Make Telemetry page more visible

[thegatesdev]

Currently, Astro CLI telemetry is mentioned in two places: the main website footer, and the CLI when getting started with Astro.
It's very easy to miss this feature, for example for people looking at the Astro docs without actually using it. I personally installed Astro a long while ago, and missed the telemetry message (or just ignored it).
The page should be linked from more pages, for example the installation page and possibly the CLI reference.

[ArmandPhilippot]

The CLI reference already have a link to the Telemetry page, under astro telemetry. But I guess it could makes sense to have a link on the Install Astro page. Not sure where. Maybe in Install from the CLI Wizard, with something like:

The Astro CLI collects by default anonymous data about general usage. For more information about these data or how to opt out, see [Astro’s telemetry page](https://astro.build/telemetry/).

[sarah11918]

This line seems good, but again, I'm trying to figure out the best place for this. I don't want it to be too distracting right at initial project set up.

And, telemetry is collected on actions like dev, build, preview, and the message is shown the first time you start the dev server, so I wonder whether in fact a note on the develop and build page, like where we say "Start the dev server" makes sense?

We could mention that the first time you start the dev server for a new project, you'll see... it won't show up again, but you can disable at any time...

I wonder if it might be more relevant here? Because info isn't going to be collected until you start the dev server?

[ArmandPhilippot]

I didn't recall when the message was displayed, so yes, I think your idea makes more sense!

That's said, after your other comment, I'm also a bit torn. And, that's why I was mute. I'm not sure what we should do here. Your reasoning makes sense (ie. "this is more like a privacy policy than docs content"), but in another hand I also get Tim's point of view as a user that values privacy... I think this is a tricky subject because this is both a matter of point of view and trust.

I checked Discord, and the question doesn't seem to come up often (~3 times in 1,5years, I didn't go any further). So, it doesn't seem to bother many people...

I think it makes sense to document it because this is part of the product behavior. And, we do it in the CLI page. So, maybe that's enough? The page is not hidden, typing telemetry in the search box gives the right section and a link to the Telemetry page for more information... Anyone can easily find it. Even in the code repo: searching for "telemetry", the second result is a README page stating "It can be disabled in Astro using one of the methods documented below:".

But if we want to add it in another place to make it more visible, your suggestion makes sense I think!

(Fun fact, I've never disabled Astro telemetry unlike other tools... 👀 )

[sarah11918]

Yes, this is in part why I've also not known how to proceed with this. 😄

I checked both Next.js and Nuxt, and both of them pretty much document the way we do: it's referenced alongside other CLI commands, and their more info link is to a specific /telemetry/ page from their marketing site. So, I think what we already have is pretty standard?

[sarah11918]

Yeah, I'm torn here, because it is shown on the CLI reference page with its own section header already, and therefore already has a great search hit in docs for anyone looking. It also has a full page of its own on the main site.

Telemetry is more like a privacy policy than docs content. We document the CLI command and options, and we show the message for every new project. But much like you make your privacy policy available and easy to get to, it's not something you typically put in someone's face while documenting other things/steps. We don't hide it, and I'm not sure we're responsible for making it any more visible. It's honestly super helpful information for us (it tells us which integrations are highly used, or not, so we can prioritize development or know how disruptive a change might be etc.) It helps us make Astro better.

(This does also feel a bit like slapping a post-it note up when there is a proper place for this documentation, and it's already there. And you know how I dislike doing that. 😄 )

[thegatesdev]

I mostly agree, and personally have no problem with the telemetry itself (I have it turned on).
My issue is that I read through most of the docs, but had never even heard of telemetry.
I never had the need to look at the Reference section for CLI commands, as the Introduction and Guides all have CLI examples that make it self explanatory.
(Do tell me if I'm incorrect in my assumption that there are people that care about privacy enough to disable telemetry, but would not actively look for it when starting to use software)