During last Docs team meeting it was proposed to create short videos showing various ways of contributing to Documentation team. The proposal was well received so we’re moving on to implementation.

The Idea

The idea is to show how to do tasks which are considered as contribution to Documentation team. Some tasks are easier to explain by simply showing how to do it. By recording the demo we are removing the need for repeating ourselves and even having a person who’s going to do all the repeating as a part of the onboarding process.

These videos can be recorded in several ways:

• You can announce it publicly and ask for audience or you can record it privately.
• You can do it alone but, if you wish, you can organise with other members of Documentation team to record it together.
• You can invite someone who is considering to join the team and guide them through the process or let them watch and ask questions.
• Possibilities are endless..

Implementation

To make things more consistent here is a set of guidelines:

• Tool for recording: Zoom (account is needed, free is sufficient)
• Video should showcase one specific task
• Video title should be precise in what the video is showing:
  • Don’t: How to contribute to HelpHub
  • Do: Reporting an error or outdated information in HelpHub article
• Video length: 5-10 minutes, the shorter the better (because no one wants to watch 1 hour of video just to report the typo)
• Temporary storage: GDrive folder (a place where video author will host the video for review)
• Final storage: WordPress.tv (hopefully we’ll get them captioned)

Keeping the track

Any member of Documentation team can record the video. In order to keep track of the process we have a dedicated document.

• Video Title – proposed title of the video.
• Docs Project – the name of the Docs project for which the video is being recorded (HelpHub, Code Reference, Plugin Handbook, Block Editor End User etc).
• Author – WordPress.org username of the team member who volunteers to record the video.
• Status – the current state of the video.
  • Not assigned – Video is waiting for volunteer. Populated Video Title and Docs Project columns.
  • In progress – Video is assigned to volunteer who is in process of recording. Populated Author column.
  • Ready for review – Video is recorded and uploaded to temporary storage location, waiting to be reviewed. Populated Temporary URL column.
  • In review – Video is being reviewed. Populated Reviewer column.
  • Waiting wp.tv – Video is reviewed, accepted and sent to wp.tv.
  • Finished – Video is published. Populated WordPress.tv URL column.
• Temporary URL – the URL of the recorded video where it can be reviewed by other members of Docs team.
• Reviewer – WordPress.org username(s) of the team member(s) who volunteers to review the video.
• WordPress.tv URL – final URL for the video at WordPress.tv.
• Comment – Comment by reviewers if anything should be modified/updated etc.

Prepare to record

Once you’ve selected the video to record, make sure to add your wp.org username and change video status to In progress in document for tracking all videos.

• Create account at zoom.us, download and install desktop app.
• Prepare the list of steps you want to perform. If you feel uncomfortable or nervous, you can write down the whole script for the video. You can ask someone from Documentation team to review it to make sure you’re covering all the important points.
• Make sure your internet connection is stable and sufficient for recording live screen sharing.
• You don’t have to use camera but make sure your microphone is working properly and the volume is at desired level. You can record a testing video. If you do decide to use camera consider changing the background.
• Make sure you record in a quiet place, without interruptions and with minimum background noise (e.g. don’t record in a caffe or outside).
• Open all tabs you’re going to use upfront so you don’t have to wait for loading pages (which will be slower than your usual page load speed) while recording.
• Make sure you don’t expose any of yours or other people’s personal data (e.g. personal email, social networks, various notifications etc).
• Share screen, hit record and good luck 🙂

Review

When you’re happy with your video, upload it to the Temporary folder. Add that URL to our document in Temporary URL column, change status to Ready for review and ask in Slack for someone to review it. The more people see it, the better.

Once the team approves it, we can send the video to WordPress.tv and change status to Waiting wp.tv. After publishing at wp.tv, the status is changed to Finished.

Discussion

Please leave your thoughts, questions and suggestions in comments below. Thank you.

#contributing-videos