Improve welcome message template

[guineveresaenger]

Test-infra repo has the beginning of a a welcome message rollout, as worked on in this issue.

We want to make sure the template for the welcoming message is useable across k/repositories.

Some content should include:

• information on automation, specifically command strings

• useful, updated links to where to find help

• information from here: plugin to block "fixes #123" in commit messages #9360

• comments welcome!

[guineveresaenger]

/sig contributor-experience

[guineveresaenger]

/sig testing

/cc @shubheksha
/cc @cblecker
/cc @BenTheElder

[xiangpengzhao]

Yeah! This is what I really expected in #3083 :) Thanks!

[BenTheElder]

Yeah :-) we just need to figure out what to post and then we can start rolling it out to other repos 😄

[BenTheElder]

All of the above SGTM. Definitely links to contributor guides. If we could get repos to standardize on a location for a contributing doc we could even link to the repo's local doc (which can link upstream as necessary)

[nikhita]

If we could get repos to standardize on a location for a contributing doc we could even link to the repo's local doc

Should be possible in a few weeks when all PRs mentioned in kubernetes/steering#28 get merged. :)

[guineveresaenger]

Okay, thanks everyone, I'll take a look at this. It might be tomorrow though, because I'm feeling sick today.

[nikhita]

It might be tomorrow though, because I'm feeling sick today.

Take your time and get well soon! ❤️

[BenTheElder]

+1 feel better! We've taken plenty of time for getting this out already with no rush, it can wait for you to get better :-)

[BenTheElder]

Cc @carolynvs kubernetes-retired/service-catalog#1969 (comment) reminded me

[carolynvs]

Ooh, thanks for @'ing me! 💖 I would love to have control over a reply to new contributors:

• My SIG's contributing needs a lot of work, but at least it's in the right place (root of repo). For example, we don't do a few key things:
  • Link to a PR that gets it right
  • Link to our dev guide, we have a done of in-depth info on how to build and test various things.
  • Explain better what needs to be in a PR, beyond "docs" or "tests". In most areas, we have common things we doc or test,
  • Say if we prefer people to merge or rebase after conflicts, respond to feedback in new commits, or squash for log history clarity, etc.
  • Explain our preference for PR scope, and that we encourage follow-on PRs for certain types of feedback over getting a PR "perfect".
  • Encourage people to join our slack channel and SIG meetings.
• Link to how to "talk to prow", and link to the new contributor playground as a great place to practice where no one will see or care if you mess up. Say that it's okay if they mess up on this PR too, and that it's not possible to break it or accidentally ruin stuff.
• Say how to best get help, i.e. asking in a comment (no one ever sees these unless they were already on the issue), vs @'ing a specific person (gets lost in email), vs applying a label with prow (not sure if that's possible but that would be rad), asking in slack channels (ineffective), DMing a specific person (boo), etc. Each repo could decide how they would prefer people reach out to them.
• Explain how and when to "bump", if they need to hunt down an approver themselves, or it's okay to rely 100% on whatever the bot suggests. Suggest how long they should expect someone to do a review, and how long in general PRs take to get finished. Basically set expectations up-front so people don't wonder.
• Provide next steps for what they may want to do after the PR is closed/merged. Maybe just a link to how to find more help wanted issues (in case they came in through other means, and aren't aware of them).

I realize this is a wall of text. I expect all of this could be links, either to specifics for a repo, or to a general "welcome package" for new contributors.

[guineveresaenger]

thanks for your input @carolynvs!

[guineveresaenger]

I'm wondering, since we're moving towards a configurable welcome message in #9507 - should each repo have their own welcome template file? Currently the default message is just an inline string.

[cblecker]

I think we should have a default for the kubernetes project (all our active orgs), but then we can allow repos to customize it if they want something specific.

[guineveresaenger]

I completely agree. This is more a question of how we organize this configurability. Where do these templates live? In each repo, top level? Or here in prow? Should the default template live in the "welcome messages" folder as its own file? :)

[shubheksha]

Do we have any other information that's configured via a file on a per-repo basis or will this be the first thing that's configured that way?

[cblecker]

It lives in the prow configuration for now, similar to how we configure other prow plugins.

[guineveresaenger]

@shubheksha there is only prow/plugins.yaml and it's a short one-liner AFAIK

[BenTheElder]

I like having it in prow config because then I can trivially ensure someone like @cblecker (ok so someone exactly like...) can verify these before Prow starts leaving comments with them.

[BenTheElder]

Alternatively a repo like k/org would make sense, but I think something like that for prow config is a longer (nearer?) term goal.

[shubheksha]

I think having it in the prow config makes sense from a long-term perspective, having it in a central place can get chaotic

[fejta-bot]

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Mark the issue as fresh with /remove-lifecycle stale.
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/lifecycle stale

[nikhita]

/remove-lifecycle stale

[cblecker]

Since #9507, we have the ability to write a default message for the org, and then repo-specific messages. We just need someone to write a default, and then communicate out to everyone about how they can write their own.

/help-wanted
cc: @parispittman @Phillels

[BenTheElder]

poke 🙃

[cblecker]

/help

[k8s-ci-robot]

@cblecker:
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Please ensure the request meets the requirements listed here.

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[nikhita]

/assign

I'll try to shepherd this in the next couple of weeks.

[guineveresaenger]

@nikhita: thank you so much, and I would still like to help.

Everyone: I am so sorry 😐 I lost complete track of this.

[nikhita]

@guineveresaenger Yeah, the first thing I was going to do was ping you and @carolynvs about this. Will need your help! 😊 ❤️

Will follow up next week. 👍

[nikhita]

Done in #11325. Thanks a LOT, @guineveresaenger! 💖

[nikhita]

/close

[k8s-ci-robot]

@nikhita: Closing this issue.

In response to this:

/close

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