MDC newsgroup summaries

Introduction

I propose that the MDC host a new service where, once (and only once) per week, volunteers construct and publish a summary of each Mozilla newsgroup's major discussions and decisions. I've created an example summary here.

The purpose of these summaries would be to make it easier for everyone to stay aware of the major happenings in all groups without having to try staying up to date on the groups themselves.

These summaries would be initially created in this wiki, and then posted to the MDC DevNews weblog. It is not my current intention to have the summaries syndicated to Planet.mo, but they could be if people think it would be useful.

Discussion

The original discussion of this idea is here. If you have ideas or thoughts about this new service, please add you input to that thread, or email deb@mozilla.com.

Formatting and structure

• MDC newsgroup summaries - Proposed format
  • With a little bit of care it is possible to copy/paste the posts from the wiki output directly into the rich-text editor of WordPress without having to mess with the formatting. (Example post)

What not to include in the summaries

No technical questions

Many of the Mozilla newsgroups get technical questions (and, often, answers) that don't belong in these weekly summaries. Questions like "How do I create an XPCOM object?" or "Is it possible to break a JS loop in Firefox?" are not appropriate summary content.

If these questions have answers, however, it would be useful if that information could be added to the appropriate Topic's FAQ page in the MDC wiki.

No news, no summary

If a newsgroup has no appreciable traffic during a given week, there is no need to post a summary.

Groups that need summaries

• mozilla.governance
• mozilla.legal
• mozilla.marketing
• mozilla.dev.accessibility
• mozilla.dev.ajax
• mozilla.dev.apps.bugzilla
• mozilla.dev.apps.calendar
• mozilla.dev.apps.camino
• mozilla.dev.apps.chatzilla
• mozilla.dev.apps.dom-inspector
• mozilla.dev.apps.firefox
• mozilla.dev.apps.js-debugger
• mozilla.dev.apps.minimo
• mozilla.dev.apps.mozilla-suite
• mozilla.dev.apps.other
• mozilla.dev.apps.seamonkey
• mozilla.dev.apps.thunderbird
• mozilla.dev.apps.webtools
• mozilla.dev.builds
• mozilla.dev.documentation
• mozilla.dev.embedding
• mozilla.dev.extensions
• mozilla.dev.general
• mozilla.dev.i18n
• mozilla.dev.l10n
• mozilla.dev.mdc
• mozilla.dev.mozilla-org
• mozilla.dev.performance
• mozilla.dev.planning
• mozilla.dev.platform
• mozilla.dev.quality
• mozilla.dev.security
• mozilla.dev.tech.crypto
• mozilla.dev.tech.css
• mozilla.dev.tech.dom
• mozilla.dev.tech.editor
• mozilla.dev.tech.gfx
• mozilla.dev.tech.html
• mozilla.dev.tech.java
• mozilla.dev.tech.javascript
• mozilla.dev.tech.js-engine
• mozilla.dev.tech.layout
• mozilla.dev.tech.ldap
• mozilla.dev.tech.mathml
• mozilla.dev.tech.network
• mozilla.dev.tech.nspr
• mozilla.dev.tech.plugins
• mozilla.dev.tech.rdf
• mozilla.dev.tech.style
• mozilla.dev.tech.svg
• mozilla.dev.tech.widget
• mozilla.dev.tech.xbl
• mozilla.dev.tech.xforms
• mozilla.dev.tech.xml
• mozilla.dev.tech.xpcom
• mozilla.dev.tech.xpinstall
• mozilla.dev.tech.xslt
• mozilla.dev.tech.xul
• mozilla.dev.themes
• mozilla.dev.usability
• mozilla.dev.web-development

Questions

• Where should these summaries live in this wiki?
• Who is willing to help evangelize this new service and help get summaries written every week?