Email
Like
Liked ×
Save
Private Content
Embed
Loading embed code…
We have emailed the verification/download link to "".
Login to your email and click the link to download the file directly.

To request the link at a different email address, update it here. Close
Validation messages. Success message. Fail message.

Check your bulk/spam folders if you can't find our mail.
Loading

+ Follow

Sprints and Stacks

by Anne Gentle on Jun 04, 2011

848 views

Building a Documentation Community - presented at the Open Help Conference in June 2011

Accessibility

View text version

Upload Details

Uploaded via SlideShare as Microsoft PowerPoint

Usage Rights

File a copyright complaint

1 Embed 1

http://www.linkedin.com

Statistics

Likes: 0
Downloads: 8
Comments: 0
Embed Views: 1
Views on SlideShare: 847
Total Views: 848

I am a content stacker at Rackspace, here’s where I think we’re going
there are challenges to using these tools – social media amplifies errors and heightens drama in communities while also enabling more voices and sites.AmplificationDramaToo many channelsToo much datamap represents the number of unique authors in each Usenet newsgroup who appeared in the current year, 2003.
Making it work anyway.Use sprints, strategic stacks with analytics, licensing that enables tinkering, and purposeful collaboration to tune your open docs strategy. I’m going to walk through three areas: Community, Sprints, and Stacks of Data.
We have a schism – DocBook and RST. I have so far divided by audience since DocBook deliverables are more advanced, PDF output and comments enabled.
Translation has not yet been activated. I have only seen a Korean wiki pop up. I don’t know if tooling is the problem or if people just write in English to get the attention of the wide audience.
One hard tack and four softies.Despite writing the process up in detail, so far devs write RST, no one really writes DocBook yet.
First call was to Belinda Lopez, her advice was – work out challenges with licensing. But they had already decided on Apache. I challenged the use of Apache for content, it’s just hard to interpret, CC is much easier to explain. Still working with lawyers for wording.
I challenged the use of Apache for content, it’s just hard to interpret, CC is much easier to explain. Still working with lawyers for wording.Now moving towards licensing for training materials – slide decks, check. But what about lab setup, video, workshops, and exams? Learning how to license those.
By combining CC and Apache I can now welcome blogger’s material
Publishers want OpenStack content. I feel like I’m in a fight to be an acquisitions editor some days. Everyone wants an OpenStack book, or blog entries about OpenStack to publishion their site. I was surprised at this.
Originally had doc sprint during design summit, moved it to earlier dateExpectation – to hold these regularly, reality, releases dictated when to hold themTiming has changed again to six month releases with milestone releases in between. Doc sprints need a rethink.
Eric Holscher – read the docs - said at Pycon, Devs need to write for other devs – strongly believe what ReadTheDocs.org guy preaches now. This is a 180 degree turn for me.
Barrier to entry is quite high with BZR and Launchpad. Yes I can walk through Windows contributors but they give up early. We are moving to git for code storage – how will that affect doc contributions? Doc contributors need access to people they can interview incessantly. Plus they need access to hardware, big time. Neither are easy to offer now.
We have people who desperately want to be involved with OpenStack – get led to docs, but have no idea how to write or make images or…When you want something done, ask a busy person. Unless the busy person just answers email all day.
Comments are going great, now users answer each other. I did a content audit, does a community audit also make sense? We are seeing some dilution though with too many sites such as a new forums site and Launchpad Answers also vying for attention.
Also thinking about a tweet chat – gets out of the IRC mold which might work well for a good portion of our users
Curated search engine plus search analyticsWorking on loyalty, bounce rateProof of the PDF popularity
We came out of the gate with way too many topics out there. We quickly learned that with too many topics and not enough interaction to start, it made the community seem empty. It’s what I call ‘empty restaurant syndrome’ — if you look in a window and no one is in there, you likely won’t go in.– Mike HardyStrategic communications program managerPitney-Bowes
Next – Launch and Learn
I plan to keep iterating, keep prioritizing, keep having fun, and keep learning. Join me!

Sprints and Stacks Presentation Transcript

Sprints and Stacks
Building a Documentation Community
Anne Gentle
anne@openstack.org
Open Help Conference
June 2011
We are tinkerers
Flickr: loozrboy
We are techies
Flickr: laurenkeith
We are Helpers
Not always technical writers, but wanting to make an impact
Flickr: gi
I believe in community
Flickr: ThisParticularGreg
I am… a Content Stacker
OpenStack – Open Source Cloud Computing
Rackspace – Fanatical Support in all we do
Welcome to Now
Our Challenge: Never before have we had tools for collaboration, instant communication, project tracking, and data gathering.
How do we harness the power of community for documentation?
Meeting the Challenges
Flickr: marc_smith
Community Documentation
Community – Lessons Learned
Expectations and reality for:
Source files
Licensing
Community Motivations
DocBook & RST
Flickr: myklroventine
Translations
Segmentation
Flickr: theilr
Licensing
Flickr: libraryman
Combining CC and Apache
Bloggers Welcome
Slogging through the Slushpile
Flickr: gruntzooki
Doc Sprints
Timing
Experience
Participant Selection
Timing is the Thing
Three month release cycles
Design Summit in-person meeting
Now six month release cycles with milestone releases
Flickr: plenty
Contributors and Newbies
Flickr: kholkute
Barriers to Entry
Flickr: AdamKR
Attraction to Sprints
Flickr: ratranch
Data Stacks
Social web integration
Web analytics
Comments
Twitter Responses
Planet Blog
Web Analytics
Measure the Help
Customer support and help sites
New vs. returning visitors
Searches that had zero yield
Search results to site exits ratio
Download completion rates (if relevant)
Flickr: HeavyWeightGeek
Engagement Indicators
Number of comments on content
Number of comments responded to
Response time on the comments
Number of edits
Volume on discussion boards
Flickr: atomicjeep
Pitfalls
Too much content, not enough engagement.
Another community could take all the major players attention.
Dilution and repetition.
High barriers to entry.
Flickr: docpop
Resolutions
Write DocBook collaboratively for web developers and system administrators (devops, also)
Coach developers to write RST for devs
Resolutions
Automate reference documentation
Encourage conversation
Build a community around docs and with docs
Iterate repeatedly
Launch and Learn
Flickr:andy_c
Questions?
Anne Gentle
www.justwriteclick.com
anne@openstack.org
@annegentle
www.facebook.com/conversationandcommunity
www.linkedin.com/in/annegentle
Flickr: jetheriot

Sprints and Stacks

by Anne Gentle on Jun 04, 2011

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

1 Embed 1

Statistics

Sprints and Stacks Presentation Transcript