Assess GitLab pages for wiki and website overhaul
Context
We have been talking about doing a gnome.org and wiki overhaul for quite some time now. Most recently, at the GUADEC 2020 Diversity and Inclusion BoF, I took up an action step to continue this conversation and try to set up a working group for it.
Challenges with the website
Please add any other challenges you think are important to consider.
- Content. We created this website a long time ago and need to go over a content refresh. It needs an entire overhaul that includes reassessing the intended audience and the content we want to provide.
- Maintenance. We want to make sure that the website is actively maintained. Since the maintainer has changed since the website was first set up, it's been hard to make changes. @tomtryf has done a great job of giving it a facelift, but it's still hard to maintain or make changes. Ideally, more people on the Engagement team would be able to edit the content of the pages more easily.
Challenges with the wiki
Please add any other challenges you think are important to consider.
- Access. Due to spam issue, we've had to lock down the wiki and only Trusted Editors can edit it. People must request to be added to the Trusted Editors group.
- Structure. The wiki isn't well maintained for many groups. Content is not up-to-date and the structure is a bit of a mess.
Proposal
While there are many potential solutions, this proposal is to assess GitLab Pages as a solution to both the Website and wiki.
Use case
GitLab does this as a company, where about.gitlab.com has information that is user-focused, and there is also a component that is for the handbook, which is essentially the wiki. Anyone can contribute to the website or wiki, not just GitLab employees.
Why it could help
By having both the website and wiki on the same tool, integrated, you can lower the barrier of contribution to each. People would already be using GitLab for Engagement team coordination, and you can teach them how to make merge requests and use markdown. With these simple skills, people can both help edit and maintain the website, and also the wiki/handbook.
For example, GitLab's website has a footer that allows people to edit the page directly, so it's super easy to make improvements. Since they're already signed in for collaborating with the larger Engagement team, it'd be easy for them to make suggestions to website improvements.
Necessary for success
We would still need website experts to help with the design and usability, and actually building the website, but more people could contribute to editing content (e.g. with GNOME Faces).
In order for the wiki maintenance to succeed, we would need to have a handbook-first approach where everyone is encouraged to document what they're working on in the handbook / wiki.
Challenges with the proposal
- Existing content porting. How would we get the current content ported over to the new wiki? Is it possible to archive this older content? Perhaps we can start over and simply link to the older documentation in the deprecated wiki.
- Resources for initial set up. We would need to create a team to set this up (web dev, UX design, graphic design, content, etc). Might this be a good special project for the GNOME Foundation to fund? (hire contractors?)
- Private pages in the wiki. There are some sections in the wiki that are private to the Board of Directors, or to GNOME staff. Is there a way to make pages private in GitLab Pages?
Working Group
Please add your name here, and your GitLab handle, if you'd like to participate.
- Nuritzi Sanchez (@nuritzi)
Related Issues
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