[Bf-docboard] Manual, reference and editors section

[Pep Ribal]

Hi guys,

I think there is something wrong with the 'Editors' section. I don't
mean it shouldn't exist. In fact, I think it's a very important piece
of information. The problem is it shouldn't be where it is, IMHO. I
think this section is, in fact, no other thing than the 'Blender
Reference'.

* Why shouldn't it be where it is?

- Because it repeats stuff. We would end up with a manual full of redundancy.
- Because it's confusing: it divides Blender in a different way than
the other sections do. You cannot say: «I'll study phisics, then
animation, and later editors».

* Why should it be placed anywhere else?

- Because it's a very important piece of information.
- Because it forms in itself a Blender Reference, which the manual can
take advantage of (I agree with greylica about the reference
supporting the manual).

So my suggestion is: create a Blender Reference, and move the
'Editors' section there. Actually, this wouldn't be just one section
in the Reference; instead, each editor would be a section in itself.
Besides summaryzing every aspect of every editor in Blender, what
other stuff should a Reference provide? Not much more, I think (if
any). Each editor should have these sub-sections:

    - Editor functionality (keyboard/mouse)
    - Sidebars
    - Menus
    - Header buttons

I think that would cover pretty much it.

So I think there shouldn't be anyone with the section 'Editors'
assigned. But then...

* Who would write those Reference Sections?

I'm glad you asked that. Writers should have assigned a manual section
AND the most relevant editors related to that section. This makes a
lot of sense. In the first place, because the writer creates the
redundancy manual-reference, which means information will be more
consistent and we are reducing the possibility of contradictions
manual-reference. In the second place, because the writer who wrote
the reference of a specific editor will know more than anyone about
its contents, and so he/she will be able to create appropriate
supporting links in the manual («for more information, se...» stuff).

And this way we create a manual and a reference together, and we can
end up with a beautiful manual and reference at the same time.

* Any other question?

No.

Thanks ;)

Pep.