[scribus-dev] online docs

[Christoph Schäfer]

Am Mittwoch, 9. September 2009 04:45:58 schrieb Louis Desjardins:
> Sorry for top-posting. I just can’t find where to insert my little
> contribution here...
>
> How I see the doc issue is as follow :
>
> 1. We have the application and we should have a basic online doc that would
> describe how the various functionnality actually work. We coudl of course
> discuss what should go in there and how we could organise the translation
> and update processes so this work would actually reflect the evolution of
> the application. The online doc would be a minimum but would be helpful to
> coders and users as well to keep everything up-to-date.

Agreed, except that we may need a little more than a "minimum", but 
if "minimum" means "everything you need get up to speed with Scribus" without 
inflating the size of the installers, I will also agree with "minimum" :)

>
> 2. We have an official manual. The word "official" means this book’s
> content is agreed upon by the team. The book has lots more information than
> the online doc. The explanations put things in perspective. Not only do you
> have an explanation of a funtionnality but case scenarios alongside and
> contextual information, plus a lot of professional information. A real mise
> en scène of the application. This work is not distributed with the
> application, the licence is different, the work is of a different kind and
> essence than the online doc.

All correct, except that the license is the same.

>
> Out of the onine doc, one would have to work hard to create a competitor to
> the "official" manual. And out of the "official" manual, one would find no
> interest at creating the already existing online docs...
>
> We can clarify the content and tone and approach to the online docs. This
> would also include the licence under which we would release it, of course.
> We should think ahead about translation issues, and updating issues.

Absolutely, and that's why I think we should focus on documentation that's 
really necessary. Additional info can be added to the Wiki, if required, and 
there is already a menu entry that links to the Wiki.

>
> But definitely, we need an online doc that reflects what Scribus is, at
> each step of its life. This online doc should be translatable whithout too
> many formalities. 

Even the manual can be translated and distributed without even asking us, as 
long as it isn't published as a book.

> The teaser for the users would be "You like the online 
> help, you’ll love the book!".

Ya betcha ;)


Cheers,

Christoph