Looks good to me. Here are my suggestions. [] Trivial:
Number the steps. The order is implicit. I believe that all of the committers would appreciate it if all of us lurkers followed the steps as defined. Lack of a number implies (to some lurker minds;-) that steps can be skipped. (e.g. Has it been previously been reported...) The nature and description of the steps indicates where lurkers will stop given their available bandwidth. [] Simple: Provide a simpler front-end (or talk to the Bugzilla people) to provide a simplified "has this been reported yet?" form where you can pre-specify control variables while we provide the basics. e.g. Reduce the number of control variables that the lurkers have to play with when doing duplication-avoidance-checks. Right now, there are some 30 (apparently) minimum controls that need to be examined (visible). The task at hand is: "Has it been reported?" Since we already know the following variables: () "program" (Ant) () "version" (all) () "status" (all) () "resolution" (all) () "priority" (all) () "severity" (all) () "assigned to", "reporter", "cc", "added comment" (none) () "bugs number" (none) () "changed in the last N days" () "keywords" (none, Apache keywords are not the same as "generic keywords") () "url" (none) () "fields changed to ..." (none) This leaves us with a significantly simpler form to deal with and the following fields: () Platform and () OS and () Component and () Description substring and/or () Summary substring. Perhaps this should be an enhancement request to Bugzilla, but each bug area (e.g. Ant being one) should be able to pre-specify defaults and hide the complexity for those users who don't use this all of the time. Obviously you'll want a link to the "detailed query" on this "has it been reported yet query" page. [] Trivial: Add a sentence to the "Read the Manual" section which suggests looking at the build files for Ant and other Apache deliverables for ideas and examples of how to use Ant. Pointers to one or more complex build files should help the intermediate user top the learning curve. [] Unknown, possibly Trivial: Find a place for a section about build file style. Many, small, chained build files v. one monolithic build file. I'm not on the user discussion, so I don't have a good feel for where this might go. [] Trivial: Describe the "patch" format preferences. Yes, most people know what it is, but the cost to describe it is nothing. The benefit is that you may get more lurkers contributing. I've spent the last two months lurking trying to figure it out (because it was not so obviously documented as to get through my mental filters;-} Mostly I joined the distribution list because I have a fix to org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.SendMail which enables substitution of properties in of the message body and other task elements. On second thought, you may want to keep the bar at least knee level so that you keep the signal:noise ratio manageable. Your choice. -----Original Message----- From: Conor MacNeill [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, August 06, 2001 6:50 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: New Webpage I have added a page to help users, having Ant problems, follow some simple steps to investigate and perhaps resolve those problems. It also details how to file good bug reports. Any feedback is welcome, including corrections or additional steps that should be undertaken. http://jakarta.apache.org/ant/problems.html Thanks Conor
