Re: Screenshots in Gnumeric Docs.

[Kevin Breit <mrproper ximian com>]

On Thu, 2002-03-14 at 16:37, Jody Goldberg wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 14, 2002 at 04:37:33PM -0600, Kevin Breit wrote:
> > 
> > I understand the purpose of having a GUI element reference.  I don't
> > really think that they are a huge benefit to most users.  I can't recall
> > the last time I said "What does this button do!?"  If I do question, you
> > have tooltips for the job.  A GUI reference is used less than the real
> > documentation and would be a huge task for the documentation writers. 
> > If a user wants to write it, they can.  But I question if it really is
> > OVERLY important.
> As Scott points out there is a usecase for element docs.  Specificly
> finding an explanation of what some feature actually does.
The problem is, if we don't have context sensitive help available in the
Gtk code, whats the point of having it in the XML? 
 
> > Adrian asked the following requests:
> > 1) Who the help (or sections) are geared towards
> Gnumeric like most office apps is going to have 2 broad user groups.
>     - your average user that just wants to get some work done.
>       These folk need 'howto' type writups for day to day
>       operations.  1.0 is sufficient for the majority of there
>       needs.
Easy to please, I agree.

>     - power users
>       This is a whole different ball of wax.  1.0 is no where near
>       complete enough to handle the extras these folk want.
>       Additionally what they want is ulta-detailed specs of what
>       each feature does.  Something only marginally higher level
>       than reading the source.
> 
> Catering to the former seems like a higher priority right now
> because that set of capabilities are not going to be changing that
> quickly.  Trying to document the power features as they are being
> implemented seems like an excercise in frustration.  Those docs will
> likely be generated as the features firm up.
Is there a really estimated ETA about feature firm up? (sounds like an
exercise machine)
 
> > 2) What the outline of the help structure is to be
> > TOC
> automated I hope
Yes, this is automated.

> > Introduction
> optional
Any good manual should have an introduction about what the product does,
etc.

> > Task Description
> useful
Necessary if anything.  This is where it would say "To format your cells
with lots of pretty colors..."

> > Index (optional)
> NOT optional,  A good quality index is paramount.
> Very few people want to read an manual.  They want to be able to
> jump to the section they are interested in.
I agree.  In general, this is not optional.  It's not overly hard to
implement anyways.  Getting one in Gnumeric shouldn't be a problem at
all.
 
> Revamping the set of screenshots seems like a low priority for now.
> Changes there will happen over time.
I'm not saying do it now.  Doing it now would be a waste of time.  But
it's something I'd like to start to plan ahead about.  The screenshots
do need to be updated for 1.2 though, and I don't intend on waiting till
the last minute on them.  That is my only point.

Kevin