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Rewrite the discussion of "Inconsistent Changes" #370

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24 changes: 13 additions & 11 deletions source/en/1.1.0/index.html.haml
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -179,19 +179,21 @@ version: 1.1.0
#{link_to "ISO standard", iso}, are why it is the recommended date
format for changelog entries.

%h4#inconsistent-changes
%a.anchor{ href: "#inconsistent-changes", aria_hidden: "true" }
Inconsistent Changes
%h4#inconsistent-updates
%a.anchor{ href: "#inconsistent-updates", aria_hidden: "true" }
Inconsistent Updates

%p
A changelog which only mentions some of the changes can be as dangerous
as not having a changelog. While many of the changes may not be
relevant - for instance, removing a single whitespace may not need
to be recorded in all instances - any important changes should be
mentioned in the changelog. By inconsistently applying changes,
your users may mistakenly think that the changelog is the single source
of truth. It ought to be. With great power comes great responsibility -
having a good changelog means having a consistently updated changelog.
You might decide that some tiny changes aren't worth a place in the
changelog - for example, if you remove a single whitespace from a rarely
seen error message. On the other hand, if none of your users cares about
that fix, then why did you make it? And if any user cares, we'd argue that
the change belongs to the changelog - maybe wrapped in a generic
entry such as: "Fix error message typos".

Some of your users may see the changelog as an authoritative source of
truth. With authority comes responsibility: a good changelog is
consistently updated.

%aside
There’s more. Help me collect these antipatterns by
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