Peter, it looks like you did cover the 'advanced' topics well in this one. I have been talking to several managers with the State of California recently and they are 'coming around' to the benefits of OOo. In fact the use it themselves. The lack of documentation, manuals, and training is their biggest compliant. The cost of upgrading to the next version of Windows and Office has them worried, although they do buy PCs that are preloaded (which is a nightmare for IT departments).
I have been thinking of consulting on Open Source and training I can do easily (small groups or auditoriums full of users). Good full-featured manuals (and free) would really give OOo a push into M$ Office's market share! And we all know that Word processors and Spreadsheets are the most used apps in office suites. On Fri, 2006-07-28 at 22:39 -0500, Peter Kupfer wrote: > Jean & Rick -- > > I guess my feeling is, for the time being, get a simple document down > that we can start from. At least people in need can turn somewhere. As > we go along, an advanced user may need help, and hopefully they will > join our team and write the section. > > Perhaps the way to go for some things is two chapters, or maybe a second > book, "Advanced OOo topics." I'm not sure, but, as I said, my opinion is > to get a full Calc guide out the door and then build on it. We can't > make the charts chapter better until the basic elements are in there > correctly. > > Have a nice day, > Peter > > Jean Hollis Weber wrote: > > Rick Barnes wrote: > >> My take on many of our chapters is they are too simple, and leave much > >> for the user to research on their own. I have found way too many > >> mistakes and 'incomplete' (or oversimplified) topics in the online > >> help...about which I always files issues. I think a little more depth is > >> always a good idea...unless we are writing 'quick start' guides. > > > > I agree that many chapters (in our other guides as well, not just the > > Calc Guide) are too simple. To provide real value, our guides do need to > > go beyond the basics. They also need to give guidance on when and why > > someone might do something, or what the consequences of various choices > > are, not just how to do things. In many cases, that info is there; in > > others, it's not. And I'm as bad as anyone (and worse than many) about > > not putting enough of that sort of thing in when I'm doing the writing. > > > > But as we all know, it's not easy in a book to provide enough info for > > those who need to go beyond the basics, without that info getting in the > > way of those who do need only the basics. It's easier in online help, > > because you can hyperlink between a basic, simplified topic and a more > > detailed one. > > > > Two possibilities that come immediately to mind for our books are: > > > > 1) On some topics, have two chapters: an introductory (or tutorial or > > quickstart) one and an advanced one. For example, "Intro to Styles" and > > "Working with Styles" in the Writer Guide. > > > > 2) In some chapters, have an introductory (or tutorial or quick start) > > section and an advanced section. For example, we've tried to do that in > > the chapter on Tocs, Indexes, and Bibliographies in the Writer Guide, > > knowing that most people will just create a ToC using OOo's defaults, > > but if they want to do something a bit different then they need as much > > info as we can give them. > > > > Of course, some chapters may need only the "advanced" discussion, due to > > the topics covered. > > > > Gary and others may have other suggestions. > > > > --Jean -- Regards, Rick Barnes www.nostabo.net View my OOo tutorials and other references at: http://www.nostabo.net/openoffice.php ******************************************************************* PRIVILEGED - PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL This electronic mail is solely for the use of the addressee and may contain information which is confidential or privileged. If you receive this electronic mail in error, please delete it from your system immediately and notify the sender by electronic mail or using any of the contact details noted herein. This e-mail sent via Evolution 2.6.2 running on a Linux 2.6.17 64 bit kernel.
