Re: Topics for review (gnome desktop help)

[Phil Bull <philbull gmail com>]

Hi April,

On Wed, 2010-08-04 at 13:55 +0800, April Gonzales wrote:
> Attached are the drafts for review: 
> - look-theme.page
> - look-windowbuttons.page
> 
> Also, I've added an introductory paragraph to the look and feel page
> (look.page).. please let me know if we can adapt this and apply it to
> all other subsequent pages that link to the help topics. 
> 
> Lastly, I was thinking, should we try and make the titles of the
> topics more consistent? I noticed that there are some titles stated in
> the form of a question, whereas there are others that simply state
> what the topic is all about. I am not familiar with the style you guys
> are using though, so I'm just putting my ideas out there :)
> 
> I'll continue working on the other topics and send them out in
> batches, if that's all right. 

Excellent work again! I've returned the files with minor comments (only
in look-windowbuttons, I think). I'll let you review the comments and
then I'll commit the topics.

With regards to look.page: it's more of a placeholder at the moment.
We're writing topics under relatively broad categories until we get the
material finished. Once we have a good set of topics, we're hoping to do
a card-sorting exercise with some non-technical users to implement the
actual structure of the desktop help. This means that the current guide
pages, like look.page, might not exist after we've done all of the
structural work, so it's best not to put too much effort into writing
them at the moment. Your text looked good though, so I'll leave it in
there (look.page is one of the guide pages most likely to survive).

The same goes for title consistency really. Lots of aspects of the style
are up in the air and we're experimenting with them, so we haven't
actually settled on a title style yet. We'll do a full edit once things
have taken shape a little more and fix things like that.

(So, as you can see from all of the loose ends, we're still quite early
in the writing process!)

Thanks,

Phil

-- 
Phil Bull
https://launchpad.net/~philbull
Book - http://nostarch.com/ubuntu4.htm

<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/";
      type="guide" id="look">

  <info>
    <link type="guide" xref="index"/>
    
    <desc>Customizing Your Desktop</desc>
    <revision pkgversion="0.1" version="0.1" date="2010-07-26" status="stub"/>
    
    <credit type="author">
      <name>GNOME Documentation Project</name>
      <email>gnome-doc-list gnome org</email>
    </credit>
    
  </info>

<title>Look and Feel</title>

<p>
Your desktop allows for very flexible customization. There are a host of things you can do to change the look and feel of your desktop, such as modifying desktop backgrounds, fonts, icons, and themes. Below are some of the most common ways for you to make your desktop truly your own:
</p>
</page>

<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/";
      type="topic" id="look-windowbuttons">

  <info>
    <link type="guide" xref="look"/>
    
    <desc>How to change the layout of the window buttons</desc>
    <revision pkgversion="0.1" version="0.1" date="2010-07-26" status="stub"/>
    
    <credit type="author">
      <name>GNOME Documentation Project</name>
      <email>gnome-doc-list gnome org</email>
    </credit>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>April Gonzales</name>
      <email>loonycookie gmail com</email>
    </credit>
    
  </info>

<title>Change the order of the close, minimize, and maximize window buttons</title>

<p>You can change the layout of the window buttons for all the application windows that are launched on your computer. </p>

<!-- This is a situation that could benefit from a screenshot. We need to use the default Clearlooks blue theme for GNOME. -->

<p>The layout of the window buttons is dictated by a configuration file. You can modify this configuration by using the gconf-editor, a native application with an easy-to-use graphical user interface:</p>

<!-- "graphical user interface" and "native application" are quite jargony. Does the reader need to know this? If not, we can skip straight to the instructions -->

<steps>
<item><p>Press <keyseq><key>Alt</key><key>F2</key></keyseq> to bring up the <gui>Run Application</gui> dialog box. </p></item> 
<!-- "dialog box" is jargon, have been using "window" recently (GNOME documentation style guidelines are outdated and need replacing) -->
<item><p>Type in <input>gconf-editor</input> in the text field and click <gui>Run</gui>. This launches the <gui>Configuration Editor</gui>. </p></item> 
<item><p>Refer to the left-hand panel. Click on the expand button next to <gui>apps</gui>. </p></item> 
<item><p>Click on the expand button next to <gui>metacity</gui>. Select <gui>general</gui>. </p></item> 
<item><p>On the right-hand panel of the <gui>Configuration Editor</gui> window, locate the <gui>button_layout</gui> key. Double click on this item. </p></item> 
<item><p>On the <gui>Edit Key</gui> dialog box, modify the text in the <gui>Value</gui> text field to fit the order or layout of the window buttons you wish to use. (Example: If you want the buttons to be displayed in this order: maximize, minimize, close; then type in “maximize,minimize,close”).</p></item> 
<!-- The position of the colon is important in this example. The colon determines whether the buttons are to the left or right of the window -->
<item><p>Click <gui>Ok</gui>. The changes will be applied and will be reflected immediately on all open windows. </p></item> 
</steps>

<note>
<list>
<item><p>Remember to take note of the original configuration settings. You may need to revert back to the original settings if you are not pleased with the changes made.</p></item> 
<item><p>The <gui>Configuration Editor</gui> does not offer an option to revert back to the original settings once the changes are applied; you will need to modify the button_layout key again to go back to the old window button layout.</p></item>
</list>
</note>

</page>

<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/";
      type="topic" id="look-theme">

  <info>
    <link type="guide" xref="look"/>
    
    <desc>How to change the appearance of your desktop</desc>
    <revision pkgversion="0.1" version="0.1" date="2010-07-26" status="stub"/>
    
    <credit type="author">
      <name>GNOME Documentation Project</name>
      <email>gnome-doc-list gnome org</email>
    </credit>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>April Gonzales</name>
      <email>loonycookie gmail com</email>
    </credit>
    
  </info>

<title>Change the way that windows and programs look</title>

<p>One of the easiest ways to change the appearance of your computer’s application windows is by changing the desktop theme. </p>

<p>Your desktop comes with several built-in themes. Each theme changes the way the windows look, including all buttons and sometimes, even the icons used. To change your desktop theme: </p>

<steps>

<item><p>Select <guiseq><gui>System</gui><gui>Preferences</gui><gui>Appearance</gui></guiseq>.</p></item>
<item><p>Under the <gui>Theme</gui> tab, select a theme from the available options. Selecting an option automatically applies the changes to your desktop.</p></item>
<item><p>Once you are satisfied with the theme, click <gui>Close</gui>.</p></item>
</steps>

</page>