2011/12/21 - Jakarta has been retired.

This document is intended to be(come) a self help manual for newsletter editors. Please feel free to add, ammend and update this document. Not only will it be easier for you next time if you keep this updated but also you'll be doing a huge favour to Those Who Will Come After.

The newsletter is created on the Apache Wiki. This should lower the barrier to enter and allow more people to participate. The next issue of the newsletter is open for business from the time that the last one is closed. The proposed scope of the next newsletter is set when the last newsletter is cut. Traditionally, the last editor will either continue in office or request a new volunteer editor in good time before the deadline for the next issue approaches.

Review the older newsletter. Familiarize yourself with their contents and seek inspiration from their ideas.

To edit the newsletter you'll need free time around the time that the newsletter is published. You'll also need karma for the jakarta-site2 CVS module. Committers can obtain karma from the Jakarta pmc on request.

Make sure you know how to create the xml that the Jakarta site is written in and how to generate the site. Instructions can be found here.

There is nothing to stop entries being added at any time after the last issue has been created. But nothing concentrates the mind like an approaching deadline. So, in order to fill the newsletter, it's necessary to fix a deadline for contributions, annouce the fact (to the various development lists) and then remind people as the deadline approaches.

Here's an example of a (good) annoucement:

Dear Jakarta BCEL Development Team, 
(http://jakarta.apache.org/bcel/)

We are now preparing the 'Jakarta Newsletter Issue 9',
news from May to June 2003, which would be published 
in the middle of July 2003.

The 'Jakarta Newsletter Issue 9' will be appeared at 
http://jakarta.apache.org/site/news/200305.html
and the editorial deadline would be 00:00 GMT, 6th July.

We lowered the barrier to entry - users and developers
will be able to easily contribute, as prepared the
ApacheWiki(http://wiki.apache.org/old).

If you have anything to be added to the ApacheWiki, please go to
http://wiki.apache.org/old?JakartaNewsletterDrafts/Issue9
and fill up what you want to append.
If there's nothing news-worthy on 'Jakarta BCEL', then please just write *N/A*.

If you have been voted in as a new committer in 'Jakarta BCEL' project
within these 2 months, please add your name to the list on ApacheWiki.

Probably, the former newsletter draft (Jakarta Newsletter Issue8)
would give you some hints in writing the articles.
cf. http://wiki.apache.org/old?JakartaNewsletterDrafts/Issue8March2003

If you have time enough to contribute to 
http://wiki.apache.org/old?BCELProjectPages
please modify, fill in the ApacheWiki to create more precise and useful pages.

We really appreciate your contribution.
If you have any questions about this, please subscribe to 
mailto:general-subscribe@jakarta.apache.org
and send your messages to 
mailto:general@jakarta.apache.org

Sincerely,

-- Tetsuya (tetsuya.AT.apache.DOT.org)

The first step in preparing the material is to post an announcement to general@jakarta.apache.org telling people that the newsletter is now closed. Edit the wiki so that the status here is CLOSED. It's a good idea to save the source of the draft issue at this stage as well.

Next create a new page in the wiki for the next issue named in the usual fashion. Link it from the main drafts page and mark it as OPEN. Fill the new page with the skeleton for the next newsletter.

This is the time consuming bit. It would be nice to have a script that would convert the wiki output into an Anakia-compatible xml document. Maybe it would be possible to use the Neko parser...

One way to do this is to manually change all the formatting. Could editors who find better ways to do this plese update this document!

The editorial is the perogative of you, the Editor. The wiki may contain items proposed but distcretion lies entirely with the Editor. Take a look at the past Newsletters and then develop your own style.

Please go through everything entered on the wiki. Check for speiling mistakes, check links and make sure that everthing makes sense. Edit anything that would benefit from being edited.

Newsletters are stored in the CVS in jakarta-site2/site/news. The convention has been to store newsletter by published date. Once the newsletter is ready and the generated html has been proof read, commit it. Also, add the newsletter to the news sections of the site.

If you have Daedelus karma then update the website otherwise post a request to general@jakarta.apache.org.

The newsletter should be announced on the web lists (at least announcements and general at jakarta). A text version of the newsletter should be created and posted to the list. This allows people who do not have access to web to read it straight away.

Here is a sample of the format used for newsletter 8:

Jakarta Newsletter Issue 8
==========================

    Issue: 8
    Date: March-April 2003
    Url: http://jakarta.apache.org/site/news/200303.html

    I'm sad to say Rob Oxspring hasn't been able to edit this newsletter
    so you'll have to make do with me instead. We'll all miss his
    observations of life here in Jakartaland. Hopefully, Rob will be
    again back soon.

    This is the first wiki-built newsletter. See here
    <http://wiki.apache.org/issues?JakartaNewsletterDrafts>
    for more details. The next few issues will probably be bi-monthly.

    I'd like to extend the now-traditional thank-you to those who
    contributed and hope that you enjoy the read. If you would like to
    comment further on any of the highlighted discussions then please do
    so on the appropriate list
    <http://jakarta.apache.org/site/mail.html>, if you want to comment
    on the newsletter itself then please point your comments to
    general@jakarta.apache.org
    <mailto:general@jakarta.apache.org?subject=[Newsletter]>.

    Robert Burrell Donkin

Contents
--------

    * Alexandria
    * Cactus
    * Commons
            o Commons CLI
            o Commons Codec
            o Commons File Upload
            o Commons Betwixt
            o Commons Digester
            o Commons BeanUtils
            o Commons Math
    * Log4j
    * Lucene
    * POI
    * Struts
    * Tapestry
    * Turbine

Alexandria
==========

    Editor: Nicola Ken Barozzi

    Donated code has been integrated in CVS, and now Alexandria generates:

        * javasrc - fully linked and highlighted java source source
        * javadoc - java docs with standard doclet or in XML
        * jsdoc - initial implementation of javascript docs
        * uml - graph of relationship of all classes in png and svg
        * ant - graphs and docs about the Ant buildfile
        

That's all there is to editing the newsletter. Good Luck!