New developer training on PatternFly
In early 2019, the PatternFly team set a goal: Create developer training to teach PatternFly implementation best practices.
This was no easy feat. To provide the training we had in mind, we needed lots of people involved in this project: writers, editors, developers, and more. With everyone contributing their unique skills and experience, we were able to publish 19 developer tutorials: 5 HTML/CSS tutorials, 5 React tutorials, and 9 React chart tutorials. We’re also in the process of creating contribution guidelines, which are coming soon.
These interactive tutorials are geared toward both designers and developers. You can use them to practice things like using React components and overriding PatternFly variables. Whether you’re in the PatternFly community, new to PatternFly, or just looking to keep up with the latest components or layouts, these tutorials serve as a great resource.
It’s been an exciting few months of feedback, collaboration, and content work. Read on to learn about this journey as well as how you can share your feedback to make these tutorials even better.
Starting off
Before creating any training content, we wanted to hear from developers. What kind of training did they actually need?
We surveyed developers to learn about the topics that mattered most to them. From there, we organized the feedback into topic categories: CSS, React basics, React components, and React charts. We then called in the experts within PatternFly to write the tutorials.
Deciding on a platform
We needed a place to share and deliver this training with the community. So we tested content on different platforms before deciding on Katacoda, an interactive learning and training platform for software developers.
Why Katacoda?
First of all, the tutorials themselves are open source. Katacoda also has an open contribution model, so anybody can create content on the platform — we didn’t want to compromise on transparency, collaboration, and community involvement. Secondly, many products within Red Hat use Katacoda, so we had some experience with it.
Writing the content
After choosing a platform, the writing began. But first, we collected feedback on all tutorials. This feedback was used in the review and refinement process. Now that the content is published, we’re currently in the process of reviewing and editing for additional polish. So stay tuned!
Tell us what you think
This project wasn’t just a “one-and-done” pursuit. We also established a process for submitting ideas and content for tutorials. So now it’s time for you to tell us what you think.
Check out the React and HTML/CSS tutorials on PatternFly, and share your feedback by submitting a review on the final page of each module. You can also create an issue in our Github repository. These tutorials can only get better with ideas from others.
