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Merge branch 'eread/refactor-docs-process' into 'master' 

Initial refactor of Documentation process

See merge request gitlab-org/gitlab!17593
parents f522f8c8 46fb9c29
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doc/development/documentation/feature-change-workflow.md
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---
description: How to add docs for new or enhanced GitLab features.
redirect_to: 'workflow.md'
---
# Documentation process for feature changes
At GitLab, developers contribute new or updated documentation along with their code, but product managers and technical writers also have essential roles in the process.
- **Developers**: Author/update documentation in the same MR as their code, and
merge it in the assigned milestone. Request technical writer
assistance if needed. Other developers typically act as reviewers.
- **Product Managers** (PMs): In the issue for all new and enhanced features,
confirm the documentation requirements, plus the mentioned feature description
and use cases, which can be reused in docs. They can bring in a technical
writer for discussion or collaboration, and can be called upon themselves as a doc reviewer.
- **Technical Writers**: Review doc requirements in issues, track issues and MRs
that contain docs changes, help with any questions throughout the authoring/editing process,
work on special projects related to the documentation, and review all new and updated
docs content, whether before or after it is merged.
Beyond this process, any member of the GitLab community can also author or request documentation
improvements that are not associated with a new or changed feature. See the [Documentation improvement workflow](improvement-workflow.md).
## When documentation is required
Documentation must be delivered whenever:
- A new or enhanced feature is shipped that impacts the user/admin experience.
- There are changes to the UI or API.
- A process, workflow, or previously documented feature is changed.
- A feature is deprecated or removed.
For example, a UI restyling that offers no difference in functionality may require
documentation updates if screenshots are now needed, or need to be updated.
Documentation is not required when a feature is changed on the backend
only and does not directly affect the way that any user or administrator would
interact with GitLab.
NOTE: **Note:**
When revamping documentation, if unrelated to the feature change, this should be submitted
in its own MR (using the [documentation improvement workflow](improvement-workflow.md))
so that we can ensure the more time-sensitive doc updates are merged sooner.
## Documentation requirements in feature issues
Requirements for the documentation of a feature should be included as part of the
issue for planning that feature, in a Documentation section within the issue description.
This section is provided as part of the Feature Proposal template and should be added
to the issue if it is not already present.
Anyone can add these details, but the product manager who assigns the issue to a specific release
milestone will ensure these details are present and finalized by the time of that milestone's kickoff.
Developers, technical writers, and others may help further refine this plan at any time.
### Details to include
- What concepts and procedures should the docs guide and enable the user to understand or accomplish?
- To this end, what new page(s) are needed, if any? What pages/subsections need updates? Consider user, admin, and API doc changes and additions.
- For any guide or instruction set, should it help address a single use case, or be flexible to address a certain range of use cases?
- Do we need to update a previously recommended workflow? Should we link the new feature from various relevant locations? Consider all ways documentation should be affected.
- Are there any key terms or task descriptions that should be included so that the docs are found in relevant searches?
- Include suggested titles of any pages or subsections, if applicable.
## Documenting a new or changed feature
To follow a consistent workflow every month, documentation changes
involve the Product Managers, the developer who shipped the feature,
and the technical writer for the DevOps stage. Each role is described below.
The Documentation items in the GitLab CE/EE [Feature Proposal issue template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/raw/master/.gitlab/issue_templates/Feature%20proposal.md)
and default merge request template will assist you with following this process.
### Product Manager role
For issues requiring any new or updated documentation, the Product Manager (PM)
must:
- Add the ~documentation label.
- Confirm or add the [documentation requirements](#documentation-requirements-in-feature-issues).
- Ensure the issue contains any new or updated feature name, overview/description,
and use cases, as required per the [documentation structure and template](structure.md), when applicable.
Everyone is encouraged to draft the requirements in the issue, but a product manager will
do the following:
- When the issue is assigned a release milestone, review and update the Documentation details.
- By the kickoff, finalize the Documentation details.
### Developer and maintainer roles
#### Authoring
As a developer, if a ~feature issue also contains the ~documentation label, you must ship the new or updated documentation with the code of the feature. The documentation is an essential part of the product.
Technical writers are happy to help, as requested and planned on an issue-by-issue basis.
For feature issues requiring documentation, follow the process below unless otherwise agreed with the product manager and technical writer for a given issue:
- Include any new and edited docs in the MR introducing the code.
- Use the Documentation requirements confirmed by the Product Manager in the
issue and discuss any further doc plans or ideas as needed.
- If the new or changed doc requires extensive collaboration or conversation, a separate,
linked issue can be used for the planning process.
- We are trying to avoid using a separate MR, so that the docs stay with the code, but the
Technical Writing team is interested in discussing any potential exceptions that may be suggested.
- Use the [Documentation guidelines](index.md), as well as other resources linked from there,
including the Documentation [Structure and template](structure.md) page, [Style Guide](styleguide.md), and [Markdown Guide](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/technical-writing/markdown-guide/).
- If you need any help to choose the correct place for a doc, discuss a documentation
idea or outline, or request any other help, ping the Technical Writer for the relevant
[DevOps stage](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/categories/#devops-stages)
in your issue or MR, or write within `#docs` on the GitLab Slack.
- If you are working on documentation in a separate MR, ensure that if the code is merged by the 17th, the docs are as well, per the [Engineering Workflow](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/workflow/). If the docs are not ready, the PM can approve merging the code if the engineer and tech writer commit to get documentation merged by the 21st. Otherwise the feature is not considered complete, and should not be merged.
- A policy for documenting feature-flagged
issues is forthcoming and you are welcome to join the [discussion](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/issues/56813).
#### Reviews and merging
All reviewers can help ensure accuracy, clarity, completeness, and adherence to the plans in the issue, as well as the [Documentation Guidelines](index.md) and [Style Guide](styleguide.md).
- **Prior to merging**, documentation changes committed by the developer must be reviewed by:
1. **The code reviewer** for the MR, to confirm accuracy, clarity, and completeness.
1. Optionally: Others involved in the work, such as other devs or the PM.
1. Optionally: The technical writer for the DevOps stage. If not prior to merging, the technical writer will review after the merge.
This helps us ensure that the developer has time to merge good content by the freeze, and that it can be further refined by the release, if needed.
- To decide whether to request this review before the merge, consider the amount of time left before the code freeze, the size of the change,
and your degree of confidence in having users of an RC use your docs as written.
- Pre-merge tech writer reviews should be most common when the code is complete well in advance of the freeze and/or for larger documentation changes.
- You can request a review and if there is not sufficient time to complete it prior to the freeze,
the maintainer can merge the current doc changes (if complete) and create a follow-up doc review issue.
- The technical writer can also help decide what docs to merge before the freeze and whether to work on further changes in a follow up MR.
- **To request a pre-merge technical writer review**, assign the writer listed for the applicable [DevOps stage](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/categories/#devops-stages).
- **To request a post-merge technical writer review**, [create an issue for one using the Doc Review template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/issues/new?issuable_template=Doc%20Review) and link it from the MR that makes the doc change.
1. **The maintainer** who is assigned to merge the MR, to verify clarity, completeness, and quality, to the best of their ability.
- Upon merging, if a technical writer review has not been performed and there is not yet a linked issue for a follow-up review, the maintainer should [create an issue using the Doc Review template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/issues/new?issuable_template=Doc%20Review), link it from the MR, and
mention the original MR author in the new issue. Alternatively, the maintainer can ask the MR author to create and link this issue before the MR is merged.
- After merging, documentation changes are reviewed by:
1. The technical writer -- **if** their review was not performed prior to the merge.
1. Optionally: by the PM (for accuracy and to ensure it's consistent with the vision for how the product will be used).
Any party can raise the item to the PM for review at any point: the dev, the technical writer, or the PM, who can request/plan a review at the outset.
### Technical Writer role
#### Planning
- The technical writer monitors the documentation needs of issues assigned to the current and next milestone
for their DevOps stage(s), and participates in any needed discussion on docs planning and requirements refinement
with the dev, PM, and others.
- The technical writer will review these requirements again upon the kickoff and provide feedback, as needed.
This is not a blocking review and developers should not wait to work on docs.
#### Collaboration
By default, the developer will work on documentation changes independently, but
the developer, PM, or technical writer can propose a broader collaboration for
any given issue.
Additionally, technical writers are available for questions at any time.
#### Review
- Technical writers provide non-blocking reviews of all documentation changes,
before or after the change is merged. However, if the docs are ready in the MR while
there's time before the freeze, the technical writer's review can commence early, on request.
- The technical writer will confirm that the doc is clear, grammatically correct,
and discoverable, while avoiding redundancy, bad file locations, typos, broken links,
etc. The technical writer will review the documentation for the following, which
the developer and code reviewer should have already made a good-faith effort to ensure:
- Clarity.
- Adherence to the plans and goals in the issue.
- Location (make sure the docs are in the correct directories and has the correct name).
- Syntax, typos, and broken links.
- Improvements to the content.
- Accordance with the [Documentation Style Guide](styleguide.md), and [Structure and Template](structure.md) doc.
This document was moved to [another location](workflow.md).
doc/development/documentation/improvement-workflow.md
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---
description: How to improve GitLab's documentation.
redirect_to: 'workflow.md'
---
# Documentation improvement workflow
Anyone can contribute a merge request or create an issue for GitLab's documentation.
This page covers the process for any contributions to GitLab's docs that are
not part of feature development. If you are looking for information on updating
GitLab's docs as is required with the development and release of a new feature
or feature enhancement, see the [documentation process for feature changes](feature-change-workflow.md).
## Who updates the docs
Anyone can contribute! You can create a merge request with documentation
when you find errors or other room for improvement in an existing doc, or when you
have an idea for all-new documentation that would help a GitLab user or administrator
to accomplish their work with GitLab.
## How to update the docs
1. Click "Edit this Page" at the bottom of any page on <https://docs.gitlab.com>, or navigate to
one of the repositories and doc paths listed on the [GitLab Documentation guidelines](index.md) page.
Work in a fork if you do not have developer access to the GitLab project.
1. Follow the described standards and processes listed on that Guidelines page,
including the linked resources: the [Structure and template](structure.md) page, [Style Guide](styleguide.md), and [Markdown Guide](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/technical-writing/markdown-guide/).
1. Follow GitLab's [Merge Request Guidelines](../contributing/merge_request_workflow.md#merge-request-guidelines).
If you need any help to choose the correct place for a doc, discuss a documentation
idea or outline, or request any other help, ping the technical writer for the relevant
[DevOps stage](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/categories/#devops-stages)
in your issue or MR, or write within `#docs` if you are a member of GitLab's Slack workspace.
## Review and merging
Anyone with master access to the affected GitLab project can merge documentation changes.
This person must make a good-faith effort to ensure that the content is clear
(sufficiently easy for the intended audience to navigate and understand) and
that it meets the [Documentation Guidelines](index.md) and [Style Guide](styleguide.md).
If the author or reviewer has any questions, or would like a technical writer's review
before merging, mention the writer who is assigned to the relevant [DevOps stage](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/categories/#devops-stages).
The process can involve the following parties/phases, and is replicated in the `Documentation` MR template for GitLab CE and EE, to help with following the process.
**1. Primary Reviewer** - Review by a [code reviewer](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/projects/) or other appropriate colleague to confirm accuracy, clarity, and completeness. This can be skipped for minor fixes without substantive content changes.
**2. Technical Writer** - Optional - If not requested for this MR, must be scheduled post-merge. To request a pre-merge review, assign the writer listed for the applicable [DevOps stage](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/categories/#devops-stages).
To request a post-merge review, [create an issue for one using the Doc Review template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/issues/new?issuable_template=Doc%20Review) and link it from the MR that makes the doc change.
**3. Maintainer**
1. Review by assigned maintainer, who can always request/require the above reviews. Maintainer review can occur before or after a technical writer review.
1. Ensure a release milestone of the format XX.Y is set. If the freeze for that release has begun, add the label `pick into <XX.Y>` unless this change is not required for the release. In that case, simply change the milestone.
1. If EE and CE MRs exist, merge the EE MR first, then the CE MR.
1. After merging, if there has not been a technical writer review and an issue for a follow-up review was not already created and linked from the MR, [create the issue using the Doc Review template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/issues/new?issuable_template=Doc%20Review) and link it from the MR.
## Other ways to help
If you have ideas for further documentation resources that would be best
considered/handled by technical writers, devs, and other SMEs, please [create an issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/issues/new?issuable_template=Documentation)
using the Documentation template.
This document was moved to [another location](workflow.md).
doc/development/documentation/index.md
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......@@ -10,9 +10,7 @@ In addition to this page, the following resources can help you craft and contrib
- [Style Guide](styleguide.md) - What belongs in the docs, language guidelines, Markdown standards to follow, and more.
- [Structure and template](structure.md) - Learn the typical parts of a doc page and how to write each one.
- [Workflows](workflow.md) - A landing page for our key workflows:
- [Documentation process for feature changes](feature-change-workflow.md) - Adding required documentation when developing a GitLab feature.
- [Documentation improvement workflow](improvement-workflow.md) - New content not associated with a new feature.
- [Documentation process](workflow.md).
- [Markdown Guide](../../user/markdown.md) - A reference for all Markdown syntax supported by GitLab.
- [Site architecture](site_architecture/index.md) - How <https://docs.gitlab.com> is built.
......
doc/development/documentation/structure.md
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......@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ For additional details on each, see the [template for new docs](#template-for-ne
below.
Note that you can include additional subsections, as appropriate, such as 'How it Works', 'Architecture',
and other logicial divisions such as pre- and post-deployment steps.
and other logical divisions such as pre- and post-deployment steps.
## Template for new docs
......
doc/development/documentation/workflow.md
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---
description: Learn the processes for contributing to GitLab's documentation.
---
# Documentation process
# Documentation workflows
The process for creating and maintaining GitLab product documentation depends on whether the
documentation is associated with:
Documentation workflows at GitLab differ depending on the reason for the change:
- [A new feature or feature enhancement](#for-a-product-change).
- [Documentation process for feature changes](feature-change-workflow.md) - The documentation is being created or updated as part of the development and release of a new or enhanced feature. This process involves the developer of the feature (who includes new/updated documentation files as part of the same merge request containing the feature's code) and also involves the product manager and technical writer who are listed for the feature's [DevOps stage](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/categories/#devops-stages).
- [Documentation improvement workflow](improvement-workflow.md) - All documentation additions not associated with a feature release. Documentation is being created or updated to improve accuracy, completeness, ease of use, or any reason other than a feature change. Anyone (and everyone) can contribute a merge request for this type of change at any time.
Delivered for a specific milestone and associated with specific code changes. This documentation
has the highest priority.
- [Changes outside a specific milestone](#for-all-other-documentation).
It is usually not associated with a specific code change and has a lower priority.
Documentation is not usually required when a "backstage feature" is added or changed, and does not
directly affect the way that any user or administrator interacts with GitLab.
## For a product change
This documentation is required for any new or changed feature and is:
- Created or updated as part of feature development, typically via the same merge request as the
feature code.
- Required with the delivery of a feature for a specific milestone as part of GitLab's
[definition of done](../contributing/merge_request_workflow.md#definition-of-done).
- Often linked from the release post.
### Roles and responsibilities
Documentation for specific milestones involves the:
- Developer of a feature or enhancement.
- Product Manager for the group delivering the new feature or feature enhancement.
- Technical Writer assigned to the group.
Each role is described below.
#### Developers
Developers are the primary author of documentation for a feature or feature enhancement. They are
responsible for:
- Developing initial content required for a feature.
- Liaising with their Product Manager to understand what documentation must be delivered, and when.
- Requesting technical reviews from other developers within their group.
- Requesting documentation reviews from the Technical Writer
[assigned to the DevOps stage group](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/technical-writing/index.html#assignments)
that is delivering the new feature or feature enhancements.
TIP: **Tip:**
Community Contributors can ask for additional help from GitLab team members.
##### Authoring
Because the documentation is an essential part of the product, if a ~feature issue also contains the
~documentation label, you must ship the new or updated documentation with the code of the feature.
Technical Writers are happy to help, as requested and planned on an issue-by-issue basis.
For feature issues requiring documentation, follow the process below unless otherwise agreed with
the Product Manager and Technical Writer for a given issue:
- Include any new and edited documentation, either in:
- The merge request introducing the code.
- A separate merge request raised around the same time.
- Use the [documentation requirements](#documentation-requirements) developed by the Product Manager
in the issue and discuss any further documentation plans or ideas as needed.
If the new or changed documentation requires extensive collaboration or conversation, a
separate, linked issue can be used for the planning process.
- Use the [Documentation guidelines](index.md), as well as other resources linked from there,
including:
- Documentation [Structure and template](structure.md) page.
- [Style Guide](styleguide.md).
- [Markdown Guide](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/technical-writing/markdown-guide/).
- Contact the Technical Writer for the relevant [DevOps stage](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/technical-writing/index.html#assignments)
in your issue or merge request, or within `#docs` on GitLab Slack, if you:
- Need any help to choose the correct place for documentation.
- Want to discuss a documentation idea or outline.
- Want to request any other help.
- If you are working on documentation in a separate merge request, ensure the documentation is
merged as close as possible to the code merge.
- A policy for documenting [feature-flagged](../feature_flags/index.md) issues is forthcoming and you
are welcome to join the [discussion](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/26347).
##### Reviews and merging
Reviewers help ensure:
- Accuracy.
- Clarity.
- Completeness.
- Adherence to:
- [Documentation requirements](#documentation-requirements) in the issue.
- [Documentation guidelines](index.md).
- [Style guide](styleguide.md).
Prior to merging, documentation changes committed by the developer must be reviewed by:
- The code reviewer for the merge request. This is known as a technical review.
- Optionally, others involved in the work, such as other developers or the Product Manager.
- Optionally, the Technical Writer for the DevOps stage group.
- A maintainer of the project.
If not assigned to a Technical Writer for review prior to merging, a review must be scheduled
immediately after merge by the developer or maintainer. For this,
create an issue using the [Doc Review description template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/new?issuable_template=Doc%20Review)
and link to it from the merged merge request that introduced the documentation change.
To decide whether to request a Technical Writer review before or after merge, consider:
- The amount of time left before the milestone release. If there is less than three days
remaining, seek a post-merge review and ping the writer via Slack to ensure the review is
completed in time.
- The size of the change and your degree of confidence in having early users (for example,
GitLab.com users) of features use your documentation as written.
- That pre-merge Technical Writer reviews should be most common when the code is complete well in
advance of a milestone release and for larger documentation changes.
- You can request a post-merge Technical Writer review if it's important to get the code part of
a merge request merged as soon as possible.
- The Technical Writer can also help decide that documentation can be merged without Technical
writer review, with the review to occur soon after merge.
#### Product Managers
Product Managers are responsible for the [documentation requirements](#documentation-requirements)
for a feature or feature enhancement. They can also:
- Liaise with the Technical Writer for discussion and collaboration.
- Review documentation themselves.
For issues requiring any new or updated documentation, the Product Manager must:
- Add the ~documentation label.
- Confirm or add the [documentation requirements](#documentation-requirements).
- Ensure the issue contains:
- Any new or updated feature name.
- Overview, description, and use cases, as required by the
[documentation structure and template](structure.md), when applicable.
Everyone is encouraged to draft the documentation requirements in the issue, but a Product Manager
will do the following:
- When the issue is assigned a release milestone, review and update the Documentation details.
- By the kickoff, finalize the documentation details.
#### Technical Writers
Technical Writers are responsible for:
- Reviewing documentation requirements in issues when called upon.
- Answering questions, and helping and providing advice throughout the authoring and editing
process.
- Reviewing all new and updated documentation content, whether before merge or after it is merged.
- Assisting the developer and Product Manager with feature documentation delivery.
##### Planning
The Technical Writer:
- Reviews their group's `~feature` issues that are part of the next milestone to get a sense of the
scope of content likely to be authored.
- Recommends the `~documentation` label on issues from that list which don't have it but should, or
inquires with the PM to determine if documentation is truly required.
- For `~direction` issues from that list, reads the full issue and reviews its Documentation
requirements section. Addresses any recommendations or questions with the PMs and others
collaborating on the issue in order to refine or expand the Documentation requirements.
##### Collaboration
By default, the developer will work on documentation changes independently, but
the developer, Product Manager, or Technical Writer can propose a broader collaboration for
any given issue.
Additionally, Technical Writers are available for questions at any time.
##### Review
Technical Writers:
- Provide non-blocking reviews of all documentation changes, before or after the change is merged.
- Confirm that the documentation is:
- Clear.
- Grammatically correct.
- Discoverable.
- Navigable.
- Ensures that the documentation avoids:
- Redundancy.
- Bad file locations.
- Typos.
- Broken links.
The Technical Writer will review the documentation to check that the developer and
code reviewer have ensured:
- Clarity.
- Appropriate location, making sure the documentation is in the correct directories (often
reflecting how the product is structured) and has the correct name.
- Syntax, typos, and broken links.
- Improvements to the content.
- Accordance with the:
- [Documentation Style Guide](styleguide.md).
- [Structure and Template](structure.md) doc.
### When documentation is required
Documentation [is required](../contributing/merge_request_workflow.html#definition-of-done) for a
milestone when:
- A new or enhanced feature is shipped that impacts the user of administrator experience.
- There are changes to the UI or API.
- A process, workflow, or previously documented feature is changed.
- A feature is deprecated or removed.
NOTE: **Note:**
Documentation refactoring unrelated to a feature change is covered in the
[other process](#for-all-other-documentation), so that time-sensitive documentation updates are
prioritized.
### Documentation requirements
Requirements for the documentation of a feature should be included as part of the
issue for planning that feature in a **Documentation** section within the issue description. Issues
created using the [**Feature Proposal** template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/raw/master/.gitlab/issue_templates/Feature%20proposal.md)
have this section by default.
Anyone can add these details, but the Product Manager who assigns the issue to a specific release
milestone will ensure these details are present and finalized by the time of that milestone's kickoff.
Developers, Technical Writers, and others may help further refine this plan at any time.
The following details should be included:
- What concepts and procedures should the documentation guide and enable the user to understand or
accomplish?
- To this end, what new page(s) are needed, if any? What pages or subsections need updates?
Consider user, admin, and API documentation changes and additions.
- For any guide or instruction set, should it help address a single use case, or be flexible to
address a certain range of use cases?
- Do we need to update a previously recommended workflow? Should we link the new feature from
various relevant locations? Consider all ways documentation should be affected.
- Are there any key terms or task descriptions that should be included so that the documentation is
found in relevant searches?
- Include suggested titles of any pages or subsection headings, if applicable.
- List any documentation that should be cross-linked, if applicable.
## For all other documentation
These documentation changes are not associated with the release of a new or updated feature, and are
therefore labeled `backstage` in GitLab, rather than `feature`. They may include:
- Documentation created or updated to improve accuracy, completeness, ease of use, or any reason
other than a [feature change](#for-a-product-change).
- Addressing gaps in existing documentation, or making improvements to existing documentation.
- Work on special projects related to the documentation.
TIP: **Tip:**
Anyone can contribute a merge request or create an issue for GitLab's documentation.
### Who updates the docs
Anyone can contribute! You can create a merge request for documentation when:
- You find errors or other room for improvement in existing documentation.
- You have an idea for all-new documentation that would help a GitLab user or administrator to
accomplish their work with GitLab.
### How to update the docs
To update GitLab documentation:
1. Either:
- Click the **Edit this Page** link at the bottom of any page on <https://docs.gitlab.com>.
- Navigate to one of the repositories and documentation paths listed on the
[GitLab Documentation guidelines](index.md) page.
1. Follow the described standards and processes listed on the page, including:
- The [Structure and template](structure.md) page.
- The [Style Guide](styleguide.md).
- The [Markdown Guide](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/technical-writing/markdown-guide/).
1. Follow GitLab's [Merge Request Guidelines](../contributing/merge_request_workflow.md#merge-request-guidelines).
TIP: **Tip:**
Work in a fork if you do not have developer access to the GitLab project.
Ping the Technical Writer for the relevant [DevOps stage group](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/technical-writing/index.html#assignments)
in your issue or merge request, or within `#docs` if you are a member of GitLab's Slack workspace, if you:
- Need help to choose the correct place for documentation.
- Want to discuss a documentation idea or outline.
- Want to request any other help.
### Reviewing and merging
Anyone with Maintainer access to the relevant GitLab project can merge documentation changes.
Maintainers must make a good-faith effort to ensure that the content:
- Is clear and sufficiently easy for the intended audience to navigate and understand.
- Meets the [Documentation Guidelines](index.md) and [Style Guide](styleguide.md).
If the author or reviewer has any questions, they can mention the writer who is assigned to the relevant
[DevOps stage group](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/technical-writing/index.html#assignments).
The process involves the following:
- Primary Reviewer. Review by a [code reviewer](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/projects/)
or other appropriate colleague to confirm accuracy, clarity, and completeness. This can be skipped
for minor fixes without substantive content changes.
- Technical Writer (Optional). If not completed for a merge request prior to merging, must be scheduled
post-merge. To request a:
- Pre-merge review, assign the Technical Writer listed for the applicable
[DevOps stage group](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/technical-writing/index.html#assignments).
- Post-merge review, [create an issue for one](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/new?issuable_template=Doc%20Review)
and link it from the MR that makes the documentation change.
- Maintainer. For merge requests, Maintainers:
- Can always request any of the above reviews.
- Review before or after a Technical Writer review.
- Ensure the given release milestone is set.
- Ensure the appropriate labels are applied, including any required to pick a merge request into
a release.
- Ensure that, if there has not been a Technical Writer review completed or scheduled, they
[create the required issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/new?issuable_template=Doc%20Review), assign to the technical writer of the given stage group,
and link it from the merge request.
The process is reflected in the **Documentation**
[merge request template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/blob/master/.gitlab/merge_request_templates/Documentation.md).
### Other ways to help
If you have ideas for further documentation resources please
[create an issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/new?issuable_template=Documentation)
using the Documentation template.
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