Eclipse "New and Noteworthy" Template and Instructions

The New and Noteworthy content is contained in 4 pages and are grouped based on the component they belong to. The pages are platform.html, jdt.html, platform_isv.html and pde.html. The platform_isv.html page contains the entries for new APIs in Platform, SWT and Equinox. The index.html page describes the release and contains links to the component news pages.

Add the entry to the appropriate section in the corresponding html document. If required, you can add a new section to the document to highlight a feature, for example see : JUnit support.

The title should be short and snappy, written in sentence case, and using "headlinese" (compressed style). The title should not use trailing punctuation, and the <tr> XHTML element needs a unique id attribute (value is all-lowercase and hyphen-separated).

In the news description, tell users about changes they'll see in the UI. Tell component writers about changes they'll see at the client- and server-side APIs. Try to generate some excitement; save the boring details for the manual; be short and don't repeat yourself. The description should be complete sentences, with trailing punctuation.

Make the entry self-contained and mention API classes. Do not link to bugs and don't promote individuals or third-party products.

Use active voice (say "you", not "the user"), and follow other advice in the Topic Content section of the Eclipse Doc Style Guidelines.

Stick to the default font and size. Make command names (Quick Fix), keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+1), and preference page paths (Preferences > General > Keys) bold (using <b>). Avoid other emphasis markup, but prefer <b> over <em> if you have to use one.

Do not enclose the first paragraph of an item in <p></p> tags. Later in the entry, prefer <p> over <br/>.

To break up very long <code> tags that don't contain whitespace for automatic word-wrap, consider inserting <span style="visibility:hidden">&shy;</span> at strategic positions.

See entries in published news documents for correct examples. These published news entries have been already reviewed, while entries in the evolving document may still contain errors.

Add the "new.png" icon using <img src="images/new.png" alt=""> before the title of your entry. These icons will be kept until the next June release of the Eclipse IDE and will be cleared after that.

Keep the entry short and relevant as a tip instead of making it descriptive as a news item.

Add "tips" tag on the "Whiteboard" field of the corresponding bug for quick querying of the added tips.

You are also encouraged to attach a small video or animated GIF to the associated bug displaying the item in action. This attachment can be used with the entry description to spread the word about it on social media platforms.

Do not link to bugs in the entry. Only add the bug number in the commit message when committing the entry.

Note: Please use the W3C XHTML Markup Validation Service to check your document's markup before submitting as an invalid document can lead to build failure.

This makes it easier to find the associated bug in order to get more details about the entry, add comments or report problems. Also, users will be able to find the bug number associated with an entry in the news page by viewing it's html source.

Note: Do not link to bugs in the entry.

Also, add the bug number in the commit message when committing the entry.

The Windows Snipping Tool actually saves to PNG on Windows 7 and can easily be used to crop and save screenshots:

• Arrange the windows for the shot
• Use the Windows Snipping Tool to capture part of the screen
• Use File > Save As to save the screenshot as a PNG
• Overlays such as red circles or boxes to call out details can be done using Microsoft Paint

Name the file in a way that is appropriate and specific to the item (e.g., key-bindings.png, rather than something generic like image.png). Use all lowercase letters in the image file name, including the ".png" file extension. As a separator, use hyphen "-" rather than underscore, space, or whatnot. The item's id is often a good choice for an image name.

Put all the images in a sibling directory named "images". This gives XHTML like:
<img src="images/foo-view.png" alt=""/>
Include a suitable alt attribute. The alt text should be empty ("") if the image just illustrates the text. Only use the alt text to add information that is not accessible if the page is rendered without images. Don't write alt="Screenshot of the XY dialog". Blind users shouldn't have to skip useless repetitions, but e.g. a field label can be interesting unless it's already part of the description.

If the alt attribute text cannot sufficiently replace the image contents (e.g. for a screenshot that shows source code), then enclose the img element in a link to a plain ".txt" file with the same name as the image:
<a href="images/foo-view.txt"><img ...

The images should be left-justified (as opposed to centered). Do not embed the width and height of the image.

Run scripts/validateHtmlNewsRepo.sh to validate the html files in a release folder using a script. Instructions can be found in scripts/instructions.txt.

Run scripts/applyTemplate.sh to automatically do these steps for you. Instructions to run the script can be found in scripts/instructions.txt.