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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">So I made some test pages with a few of
the suggestions people have been making. I'm aware it's only a few
of the possibilities ;-)<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Fade/Doc:2.6/format_test1">http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Fade/Doc:2.6/format_test1</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Fade/Doc:2.6/format_test2">http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Fade/Doc:2.6/format_test2</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Fade/Doc:2.6/format_test3">http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Fade/Doc:2.6/format_test3</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Fade/Doc:2.6/format_test4">http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Fade/Doc:2.6/format_test4</a> <br>
<br>
One thing I noticed regarding the UI term/options on its own line
suggestion that Jared made below is that it's very dependant on
window width. I tried this on the test3 and test4 pages for the
Drawing Settings section of the Shared Grease Pencil Settings bit.
It looks good when the centre column is reasonably narrow (~1000px
wide), but looks very awkward when viewed fullscreen (1920x1080).
<br>
<br>
I look the look of test4 the best, but only when the centre column
is narrow. test2 works better for me overall since it reads
easier when the center column is both wide and narrow. I'm in two
minds about the 3-column layout at the moment, I like the look but
find that I never use the links on the right and left hand sides.
The left hand side is only useful when you know where you're going
(and it's slower than just going back to the main page). Likewise
for the right hand side, I don't think I've ever clicked on
anything there. It's quicker to scan the page for the headings.<br>
<br>
Regarding links: agree on the brighter blue. Plus I'm also in
favour of having the links visibly separate from the text to help
them stand out further. <br>
<br>
Lastly, Cal's mentioned the numbers for the headings, but I've
never seen these on the wiki (using Firefox 17.0.1 on Arch Linux).
Does anyone know what the expected behaviour is for mediawiki?<br>
<br>
Regards<br>
Fade<br>
<br>
On 13/01/13 03:51, Jared Reisweber wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAJgraRTpKpSDJEXLB4cNpfXfvmB+LbexukrxuCN7sB9EpxoL6A@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">Here are my suggestions for improved formatting:<br>
<br>
<ul>
<li>Literals: UI items should be <b>bold, </b>or <b><i>bold+italic</i></b>).
Bold stands out better than <i>italic </i>alone<br>
</li>
<li>Links: brighter blue to help them stand out</li>
<li>Indent text/headings under ==heading 2== to better separate
sections.</li>
<li>Increase size of ==heading 2== to make it more separate from
===heading 3===</li>
<li>Add a bar/background color to headings ?<br>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Recommendations for consistent formatting:<br>
</p>
<ul>
<li>One =heading 1= per page, as recommended in the Mediawiki
documentation</li>
<li>Describe UI items/options with a clear separation between
the word and the description</li>
<ul>
<li>Term on its own line, and the decsriptions on next line,
indented</li>
<li><u>Not bulleted</u>. Visually interferes with the word
itself, and is consistent with most of the manual and other
manuals<br>
</li>
</ul>
<li>Bullets are only for examples/lists of things</li>
<li>Numbered lists for explanation of steps</li>
<li>Omit unnecessary sub-headings, like ==Description==. (It
should be assumed that what is written is a description).<br>
</li>
</ul>
<br>
I did a quick mock up a page style idea. SImple, but I think
effective. Open to feedback:<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.artofjared.com/content/wikiFormatting.html"
target="_blank">http://www.artofjared.com/content/wikiFormatting.html</a><br>
<br>
To answer your question Cal, I felt that it was maybe too
simplified. I think removing unnecessary sub-headings is good, but
not all of them, Also, I think UI items should remain formatted. I
have mixed feelings about boxes/RefBoxes. They are ugly, but do
serve an important function. Maybe they could be reworked into
something better looking, but not removed. I agree that
simplification is good, but we shouldn't over simplify.<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 4:20 PM, Fade <span
dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:fade_docboard_blender@ymail.com"
target="_blank">fade_docboard_blender@ymail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<div>Hi Docboard,<br>
<br>
Apologies for the delay. I've been out of state on
holidays for the last few days and have only just checked
my mail.<br>
<br>
Cal: I'm going to be working on the Sketching/Drawing page
for the next few hours so what I'll do is merge your work
and mine into what I've done so far at the below link.
I'll let you know when I'm done and then we can see if
anything else needs to be added and we can add in Jim's
comments from your work.<br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Fade/Doc:2.6/Manual/3D_interaction/Sketching/Drawing"
target="_blank">http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Fade/Doc:2.6/Manual/3D_interaction/Sketching/Drawing</a><br>
<br>
Apologies too as I forgot to put a note on the Drawing
page that I was going to propose merging the
Sketching/Drawing pages together (I have done the page to
reflect this).<br>
<br>
I'm happy to help with a formatting/layout review. To kick
it off, once I've finished the Sketching/Drawing page
today, I'll duplicate it a few times and use it as a test
for some layout/formatting tests as there's enough
elements in there to have a bit of a play with. I'll post
back in a day or so with the links and some thoughts.<br>
<br>
Regards<span><font color="#888888"><br>
Fade</font></span>
<div>
<div><br>
<br>
On 11/01/13 12:05, Cal McGaugh wrote:<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<div>
<div> Hi Keston, </div>
<div> </div>
<div> As I began to look closely at the current pages
that Jim assigned me to edit (Sketching) , I
realized why I hadn't been using the </div>
<div> wiki more in the past.....I find the current
formatting very distracting, and difficult to
extract & understand </div>
<div> the relevant info of the page. </div>
<div> </div>
<div> So I took the liberty to remove most of the
template code to see how it would look. </div>
<div> e.g. "Description", "Options", "Usage" etc,
the in-line button images, numbering each heading
(1.2.1.2 etc), </div>
<div> and the large darker boxes (at least in the
Naiad skin version). </div>
<div> </div>
<div> They are un-necessary, and in fact,
counter-productive to useability, imho. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div> I showed this to Jim Tucker and he seemed to
think it was an improvement. </div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div> Here is the current version of this page using
templates </div>
<div> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
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>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div> And this is the one that I edited by removing
most of the templates. </div>
<div> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Megacal"
target="_blank">http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Megacal</a>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div> I kept the relevant headings with their font
size & bolding, also bulleted points. The rest
was redundant and distracting......at least for
me, and </div>
<div> I think for many others as well. </div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div> Not only would it make the pages easier to use,
it makes it easier to create & edit if we aren't
constrained to use </div>
<div> the templates. This does not mean that pages
would become inconsistant.....the style should
always be consistant. </div>
<div> </div>
<div> <span>"The main purpose of wiki maintenance is
to ensure that the content of each page provides
the user with a clear,</span> </div>
<div> <span>concise and up-to-date description of the
Blender function in the current version. Over and
above this, the page</span> </div>
<div> <span> should conform with the User Manual
context (see below) so that we keep a uniform User
Manual layout." ....should always be the
standard. </span> </div>
<div> <span> </span> </div>
<div> <span>I'd also like to propose doing a user
poll at Blenderartists.org (if you think it would
be productive and help to improve useability) to
ask if: </span> </div>
<div> <span> </span> </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span>Do you use the wiki? </span></li>
<li>How often % vs videos and/or books?</li>
<li>Do you have any suggestions for improving it
so you would use it more? </li>
<li>What do you think of this page vs this page?
(the current version vs my proposed version). </li>
</ul>
<div> BTW, I didn't realize until after I had
started the editing that Fade had already started
working on the Sketching pages.......I tried to
contact him/her to see if they wanted to finish </div>
<div> alone, with my help, or would want me to
finish the pages....no reply , so am not
publishing the pages yet, though did submit it to
Jim for review. </div>
<div> </div>
<div> There's a good primer on website useability, <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
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">Don't Make Me Think</a>, and I
believe the same idea makes sense for the wiki,
too. </div>
<div> </div>
<div> I was going to post this at the doc-board, but
wanted to get your Ok first. It may have even
already been proposed years ago.....I'm still wet
behind the ears here & in Blender. </div>
<div> </div>
<div> If you do think it's worth pursuing, I'd even
be willing to limit my editing to cleaning up all
the current pages.......it would be a good project
to keep me off the streets. =) </div>
<div> </div>
<div> Whatever you think is best, I'll abide with
it. </div>
<div> </div>
<div> Thanks, </div>
<div> Cal </div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div> <span> </span> </div>
<div> <span> </span> </div>
<div> <span> </span> </div>
<div> <span> </span> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
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