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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/development/documentation/index.md')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/development/documentation/index.md | 43 |
1 files changed, 27 insertions, 16 deletions
diff --git a/doc/development/documentation/index.md b/doc/development/documentation/index.md index 75538fe1fe7..776e5aefd00 100644 --- a/doc/development/documentation/index.md +++ b/doc/development/documentation/index.md @@ -170,22 +170,33 @@ it increases the work of the release managers. ## GitLab `/help` -Every GitLab instance includes the documentation, which is available at `/help` -(`https://gitlab.example.com/help`). For example, <https://gitlab.com/help>. - -The documentation available online on <https://docs.gitlab.com> is deployed every -four hours from the `main` branch of GitLab, Omnibus, and Runner. Therefore, -after a merge request gets merged, it is available online on the same day. -However, it's shipped (and available on `/help`) within the milestone assigned -to the MR. - -For example, let's say your merge request has a milestone set to 11.3, which -a release date of 2018-09-22. If it gets merged on 2018-09-15, it is -available online on 2018-09-15, but, as the feature freeze date has passed, if -the MR does not have a `~"Pick into 11.3"` label, the milestone has to be changed -to 11.4 and it ships with all GitLab packages only on 2018-10-22, -with GitLab 11.4. Meaning, it's available only with `/help` from GitLab -11.4 onward, but available on <https://docs.gitlab.com/> on the same day it was merged. +Every GitLab instance includes documentation at `/help` (`https://gitlab.example.com/help`) +that matches the version of the instance. For example, <https://gitlab.com/help>. + +The documentation available online at <https://docs.gitlab.com> is deployed every +four hours from the default branch of [GitLab, Omnibus, Runner, and Charts](#source-files-and-rendered-web-locations). +After a merge request that updates documentation is merged, it is available online +in 4 hours or less. + +However, it's only available at `/help` on self-managed instances in the next released +version. The date an update is merged can impact which self-managed release the update +is present in. + +For example: + +1. A merge request in `gitlab` updates documentation. It has a milestone of 14.4, + with an expected release date of 2021-10-22. +1. It is merged on 2021-10-19 and available online the same day at <https://docs.gitlab.com>. +1. GitLab 14.4 is released on 2021-10-22, based on the `gitlab` codebase from 2021-10-18 + (one day *before* the update was merged). +1. The change shows up in the 14.5 self-managed release, due to missing the release cutoff + for 14.4. + +The exact cutoff date for each release is flexible, and can be earlier or later +than expected due to holidays, weekends, or other events. In general, MRs merged +by the 17th should be present in the release on the 22nd, though it is not guaranteed. +If it is important that a documentation update is present in that month's release, +merge it as early as possible. ### Linking to `/help` |