STEP:Guide-Development Workflow

Guide-Development Workflow

A high-level overview of community-driven guide development

by: Step Modifications  | Forum Topic

In order for the mod-build guides to remain relevant, it is imperative that this generalized workflow be maintained by staff, guide Curators, and community contributors. Certain parts of the current workflow are restricted to Administrators, Step Admin, Step Curators, and guide Curators; however, most of the workflow is exposed to all community members. It's this functionality that is presented here along with a breakdown of the update workflow. It's important that the community help drive the process, because it takes a lot of time to maintain the entire workflow and all of the quality assurance that goes along with it.

This workflow assumes the corresponding Development Guide and Mod List have already been propagated, which are covered in Step 4 and Step 5 of the Mod-Build Guide Framework article.

Please see our Member Groups as a reference for the member roles mentioned in this article.

Mod Testing

The Step forums serve as one component of release development for mod-build guides. Any registered members may post a new topic in one of the <GameName> Mods forums within our supported game forums. These mod topics serve as the "catch-all" for information and feedback relating to the any specific mod for both staff and guide curators. These forums have specific prefixes available, which are reserved for official Step use.

From member suggestions and staff recommendations, any topic may be tagged for consideration for an official mod-build guide. Mods being actively considered will be prefixed with TESTING and tagged with the proper 'ModGroup' tag. These mod topics can be filtered by clicking on the tag itself. All testing feedback is done on the individual topic for that specific mod. If a given mod "passes" testing, then its topic will be prefixed with "ACCEPTED". The corresponding wiki mod pages directly feed information into guide ModGroup tables via the custom framework.

Mod Testing Workflow

1. Mod Topics & Viability for Testing
   1. If the mod topic doesn't exist, create a new one. If the topic already exists, continue below...
      • Community Members should post these topics on the {Gamename} Mods forums according to the posting guidelines at the top of each of these forums.
      • Any mod can be posted in mod topics, but they must meet quality thresholds in order to be considered for official guides.

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   2. Community Members suggest mods for inclusion by posting on their respective mod topics.
      • Suggesting a mod for inclusion into an official guide should be accompanied with a review of reasoning for the suggestion.
      • Members may also add a "testing" tag to the topic of the mod being suggested (a tag, not the yellow prefix).
2. Determine Viability for Testing

   Staff, using the Step Mandate, determines whether or not suggested mods are candidates for official testing. If...

   • Mod passes Mandate check...

   1. Add the TESTING prefix and the the ModGroup tag.
   2. Staff, Curators, or other advocates of accepted mods must CREATE THE CORRESPONDING MOD PAGE (see creating/updating mod pages).

      Members and Staff are encouraged not to skip this step!
      Whether or not a mod is accepted into an official Guide, adding mod pages to the Wiki benefits all Curators, since the newly added mod page will be available to all Curators for all guides. The larger the mod page repository is on the Wiki, the easier and faster it'll be to create and maintain guides using the Framework.

   3. Add minimum criteria and instructions for testing to opening post.
      • It's expected that the community help test any mods suggested via the details provided in the opening post.
      • A mod will remain in the testing phase until the minimum testing criteria have been met.

   • Mod fails Mandate check...

   1. Remove the testing tag, if one exists.
   2. Post a summary of the reason why the mod is not a candidate for an official guide.

3. Once adequately "tested", if...
   • Passed testing and accepted into a guide...
     1. Prefixed as ACCEPTED
     2. CREATE THE CORRESPONDING MOD PAGE, if not already done above (see creating/updating mod pages).
     3. Ensure the proper boilerplate is applied to the opening post.
   • Failed testing, thus, not accepted into a guide...
     1. Remove the TESTING prefix.
     2. Post a summary of the reason why the mod failed testing.

   All mod topics --regardless of status-- will continue to be used for general posts relating to the mod.

Once mods are accepted and the corresponding mod pages created, Administrators, Step Admin, and Step Curators are able to incorporate new mods into the current, corresponding Development Guide.

Mod Incorporation / Removal

Once the mod testing phase is complete, the workflow moves entirely to the wiki. Staff and Curators will add or remove mods from the guides by editing the corresponding guide's Mod List.

Workflow-related activities combined with site & workflow maintenance, Guide upkeep, and Nexus upkeep require almost all of the senior staff's time, therefore, we ask that the community help out by supplying the needed information and contributing to site maintenance wherever possible.

Thanks!