Re: dia outline

[Kevin Breit <battery841 mypad com>]

On Mon, Sep 04, 2000 at 09:59:13AM -0600, John Fleck wrote:
> I think the new Dia outline is a terrific start in the right direction. But I
> don't think it goes far enough.
> 
> It's hard for me to judge it without seeing in more detail how the
> introductory "Quick Start" section will play out, but it seems as
> though you have substituted the program's functional structure
> (Canvas, Objects, Selecting Objects, etc.) for the UI's functional
> structure (the way we used to do it) as an organizational principal 
> for the doc. I agree that we need to move away from the UI. But I
> think you need to take this one step further, and organize the doc, at
> least an expanded version of the "Quick Start", in terms of the *task*
> as the organizational principal.
Like Dan Mueth told me, the QuickStart section is almost more of a marketing
tool than not.  It'll show a sexy screenshot, a quick intro on howto use Dia,
what you can create in 5 minutes, and you're set.  That's about it.
> 
> So instead of:
> 
> QuickStart
>  (brief description - "This section shows you how to get started
>   using Dia to make ...".  This also shows off Dia's features
>   and pretty screenshots.)
>  +Creating a Canvas
>  +Making a Diagram
>  +Saving and Printing Your Diagram
>  +Using Dia for Real-Life Applications
> 
> I would do something like:
> 
> QuickStart
>  +Using Dia for Real-Life Applications
> 	+ set up a very concrete, very simple example of a job you'd use Dia to do
> 		+ define problem
> 		+ show screenshot of completed diagram
> Then, use your example to step them through the following:
>  +Creating a Canvas
>  +Making a Diagram
>  +Saving and Printing Your Diagram
> 
Hmmm...what yawls think of this?
Kevin
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