folks from some of that noise. Or are we happy that it is all lumped together in the same place?

Chris Mills
MDN content lead || Mozilla
developer.mozilla.org || MDN
cmi...@mozilla.com || @chrisdavidmills

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[Jeremie Patonnier]

Hi :)

An aside point to that, we are advertising the mailing lists in many places
on MDN (mostly through macros), so it would be maybe useful to schedule
some time to identify where it is done on MDN and change the information
(not a blocker but it will look smoother for the users).

Best,
Jeremie

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--
Jeremie
.............................
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Twitter : @JeremiePat <http://twitter.com/JeremiePat>

[Chris Mills]

That’s a really good point Jeremie. I’m going to add a US to the next MDN sprint about this, as we need to get this done in a timely fashion.

The US will involve at least researching what we need to do, and then possibly implementing the fixes, depending on whether the shutdown ends up being scheduled for the week of June 19 or July 10.

Chris Mills
MDN content lead || Mozilla
developer.mozilla.org || MDN
cmi...@mozilla.com || @chrisdavidmills

[Janet Swisher]

My thinking is that we could add a sub-category for the learning area
later, after we've finished the general transition, and if traffic
warrants it (which at the moment it seems to). One thing at a time :-)

[Chris Mills]

Sounds totally fine to me.

Chris Mills
MDN content lead || Mozilla
developer.mozilla.org || MDN
cmi...@mozilla.com || @chrisdavidmills

> Mozilla Developer Network
> Community Strategist
>

[Eric Shepherd]

This plan sounds pretty good, with the addition of time to update macros and other MDN content which links to mailing lists. I worry a little that the schedule is a little overenthusiastic, but I may be wrong.

Eric Shepherd
Senior Technical Writer
Mozilla Developer Network <https://developer.mozilla.org/>
Blog: https://www.bitstampede.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sheppy

[William Bamberg]

On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 1:31 AM, Chris Mills <cmi...@mozilla.com> wrote:

> All sounds good Janet.
>
> One thing that just sprang to mind — could/should we have a separate
> discourse category for MDN learning area discussions? MDN-learn or
> whatever? I could then monitor this and save you folks from some of that
> noise. Or are we happy that it is all lumped together in the same place?
>

Specifically for people asking for the marking guide, you could just have a
thread for this. That's how, for example, uBlock Origin support is handled:
https://discourse.mozilla-community.org/t/support-ublock-origin/6746.

I think general "discussions" are not noise :).

>
> Chris Mills
> MDN content lead || Mozilla
> developer.mozilla.org || MDN
> cmi...@mozilla.com || @chrisdavidmills
>
> > On 30 May 2017, at 23:46, Stephanie Hobson <sho...@mozilla.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Janet,
> >
> > This sounds logical and well thought out to me.
> >
> > S.
> >

> > On Tue, May 30, 2017 at 12:25 PM, Janet Swisher <jswi...@mozilla.com>

> > _______________________________________________
> > mdn mailing list
> > m...@lists.mozilla.org
> > https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/mdn
>

> _________________________________________________________________________
> Discussing Developer documentation on MDN: dev-mdc mailing list
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> 40mozilla.com?unsub=1&unsubconfirm=1

[Eric Shepherd]

I agree — the “noise” is all the marking guide requests; if we can channel those into a single topic, that would be a big help.

> On May 31, 2017, at 2:10 PM, William Bamberg <wbam...@mozilla.com> wrote:
>
> Specifically for people asking for the marking guide, you could just have a
> thread for this. That's how, for example, uBlock Origin support is handled:

> https://discourse.mozilla-community.org/t/support-ublock-origin/6746 <https://discourse.mozilla-community.org/t/support-ublock-origin/6746>.

[Chris Mills]

Yup, a marking guide thread would be good.

I was just thinking that there have been a whole bunch of questions asked specifically about the learning area content where people have follow up questions or are confused by any aspects. Sometimes they even ask questions about similar topics, but which are not specifically about the learning area content.

I’d personally like to develop this, generating a community around a wider beginner’s help forum type function. Is this all still OK for the general MDN discussion board?

Chris Mills
MDN content lead || Mozilla
developer.mozilla.org || MDN
cmi...@mozilla.com || @chrisdavidmills

> On 31 May 2017, at 21:32, Eric Shepherd <eshe...@mozilla.com> wrote:
>
> I agree — the “noise” is all the marking guide requests; if we can channel those into a single topic, that would be a big help.
>
>> On May 31, 2017, at 2:10 PM, William Bamberg <wbam...@mozilla.com> wrote:
>>
>> Specifically for people asking for the marking guide, you could just have a
>> thread for this. That's how, for example, uBlock Origin support is handled:

>> https://discourse.mozilla-community.org/t/support-ublock-origin/6746.

>
>
> Eric Shepherd
> Senior Technical Writer
> Mozilla Developer Network

[Sebastian Zartner]

Well worked out plan, Janet!

On 1 June 2017 at 09:38, Chris Mills <cmi...@mozilla.com> wrote:

> Yup, a marking guide thread would be good.
>
> I was just thinking that there have been a whole bunch of questions asked
> specifically about the learning area content where people have follow up
> questions or are confused by any aspects. Sometimes they even ask questions
> about similar topics, but which are not specifically about the learning
> area content.
>
> I’d personally like to develop this, generating a community around a wider
> beginner’s help forum type function. Is this all still OK for the general
> MDN discussion board?
>

I'd say that still fits into the general discussion board. Basically, all
general discussions about the Learning Area should be part of the general
MDN discussion board. Though, if the discussions really turn into something
like a help forum, we may consider to create a separate channel.

And yes, it would be good to have a separate channel for the marking guide
requests.

Sebastian

> > On 31 May 2017, at 21:32, Eric Shepherd <eshe...@mozilla.com> wrote:
> >
> > I agree — the “noise” is all the marking guide requests; if we can
> channel those into a single topic, that would be a big help.
> >
> >> On May 31, 2017, at 2:10 PM, William Bamberg <wbam...@mozilla.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Specifically for people asking for the marking guide, you could just
> have a
> >> thread for this. That's how, for example, uBlock Origin support is
> handled:
> >> https://discourse.mozilla-community.org/t/support-ublock-origin/6746.
> >
> >
> > Eric Shepherd
> > Senior Technical Writer
> > Mozilla Developer Network
> > Blog: https://www.bitstampede.com/
> > Twitter: https://twitter.com/sheppy
> >
>

[Janet Swisher]

On 5/31/17 13:47, Eric Shepherd wrote:
> This plan sounds pretty good, with the addition of time to update
> macros and other MDN content which links to mailing lists. I worry a
> little that the schedule is a little overenthusiastic, but I may be wrong.

I'm glad to hear you like the plan. Chris has added a user story to the
upcoming sprint for changing all the mailing list links on MDN, which I
plan to help with, and I welcome help from others as well.

The schedule for shutting down the mailing lists in the week of June 19
is a bit aggressive, which is why I included the option of pushing it to
the week of July 10, if necessary. We could push it out further than
that if we run into unexpected blockers. But I see no reason not to get
started with the transition as soon as possible,
>
>> On May 30, 2017, at 3:25 PM, Janet Swisher <jswi...@mozilla.com

>> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OaWBUapRPmNjzoOZJpnxDctYAn9ji3KgFMbgasl5ql0/edit?usp=sharing
>>
>> [2] https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/forums/
>> --
>

> Eric Shepherd
> Senior Technical Writer

> Mozilla Developer Network <https://developer.mozilla.org/>

> Blog: https://www.bitstampede.com/
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/sheppy
>