#fedora-flock-openqa: Fedora Magazine and what it teaches us about users - Speaker: Paul Frields (pfrields / stickster)

Meeting started by jflory7 at 13:31:20 UTC (full logs).

Meeting summary

  1. Introductions (jflory7, 13:31:27)
    1. Talking a little bit about what the Magazine is for, what it's not for, and what it tells us about our audience (jflory7, 13:32:17)

  2. Magazine objectives (jflory7, 13:32:32)
    1. We present general information about Fedora to the general public (jflory7, 13:32:52)
    2. Aiming audience to the general public, not just people who are working on Fedora (jflory7, 13:33:10)
    3. Does the Magazine only care about the desktop and desktop apps? NO! We love to have articles about the Server and Cloud editions. Some of the "regulars" tend to be oriented towards Workstation, but we're more than willing and welcome any contributions about other types of content (jflory7, 13:34:25)

  3. How it worked then... (jflory7, 13:34:38)
    1. Daily or weekly articles of interest (jflory7, 13:34:44)
    2. About trying new apps (jflory7, 13:34:47)
    3. Release announcements / news (jflory7, 13:34:53)
    4. Test Days and other new-contributor announcements (jflory7, 13:35:03)
    5. Trying to get Fedora seen by more people - "this isn't your father's fedora" (jflory7, 13:35:53)
    6. Fedora isn't a *bleeding* edge distro (think more along cutting edge) - helping convey that message via Magazine is one application (jflory7, 13:37:06)
    7. === Biggest response === (jflory7, 13:38:20)
    8. Always comes from new releases (jflory7, 13:38:26)
    9. Official announcement source as of lately (jflory7, 13:38:34)
    10. Moving average rising (jflory7, 13:38:41)
    11. === Next biggest response === (jflory7, 13:41:18)
    12. Howtos are very popular (jflory7, 13:41:21)
    13. Upgrades, security fixes, broad appeal tools (jflory7, 13:41:30)
    14. Powerline, fonts, virt, Vagrant... (jflory7, 13:41:38)

  4. Things that don't work well (jflory7, 14:10:42)
    1. === 1. Interface tours === (jflory7, 14:10:44)
    2. Rate of change, attention span, etc. (jflory7, 14:10:46)
    3. === 2. Community internal topics === (jflory7, 14:10:58)
    4. However, the CommBlog is awesome! (jflory7, 14:11:01)
    5. https://communityblog.fedoraproject.org (jflory7, 14:11:02)
    6. Also carries to the Fedora Planet (jflory7, 14:11:04)
    7. === 3. Silent publishing === (jflory7, 14:11:30)
    8. Social media – please help! (jflory7, 14:11:32)
    9. Our social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Diaspora, Telegram announcement channel, Reddit, and more (jflory7, 14:11:34)
    10. https://lists.fedoraproject.org/admin/lists/social-media@lists.fedoraproject.org (jflory7, 14:11:39)
    11. Q: Any thoughts on translating content? (jflory7, 14:11:41)
    12. A: Long and complicated answer: not easy to do, not always efficient (duplicating content), not always free (freedom or beer)... we've considered but an easy solution doesn't seem possible. Needs more thought and consideration. (jflory7, 14:11:43)
    13. Q: "Do we want to reach non-English native readers?" (jflory7, 14:11:47)
    14. A: Is a news website the best place to send foreign readership? Consider other publishing sites too. Biggest hurdle is the tech hurdle. Also quality of translated content too. Consistency is also important. (jflory7, 14:11:49)
    15. HELP: If you have ideas or thoughts on translating content for the Magazine, please share them with us in the Marketing team! (jflory7, 14:11:52)

  5. Content changes (jflory7, 14:12:03)
    1. Focus on enabling users – NOT just desktop specific (jflory7, 14:12:08)
    2. Some announcements about broad public events (jflory7, 14:12:10)
    3. Still carries release news! (jflory7, 14:12:18)
    4. Interviews (How do you Fedora?) (jflory7, 14:12:26)
    5. Not asking for audience action – rather, help them do what *they* want (jflory7, 14:12:33)

  6. Pragmatic approach (jflory7, 14:12:35)
    1. Non-FOSS software, licit software: OK (example: Chrome) (jflory7, 14:12:39)
    2. Illicit software (FOSS or not): Not OK (jflory7, 14:12:41)
    3. Q: "Do we have a responsibility to promote alternatives to non-free software?" (jflory7, 14:12:43)
    4. A: No, not really – usually if we're writing about software, we're not trying to argue in an article whether they can use it. We're focusing on enabling the author to write about using Fedora the way that they want to. If they like to include alternatives, they can. (jflory7, 14:12:45)

  7. By the nmbers (*per Jetpack) (jflory7, 14:12:49)
    1. 2014: 271 articles, 666K views (jflory7, 14:12:51)
    2. 2015: 186 articles, 1.9M views (jflory7, 14:12:55)
    3. 2016: 96 articles, 1.25M views (so far) (jflory7, 14:12:57)

  8. Writing process (jflory7, 14:12:59)
    1. All articles start as PITCH, an explanation of what the article wants to cover (jflory7, 14:13:01)
    2. Moves to draft stage while author works on the article (jflory7, 14:13:03)
    3. === Pending review === (jflory7, 14:13:05)
    4. Author(s) submit draft (jflory7, 14:13:07)
    5. Create featured image for attractiveness (jflory7, 14:13:11)
    6. Target: publish 3x substantial articles each week (jflory7, 14:13:13)
    7. Basic writing execution (jflory7, 14:13:17)
    8. Solution (TBD): Guide laying out a generic article (beginning, middle, end) (jflory7, 14:13:19)
    9. Explain user benefit, explain process, test and practice it (jflory7, 14:13:21)
    10. How does it appeal to the user? (jflory7, 14:13:25)
    11. === Issue #2 === (jflory7, 14:13:45)
    12. Relevant content (jflory7, 14:13:49)
    13. Solution: "Starter pitches" – clear content outline (jflory7, 14:14:01)

  9. How to get involved! (jflory7, 14:15:40)
    1. Writer / editor: Be fluent (or just decent) at English (jflory7, 14:15:54)
    2. Tech editor: Test the process, engage with writer to fix (jflory7, 14:16:04)
    3. Artist: Design a featured image (and a well-documented process too!) (jflory7, 14:16:14)
    4. https://pagure.io/fedoramagazine-images (jflory7, 14:16:24)
    5. Marketing / Ambassador: Recruit others to help (jflory7, 14:17:27)
    6. ...we have badges. Four. ;) (jflory7, 14:18:33)

  10. Resources (jflory7, 14:18:42)
    1. Mailing list: marketing@lists.fedoraproject.org (jflory7, 14:18:58)
    2. IRC channel: freenode, #fedora-mktg (jflory7, 14:19:04)
    3. Submit a tip or an idea! (jflory7, 14:19:11)
    4. https://fedoramagazine.org/submit-an-idea-or-tip/ (jflory7, 14:19:23)


Meeting ended at 14:22:04 UTC (full logs).

Action items

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People present (lines said)

  1. jflory7 (150)
  2. zodbot (7)
  3. suehle (3)


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