[Bf-docboard] About the last e-mails received in the bf-docboard list.

[Roger Wickes]

> In fact, some users shoot off a line at forum, "how do I....?" The answer
> is right there in the manual (which is searchable). I simply help at the
> forum with the relevant page number of the User Manual, so that they can
> help themselves further.
I have developed quite a reputation for that on BA. Teach a man a fish, as 
they say. Others have picked up on this technique, and I think it has cut down 
on the newbie questions on BA and I think search is becoming part of the 
lexicon.
> Having said that, I have also felt that another manual in *Cookbook *style
> may really help the users. Just the UM may not be enough.
BF paid for the Blender Essential book which is exactly the cookbook you 
describe. There is also the 30-minute tutorial/walfkthrough.

The walkthrough is for the casual browser who wants to find out what Blender 
is.

The Essential book should be the resource for someone wanting to learn Blender 
with no experience whatsover and they build their first project. 

Once they at least know the terms, they can use the User Manual to look up 
more info about a particular subject.

If they have a question about a little buttons and dials because they suspect 
it might be what they want, they use the Reference Manual.

If they are broaching a topic for the first time, they need a Tutorial.

The above reasons are why we have the topics we have at the high level in the 
wiki. Maybe this isnt explained well and needs to be in like a README. 
> 
> In wiki, each page starts as a stub, and people add text+images. Others
> edit it directly, or drop comments in Discussion page
> 
The complaint we got was that those stubs stuck around so long that all anyone 
seemed to find when going to the wiki was...a stub. It's like ordering a 
burger from the menu and then the waitress tells you they are out. I would say 
okay to the stub approach as long as it was not integrated into the table of 
contents, or if it was, then denoted somehow as to be just a stub. 


-- 
---Roger
visit my store and info at www.rogerwickes.com