Re: Latest Scrollkeeper categories

[Eric Baudais <baudais kkpsi org>]

On Thu, 2002-07-11 at 13:09, Eugene O'Connor wrote:
> Hi Eric,
> 
> I think Yelp is intended to be an access point for all manuals, rather
> than task-oriented help. Also, the items in the Actions menu are not
> really programs (or they'd be in the Applications menu).
> 
> Because they are not programs, only one of the five items in the Actions
> menu has a manual (Search Tool). The others are all documented in the
> User Guide (Take a Screenshot will be there for 2.0.1). I don't think
> the items on the Actions menu are complex enough to require separate
> manuals, so I don't think we need a separate Actions category.

A category does not need to contain full manuals.  The point of adding
categories to Scrollkeeper is to help the user easily find the
documentation to each program.  The user doesn't care, nor should they,
about the distinction about whether an item is a program or not.  They
don't even care if the manual is a part of the User's Guide or another
manual.  All they know is where in the menu the program they are having
trouble with is located.

> I agree that it'll be a little more difficult to get to the information
> on these topics, but I think Desktop > Users Guide is a reasonable
> location for them. Also, in the future, the index/search facility will
> make finding this information easier.

With the above in mind, I don't think a user will have the patience to
go and look all over Yelp to find the help for programs (or desktop
components) in the Action menu.  I agree that the User's Guide is a
reasonable location to put the help for these parts of GNOME, but I
think it is unreasonable for the users to search extensively through
Yelp to find the help for a "desktop component" (aka program) which is
so conveniently located in the Actions menu, but hidden in the User's
Guide.

The point of documentation and end user help is to make the user quickly
find the solution to the problem they are facing.  This shouldn't entail
browsing through over a hundred page manual, like Sun provided in the
twentieth century.  Our docs should be easy to locate and I believe that
adding the Action category is a easy way to improve the usability and
time it takes to locate the appropriate help documentation.

Eric Baudais

> Eric Baudais wrote:
> > 
> > Since you are trying to follow the desktop menus so users can locate
> > help docs, I believe you should add the following category:
> > 
> > * Actions
> > 
> > There are programs in this menu which are unique to the other parts of
> > the system.  Mainly they are the screenshooter, the run dialog, the
> > logout dialog and the lock display dialog.  Without this category I feel
> > I would have a hard time finding the documentation for these parts of
> > the GNOME desktop.
> > 
> > Eric Baudais
> > 
> > On Wed, 2002-07-10 at 18:35, Eugene O'Connor wrote:
> > > Here are the latest Scrollkeeper categories:
> > > * Accessibility
> > > * Applets
> > >   - Accessories
> > >   - Amusements
> > >   - Internet
> > >   - Multimedia
> > >   - Utility
> > > * Applications
> > >   - Accessories
> > >   - Desktop Preferences
> > >   - Games
> > >   - Graphics
> > >   - Internet
> > >   - Office
> > >   - Programming
> > >   - Sound and Video
> > >   - System Tools
> > >     Nautilus File Manager
> > > * Desktop
> > >   - Glossary
> > >   - Users Guide
> > > * Preferences
> > > * System Administration
> > >
> > > Please note the following:
> > >
> > > 1. The idea of changing the Scrollkeeper categories is to make them consistent
> > > with the Applications menu and the Add to Panel menu, so that users can follow
> > > the same path to find a manual that they use to find an application or applet.
> > > 2. Some documents will be linked to from more than one location in the category
> > > list. For example, the desktop preferences information will be linked from
> > > Applications > Desktop Preferences and Preferences.
> > > 3. It would be great to get all manuals into the new categories for 2.0.1. To
> > > get your manuals into the new categories, you will need to update your OMFs. If
> > > you cannot do that by Wednesday 17 July, let me know and I will try to make this
> > > change for you. Please send me the CVS location of your OMF.
> > > 4. Sun is going to add the new categories and retain the old ones. This means
> > > that both old and new categories will appear. When a category is empty, the
> > > category will no longer appear in the list. In other words, manuals will not
> > > disappear from the list if their OMFs are not updated.
> > > 5. This is also an opportunity to create short titles for manuals in the OMF
> > > files. I'll send out a mail on how to do this shortly.
> > > 6. There are no documents as yet for the Accessibility and System Administration
> > > categories, but eventually there will be.
> > >
> > > What do people think?
> > >
> > > Eugene
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > gnome-doc-list mailing list
> > > gnome-doc-list gnome org
> > > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-doc-list
> > >
> > 
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