<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>I explained my view on the subject a few days ago. To summarize:<br><br></div>-There should be both a manual AND a reference.<br></div>-Manual sections should be pretty much the same there are now (modeling, rendering, rigging, animation,...)<br></div>-Reference sections should be broken, into editors.<br></div>-Manual can then link to information in the reference.<br></div>-The current "editors" section in the manual doesn't make any sense, as this is exactly the Blender reference.<br><br></div>I emphasize the need to set up a team asap, and start meetings and decisions, assignments and deadlines. Otherwise, I feel the blender documentation discussion as a chronic incurable disease.<br><br></div><div>I'm not just pointing out what you should do. I'm also offering my help in whatever you need.<br></div><div><br></div>Regards.<br><br></div>Pep.<br><div><div><div><div><br><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">2015-01-25 4:03 GMT+08:00 Wim Teuling <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:wfteuling@yahoo.com" target="_blank">wfteuling@yahoo.com</a>></span>:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div style="color:#000;background-color:#fff;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><div>A reference manual is a great idea: every other manual I read or worked with is exactly that: a place to quickly find information how to use a particular tool. No fluff, and focused. Once users know the terminology and basic usage principles, this should enable them to look for tutorials.<br></div><div><br></div><div> A reference manual, however, requires an solid and robust structure, and should offer a good search function. This is currently not the case with Blender's manual, or at least only partly true, unfortunately.<br></div><div><br></div><div dir="ltr">A basic search for "selection", or "selection methods" results in a useless search result. Trying to find "selection" as a category in the current manual structure yields nothing! I would expect that to be part of "Basics" under "Getting Started".</div><div><div class="h5"><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div><span></span></div> <div><br><br></div><div style="display:block"> <div style="font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;font-size:13px"> <div style="font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;font-size:16px"> <div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial"> On Saturday, January 24, 2015 5:20 AM, Greg Zaal <<a href="mailto:gregzzmail@gmail.com">gregzzmail@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br> </font> </div> <blockquote style="border-left:2px solid rgb(16,16,255);margin-left:5px;margin-top:5px;padding-left:5px"> <br><br> <div><div><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div>I'd agree - a reference manual seems like a much more easily reached target. I myself would prefer to have a good reference available than a guided manual.<br clear="none"><br clear="none"></div>It would definitely make maintenance simpler, and would be easier to write since it requires less teaching and language skills than a guided manual.<br clear="none"><br clear="none"></div>If people still wish to write tutorials and in-depth examples, these can be done elsewhere (personal wiki pages, forums, blogs, etc) and linked to from the manual. This is already done occasionally, for example the array modifier (<a rel="nofollow" shape="rect">http://blender.org/manual/modifiers/generate/array.html#tutorials</a>) links to some external resources.<br clear="none"></div><div><div><br clear="none"><div>On 24 January 2015 at 08:56, Campbell Barton <span dir="ltr"><<a rel="nofollow" shape="rect">ideasman42@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br clear="none"><blockquote style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">It was suggested by @el_diablo that we might consider restricting the<br clear="none">
manual to being a reference manual.<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
see:<br clear="none">
<a rel="nofollow" shape="rect">http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?360263-Blender-User-Manual-Official-Call-for-Help!&p=2803818&viewfull=1#post2803818</a><br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
This doesn't mean we have to make this simply lists of button<br clear="none">
descriptions, we should still make this text for users and give some<br clear="none">
guidance (usage info and tips).<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
Examples of pages I'd consider reasonable for a 'reference manual'<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
- <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect">https://www.blender.org/manual/modeling/meshes/editing/subdividing/knife_subdivide.html</a><br clear="none">
- <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect">https://www.blender.org/manual/modifiers/generate/solidify.html</a><br clear="none">
- <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect">https://www.blender.org/manual/getting_started/basics/interface/buttons_and_controls.html</a><br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
This means we wouldn't attempt anything like tutorials or howto's.<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
The main reasons I suggest this is...<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
- So far we only have a small group of active writers.<br clear="none">
- This is what the manual is for the mostpart anyway.<br clear="none">
- The few tutorials from the wiki were OK (at best),<br clear="none">
... Youtube, blender.stackexchange & dedicated tutorial sites are far<br clear="none">
better suited to helping users with spesific interests.<br clear="none">
- This is something developers can keep up tp date when functionality<br clear="none">
is changed, without giving us pages of text to maintain.<br clear="none">
<span><font color="#888888"><br clear="none">
--<br clear="none">
- Campbell<br clear="none">
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