www/server/standards README.html README.webmast...

[Karl Berry]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Karl Berry <karl>       09/11/21 17:49:23

Modified files:
        server/standards: README.html README.webmastering.html 

Log message:
        README merge: whatsnew

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/server/standards/README.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.63&r2=1.64
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/server/standards/README.webmastering.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.97&r2=1.98

Patches:
Index: README.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/server/standards/README.html,v
retrieving revision 1.63
retrieving revision 1.64
diff -u -b -r1.63 -r1.64
--- README.html 20 Nov 2009 16:11:18 -0000      1.63
+++ README.html 21 Nov 2009 17:48:53 -0000      1.64
@@ -20,95 +20,12 @@
 this file.  Merge in progress.  -karl, nov09.
 
 <ul>
-<li>
-  <a id="TOC7" href="README.html#SEC7">Update the What's New page!</a>
-</li>
-<li>
-  <a id="TOC9" href="README.html#SEC9">Update GNUs Flashes on the
-  home page http://www.gnu.org/</a>
-</li>
 <li><a id="TOC17" href="README.html#SEC17">Adding an Event</a></li>
 </ul>
 
 <hr />
 
 <h4>
-  <a id="SEC7" href="README.html#TOC7">Update the What's New page!</a>
-</h4>
-
-<p>
-  When you add something significant to www.gnu.org, please add an
-  entry to the news database in the CVS file:
-</p>
-
-<pre>/server/whatsnew.txt</pre>
-
-<p>This file is used to generate the whatsnew.html page, the home page
-    and GNU's RSS news feed.</p>
-
-<p>The organization of the whatsnew database is simple:</p>
-
-<ul>
-    <li>an optional asterisk, if present this means the item should be a
-        GNUs Flash</li>
-    <li>the date of the news item</li>
-    <li>a carriage return</li>
-    <li>the HTML text of the news item, possibly spanning many lines</li>
-    <li>a blank line to end the entry</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p>For example:</p>
-
-<pre>
-* 21 July 2004 FSF is offering &lt;a 
-href="http://patron.fsf.org/sf2004seminar.html"&gt;two days of
-seminars at Stanford University&lt;/a&gt; on the
-&lt;abbr&gt;GPL&lt;/abbr&gt; and Free Software Licensing on August 24
-and 25 of 2004.
-
-6 July 2004
-&lt;a href="http://www.gnu.org/people/speakers.html#Stallman"&gt;Richard
-M. Stallman&lt;/a&gt; put a short note on the 
-&lt;a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html"&gt;license
-page&lt;/a&gt; explaining why the 
-&lt;a href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/rpl.php"&gt;Reciprocal 
-Public License&lt;/a&gt; is a non-free license.
-</pre>
-
-<p>Once you have edited the news database the files that depend on it
-    will be regenerated within an hour. But you can do this manually
-    by running the Makefile in the <code>rss</code> directory of the
-    CVS:</p>
-
-<pre>
-cd rss
-make whatsnew.rss ../server/whatsnew.html ../home.shtml
-</pre>
-
-<p>Altenately, see the Makefile for convieniant targets.</p>
-
-<p>Entries that can, should contain a &lt;A href=" to the page (or section
-of a page (&lt;A ... id="...")) that has the newly added text.
-(Multiple &lt;A href=" are OK, if appropriate.)</p>
-
-<p>
-Entries should be newest first, so repeat visitors to the page, see
-the new items first.
-</p>
-
-<h4>
-<a id="SEC9" href="README.html#TOC9">Update GNUs Flashes on the
-home page http://www.gnu.org/</a>
-</h4>
-
-<p>
-GNUs Flashes on the home page are controlled by the
-<code>server/whatsnew.txt</code> file. You should look at the entry
-for managing news in the the webmastering guidelines: 
-<a 
href="/server/standards/README.webmastering.html#polnews">/server/standards/README.webmastering.html</a>.
-</p>
-
-<h4>
   <a id="SEC17" href="README.html#TOC17">Adding an event</a>
 </h4>
 
@@ -199,7 +116,7 @@
 <p>
 Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2009/11/20 16:11:18 $
+$Date: 2009/11/21 17:48:53 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>

Index: README.webmastering.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/server/standards/README.webmastering.html,v
retrieving revision 1.97
retrieving revision 1.98
diff -u -b -r1.97 -r1.98
--- README.webmastering.html    20 Nov 2009 16:11:18 -0000      1.97
+++ README.webmastering.html    21 Nov 2009 17:48:53 -0000      1.98
@@ -145,10 +145,7 @@
     href="/press/press.html">/press/press.html</a> for the press
     release.</li>
 
-<li>Add an entry for it on <a
-    href="/server/whatsnew.html">/server/whatsnew.html</a> by updating
-    the /server/whatsnew.txt file (see <a href="#polnews">Adding
-    news</a>).</li>
+<li><a href="#polnews">Add an entry to the whatsnew page.</a></li>
 
 <li>Make the whatsnew entry a GNUs Flash (add an asterisk to the
     entry) unless the request to post the release specifically
@@ -570,15 +567,7 @@
 <!-- appropriate portion, or combine it with the guidelines section. -->
 
 
-<h3>Other webmastering procedures and policies</h3>
-
-<p>
-There are certain procedures and policies which take hold over the entire
-site.  Almost all requests will have to be considered in light of these
-standards.  Bear these in mind when working on the page.
-</p>
-
-<h4>Inter-site structure and navigation</h4>
+<h3>Inter-site structure and navigation</h3>
 
 <p>
 The site is divided up into directories by topic&mdash;there's a directory for
@@ -616,136 +605,88 @@
 to the current ones.</p>
 
 
-<h4>Announcements</h4>
+<h3 id="announcements">Announcements: directory links, sitemap, home page</h3>
 
 <p>When significant new content is added, notices should be put up to
-make people aware of it: Add a new entry to /server/whatsnew.html by
-adding an entry to the /server/whatsnew.txt file (see the next section,
-<a href="#polnews">Adding news</a>).</p>
+make people aware of it:</p>
 
-<p>If you're adding a new page, add a link to the directory's main page.
-For example, if you've created a new page with more GNU history,
-/gnu/more-history.html, add a link to it from /gnu/gnu.html.  If the
-page is particularly useful, consider adding a link on
-/server/sitemap.html as well.</p>
-
-<p>Finally, if the page discusses a sufficiently important issue,
-consider adding a notice about it to the front page, /home.html.</p>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#polnews">Add an entry to the whatsnew page</a> (next
+section).</li>
 
+<li>When adding a new page, always add a link to the directory's main
+page.  For example, if you've created a new page in the <tt>/gnu</tt>
+directory, add a link to it from <tt>/gnu/gnu.html</tt>.</li>
+
+<li>If the new page is sufficiently important, 
+add a link on <tt>/server/sitemap.html</tt>.  Discuss on www-discuss if
+unsure.</li>
 
-<h4 id="polnews">Adding news</h4>
+<li>If a new page is sufficiently important, add a link on the home
+page, <tt>/home.html</tt>.</li>
 
-<p>News items are used in several ways on the GNU website:
-</p>
-
-<ul>
-    <li>to make the <tt>/server/whatsnew.include</tt> page (which gets
-    included into <a href="/server/whatsnew.html">
-    /server/whatsnew.html</a>)</li>
-    <li>to make the <a href="/rss/whatsnew.rss">GNU What's New RSS</a>
-    feed</li>
-    <li>sometimes to make GNUs Flashes on the homepage</li>
-    <li>all of the above available in other languages via
-    the <a href="/software/trans-coord/manual/gnun/html_node/GNU-News.html">
-    special rules</a> in GNUnited Nations</li>
 </ul>
 
-<p>Changes to news must be made by adding a new entry to the
-   <tt>/server/whatsnew.txt</tt> file.</p>
+<h4 id="polnews">Adding news: whatsnew</h4>
 
-<p>The format of the whatsnew.txt file is this:</p>
+<p>News items are posted by adding a new entry to the top of the
+<tt>/server/whatsnew.txt</tt> file (newest first).  The format of this
+file is as follows:</p>
 
 <ul>
-    <li>an optional asterisk, if present this means the item should be a
-        GNUs Flash</li>
-    <li>the date of the news item</li>
-    <li>a carriage return</li>
-    <li>the HTML text of the news item, possibly spanning many lines</li>
-    <li>a blank line to end the entry</li>
+<li>an optional asterisk&mdash;if present this means the item should be a
+    GNUs Flash;</li>
+<li>the date of the news item;</li>
+<li>a newline;</li>
+<li>the HTML text of the news item, possibly spanning many lines;</li>
+<li>a blank line to end the entry.</li>
 </ul>
 
-<p>Here is an example showing 4 entries from the whatsnew.txt file:</p>
+<p>Here are two example entries, the first a GNUs Flash:</p>
 
 <pre>
 * 19 November 2004
-&lt;a href="/jobs/fsf-sysadmin.html"&gt;FSF is currently seeking a full-time 
Senior
-GNU/Linux Systems Administrator and Programmer&lt;/a&gt;
+&lt;a href="/jobs/fsf-sysadmin.html"&gt;FSF is currently seeking a
+full-time Senior GNU/Linux Systems Administrator and Programmer&lt;/a&gt;
 
 14 September 2004
 Added Richard Stallman's new article:
 &lt;a href="/philosophy/fighting-software-patents.html"&gt;Fighting Software
  Patents - Singly and Together&lt;/a&gt;, with a link from the
 &lt;a 
href="/philosophy/philosophy.html#LicensingFreeSoftware"&gt;Philosophy&lt;/a&gt;
 page.
-
-14 September 2004
-Added a new SVG logo to the &lt;a href="/graphics/gnusvgart.html"&gt;GNU SVG 
Art page&lt;/a&gt;.
-
-21 August 2004
-Added a &lt;a href="/home.ru.html"&gt;Russian translation&lt;/a&gt; of the 
main page.
 </pre>
 
-<p>Please do not use characters like &eacute; or &ouml;&mdash;they are
-   not supported and the build will fail.  Writing them as HTML
-   entities will result in failure, too.</p>
-
-<p>Once the <tt>/server/whatsnew.txt</tt> file has been updated there
-   is no need to do anything.  The news files are remade every hour by
-   a cronjob running on address@hidden  If something goes
-   wrong, a log of from the build should always be sent to
-   the <tt>address@hidden</tt> mailing list; please check
-   the web archives if nobody steps up to rectify the problem.
-</p>
-
-<p>The cronjob rebuilds the news according to the Makefile specified
-    in /rss/Makefile. The target <code>gnunews</code> is used.</p>
-</p>
-
-
-<a name="mirrors"></a><h4>Mirrors</h4>
-
-<p><b>ftp mirrors:</b> we have <a href="/server/mirror.html">advice for
-mirrors</a> that explains what we ask mirror volunteers to provide.</p>
-
-<p>When we get a request to add, change, or remove a mirror of
-ftp.gnu.org, edit the file prep/FTP (in CVS); it's plain text, not HTML.
-Then make in the prep/ subdirectory.  Then cvs commit both of the files
-FTP and ftp.html.  Then update /gd/gnuorg/web/FTP.contacts on fencepost,
-following the existing pattern.</p>
-
-<p>A <a href="http://gnu-mirmon.basemirror.de";>mirmon page</a> tracks
-how up-to-date each mirror is; it is good to write a mirror contact when
-it has gotten more than a week or two out of date.  The address
-<tt>http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/PKG</tt> (maintained by Randy Kobe at
-Winnipeg) multiplexes between the mirrors, trying to choose one that is
-nearby and up to date.</p>
-
-<p><b>nongnu mirrors:</b> when we get a request to add, change, or
-remove a nongnu savannah mirror, email address@hidden
-with the information.  The reason to use -private is to avoid the
-contact address from becoming public.</p>
-
-<p><b>www mirrors:</b> we no longer recommend or list mirrors of
-www.gnu.org.</p>
-
-<p><b>Mirror contact information:</b> when we get a request relating to
-a mirror, please check the file /gd/gnuorg/web/FTP.contacts on
-fencepost.  and add contact information if it's not there already.  We
-lack information for many older mirrors.</p>
+<p>These news items are used in several ways:</p>
 
+<ul>
+<li>to make the <tt>/server/whatsnew.include</tt> page, which gets
+    included into <a href="/server/whatsnew.html">
+    /server/whatsnew.html</a>);</li>
+<li>to make the <a href="/rss/whatsnew.rss">GNU What's New RSS</a>
+    feed;</li>
+<li>optionally to make GNUs Flashes on the home page;</li>
+<li>all of the above available in other languages via
+    the <a
+    href="/software/trans-coord/manual/gnun/html_node/GNU-News.html">special
+    rules</a> in GNUnited Nations.</li>
+</ul>
 
-<a id="distros"></a>
-<h4>Links to free GNU/Linux distributions</h4>
+<p>Please do not use characters like &eacute; or &ouml;&mdash;they are
+not supported and the build will fail.  Writing them as HTML entities
+will result in failure, too.</p>
 
-<p>Suggestions for links to GNU/Linux distributions that come to
address@hidden should be forwarded to the Free Software Directory
-maintainer. The best way to do this is to move the RT ticket
-to the "resources" queue.</p>
+<p>Once the <tt>/server/whatsnew.txt</tt> file has been edited there is
+no need to do anything more.  The news files are remade every hour by a
+cron job running on address@hidden  If something goes wrong, a
+log of from the build should always be sent to the
+<tt>address@hidden</tt> mailing list; check the web archives
+and/or email www-discuss if you notice a problem is going unfixed.</p>
 
-<p>In any event, new distros should not be listed without rms' explicit
-approval.</p>
+<p>The cron job rebuilds the news according to the Makefile specified
+in /rss/Makefile. The target <code>gnunews</code> is used.</p>
 
 
-<h4 id="pollinking">Linking policies</h4>
+<h3 id="pollinking">Linking policies</h3>
 
 <p>
 One of the most complex aspects of webmastering is following the linking
@@ -928,7 +869,52 @@
 possibility and be ready to handle them properly.
 </p>
 
-<h4>Handling common requests</h4>
+
+<a id="distros"></a>
+<h4>Links to free GNU/Linux distributions</h4>
+
+<p>Suggestions for links to GNU/Linux distributions that come to
address@hidden should be forwarded to the Free Software Directory
+maintainer. The best way to do this is to move the RT ticket
+to the "resources" queue.</p>
+
+<p>In any event, new distros should not be listed without rms' explicit
+approval.</p>
+
+
+<h3 id="mirrors">Mirrors</h3>
+
+<p><i>ftp mirrors:</i> we have <a href="/server/mirror.html">advice for
+mirrors</a> that explains what we ask mirror volunteers to provide.</p>
+
+<p>When we get a request to add, change, or remove a mirror of
+ftp.gnu.org, edit the file prep/FTP (in CVS); it's plain text, not HTML.
+Then make in the prep/ subdirectory.  Then cvs commit both of the files
+FTP and ftp.html.  Then update /gd/gnuorg/web/FTP.contacts on fencepost,
+following the existing pattern.</p>
+
+<p>A <a href="http://gnu-mirmon.basemirror.de";>mirmon page</a> tracks
+how up-to-date each mirror is; it is good to write a mirror contact when
+it has gotten more than a week or two out of date.  The address
+<tt>http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/PKG</tt> (maintained by Randy Kobe at
+Winnipeg) multiplexes between the mirrors, trying to choose one that is
+nearby and up to date.</p>
+
+<p><i>nongnu mirrors:</i> when we get a request to add, change, or
+remove a nongnu savannah mirror, email address@hidden
+with the information.  The reason to use -private is to avoid the
+contact address from becoming public.</p>
+
+<p><i>www mirrors:</i> we no longer recommend or list mirrors of
+www.gnu.org.</p>
+
+<p><i>Mirror contact information:</i> when we get a request relating to
+a mirror, please check the file <tt>/gd/gnuorg/web/FTP.contacts</tt> on
+fencepost.  and add contact information if it's not there already.  We
+lack information for many older mirrors.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Handling common requests</h3>
 
 <p>
 There are a number of requests which recur frequently.  This section
@@ -1014,15 +1000,7 @@
    location and format.</li>
 </ul>
 
-<p>There are also some things you should remember when uploading the
-page:</p>
-
-<ul>
-<li>Add a link on the directory's main page to the article.</li>
-<li>Add an entry about the addition to /server/whatsnew.html by
-    adding an entry to the /server/whatsnew.txt file (see <a
-    href="#polnews" >Adding news</a>).</li>
-</ul>
+<p><a href="#announcements">Announce the page on the site.</a></p>
 
 
 <a id="gnupackages"></a>
@@ -1095,10 +1073,10 @@
 explain the decision with reference to GNU policy. For more difficult cases
 forward them to Brett.</p> 
 
-<p>When considering a request, err on the side of caution. If the use of an
-image isn't something we'd link to, for example, then it isn't something we
-should give permission for. Feel free to discuss any requests with www-discuss
-before responding to them.</p>
+<p>When considering a request, err on the side of caution. If the use of
+an image isn't something we'd link to, for example, then it isn't
+something we should give permission for. Feel free to discuss any
+requests with www-discuss before responding to them.</p>
 
 
 <h4><a id="scripts">Scripts</a></h4>
@@ -1110,7 +1088,7 @@
 
 <h4>Working with webmaster-related CVS repositories</h4>
 
-<p><b>Main www repository:</b>To make an initial checkout, set the
+<p><i>Main www repository:</i>To make an initial checkout, set the
 environment variable CVS_RSH=ssh, and run</p>
 
 <pre>
@@ -1129,14 +1107,14 @@
 <a href="http://cvs.nongnu.org/";>CVS documentation</a>.</p>
 
 
-<p><b>audio-video repository:</b> Use <tt>audio-video</tt> instead of
+<p><i>audio-video repository:</i> Use <tt>audio-video</tt> instead of
 <tt>www</tt> in the author, and you will get the repository
 corresponding to <a
 href="http://audio-video.gnu.org";>audio-video.gnu.org</a>.  Discuss
 any changes to audio-video with address@hidden
 
 
-<p><b>Other packages:</b> Many software packages have their own projects
+<p><i>Other packages:</i> Many software packages have their own projects
 on savannah and hence their own web repository corresponding to their
 www/software/fooproject directory.  If the maintainer needs your help
 with one of their web pages, you can get to it like this:</p>
@@ -1247,7 +1225,7 @@
 
 <p>Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2009/11/20 16:11:18 $
+$Date: 2009/11/21 17:48:53 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>