2024-05-06 BTR Meeting Minutes

 Date

May 6, 2024

 Participants

• @Jorge Londoño

• @Jenna Makowski

• @Adolfo Brandes

• @Chris Patti

• @Dawoud Sheraz

• @Maksim Sokolskiy

• @Moisés González

🎥 Recording

• Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing

🤖 AI-Generated Meeting Summary (Unedited)

Quick recap

The team discussed the upcoming release of a new software tool, focusing on improving user experience and resolving existing issues, with a particular focus on the Mfe project and its conversion to Paragon. They also deliberated on the configuration and enabling of features in their course authoring system, Edx, and the intricacies of the product's features and their implementations. Lastly, they addressed various technical issues, updates, and changes in the release schedule, while also considering the impact of the upcoming python 3, 11 upgrade on their project.

Next steps

• Adolfo will schedule a meeting on Tuesday or Friday to check everything after the code cutoff.

• Syed will double-check with the speaker regarding the issues with the libraries and update the team.

• Moisés will ask Kyle and Anil about the target for the default Python version for the sandbox considering the upcoming release.

Summary

New Software Tool Release and Testing Strategy

The team discussed the upcoming release of a new software tool, focusing on resolving existing issues and improving user experience. Jenna proposed creating a list of blockers and Max suggested deciding which features to enable by default. The team decided to continue testing and refining the software, with a focus on the X block and Tutor Plugin. Jenna also presented a visual guide to aid testers and discussed the team's approach to testing new features for the Mfe project, emphasizing user story-driven and regression testing. The team is converting the Mfe into Paragon in incremental steps, running tests on various pages, and considering holding back the unit page due to rendering issues. The team also discussed documenting changes in release notes and previewed already completed work.

Configuring Features in Edx Course Authoring

Christopher, Jenna, Max, and Adolfo discussed configuring and enabling features in their course authoring system, Edx. They agreed on the principle of having each feature in its own toggle, with the ability to enable all features by default. Adolfo raised concerns about the complexity and performance impact of this approach, especially for library authoring and the unit page. The team decided to document all waffle flags, their functions, and how to enable them in the release notes. They also discussed creating two pathways of release notes: one for product release notes and another for operator release notes.

Feature Activation and Release Notes Discussion

Adolfo proposed to post an incomplete list of features to be activated at a later date, after the cutoff, when Jenna tests and helps decide on their activation or deprecation. Max agreed to post the list in the channel, and Jenna suggested that the intended audience for these decisions should be the site operators. A specific topic of interest was the 'taxonomy mfe' feature, which Max had trouble enabling, leading to a discussion about the release notes and testing environment.

Product Features, Implementations, and Tagging

Adolfo, Max, and Jenna discussed the intricacies of the product's features and their implementations, including the need to understand code flags and algorithms for specific features like enabling pagination. They also addressed the complexities of the tagging feature across different pages and the three key parts of the feature set for Redwood beyond Studio. The team decided to backport all tagging features from the new system to the legacy environment and addressed the need to enable tagging by default, pending testing, and review the taxonomy Mfe. Additionally, they identified a problem with the configuration variable in the Mfe, which may have been due to a lack of proper deprecation of Booleans in favor of strings.

Technical Issues and Release Procedure Updates

Adolfo, Jenna, and Max discussed various technical issues and updates. The configuration's 5-minute cache issue was addressed, and it was decided not to merge the Pr as is, but to figure out the previews later. The team also discussed the major Pr for the Sidebar nav implementation and the issues with the Iframes. Jenna mentioned that, once the merges are complete, the integration sandbox will be available for testing. The team also discussed the ongoing Python upgrade and the need to review the front-end version. Lastly, they talked about the changes to the release procedure and the need to save previous requirements before the cutoff.

Plugin Slots and Documentation Updates

Adolfo, Max, and Christopher discussed updates and issues related to their project. They talked about adding footers behind plugin slots and corresponding documentation, with Adolfo stating this would be implemented within the week. Adolfo also raised concerns about the complexity of headers and the potential for future support of a stable plugin API. The team decided not to make a big deal about certain slots due to uncertainties around their support and compatibility.

Adolfo's Plugin Proposal and Planning Session

Adolfo expressed his dream of a future without waffle flags, suggesting instead to use plugins and slots. Max announced a change in the release schedule to Thursday, a decision made after a planning meeting. Syed noted some platform updates and issues with a library, indicating ongoing work on this. Jenna proposed holding another planning session on Thursday before proceeding with the code cut off. This idea was agreed upon by the team.

Python 3, 11 Upgrade and Sandbox Compatibility

Moisés discussed the upcoming python 3, 11 upgrade and its potential impact on the codial tutor plugin and the sandbox. He expressed uncertainty about the compatibility of the sandbox dependencies with the new upgrade and the potential effect on user's code. Moisés also noted the lack of an official stance on the sandbox target for the 3, 11 upgrade. Syed confirmed that some platform tier had been merged for 3, 11 and updated a few dependencies on Alex sandbox file. Moisés expressed the need to keep this in mind and planned to seek clarification from Kyle and Anil.

Release Date and Time Discussion

Jorge asked about any additional issues to consider for the current state and confirmed the release date as the 9th of June, despite it being a Sunday. Syed inquired about the exact time of the release, to which Jorge responded that it would be the next checkpoint in the Redward planning. The team agreed to continue discussions as necessary.

 Discussion topics

 Decisions