The paragraph levels are wrong or inconsistent in many places.<br><br>If we see the entire wiki as a book, then the paragraph levels should reflect their hierarchy (same as the tree on the left).<br>But this is not the case.<br>
<br>This problem has two different patterns:<br><br>1. Wrong level within a page:<br>Many of the topics are given a higher level, although they are actually a sub-topic of the previous topic on the same page.<br>
<br>2. Wrong level across a set of pages:<br>Sometimes a page lists a few techniques.<br>These techniques are elaborated on subsequent pages (typically one technique per page).<br>So, these subsequent pages should be treated as one level below the main page.<br>
Yet all pages start with H1.<br><br>Although these problems are not very apparent with wiki, if the wiki is converted into pdf, this will create a weird hierarchy of topics. <br><br><br>Regards,<br>Narayan<br> <br><br><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 7:35 AM, Cal McGaugh <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:cal@cal3d.com" target="_blank">cal@cal3d.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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Hi Keston,
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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
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wiki more in the past.....I find the current formatting very distracting, and difficult to extract & understand
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the relevant info of the page.
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So I took the liberty to remove most of the template code to see how it would look.
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e.g. "Description", "Options", "Usage" etc, the in-line button images, numbering each heading (1.2.1.2 etc),
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and the large darker boxes (at least in the Naiad skin version).
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They are un-necessary, and in fact, counter-productive to useability, imho.
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I showed this to Jim Tucker and he seemed to think it was an improvement.
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Here is the current version of this page using templates
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<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>
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And this is the one that I edited by removing most of the templates.
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<a href="http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Megacal" target="_blank">http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/User:Megacal</a>
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I kept the relevant headings with their font size & bolding, also bulleted points. The rest was redundant and distracting......at least for me, and
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I think for many others as well.
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Not only would it make the pages easier to use, it makes it easier to create & edit if we aren't constrained to use
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the templates. This does not mean that pages would become inconsistant.....the style should always be consistant.
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<span>"The main purpose of wiki maintenance is to ensure that the content of each page provides the user with a clear,</span>
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<span>concise and up-to-date description of the Blender function in the current version. Over and above this, the page</span>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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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
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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.
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There's a good primer on website useability,
<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">Don't Make Me Think</a>, and I believe the same idea makes sense for the wiki, too.
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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.
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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. =)
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Whatever you think is best, I'll abide with it.
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Thanks,
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Cal
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