<div dir="ltr"><div>I read the entire wiki prior to downloading v2.72a. It did not prepare me for using the software and these days I do not regard it as my first resource when I need to know anything. </div><div><br></div><div>I don't know if it is practical to tackle all the problems I see with the documentation, and I don't know if others share my opinion, but here are some ideas which may or may not have merit.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>The wiki contains entire sections of verbatim copies. </div><div>Many of the screenshots are pre- 2.5</div><div>It lacks organization.</div><div>It lacks consistency.</div><div>It is sometimes wrong.</div><div>Many commands are not listed or left blank.</div><div>It is often written in a way that only someone who already understands the subject would understand it.</div><div>It often lists all the variable in a command without explaining what the command does or why you would use it.</div><div><br></div><div>Tackling these deficiencies would be a major task.</div><div><br></div><div>That task starts with tools tips and error messages which are part of the documentation of software. Many of these are redundant or misleading. </div><div>(Examples in v2.73a...</div><div>Box filter : Tooltip: "Applies the box filter" . It could read "Fast but inaccurate")</div><div><br></div><div>(Applying modifier to bone: Having selected a bone the error message says, "Can only be applied to bones" when it could say, "Change to pose mode before applying modifier")</div><div><br></div><div>(Unwrapping UV map: Eror message says "Model uses inconsistent scaling factors" when it could give the instructions for setting scale to 1 to get a better map)</div><div><br></div><div>A useful manual obviously needs to be accurate, but it also needs to be organized. Here are some ideas:</div><div><br></div><div>Multiple hyperlinked lists of commands:</div><div>1) Alphabetical</div><div>2) By Mode in which they are available</div><div>3) By the kind of task they relate to.</div><div>4) By shortcut</div><div>Those lists just link to a page that contains the function set-out in a standard way with a header that includes links back to all of those lists plus a note of related topics for further reading.</div><div><br></div><div>Two interlinked sections one of which is that standardized page per function setting out:</div><div>Name of function</div><div>Brief description of what it does (avoiding repeating the name of the function)</div><div>Brief description of when to use it</div><div>Brief description of how to use it.</div><div>Then links to details of the above.</div><div><br></div><div>On each such page it is easy to click to contents lists and to 'related commands' and 'further reading'</div><div>Plus a note of the version of Blender that the information is based on.</div><div><br></div><div>The other would be organised more by activities but cross-indexed to the above.</div><div><br></div><div>There is a way of helping to teach basic navigation of the 3D view- by making the default set-up include those instructions as text visible in the 3d window together with large numbers representing the number keypad.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>One of the great challenges in manuals is finding persons who understand the software, but who can write for someone who does not.</div><div><br></div><div>I hope that I have not offended anyone with this list of comments. I would like to see better documentation for this powerful and at times delightful software.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 12 January 2015 at 09:41, brita <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:britalmeida@gmail.com" target="_blank">britalmeida@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_extra">Hi,</div><div class="gmail_extra">only Doc2.6/Manual got deprecated in favor of manual, all the other namespaces are kept as usual. For example the Extensions namespace, for addons, exists just the same:</div><div class="gmail_extra"><a href="http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts" target="_blank">http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts</a><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">Same goes for the Dev pages, the Ref and the new user's personal space pages.</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">The new manual is really just supposed to replace the Manual, think of it as the new thing for the 2.7x series.</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">Inês Almeida / brita_</div></div>
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