View source for How To Contribute to the Release Notes

This page is where we explain how-to use this Wiki for writing release notes beats.

{{Admon/tip | Please read [[DocsProject/WritingUsingTheWiki| DocsProject/WritingUsingTheWiki]]  before editing Release Notes pages, to ensure that you write content that may be converted into DocBook for the published Release Notes.}}

{{Admon/tip |  ... but don't let that stop you from entering something.  Your contribution is important, we'll help you fix it up for release.  Just follow these steps ...}}

# Find the appropriate beat, such as [[Docs/Beats/Desktop| Docs/Beats/Desktop]] , and edit your content into the page.  There is a list of existing beats at [[Documentation Beats]].
# If the page does not exist, create a new one, either at the top-level or as a sub-page, in the format of [[Docs/Beats/Beatname| Docs/Beats/Beatname]] .  Edit the main page at [[Docs/Beats| Docs/Beats]]  to add it to the table of contents.
# '''Don't worry.''' Competent writers and editors are watching your contributions.  We'll follow up with your contribution directly in the Wiki, cleaning, simplifying, formatting, and so forth.

For more details, read on:

{{:DocsProject/HighlightedForDocs}}

You need to be a recipient of email to relnotes@fedoraproject.org.  This is a manual alias (for now), email kwade@redhat.com to be added.  This address receives all bug reports assigned to relnotes@ (including the release-notes component in bugzilla), and all CVS commits that contain the <code>*docs*</code> keyword in the log message.

{{Admon/note | Until further notice, the requirement to be subscribed to relnotes@fedoraproject.org is suspended.  We will send out a message when subscriptions are available again.  In the meantime, the current list members will pass along any content that is for you.}}

Read and understand about the [[DocsProject/ReleaseNotes/Beats| release notes beats]] .

== Keep to the Schedule ==

The [[DocsProject/Schedule| documentation schedule]]  for Fedora includes time for translation of content so that it all can be included within the ISOs.

{{Admon/note | There will be a second snapshot a few days before each final release that appears on the Web only, and is referenced as the "latest release notes" from the top of the relnotes within the ISO.  Read on for more about this.}}

Release notes are an ongoing process, with rolling releases throughout testing and after final release.

== Gathering Raw Notes and Using the Wiki ==

Beat writers are now able to use the tree at [[Docs/Beats| Docs/Beats]]  to gather raw input and form it into content for the release notes.

These pages have a light structure that generally goes one layer deep, for example, [[Docs/Beats/Kernel| Docs/Beats/Kernel]]  is for the kernel portion of the release notes.

Beat writers are free to add and change sub-pages, as they need.   Other contributors can do the same.  The only requirement to edit is that the user be registered and logged in.

Wiki-help for beat contributions is now on-topic for #fedora-docs.

== Keeping a Relevant Beat ==

Beat writers need to keep the content cleaned-up and relevant.  You want to watch your page and all sub-pages using the pattern <code>Docs/Beats/Beatname.*</code> in your "Subscribed wiki pages" of your UserPreferences.

== Snapshots and Changes ==

These beat notes are ongoing workspaces.  A snapshot is taken just prior to freeze for translation, and the content is merged into the overall DocBook/XML-based release notes, as per [[DocsProject/Schedule| the FDP release schedule]] .

Beat writers need to keep the content cleaned-up and relevant.  You want to watch the Docs/Beats/Beatname* pages for all changes.

Another snapshot may be taken one or two days before release, to capture any new content that came after the translation freeze snapsot.  This secondary snapshot is used to create a ''latest release notes'' that is linked from the as-shipped release notes.  This latest relnotes is published online at a fixed URL, and helps to make up for the loss of content that appeared or was changed after translation freeze.

[[Category:How_to]]