---
# System prepended metadata

title: 'OCaml.org Newsletter: August+September 2023'
tags: [ocamlorg-newsletter]

---

**WIP INTERNAL TO OCAML.ORG TEAM - DO NOT SHARE**

Welcome to the August and September 2023 edition of the OCaml.org newsletter! As with the [previous issues](https://discuss.ocaml.org/tag/ocamlorg-newsletter), this update has been compiled by @sabine and @tmattio.

Our goal is to make OCaml.org the best resource for anyone who wants to get started and be productive in OCaml. The OCaml.org newsletter provides an update of our progress towards that goal and an overview of changes we are working on.

We couldn't do it without all the amazing OCaml community members who help us review, revise, and create better OCaml documentation. Your feedback enables us to better prioritise our work and make progress towards our goal. Thank you!

This past two months, our priorities were:
- **Learn Area:** We're working towards making OCaml.org a great resource to learn OCaml and discover its ecosystem. We've focussed on getting the new Get Started documentation ready for publication, and we started work on a second iteration of the designs for the Learn area.
- **General Improvements:** As usual, we also worked on general maintenance and improvements based on user feedback, so we're highlighting some of our work below.

## Learn Area

### 1. Redesign of the Learn Area

After completing a first version of the design in July, we started working on a new iteration that is more in line with the current branding of the site. Feedback from the team and users has been extremely positive on the UX (the structure of the new documentation and the layout of the pages), but we felt that the design direction needed to be reconciled with and improve on the existing designs of all pages. Thus, we we are revisiting the designs' UI aspect in both light and dark mode.

**Relevant PRs and Activities:**

- Continued work on Figma UX/UI designs for the new Learn area:
  - Continued overall Learn area UI design
  - Improved dark mode for the home page on mobile and made necessary text amendments
  - Designed mobile view for the search field with an open navigation feature and breadcrumb navigation
  - Worked on updating the design systems to ensure a consistency between light and dark variants
- Continued the implementation of new components for the Learn Area:
  - Skill tag component for the Learn area is completed -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1427](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1427)
  - Learn overview cards (Install + Standard Library API) completed -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1441](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1441)
  - Books block component completed -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1481](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1481)
  - Tutorial block component completed -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1387](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1387)
  - Exercises block component -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1479](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1479)
  - Video block component -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1480](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1480)
  - Language Manual Banner Component - [ocaml/ocaml.org#1406](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1406)
  - Change learn area tab navigation color - [ocaml/ocaml.org#1522](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1522)


### 2. OCaml Documentation

Since August, we've focused mainly on the "Getting Started" documents, including a guide to installing OCaml, a "tour" of the OCaml language, and a tutorial to create your first project in OCaml.

Anticipating on our October update, we've just [published](https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-new-get-started-documentation-on-ocaml-org/13269) the new Get Started documentation pages! :tada: 

We still encourage community feedback, as we fully expect to iteratively improve these docs in the coming weeks, especially as they will now serve as the primary resource to everyone who want to get up and running with OCaml.

Our focus will now shift to filling the gaps in the Language section of the documentation, starting with the Basic Data Types and Functions and Values pages, which are currently being reviewed by the community.

**Relevant PRs and Activities:**

- **In Progress:**
  - Sets
  - Maps
  - Mutable State / Imperative Programming
- **In Review (internal):**
  - Polymorphic Variants
- **In Review (community):**
  - [Basic Data Types](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1514) (see [Discuss Thread](https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ocaml-org-tutorial-revamping-contd-basic-datatypes/12985))
  - [Functions and Values](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1512) (see [Discuss Thread](https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ocaml-org-tutorial-revamping-cond-values-and-functions/13005))
  - [File Manipulation](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1400) (see [Discuss Thread](https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/help-review-the-new-file-manipulation-tutorial-on-ocaml-org/12638))
- **Published:**
  - [Installing OCaml](https://ocaml.org/docs/installing-ocaml) (see [Discuss Thread](https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/help-revamping-the-getting-started-tutorials-in-ocaml-org/12749))
  - [A Tour Of OCaml](https://ocaml.org/docs/tour-of-ocaml) (see [Discuss Thread](https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/help-revamping-the-getting-started-tutorials-in-ocaml-org/12749))
  - [Your First OCaml Program](https://ocaml.org/docs/your-first-program) (see [Discuss Thread](https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/help-revamping-the-getting-started-tutorials-in-ocaml-org/12749))
  - [Introduction to opam Switches](https://ocaml.org/docs/opam-switch-introduction)
  - [Fix Homebrew Errors on Apple M1](https://ocaml.org/docs/arm64-fix)
  - [Operators](https://ocaml.org/docs/operators)
  - [Error Handling](https://ocaml.org/docs/error-handling) (see [Discuss Thread](https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-new-get-started-documentation-on-ocaml-org/13269))
  - [Arrays](https://ocaml.org/docs/arrays) (see [Discuss Thread](https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/feedback-needed-new-arrays-tutorial-on-ocaml-org/12683))
  - [Sequences](https://ocaml.org/docs/sequences) (see [Discuss Thread](https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/creating-a-tutorial-on-sequences/12091))


## General Improvements

This month, we're welcoming 2 new contributors:
- [@ShalokShalom](https://github.com/ShalokShalom) improved the "Why OCaml?" page - [ocaml/ocaml.org#1516](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1516)
- [@echuber2](https://github.com/echuber2) fixed a broken link to the Editor setup instructions - [ocaml/ocaml.org#1552](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1552)

and welcome contributions from returning contributors:

- [@AshineFoster](https://github.com/AshineFoster) fixed date parse error for news section of the blog -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1503](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1503)
- [@edwintorok](https://github.com/edwintorok) updated XenServer entry on Job board and Industrial Users -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1511](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1511)

Thanks a lot to all the contributors this month! It's lovely to see more and more people making contributions to the site!

**Relevant PRs and Activities:**

- Local blogs on OCaml.org (for now only the opam blog) now have a dedicated RSS feed -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1459](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1459)
- Added an [Is OCaml Web Yet?](https://ocaml.org/docs/is-ocaml-web-yet) page - [ocaml/ocaml.org#1226](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1226)
- Repaired broken links to the extent possible in 17 different files -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1461](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1461), [ocaml/ocaml.org#1515](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1515), and [ocaml/ocaml.org#1520](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1520)
- Change Makefile of the Playground to create a local opam switch (in line with the local switch created by OCaml.org's Makefile) in order to resolve problems with copying the `Stdlib` build artifacts -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1469](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1469)
- A link to an Outreachy blog post has been contributed to the OCaml Planet -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1474](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1474)
- Fixed an issue with Package search on Safari -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1510](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1510)
- Highlighted active link in primary color and increased clickable area for links in mobile main navigation - [ocaml/ocaml.org#1521](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1521)
- Minor improvements on documentation generation. Single new lines in `.md` files were translated to linebreaks by voodoo. Now, voodoo emits space characters for these -- [ocaml-doc/voodoo#119](https://github.com/ocaml-doc/voodoo/pull/119)
- Reduced spacing in package documentation between `.spec` and `.spec-doc` -- [ocaml/ocaml.org#1509](https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml.org/pull/1509)
