Gary Schnabl wrote:
Peter Kupfer wrote:
My understanding is that the "Current" copy of the document goes in
the main folder for the guide (in this case the Writer folder) and any
edited copies go in the Feedback folder for that guide. Then, if we
publish a new version, it goes in the published folder. Does that
sound right?
Our definition for "final" is somewhat misleading in that
they're not really "final" because they still need compliance-checking
with the latest OOo version, among other things.
Peter, you have described our current process. I think it has
served us well, and will continue to serve us well. If Gary wants
to introduce an extra step into the process for the Writer Guide,
that's a useful experiment, but personally I think it just
complicates matters. OTOH, if Gary's process results in better
docs without extra delays, then that's good. I certainly don't
object to improving on the existing system.
Gary, the "final" in the folder names "Published chapters
(final)" refers to docs based on the "final" released OOo2.0 in
contrast to docs based on pre-release versions of OOo way back
last year before 2.0 was released. I've been thinking of renaming
the folders to make that more clear; when I have time, I will do
that.
In one sense, few of our chapters are ever going to be "final"
(done, complete) because of ongoing software changes. Anything in
the "final" folder needs rechecking when a new release of OOo
comes out. Software documentation, like housework, is never done.
IMO we should not delay publishing updated chapters to the
"final" folder just because they haven't been 100% verified
against the latest s/w. My habit has been to republish a chapter
whenever I make a correction or update of any substance in that
chapter, even if the rest of the chapter has not been completely
rechecked. If we try to have it all perfect before we publish,
all we'll have is very out of date chapters, or in some cases
chapters that have never been published and are always in draft.
--Jean
