Joining The Workbench beta phase

[iramosp]

Hi @zkamvar,
We would like to register our lesson to join the beta phase of The Workbench, when it resumes. All the maintainers (@vinisalazar, @aguspesce, and I) have agreed to this. There hasn't been much activity in our repo, and we would be happy to try the new infrastructure.
Thanks!

[zkamvar]

Good news! I will add your lesson to the list and keep you updated when we start the beta phase

[zkamvar]

Hello @datacarpentry/python-ecology-lesson-es-maintainers,

Thank you for your patience during the last quarter.
I am pleased to announce that the transition to beta phase for this lesson will take place in 9 weeks on 2022-12-05.

Timing

the beta phase is divided into the following schedule of stages

• 2022-12-05: pre-beta stage (two repos, two sites)
• 2023-01-16: beta stage (one repo, two sites)
• 2023-03-13: pre-release stage (one repo, one site)

Please let me know if this does not work for you and I will do my best to accommodate.
Importantly: please resolve (close or merge) any open pull requests before 2022-01-16 because the beta stage will involve changing the folder structure of this repository which will render any existing pull requests invalid.

Pre Beta Tasks

During this first pre-beta stage of the Beta Phase, I will give you access to https://github.com/fishtree-attempt/python-ecology-lesson-es and encourage you to test out the following things on the lesson to get familiar with The Workbench. Here are some suggestions:

• clone the lesson and build it locally
• (optionally trigger and) merge and automated workflow update PRs that @carpentries-bot opens
• review a PR that includes some failing accessibility checks
• (R lessons only) review a PR using the preview of rendered changes
• fix a simple typo in a lesson - perhaps in a relatively non-obvious location e.g. in the setup instructions
• write a link from one episode to another in the same lesson

I will be recording a short video describing the changes you will see in the next week, so be sure to keep your eyes out for that.

[aguspesce]

Hello @zkamvar,
I have a problem with the timing: the dates are for 2023?

the beta phase is divided into the following schedule of stages

• 2022-12-05: pre-beta stage (two repos, two sites)
• 2022-01-16: beta stage (one repo, two sites)
• 2022-03-13: pre-release stage (one repo, one site)

[zkamvar]

@aguspesce oops! Thank you for pointing that out. I've fixed the dates.

[zkamvar]

Hi @datacarpentry/python-ecology-lesson-es-maintainers,

I apologise for not having contacted you all yet. I am still planning on sending your lesson into the beta phase, but it will not happen until tomorrow or maybe next week. I am currently writing an update that will appear on The Carpentries blog about the challenges we are facing in terms of organising the beta phase.

Thank you all for your patience.

Zhian

[zkamvar]

in the meantime, you can read the update I posted here about some of the delays that we have encountered: https://carpentries.org/blog/2022/11/dovetail-011/

[iramosp]

I am still planning on sending your lesson into the beta phase, but it will not happen until tomorrow or maybe next week.

That's all right, thank you for the update, @zkamvar.

[zkamvar]

Workbench Beta Phase Timeframe Adjustment

Note: this is identical to the message I sent directly via email

The beta phase has been in progress since the end of October, but because of various changing circumstances, I will be pushing back the beta phase timeline according to the revised schedule below, synchronising all of the beta phase repositories. With this new timeline, you will have more time to explore the repository snapshots, I will have time to provide more clear communications, and—because everyone will go through each stage synchronously—you will all be able to exchange tips and tricks together.

Note that Toby Hodges, Vini Salazar, and I will be hosting weekly helpdesk sessions, whose times we will send to you soon.

Here is the revised schedule, which you can also find on The Workbench beta phase website:

• 2022-12-12 (pre-beta): (re-)release all beta phase lessons to the pre-beta stage, which will have a parallel snapshot at https://github.com/fishtree-attempt/ hosting the Workbench preview on https://preview.carpentries.org/.
  • During this time, we encourage you to explore the repository. Here is a list of tasks to get started. Remember, This preview version is temporary, so you do not have to worry about making any mistakes here.
  • Take the time to merge or resolve any open PRs. And yes, this is a big task and it is helpful to remember how to say 'no' in a way that respects the contributor’s time and effort. If you feel like you need help with a particular PR, please contact Zhian and he will help craft a response.
• 2023-02-06 (beta): do in-place conversion of all beta phase lessons to use The Workbench by default. The default lesson site will still point to a snapshot of the jekyll version from 2023-02-06, and the preview lesson site will show the Workbench hosted on the main branch of the repository.
  • IMPORTANT: before this happens, all maintainers MUST be aware of this change and must merge or resolve any open PRs. Remember that it’s okay to say no and/or contact Zhian for wordsmithing.
  • Zhian will create a video describing what this process is doing
  • The broader maintainer community will be alerted that they have three months to merge or resolve their open PRs at this time.
• 2023-04-03 (pre-release): The Workbench will become the default version of the lesson and the Jekyll version will be removed. A blog post will go out alerting everyone of the change.

We will make the conversion of all of our lessons to use The Workbench on 2023-05-01

Thank you once again for agreeing to participate in the beta phase of The Carpentries Workbench. Your efforts in testing the infrastructure on your established lessons are invaluable to improving the workbench and I want to make sure that we take the time to get that right.

[zkamvar]

Hello and happy new year!

This is a reminder that on 06 February 2023 (just under four weeks away), your lesson repositories will be transformed to use The Carpentries Workbench. This is the irreversible second stage of the beta phase where the Workbench version of the lesson will be live and the styles version will be frozen.

Before 06 February 2023

1. (MUST DO) Merge or resolve any open PRs (If you are unsure of how to resolve some PRs that need more time, here's a guide on how to say 'no')
2. (recommended) Try out the pre-beta tasks to get familiar with The Workbench

After 06 February 2023

The lesson repository will change with a trimmed-down git history that reflects authorship. To prevent accidental overwriting of repository content, I will temporarily change your access to the repository as ‘read-only’. To regain ‘maintain’ access,

1. (MUST DO) make a fresh clone of or update your lesson on your computer.
2. (MUST DO) respond here with I am ready for write access :rocket:

Have Questions?

If you have any questions, would like help resolving PRs, or anything at all, you can email, slack, or schedule a meeting with me: https://calendly.com/zkamvar.

[zkamvar]

Hello Maintainers,

Today is the day the lesson transitions into the second stage of the beta phase 🎉

I have created lesson release for this lesson and also have downloaded an archive of the repository and all associated comments. Before the end of the day, I will do the following:

1. temporarily restrict push access for the maintainers while I make the transition
2. set the config to display the beta stage banner (red), which will indicate that the styles version is locked
3. perform the transition (here is a rough 3 and a half minute video of what you can expect after the transition: https://youtu.be/kvmDlgjV8NA)

Once the transition happens, I will give access to those who follow the instructions:

• (MUST DO) make a fresh clone of or update your lesson on your computer.
• (MUST DO) respond here with I am ready for write access :rocket:

Thank you all for the commitment to testing this out and for all your feedback so far!

[zkamvar]

The transition is done. When you have created a fresh clone of the lesson, please comment here with I am ready for write access :rocket: and I will grant you write access to the repository (note that we are going to leave the main branch protected).

[vinisalazar]

I am ready for write access 🚀

Thank you for your hard work @zkamvar!

[zkamvar]

Done!

[aguspesce]

@zkamvar : I am ready for write access 🚀

Thanks for your work!

[zkamvar]

Thank you all for your hard work getting the pull requests merged and giving feedback.

Now that you all have access, here are some resources that can help you understand how to handle the transition:

1. What you can expect from the transition 📹: https://carpentries.github.io/workbench/beta-phase.html#beta
2. How to update your local clone 💻: https://carpentries.github.io/workbench/beta-phase.html#updating-clone
3. How to update (delete) your fork (if you have one) 📹: https://carpentries.github.io/workbench/faq.html#update-fork-from-styles

[iramosp]

Hi @zkamvar, I am ready for write access 🚀
Thank you!

[zkamvar]

Congratulations! You all now have write access!