Greg,
Thanks for the welcome. I'm glad to see a project management tool like
Phabricator in use-especially one with the ability to set priorities and
create sub-tasks.
I'll take the role of reviewing the submits on the commit page like you
suggested, maybe at the end of each month for starters and adjust frequency
depending on work-load.
I'll also review what has been done already and who's active to see if there
is an area where I can lend some help, as well as catching up on past
discussions to the docboard distro to get oriented to the team's current
mindset.
v/r,
Michael Fink
BnBGobo99
From: bf-docboard-bounces at blender.org
[mailto:bf-docboard-bounces at blender.org] On Behalf Of Greg Zaal
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2015 4:06 AM
To: Blender Documentation Project
Subject: Re: [Bf-docboard] Being involved In documentation
Hey Michael,
Thanks for putting that together! I'm glad there's someone with your
experience willing to help us :)
I think for now it is best to keep using our current system of review and
task management ('Phabricator', here's the doc project
<https://developer.blender.org/project/view/53/> ) - the only thing it
doesn't currently do is keep track of the current status of the project -
though this can easily be added in the project description per-chapter.
At the moment, Campbell, Francesco and I are handling project management -
though Campbell and Francesco are also busy with all sorts of other Blender
projects, and I've technically been appointed as 'documentation coordinator'
which involves both writing documentation myself and helping/finding others
to write with us.
As for the intent/goal of this project - my impression is that it is "make
the manual less crappy" ;) We don't have the man power to rewrite the whole
thing, but the idea is to have at least one person responsible for each
chapter of the manual and let them do whatever they want in order to make it
better (be it fixing and updating it, or rewriting it entirely). Personally
I plan to fix and check the legacy parts of the Render chapter (the old
render engine), but rewrite the subsection for Cycles mostly from scratch.
Any suggestions you have for how we/I can manage this project better would
be much appreciated!
And if you'd like to check our spelling and grammar, the quickest way would
be to watch the commit page
<https://developer.blender.org/diffusion/BM/history/trunk/blender_docs> ,
click on the commit numbers on the left (e.g. rBM55
<https://developer.blender.org/rBM55> ) and add a comment at the bottom of
the page. The author of the commit will get an email about your comment and
then fix the problem in a new commit.
Cheers,
Greg
On 17 January 2015 at 03:57, Michael Fink <bunnie0515 at yahoo.com
<mailto:bunnie0515 at yahoo.com> > wrote:
Hi team,
Sorry for jumping on my own email--after reading my message I fear it may
have come off as "here is this tool you've never seen before that I think
you should use but I don't want to be the one in charge of maintaining it."
Especially since my name has never appeared in a discussion reply before.
If the review or a similar discussion-&-task-focusing-tool is implemented to
help guide and facilitate project management, I'm more than happy to do the
data entry and coordination with the task owners and project manager(s) for
that tool.
I'm happy to mentor and asist the person (or persons) placed in a project
manager position if we go that route (which I think would be wise). I just
don't think I can do justice to you all 'the' project manager.
Also, for being involved in the documentation--since I do not use Blender
much I am not much help in drafting new content, but I volunteer my services
for:
1. QC'ing (quality control for grammar, spelling, etc.)
2. Screenshots/video grabs of certain functions or elements. (This could be
useful for somebody who has written a good text article but needs somebody
to take the time and do the associated screenshots or video grabs.
Just let me know what tasks and pages I can help with, or if the review (or
similar process) is adopted how I can help modify it to work best with the
team flow.
If you haven't had an opportunity to take a look at the review process
proposal, the files can be accessed here:
PDF:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lwu6dhdn9hmcw63/Blender%20Documentation%20Project%
20Review%20%28proposal%29.pdf?dl=0
PPTX:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pcorrecirwi9dos/Blender%20Documentation%20Project%
20Review%20%28proposal%29.pptx?dl=0
Thank you,
Michael Fink
BnBGobo99
--------------------------------------------
On Thu, 1/15/15, Michael Fink <bunnie0515 at yahoo.com
<mailto:bunnie0515 at yahoo.com> > wrote:
Subject: Re: Being involved In documentation
To: "Blender Documentation Project" <bf-docboard at blender.org
<mailto:bf-docboard at blender.org> >
Date: Thursday, January 15, 2015, 7:26 PM
Hello team,
I know there has been a flurry of email traffic lately, so
I'll try to keep this one brief.
I was surprised that nobody stepped up during a call for
assistance that was made recently (I believe Campbell noted
this in one of the emails, but I'm afraid I lost track of
the conversations). It made me wonder how many folks
are on the mailing list vs how many folks participate?
This is a curiosity question, not a shaming one. I've
only made a single contribution to the wiki and it was just
a minor correction to another person's much more involved
effort, so I myself can't say I have been active either.
The point of this email: it was mentioned that we
needed a Project Manager to lead this effort. I am not
volunteering myself as I will not be able to devote the
attention the Bf-docboard team deserves, but I am very
earnest when I say that I am more than happy to help mentor
the process. (My credentials: I have been a Flight
Chief for the US Air Force leading teams of 100+ individuals
from all services and a wide range of ranks. I have
been a Superintendent of a Wing-level directorate
responsible for planning and programming for 4,000 Airmen
and directly managing a $19,000 annual budget and $20K in IT
assets (not large, but sizable enough). My job is
Project Management, but not software project management or
software development. However, I am familiar with
Agile methodology, Six Sigma, AFSO 21 as well as the more
common "waterfall" way of doing things.)
I have built a template "Review" process. The .pdf
link is below as well as the .pptx--you are free to use this
document if the team choses (use the slide master to remove
my name and add the name of the person building the
deck). We have successfully used this process for
several years to guide multi-million dollar projects
impacting thousands of people across the globe.
PDF:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lwu6dhdn9hmcw63/Blender%20Documentation%20Project%
20Review%20%28proposal%29.pdf?dl=0
PPTX:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pcorrecirwi9dos/Blender%20Documentation%20Project%
20Review%20%28proposal%29.pptx?dl=0
It is useful for:
(1) Spurring discussion and ideas,
(2) Solidifying those ideas and discussion points into
actionable tasks,
(3) Providing clear direction for those that are responsible
for performing (or delegating) those tasks,
(4) Providing a method for updates and recommendations on
existing tasks,
(5) Focusing a discussion onto a single vision and effort,
(6) and documenting progress, identifying trends, and
adjusting effort quickly.
The "Review" does take time to update and build, but by
consolidating tasks and inputs into a single document, it
does help create a helpful overview and guiding document to
manage the project--not just for the project leaders, but
for all participants. When we do these reviews, we
consolidate inputs from as many as 30 offices and hold
meetings to discuss the inputs and adjust focus or
re-allocate assets (manpower, money, etc). This is
much more efficient than holding 30 different discussions,
each with a meeting and side tasks--resulting in duplication
of effort, starving some offices while overfeeding others,
etc. I think this is the best way to guide and lead a
project of this undertaking.
Once the Project's goal is met (or solidly on track), the
review process can end. This is not meant to be a
permanent fixture, but a simpler "metric" or "stoplight"
document can take its place if desired.
Please let me know if you have questions on how this might
help the project. I am not knowledgeable on software
(although I do play with HTML/PHP/SQL/etc), and I don't use
Blender as much any more, but I am passionate about the
community and what Blender represents, and I hope this is
somewhat useful.
Thank you for reading, and sorry for the long-windedness.
v/r,
Michael Fink
BnBGobo99
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