[Bf-docboard] A blender FAQ

[Stefano Selleri]

Hi!

yep, there was no objection to add a FAQ, but I was believing you were
adding a
conventional FAQ... I mean, a FAQ should have questions whose answer is not
clearly evident to anyone simply browsing the documentation/wiki

If I check your page there are true FAQ, some Semi-FAQs and some
totally-non-FAQs

To the first class the 'Errors' question belongs, these are trully question
which aften are found on foruums

To the Semi-FAQ question there are questions whose answer are not
immediately evident in the documentation... but are threre... but which are
worded wrongly.

" How do I make dupliverts and dupliframes objects real?"

Is badly worded... it assumes that who asks already *know* that it is
possible to make dupli reals... a "Is it possible to make dupli reals" would
be better

Or

" What happened to the render daemon?"

Again... it assumes the newbie knows what the render demon *is*... a
"can blender do distributed rendering" would be better

Then there are the totally Non-FAQ, these are fake questions. For an user to
search the Doc or to browse the FAQ is a single action (In my opinion) And
if searching the FAQ leads to the same results that searching the DOC then
the FAQ is useless.

Many of the FAQ you inserted falls in this category

"How do I extrude" is useless, read the manual, there is a sectuion on
Extrude!

" How do I use the screw button?" is useless... you want a How do I use the
XXXX button for every button? Each button is or should be documented in the
manual.

"What is the Sequence Editor?" read the Sequence Editor Chapter!

That was my point I'd love to discuss with you interactively :)

In a nutshell:

1 - FAQ is a great idea
2 - FAQ should be slim, and containing... well FAQs!
3 - Hence, take a little time, browse Elysiun Question forums all of them
     look atround, you will often meet questions to which people answers
     "THis question has already been asked etc. etc."
     Now, this is a possible FAQ!
     Check the doc, is there a simple immediate answer to the question or
must the
     newbe/user check two or more *separate* portion of the doc to get a
complete picture?
     In the second case you have a real FAQ!

     Add it to the wiki (with answer)

Your current project is too wide and tends to be too much a duplicate of the
doc.

Of course, let me repeat it, a FAQ is very welcome and your contribution
too!

Stefano


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alastair Mason" <alabandit at gmail.com>
To: "Blender Documentation Project" <bf-docboard at projects.blender.org>
Sent: Monday, December 05, 2005 10:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Bf-docboard] A blender FAQ


Greetings

Sorry for the delay in responding to emails I have am off-line on
weekends were i'm currantly stationed, will be back on-line full next
week.

S68
1) I cannot access a IRC channel till next week. The network I'm on
does not allow for it, and i really like my job so i'm not going to
force it.

2) I request it to the doc bord on Nov 24, 2005 4:20 PM (GMT +2) an i quote

"Greetings all

     is it their a reason their is no FAQ? can it be add? And where
best to add it?

     Thank you (short and sweet)
     alabandit"

I recieved no coment or responce so I assumed that their was no
objections or that at least nothing that giving a propsoal would be
objected to and give people a beter idear of whats going through my
head and heance the fact that I never post more pages.

If that approach was in correct I appoligise.

LetterRip
I must argee that that amount of updating would be a head ache,
especial on a regular bases. The aim would be to keep answer short
nothing more that 5 lines exept in the case of things not covered by
the the currant documentation (eg. network rendering). The answers
should genrally be link back to the documentation so as long as the
structure is constant minimal up dates will need to be made. The
challenge is alot of new user don't want to read the whole
documentation to find a simple answer, especialy one that is a bit
hidden. Take for instance network rendering, if you search the wiki it
gives 10 results the only one in the documentation that comes close is
a refrences to rendering "Portable Network Graphics", not what i had
in mind.

The layout I'm using, but not sure were to load a demo page, would
allow editing of each question indervidually to aid updating or
correcting.

The offical FAQ is severly date and strong on srtain points and
totally lakes in others. The second link you gave i never found in my
search and will still have to look at in more deapth.

Gene Gordon
I Don't know what you are saying, could please repeat, sorry.

all the best
al
_______________________________________________
Bf-docboard mailing list
Bf-docboard at projects.blender.org
http://projects.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-docboard