<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div> I still don't know why Houdini documentation is <br>considered sometimes ''the best'' documentation.<br><br> I don't think so...<br><br> I know that there is no way to avoid such critics, but, in fact <br>
our documentation project (in a sense of completion) <br>surpasses the Houdini documentation project <br><br> Houdini documentation is guided to ask support for a teacher first <br> ours is guided for people whose wanna read the manual and <br>
start using Blender<br><br> But I agree, the lines are mixed in most of our manual <br><br> I mean, technical documentation is sometimes mixed with tutorials.<br> The difference should be technical examples from tutorial examples <br>
<br> This is hard to achieve in some situations, but it's possible.<br> I still believe that we have a good documentation project <br>at our hands, but needing a format normalization and updates<br> <br>I also have tried to see what happens when we try to <br>
export Houdini or Autodesk manuals to PDF formats.<br><br>No way !<br><br></div>We are at IRC #blenderwiki everyday ! ;)<br><br></div>Ivan Paulos Tomé<br></div>Greylica - My brain is grey like yours !<br><div><div><br><div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2013/1/11 <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bf-docboard-request@blender.org" target="_blank">bf-docboard-request@blender.org</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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Today's Topics:<br>
<br>
1. Suggestions to improve wiki useability (Cal McGaugh)<br>
2. Re: Suggestions to improve wiki useability (Cal McGaugh)<br>
3. Re: Suggestions to improve wiki useability (Jared Reisweber)<br>
<br>
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----------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
Message: 1<br>
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2013 21:05:49 -0500 (EST)<br>
From: Cal McGaugh <<a href="mailto:cal@cal3d.com">cal@cal3d.com</a>><br>
Subject: [Bf-docboard] Suggestions to improve wiki useability<br>
To: <a href="mailto:bf-docboard@blender.org">bf-docboard@blender.org</a><br>
Message-ID:<br>
<<a href="mailto:265802886.900634.1357869949630.JavaMail.open-xchange@email.1and1.com">265802886.900634.1357869949630.JavaMail.open-xchange@email.1and1.com</a>><br>
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<br>
Hi Keston,<br>
<br>
As I began to look closely at the current pages that Jim assigned me to edit<br>
(Sketching) , I realized why I hadn't been using the<br>
wiki more in the past.....I find the current formatting very distracting, and<br>
difficult to extract & understand<br>
the relevant info of the page.<br>
<br>
So I took the liberty to remove most of the template code to see how it would<br>
look.<br>
e.g. "Description", "Options", "Usage" etc, the in-line button images,<br>
numbering each heading (1.2.1.2 etc),<br>
and the large darker boxes (at least in the Naiad skin version).<br>
<br>
They are un-necessary, and in fact, counter-productive to useability, imho.<br>
<br>
I showed this to Jim Tucker and he seemed to think it was an improvement.<br>
<br>
Here is the current version of this page using templates<br>
<a href="http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/3D_interaction/Sketching/Drawing" target="_blank">http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/3D_interaction/Sketching/Drawing</a><br>
<br>
And this is the one that I edited by removing most of the templates.<br>
<a href="http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Megacal" target="_blank">http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Megacal</a><br>
<br>
I kept the relevant headings with their font size & bolding, also bulleted<br>
points. The rest was redundant and distracting......at least for me, and<br>
I think for many others as well.<br>
<br>
Not only would it make the pages easier to use, it makes it easier to create &<br>
edit if we aren't constrained to use<br>
the templates. This does not mean that pages would become inconsistant.....the<br>
style should always be consistant.<br>
<br>
"The main purpose of wiki maintenance is to ensure that the content of each page<br>
provides the user with a clear,<br>
concise and up-to-date description of the Blender function in the current<br>
version. Over and above this, the page<br>
should conform with the User Manual context (see below) so that we keep a<br>
uniform User Manual layout." ....should always be the standard.<br>
<br>
I'd also like to propose doing a user poll at Blenderartists.org (if you think<br>
it would be productive and help to improve useability) to ask if:<br>
<br>
* Do you use the wiki?<br>
* How often % vs videos and/or books?<br>
* Do you have any suggestions for improving it so you would use it more?<br>
* What do you think of this page vs this page? (the current version vs my<br>
proposed version).<br>
BTW, I didn't realize until after I had started the editing that Fade had<br>
already started working on the Sketching pages.......I tried to contact him/her<br>
to see if they wanted to finish<br>
alone, with my help, or would want me to finish the pages....no reply , so am<br>
not publishing the pages yet, though did submit it to Jim for review.<br>
<br>
There's a good primer on website useability, Don't Make Me Think<br>
<<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357869508&sr=8-1&keywords=book+don%27t+make+me+think" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357869508&sr=8-1&keywords=book+don%27t+make+me+think</a>><br>
, and I believe the same idea makes sense for the wiki, too.<br>
<br>
I was going to post this at the doc-board, but wanted to get your Ok first. It<br>
may have even already been proposed years ago.....I'm still wet behind the ears<br>
here & in Blender.<br>
<br>
If you do think it's worth pursuing, I'd even be willing to limit my editing to<br>
cleaning up all the current pages.......it would be a good project to keep me<br>
off the streets. =)<br>
<br>
Whatever you think is best, I'll abide with it.<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
Cal<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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Message: 2<br>
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2013 21:11:19 -0500 (EST)<br>
From: Cal McGaugh <<a href="mailto:cal@cal3d.com">cal@cal3d.com</a>><br>
Subject: Re: [Bf-docboard] Suggestions to improve wiki useability<br>
To: <a href="mailto:bf-docboard@blender.org">bf-docboard@blender.org</a><br>
Message-ID:<br>
<<a href="mailto:819456442.900796.1357870279158.JavaMail.open-xchange@email.1and1.com">819456442.900796.1357870279158.JavaMail.open-xchange@email.1and1.com</a>><br>
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<br>
Well this is embarrassing......meant it only for Keston for now......my<br>
apologies.<br>
<br>
But would appreciate any feedback from the group as well.<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
Cal McGaugh (noob)<br>
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Message: 3<br>
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2013 22:54:43 -0800<br>
From: Jared Reisweber <<a href="mailto:jaredr122@gmail.com">jaredr122@gmail.com</a>><br>
Subject: Re: [Bf-docboard] Suggestions to improve wiki useability<br>
To: Cal McGaugh <<a href="mailto:cal@cal3d.com">cal@cal3d.com</a>>, Blender Documentation Project<br>
<<a href="mailto:bf-docboard@blender.org">bf-docboard@blender.org</a>><br>
Message-ID:<br>
<<a href="mailto:CAJgraRReQ3qX57HxF8_BNn-WQ_7j8D24ozcL2QZH8yhLgF68dg@mail.gmail.com">CAJgraRReQ3qX57HxF8_BNn-WQ_7j8D24ozcL2QZH8yhLgF68dg@mail.gmail.com</a>><br>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"<br>
<br>
I'd like to chime in, as an editor who has seen a lot of wiki pages,<br>
I don't completely agree with your level of simplification, but I agree<br>
that some of the wiki formatting is distracting and hard to read. I think<br>
the bigger problem is the inconsistency of the use of formatting, which<br>
stems from the fact that there is no real standard for the way pages are<br>
formatted (for example, when to use bullets, or what should be bold, or<br>
when to make a sub-heading). I think we should decide on some standards<br>
that would encompass anything that would be in the manual.<br>
<br>
The second problem is the actual formatting. It is hard to read. I had<br>
suggested to Kesten about the use of indentation, which is fairy common in<br>
documentation that I've seen. I also am in favor of color formatting(see<br>
Autodesk's documentation). I think in addition to standardizing formatting,<br>
we need to revise the formatting style so that it makes pages easier to<br>
read and understand. I'm thinking these things should be discussed<br>
thoroughly before going and changing all the manual pages.<br>
<br>
Here are some examples from Houdini's documentation, which is easy to read:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini11.0/model/polys" target="_blank">http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini11.0/model/polys</a><br>
<a href="http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini11.0/light/shadows" target="_blank">http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini11.0/light/shadows</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 6:11 PM, Cal McGaugh <<a href="mailto:cal@cal3d.com">cal@cal3d.com</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
> **<br>
> Well this is embarrassing......meant it only for Keston for now......my<br>
> apologies.<br>
><br>
> But would appreciate any feedback from the group as well.<br>
><br>
> Thanks,<br>
> Cal McGaugh (noob)<br>
><br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
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