Problem Description
When a new user installs Jenkins, they are greeted with the main, empty, dashboard which suggests that they "create jobs." This makes no mention of plugins or the configuration options that are relevant to helping the user make Jenkins match their needs.
Proposal
Instead of changing the post-install defaults, which may not properly represent the user's needs, the first-time user experience should help guide the user through configuration and plugin installation quickly so they can use Jenkins for their needs. Effectively it should be as easy as possible for a user to arrive at a good configuration for their usage.
Part of this would entail:
- Changing how plugin bundling works, no automatically installing plugins just for backward compatibility
- Encouraging use of pipeline-as-code enhancements discussed previously
Impact
This would primarily change the way in which first-time users would use Jenkins.
Open Questions
- is blocking
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JENKINS-33281 Release Jenkins 2.0
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- Closed
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I suggest developing a "configuration wizard" in the initial UI which would prompt the user with a series of questions to gather details on how they intend to use Jenkins. For example:
The above question list could be expanded and turned into a 'tree", where certain responses lead to different follow-up questions. In the end, the program would have enough details to implement an initial Jenkins configuration, including plug-ins.
A second "job wizard" – or the regular job configuration screen – could then prompt the user to establish a job, e.g.