MDN/Feedback/July 5, 2012 Release

Getting started

Before testing, take a moment to get set up. This should not take very long, even for a beginner.

1. Create an account on Bugzilla, the bug-reporting website used by Mozilla.
   • Visit the new account page.
   • Enter your email address in the bottom-right corner.
   • Confirm your email address.
2. Join the discussion on IRC (optional)
   • Choose an IRC client. The Mozilla Wiki lists some popular options.
   • Connect to the Mozilla IRC server.
   • Join the rooms #devmo and #mdndev. These rooms do not require passwords.

Testing

What are you interested in? Choose one or more of the topics below, work through the steps, and submit a bug for any issue or frustration you encounter. No bug report is too small. Remember that if something bothers you, you're probably not the only one who feels that way.

Reading

• Open the Where is Mozilla? page and click the two links in the main paragraph ("send us an email" and "let us know"). Does this open a new email window? Is this what you expected to happen?
• Open the All Articles page and take a look at the numbered navigation links at the bottom. Do you like the way this looks? Does navigation work the way you expect?
• Load the revision history of the HTML5 article. Can you get back to the main article from here?
• Open the HTML5 article and place your mouse over a link for a second or two. Does something pop up above your mouse? Is this what you expected to see?
• Open the Canvas article. Is the title of the article lined up with the main text of the article? Do you like the way this looks?
• Load this article and notice the "Redirected from..." message. Do you like the way this looks?
• Browse around the future MDN...
  • Does everything seem to work?
  • Are you able to do the same things that you can do on the current MDN website?
  • Is any content from the current MDN website missing?
  • Is the site understandable and easy to use?

Remember to submit a bug for any issue or frustration you encounter.

Localization

• Visit the future MDN, select a locale, and try to find a page that has not been translated into that locale yet. If you can't find one, try this example. The English version should be loaded as a fallback. Was it? Is this what you expected to happen?
• Try translating a page.
  • Were you able to easily discover how to do this?
  • Does everything seem to work?
  • Are you able to do the same things that you can do on the current MDN website?
  • Is the localization interface understandable and easy to use?

Remember to submit a bug for any issue or frustration you encounter.

Writing templates

Help us convert some of our old templates to KumaScript, the template language used on the new MDN website.

Requesting permission

You must be granted permission before writing MDN templates. To request permission, email jkarahalis [at] mozilla [dot] com. It might take us a short while to get your account all set up. While you're waiting, try some of the other tests listed on this page.

After getting permission

Try converting some templates. Keep the following questions in mind.

• Does everything seem to work?
• Does KumaScript have all of the features you need?
• If you have used the old template language: are you able to do the same things in KumaScript that you could do in the old language?
• Are templates easy to write?
• Is the template authoring interface understandable and easy to use?

Remember to submit a bug for any issue or frustration you encounter.

Editing

Writing real documentation

Feel comfortable writing real MDN documentation? Great! Log into the new MDN and get started. Important: This is not a sandbox. Any changes you make here will be preserved when the new MDN is launched. If you would rather test Kuma's editing features without touching real documentation, see the section below.

If you need something to write about, see this list of documentation requests and this guide to working on documentation requests.

Remember to submit a bug for any issue or frustration you encounter while writing.

Testing editing features in a sandbox

Want to test Kuma's new editing features without touching real documentation? That's fine too! Use our development website and work through the steps below. Remember that this is a sandbox. You can create and edit pages here, but most of the MDN content you are familiar will not be present. You will need to create an account on this site, since no accounts have been ported over from the current MDN website.

• Open this edit example editing page and...
  • Take a look at the buttons of the WYSIWYG. Do you understand what these buttons do? Do you like the way they're organized?
  • Try to create a link to another article.
  • Play around with the different styles in the Styles dropdown box.
  • Try using the syntax highlighter on some code.
  • Try to add a sortable table. Are you able to do this?
  • Try using these keyboard shortcuts. Do the shortcuts work? Do you like these shortcuts?
  • Try adding some tags to the article.
  • Try adding a tag that includes a space.
  • Try to add a slash to the slug. You should be prevented from doing this. Are you?
  • Try adding tags, saving the page, deleting tags, and then saving the page again. Notice any problems?
• Open this example article and...
  • Try to delete an old version of the article.
  • Try editing one particular section of the article? Are you able to do this? Try again in different browsers? Any problems?

Remember to submit a bug for any issue or frustration you encounter.

Something else

Browse around the development website. Test some things that we never even thought to consider. Try to break the website. The world is your oyster.

Thanks!

Your hard work and careful eye have made the MDN better for users everywhere. This is no small accomplishment. Thank you.

Appendix

• New features in this release