[Bf-docboard] The whole enchilada

[Alexander Ewering]

Hi,

not a regular on this list, but I just stumbled over a particular "User
manual" page on Google and I just wanted to point out something which is -
in my opinion - an issue.

See the following page:

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Manual/Render_Passes

I was wondering if this is supposed to be the style of a rather technical
manual, and if there is an overall binding "style guide" concerning 
writing style.

Whoever wrote this manual page is a great comedian, and he probably also
knows Blender pretty well, but I'm not sure if something like "The whole
enchilada" "including the kitchen sink" is an appropriate description of the
combined renderpass.
Most non-native English speakers won't know Spanglish slang like "Enchilada"
(I'm a lucky exception), and on the whole, 50% of the text on this page is
comedy and not at all helpful in a technical way.

I know this whole "A manual needs to be entertaining" speak. However, I
suppose a style like this is better suited for a "Beginner's tutorial guide
to Blender", and not for a reference manual, which this is - I suppose -
meant to be.
If I want to research an actual topic (this time, I actually wanted to
research how to make materials not cast shadows and still be visible to
raytraced lights), I don't want to read funny jokes about bosses - I would
like to find the information I need, as quickly as possible, in order to
continue my project.

But well, this is just a random little pointer. I do not mean to insult the
author at all. Really. But I don't think this is the right style for a
technical manual.

| alexander ewering              instinctive mediaworks
| xx-mail.com/instinctive     http://www.instinctive.de