Do you know how to review GitHub content changes?
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Some websites use GitHub to manage their content (e.g. SSW Rules). GitHub makes reviewing changes easy through "Pull Requests".
A Pull Request is a request to make changes to 1 or more files. GitHub provides out of the box functionality for reviewing changes in a pull request.
Reviewing
Open the Pull Request and examine the changes using the tabs:
- Conversations: Comments people have made about the change
- Commits: Summary of the changes the requester has made
- Checks: You can ignore this if you are not a developer
- Files changed (important): See the difference between the old and new files being changed. Red highlighting indicates deleted parts and green highlighting indicates added parts. This visual preview of the changes to a markdown file is accessed via Files changed | Display the rich diff
Figure: Reviewing tabs in a GitHub Pull Request
Figure: The view via "Display the rich diff" button
Approving / asking for extra changes
Go to Files changed | Review changes and** **Select an option:
- Choose "Approve" to mark it as ready to go live Add a comment with feedback (if necessary)
- Choose "Comment" for general feedback when PR it's not ready for approval
- Choose "Request changes" for mandatory changes to the PR
Figure: Steps for submitting a Pull Request review
Done! Your review has been submitted ⭐
Use YakShaver to create PBIs and make PR changes easier to review
Most PRs will need a PBI. It should make the reason for the change easy to understand.
If a Pull Request with no PBI linked gets too complex to understand from the diff alone, create a PBI to show the context, review criteria, or traceability beyond the PR itself.
In these cases, use YakShaver to record your screen and voice while walking through the change. YakShaver turns that explanation into a clear PBI, making the intent, impact, and review points visible to everyone.