Incoming Wants

How do we get Want?

Wants generally come in from the submission form on webwewant.fyi. This is a Netlify form that triggers:

1. An email to @AaronGustafson (could be updated to a distribution list if we think it’d be valuable);
2. A new row being added to the spreadsheet (which contains PII like email addresses, which is why it’s not publicly shared);
3. A new issue being created in this repository with the Want page’s draft content as markdown in the Issue text.

Evaluating incoming Wants

As each new Want (submitted after 27 Feb 2020) comes in as a GitHub Issue so we can discuss it in that Issue thread. If there are no objections, one of us can volunteer to add it to the site. If we need to discuss more, we can do that in the thread. If we want more information, we’ll need to follow up with the submitter. If we need to reject it, we should also let them know.

Adding a new Want to the site

1. Get the content. Copy the contents of the Issue body as raw Markdown (click the "Edit" button to access that).
2. Create a new file in the wants folder.
3. Paste in the Issue body.
4. Name the file using the number key in the front matter as the file name and "md" as the extension (e.g., 5e59460efa695ea9f7750152.md). If the want came in without a number you can use this GUID generator to create one (just be sure to turn off hyphens).
5. Put the discussion link in the front matter. The URL will be nearly the same as the issue URL, just replace "issues" with "discussions". (See Creating a Discussion Thread, below)
6. Add tags to the Want. All tags are lower case and hyphenated. You can see a complete list of tags in use on the Dashboard. If you have questions, you can look at existing wants.
7. Make whatever edits are necessary for grammar, clarity, etc.
8. Adjust the status.
9. Add any related links to the front matter. You can see this Want as an example.
10. Commit the file directly to the main branch. Use the title "Posting want #" plus the Issue number so it’s trackable. The site will rebuild and publish the file automatically at http://webwewant.fyi/wants/{NUMBER}.
11. Get the submitter’s email from the submissions spreadsheet and send them a message—using the template provided—letting them know it’s up and asking for them to take a look at it to see if they have any further changes.
12. If they follow up with changes, feel free to make them.
13. Convert the Issue to a Discussion (see below).

Creating a Discussion Thread

Once a "want" has been posted to the site, we need to convert the Issue to a discussion thread. To do that, follow the following steps:

1. Rename the Issue with the want name (e.g., "I want…") and save the change.
2. Replace the Issue contents with the text content of the Want (without the front-matter).
3. Add a hr below the text, followed by the final URL of the Want (e.g., http://webwewant.fyi/wants/{NUMBER}). If you have questions, edit an existing Want Discussion.
4. Save your changes to the Issue.
5. Choose "Convert to Discussion" from the Issue menu (below all the tags and such).
6. Double check that the URL of the new discussion thread matches the URL you added to the front matter of the Want.
7. Delete any extraneous comments from the original Issue discussion (i.e., anything that isn’t a discussion of the Want itself).

Requesting more information about a Want

Some submissions are ambiguous or contain a slew of ideas. In either case, it may make sense to follow up with the submitter. You can grab their email from the spreadsheet and use the provided email template to contact them for more details.

Rejecting a Want

Some submissions are not actionable or may not be relevant to the web platform or browsers in general. Or they may be a request for something that already exists. In either case, it’s good to follow up with the submitter to let them know. You can get their email address from the spreadsheet and use the provided email template to connect with them.