GitLab 9.3 release post

Review Apps link: https://release-9-3.about.gitlab.com/2017/06/22/gitlab-9-3-released/

Release Post

• Blog handbook: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/
• Release post handbook: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/release-posts/

General Contributions

General contributions from the team.

Due date: 06/14 (6th working day before the 22nd)

• Label MR: blog post release
• Add milestone
• Intro
• MVP
• Add cover image image_title (compressed)
• Upgrade barometer
• Top features
• Primary features
• Secondary features (improvements)
• Performance improvements
• Omnibus improvements
• Deprecations
• Documentation links
• Authorship (author's data)

Review

Content review (PMs)

Due date: 06/19 (2nd working day before the 22nd)

• Label MR: blog post release review-in-progress
• General review (PM)
  • Check Features' names
  • Check Features' availability (CE, EES, EEP)
  • Check Documentation links
  • Update data/promo.yml
  • Check all images' size - compress whenever > 300KB
  • Meaningful links (SEO)
  • Check links to product/feature webpages
• Copyedit (Sean P, Rebecca, or Marcia)
  • Title
  • Description
  • Grammar, spelling, clearness (body)
• Final review (Job)

Structural Check

Due date: 06/19 (2nd working day before the 22nd)

• Label MR: blog post release review-structure
• Check frontmatter (entries, syntax)
• Check image_title and twitter_image
• Check image shadow {:.shadow}
• Check images' ALT text
• Videos/iframes wrapped in <figure> tags (responsiveness)
• Add/check <!-- more --> separator
• Add/check cover img reference (at the end of the post)
• Columns (content balance between the columns)
• Badges consistency (applied to all headings)
• Remove any remaining instructions
• Remove HTML comments
• Run deadlink checker
• Update release template with any changes (if necessary)

data/release_posts/2017_06_22_gitlab_9_3_released.yml

@@ -34,54 +34,19 @@ features:
 # PRIMARY FEATURES
   primary:
-    - name: Approve merge request even required number reached
-      available_in: [ees, eep]
-      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/merge_requests/merge_request_approvals.html'
-      documentation_text: "Learn more about merge request approvals"
-      image_url: '/images/9_3/'
-      description: |
-        You can now approve merge requests (or remove your approval), even
-        though the required number has already been reached. This allows
-        greater flexibility in the code review process.
-
-        Issue <https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/1126>
-
-    - name: Prevent overwriting approval settings per merge request
-      available_in: [ees, eep]
-      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/merge_requests/merge_request_approvals.html'
-      documentation_text: "Learn more about merge request approvals"
-      image_url: '/images/9_3/'
-      description: |
-        You can now prevent overwriting the approval settings in a merge
-        request. This is useful to enforce process and standardization at
-        the project level.
-        Issue <https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/582>
-
-    - name: Report abusive content
-      available_in: [ce, ees, eep]
-      documentation_link: ''
-      documentation_text: "Learn more "
-      image_url: '/images/9_3/'
-      description: |
-        We believe that everyone should contribute. To enable that, GitLab
-        needs to be a safe platform where people can effectively collaborate.
-        This new feature allows users to easily report abusive content the
-        moment they see it, in issues or merge requests. By lowering this
-        friction, it the community to more quickly report malicious users
-        to admins, who can take swift action.
-
-        Issue <https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/30281>
-
     - name: Conversational Development Index
       available_in: [ce, ees, eep]
       documentation_link: ''
-      documentation_text: "Learn more "
-      image_url: '/images/9_3/'
+      documentation_text: "Learn more"
+      image_url: '/images/9_3/conversational_development_index.png'
       description: |
-        For on-prem users, if you activate the usage ping in your instance,
-        you can now see the conversational development index of your instance.
-
-        Issue <https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/30469>
+        For self-hosted users, you can now see the conversational development index
+        of your entire GitLab instance as an admin. This index aggregates your usage
+        of various GitLab features from idea to production, and allows you to see
+        how you compare with other organizations also using GitLab. Ensure that
+        the usage ping in your instance is turned on to use this feature. (Your GitLab
+        usage is collected in the usage ping if it is turned on, and usage is aggregated
+        on our servers. Your usage information is not sent to any other GitLab instances.)
     - name: Cross Project Pipelines
       available_in: [ees, eep]
@@ -227,21 +192,9 @@ features:
         There are [numerous other performance enhancements](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/issues?scope=all&state=opened&utf8=%E2%9C%93&milestone_title=9.3&label_name%5B%5D=performance)
         in GitLab 9.3 that should not only make GitLab feel faster, but reduce
-        overall impact on server infrastructure.
-    - name: Continued Auto Updates in GitLab
-      available_in: [ce, ees, eep]
-      documentation_link: ''
-      documentation_text: "Learn more "
-      image_url: '/images/9_3/'
-      description: |
-        With each release, GitLab increasingly updates itself automatically,
-        so that you no longer need to refresh a particular page. In this
-        release, the title and description of merge requests automatically
-        updates. This already happens in issues, as introduced in recent
-        releases.
-
-    - name: Inline issue description update
+        overall impact on server infrastructure.    
+    - name: Inline issue description edit
       available_in: [ce, ees, eep]
       documentation_link: ''
       documentation_text: "Learn more "
@@ -249,10 +202,10 @@ features:
       description: |
         The issue description serves as the single source of truth when teams
         collaborate on work and ideas are rapidly flowing in the issue comment
-        thread. With this release, it's much easier to update the description
-        by simply clicking the pencil icon. You do not have to go to a separate
-        web form. Just make the update inline, and click save to persist the
-        changes.
+        thread. With this release, it's much easier to edit the description
+        by simply clicking `Edit` as before. You now do not have to go to a separate
+        web form. Just make the update inline, and click `Save changes` to persist
+        the changes.
     - name: Bulk issue edit re-design
       available_in: [ce, ees, eep]
@@ -264,26 +217,28 @@ features:
         this latest release. We've leveraged the sidebar paradigm that already
         pervades GitLab. So users will feel right at home using a transient
         sidebar when updating multiple issues at once.
-        
-    - name: Issue board todo / closed
+
+    - name: Issue board usability improvements
       available_in: [ce, ees, eep]
-      documentation_link: ''
-      documentation_text: "Learn more "
-      image_url: '/images/9_3/'
+      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ce/user/project/issue_board.html'
+      documentation_text: "Learn more"
+      image_url: '/images/9_3/issue_board_usability_improvements.gif'
       description: |
         We recognize that teams use issue boards in a variety of ways. To make
-        it usable for even more teams, we now have a toggle-able to do and
-        close columns.
-
-        <https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/23917>
-    - name: Single click to activate dropdown in search bar
+        it usable for even more teams, we now have collapsible Backlog and
+        Closed columns. We've also tweaked adding issues in a board. When you click
+        `+` to add an issue to a list, it now appears at the top of the list automatically,
+        which is really helpful for already long lists.        
+    - name: Search/filter bar improvements
       available_in: [ce, ees, eep]
-      documentation_link: ''
-      documentation_text: "Learn more "
-      image_url: '/images/9_3/'
+      documentation_link: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ce/user/search/'
+      documentation_text: "Learn more"
+      image_url: '/images/9_3/search_filter_bar_improvements.gif'
       description: |
-        <https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/31757>
+        We continue to make incremental improvements to the search/filter bar. You
+        can now view user avatars. Clicking on a filter will activate the dropdown,
+        allowing you change filters quickly.
     - name: Internationalization of Project Home & Repository File page
       available_in: [ce, ees, eep]