[theme-reviewers] Goals and Process

Fri Jun 11 14:03:07 UTC 2010

Don't know if this has been suggested yet but how about creating a google
wave for each theme we are reviewing?

On Fri, Jun 11, 2010 at 9:44 AM, Tim Golen <tim at golen.net> wrote:

> Hey Gav,
>
> I think what you say makes perfect sense, and I've liked where the
> discussion is headed. I too wondered about the validity of 5 star rating
> system for each item and for a lot of items in the checklist it's either
> black or white... either it works or it doesn't work. However, I think there
> are also items that could use a 5-point rating system because they are a bit
> more subjective. Such as "Are comments displayed correctly" and "Is the
> theme widgetized as fully as possible?".
>
> I think the organization of the review process could be done to extreme
> (using a bug tracking system like Bugzilla which would be a very effective
> tool for communication with reviewers and authors), but if you wanted a
> really simple solution you could also use a Google Docs Spreadsheet with the
> Form functionality. It would only take a short amount of a time to setup a
> form for the entire checklist. You could use checkboxes for the
> black-and-white items, and you could use a 5 point radio group for the more
> subjective items. Along with a text field for the name of the theme and free
> form comments at the bottom of each sub-section. With this solution you
> could use one spreadsheet per theme, or have all theme reviews in a single
> spreadsheet (they have some cool summarization views for the form data).
> Just a thought... the communication channels would still remain unresolved
> at that point.
>
> Tim
>
> On Fri, Jun 11, 2010 at 7:07 AM, Gavin Pearce <GavinP at tbs.uk.com> wrote:
>
>> Agreed almost completely.
>>
>> Not convinced about 1 - 5 ratings mind, you start to open up the process
>> to the whim of individual reviewers again.
>>
>> Checklist should check for items that are:
>>
>>        * Critical items - No go, instant fail..
>>        * Less critical - You get a 'advisory'.
>>
>> If you're template has more than X amount of "advisories", it doesn't
>> pass. (Similar to the format of the UK Driving Test).
>>
>> I guess you could also get a different amount of "advisory points"
>> depending on the problem, but it starts getting overly complicated
>> again. Personally I think keep it as simple as possible - this will
>> result in a much better consistency of what quality of template we
>> allow/disallow.
>>
>> If built around this model, you can start to add extra criteria to
>> improve the general quality of all templates, e.g.:
>>        - To get a V2 version of the same template into the system, the
>> author first has to demonstrate they acted upon at least some of the
>> advisories issued first time round.
>>
>>
>> Thoughts?       :)
>>
>>
>> Gav
>> /gavinpearce.com
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: theme-reviewers-bounces at lists.wordpress.org
>> [mailto:theme-reviewers-bounces at lists.wordpress.org] On Behalf Of
>> chip at chipbennett.net
>> Sent: 11 June 2010 13:43
>> To: theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> Subject: Re: [theme-reviewers] Goals and Process
>>
>> I concur.
>>
>> I'm thinking that Joseph (Joe?) is getting several people started on an
>> initial theme review, in order to give us some better context for coming
>> up with the more formalized process.
>>
>> That's what I'm doing with my first review, anyway: just going through
>> the
>> TDC and evaluating the theme against each of the checklist points.
>>
>> I think, once we've got some context by reviewing an initial theme,
>> we'll
>> better be able to evaluate what criteria are critical/required
>> (GO/NO-GO),
>> and which ones are more subjective (1-5 rating, or whatever) - as well
>> as
>> how each subjective criterion (or category) should be weighted.
>>
>> Of course, my first theme assignment is taking a bit (sorry, Joseph -
>> the
>> one you gave me threw about five errors right off the bat!), so it may
>> not
>> be until the evening or tomorrow morning until I can report back on it.
>> In
>> the meantime, I'm appreciating the opportunity to read everyone else's
>> initial take on the review process.
>>
>> (As for getting the feedback to the theme authors themselves: I assume
>> Joseph is handling that?)
>>
>> Chip
>>
>> > Hi David,
>> >
>> > I agree with your points. I was thinking something like a scorecard
>> too.
>> >
>> > What I understood so far, is that we will go to check the theme
>> against
>> > the listed points from Theme_Development_Checklist, right? Is this our
>> > only job?
>> >
>> > I would appreciate a clarify from Joseph too.
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> > Daniel
>> >
>> >
>> >> Hi Joseph (and everyone else),
>> >>
>> >> First, is it Joseph or Joe?
>> >>
>> >> Second, can you clarify what exactly the goals are of a theme review?
>> >> What are we trying to accomplish? I realize we are trying to improve
>> the
>> >> quality and reliability of themes, but how is that going to work?
>> >> You've assigned some theme reviews to participants here, but they are
>> >> reporting "problems" back to us, not to the author to fix.  Is there
>> a
>> >> process I am not seeing?
>> >>
>> >> It seems to me, and I apologize if I am speaking out of turn, is that
>> >> all of the information on
>> >>
>> http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development_Checklist#Theme_Unit_Test
>> >> could be turned into a scorecard.  It's already broken up into
>> sections.
>> >>  Give each bullet list a line item with a 1-5 rating or a y/n and set
>> a
>> >> comment section for free form comments at the end of each sub
>> section.
>> >> Then a theme submission could come in, be assigned to 3-5 of us, and
>> we
>> >> each complete a scorecard.  (heck portions of it could be automated.)
>> >> Then send these scorecards back to the theme author where they can
>> >> digest what they have done right, and what needs improvement.
>> Without
>> >> being too rigid, this process is crying for some formality of method.
>> >> This also gives the theme author feedback, but not at the whim of one
>> >> reviewer since some of the points (aesthetics in particular) are very
>> >> subjective.
>> >>
>> >> Just a thought...
>> >>
>> >> -David _______________________________________________
>> >> theme-reviewers mailing list
>> >> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> >> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>> >
>> > --
>> > Daniel Zilli _ Production Executive _ Jilliz Ltd.
>> >
>> > Phone: +66 (0) 85 334 1224 | Website: http://www.jilliz.com
>> > 288/43 BaanMai Puttabucha 36, Bangmod, Thungkru Bangkok 10140.
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> > theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> > http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>> >
>>
>>
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