Updated Developer Fundamentals training

[validbeck]

Internal Notes for Reviewers

sc-8465

Important

This is the updated PR comment. Refer to the task list for the requested edits for more info — please re-read this top-level comment and the task list before adding your newest review.

Developer Fundamentals

REGISTRATION PAGE PREVIEW — 🚨 SEE COURSE MODULE PREVIEW DISCLAIMER BELOW!!!! 🚨

• I updated this course to be much more comprehensive yet straightforward.

• There are now updated versions of the login instructions, individual module learning outcomes, module summaries, etc.

• I thoroughly tested & timed these courses to make sure the instructions and the estimates made sense.

• PLEASE NOTE THE IFRAME WORKAROUND FOR THE Copy snippet to clipboard SLIDE. The normal background iframe ran into a CORS-type error and wouldn't actually let you press the button, so this is the only option that worked. See the other version which admittedly LOOKS better but just didn't allow the user to perform the action:

  

  This was the only version of the iframing that would let me apply allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" due to Quarto's weird restrictions.

Note

The newest version of this doesn't use the negative absolute positioning, just a simple two-column layout same as we use in other slides:

Course modules

🚨 NO LIVE PREVIEW 🚨 — AS THE IFRAME EMBEDS PULL FROM THE ROOT OF THE DOCS-DEMO FOLDER, YOU'LL NEED TO PULL DOWN THIS PR TO REVIEW & TEST THE TRAINING AS THE ONLINE HOSTED VERSION WON'T DRAW FROM THE CORRECT NOTEBOOK FILES:

1. Retrieve the branch & load the preview:

gh pr checkout 681
cd site
quarto preview

2. Navigate to Training > Developer Fundamentals.

Notebook execution

Adjusted the Makefile to simply copy over the notebooks/tutorials/model_development/ folder into a notebooks/EXECUTED/ directory replacing the old "Introduction for model developers" notebook:

documentation/site/Makefile

Line 58 in 4e9b299

@echo "Duplicating all files from notebooks/tutorials/model_development/ for execution"

The runtime compares to the older version, about 10 minutes.

Proof that the re-numbered and executed versions of the notebooks exist for when this stuff is pushed to staging/prod:

1. Set up the ValidMind Library
2. Start the model development process
   
3. Integrate custom tests
4. Finalize testing and documentation

EXTENSIBILITY: Likely I can just tell the workflow to execute the model_validation files when they are ready to go with a slightly different .env to accommodate for the validator credentials and update the workflow/actions to reflect this when we have those resources. The only thing is those notebooks run sets and sets of tests, way more than we do for the development ones, so those would 100% up runtime.

Warning

Our latest validmind-library release version doesn't include the renumbered notebooks, so in the meantime the notebooks/EXECUTED/ folder needs to be checked back out to main when we call make get-source. This should resolve itself once we the prod releases are up-to-date with what is out on docs.

Learning paths

LEARNING PATHS PREVIEW

• There was inconsistent casing here in the titles, I've edited them for clarity and made them look a little better.
• Some of the descriptions were a bit wordy and unclear as well, so I gave them a little TLC.
• Added a "register now" or "coming soon" button (not a link) depending on the course. e.g.:

• I also cleaned up the Validator Fundamentals in preparation for bringing in the validation experience notebooks when they're ready (New notebook series: ValidMind for model validation validmind-library#348):

Course slides & course registration template

I updated these to use the spruced up versions of stuff for future reference.

ENABLE_DEMO_NOTEBOOK

I changed this flag from env.ENABLE_DEMO_NOTEBOOK to vars.ENABLE_DEMO_NOTEBOOK — turns out the former looked for a flag WITHIN the workflow itself and not in the repo variable. The reason it "worked" before (turned the execution off) is because it always returned false. Refer to the GitHub docs on:

• Defining environment variables for a single workflow — env
• Defining configuration variables for multiple workflows — vars

In theory, we CAN define this at the workflow level since this is the only workflow that currently references it, but I think it makes more sense to leave the setup as is as it's more of a pain to update the hardcoded workflow than it is to just switch the repo variable.

Other stuff

• I removed the extra "Training" drop-down from the training section as it was too many drop-downs... didn't add much to the experience. We may want to think about re-introducing the sidebar or some sort of breadcrumb for the training pages, though?
• I also added the Releases to the condensed drop-down as now it is an independent section:

• The thing I did with the browser compatibility message for the registration pages was pretty clean but still gave enough emphasis (to me) so I repeated it with that awkward "Legal Ease" bottom section on our doc-side policy page:

Browser compatibility message	Legal Ease section

External Release Notes

ValidMind Academy

Developer Fundamentals

With the goal of delivering more approachable and comprehensive training, we've overhauled our Developer Fundamentals course into four modules with clear learning outcomes:

1. Module 1 — Using ValidMind for Model Development
2. Module 2 — Learning to Run Tests
3. Module 3 — Implementing Custom Tests
4. Module 4 — Finalizing Model Documentation

This training series walks you through the basics of using ValidMind to develop and document models, from running and logging tests with the ValidMind Library to finalizing your model's documentation in the ValidMind Platform. You'll learn how to use ValidMind to generate model documentation, automate testing, track your model's progress through the model lifecycle, and more — register to take the course now!

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[validbeck]

@nrichers As mentioned on our sync, the content updates for these training modules are ready for re-review, including:

• Updated top-level PR comment
• Task list to address first round of feedback/edits/etc., includes explanations as to why certain tasks were deferred

[github-actions]

PR Summary

This pull request introduces several enhancements to the ValidMind project, focusing on documentation and training modules. Key changes include:

1. GitHub Actions Updates: The GitHub Actions for demo, prod, and staging notebooks have been updated to execute a series of notebooks for model development instead of a single introductory notebook. This includes registering a new kernel for ValidMind and updating the execution paths.

2. Documentation Enhancements: New documentation files have been added, including guides on viewing test result metadata and generating content with AI. The _quarto.yml file has been updated to include a new 'Releases' section in the navigation menu.

3. Training Modules Overhaul: The training modules for developers have been significantly expanded. The previous single module has been split into four detailed modules, each focusing on different aspects of using ValidMind for model development, including setting up the library, running tests, implementing custom tests, and finalizing documentation.

4. New Notebooks: A series of new Jupyter notebooks have been added under site/notebooks/EXECUTED/model_development/, providing step-by-step guidance on using ValidMind for model development.

5. Makefile and Site Updates: The Makefile has been updated to reflect changes in the notebook paths, and several site files have been modified to include new training paths and course registration details.

6. Styling and UI Improvements: Minor styling changes have been made to the training slides and other UI components to enhance user experience.

Test Suggestions

• Verify that the GitHub Actions execute the correct series of notebooks for demo, prod, and staging environments.
• Test the new documentation pages for accuracy and completeness.
• Ensure that the new training modules are accessible and function as expected in the training environment.
• Run the new Jupyter notebooks to confirm they execute without errors and provide the intended guidance.
• Check the navigation updates in _quarto.yml to ensure the new 'Releases' section appears correctly.
• Validate the styling changes in the training slides and other UI components.

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[nrichers]

This, this is a great PR in its final form! I’m in awe, @validbeck. BRAVO! 👏👏👏 It's clear a metric ton of work went into these changes and the final product feels like a substantial improvement over the earlier course.

In addition to the restructured and updated course content itself, I also love the new clean look of course pages, and the “Coming Soon” button on the learning paths page is a nice touch. I have only some minor suggestions you can commit.

The thing I did with the browser compatibility message for the registration pages was pretty clean

Please stay involved in the JupyterHub replacement discussions to make sure it works with our current training content? Ideally, we’d move the needle on the CORS issue or, if this is not feasible, decide what to do next, e.g. simply spawn a new window for the live product that can be kept side-by-side with the training course, add something to the frontend itself that enables us to serve up instructional content without the awkward iframing, or some other magic trick.

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