Crucial information missing from site update instructions

[Dave Abrahams]

The site updating instructions claim I can find all the live site content at ​https://svn.boost.org/svn/boost/website/public_html/live, but that's only a very small fraction of our total documentation. For example, there's the getting started guide. I don't know how to update that and I need to make a fix (#1744).

[René Rivera]

There isn't info about updating the GSG because that isn't part of the "live" site content. That is part of the Boost release content, as are all the library docs. And the only current way to update those is to do another "release". It would be possible to move the GSG to the live content easily. But doing that would not help people downloading the release packages since they would have the old instructions.

[Dave Abrahams]

• The page you replaced with the current instructions used to tell me how to update all the content
• You came up with your own definition of what constitutes "live" site content and didn't clue the rest of us in

The GSG explicitly instructs people to look on the website for the latest. Please, how do I update the website?

[René Rivera]

I didn't define 'live' at all. I tried to explain what the subversion repo does not contain in the same terms you used. The 'live' tag in the svn repo is just a name. But whatever, not really important... If you want to update the Boost release documentation that appear on the web site you need to:

1. Create a Boost release ZIP archive.
2. Upload it to the web server to the directory "/home/grafik/www.boost.org/archives/live".
3. Update the SVN repo "/website/public_html/beta" and "/website/public_html/live" files as described in the web site update instructions to point to the new release.

So I ask the same question I asked on my first reply, but hopefully in better words :-) Do we want the GSG to be treated differently than the other release documentation? I.e. make it so that we show a more recent version on the web site than the ones on the releases by default? I'll gladly make the needed changes, just need to know what the end result should be.

Oh, and I had no idea the GSG told people to look at the web site for a new version.

[Dave Abrahams]

Replying to grafik:

I didn't define 'live' at all. I tried to explain what the subversion repo does not contain in the same terms you used. The 'live' tag in the svn repo is just a name.

Sorry, but it wasn't at all apparent to me that when you said "isn't part of the 'live' site content" you meant nothing more than "it isn't stored in that part of the repository."

But whatever, not really important... If you want to update the Boost release documentation that appear on the web site you need to:

1. Create a Boost release ZIP archive.

Can I do that by unzipping the latest release, editing it, and re-zipping? What do I need to call this file?

2. Upload it to the web server to the directory "/home/grafik/www.boost.org/archives/live".

Hum. Do I have write access to that directory, and if so, by what means?

3. Update the SVN repo "/website/public_html/beta" and "/website/public_html/live" files as described in the web site update instructions to point to the new release.

OK... I still think you need to update the "updating the website" instructions to describe this procedure.

So I ask the same question I asked on my first reply, but hopefully in better words :-) Do we want the GSG to be treated differently than the other release documentation? I.e. make it so that we show a more recent version on the web site than the ones on the releases by default?

No and yes. That is to say, at a library author's discretion, any part of the release documentation ought to be updatable on the website. Perhaps I want to alert people that there's an important patch available. No, changing the live website won't reach everyone, but it's better than nothing.

I'll gladly make the needed changes, just need to know what the end result should be.

Oh, and I had no idea the GSG told people to look at the web site for a new version.

Beman added that: ​http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lib.boost.devel/178589

[Dave Abrahams]

Please respond to the questions I asked in the previous comment to this ticket. Until they are answered, I cannot fix the Getting Started Guide and close #1744. This is a big problem for me. Please help me to get it off my plate. Accepting the ticket wouldn't hurt either. Thank you.

[René Rivera]

Replying to dave:

Please respond to the questions I asked in the previous comment to this ticket. Until they are answered, I cannot fix the Getting Started Guide and close #1744. This is a big problem for me. Please help me to get it off my plate. Accepting the ticket wouldn't hurt either. Thank you.

Sorry, I didn't notice there was a reply until you just referred it now...

[René Rivera]

Replying to dave:

Replying to grafik:

But whatever, not really important... If you want to update the Boost release documentation that appear on the web site you need to:

1. Create a Boost release ZIP archive.

Can I do that by unzipping the latest release, editing it, and re-zipping? What do I need to call this file?

Yes, taking the ZIP from the SourceForge downloads, unzipping, replacing with new files, and re-zipping is what you need to do. Ideally the name of the file needs to stay the same. As otherwise the 'live' part of the site needs to be adjusted to point to the different name. But to keep the historical ZIPs around using a different name to indicate it's not the original one is fine. We can just put an appropriate symlink.

2. Upload it to the web server to the directory "/home/grafik/www.boost.org/archives/live".

Hum. Do I have write access to that directory, and if so, by what means?

I don't think you have access as there are a limited number of Boost user accounts. But I could give you access to my account if you give me an SSH public key. I suggested in the list that it would be best if Doug set up a general 'boost' account instead of using 'personal' accounts, so I'll raise that again.

3. Update the SVN repo "/website/public_html/beta" and "/website/public_html/live" files as described in the web site update instructions to point to the new release.

OK... I still think you need to update the "updating the website" instructions to describe this procedure.

Yes, will do, eventually. But be warned I'm having less and less time to donate to Boost recently, so it might take a while.

So I ask the same question I asked on my first reply, but hopefully in better words :-) Do we want the GSG to be treated differently than the other release documentation? I.e. make it so that we show a more recent version on the web site than the ones on the releases by default?

No and yes. That is to say, at a library author's discretion, any part of the release documentation ought to be updatable on the website. Perhaps I want to alert people that there's an important patch available. No, changing the live website won't reach everyone, but it's better than nothing.

OK, got it. For now replacing the ZIP will have to do. But I think in the long run setting up a patch tree to do selected file replacements is best. I'll add a ticket for this.

[René Rivera]

Closing in favor of tickets #2316 and #2317.