Thanks very much for the feedback. One of the problems with documenting something as configurable as Quicksilver, is that everyone configures it differently. You're right that some things are easy and that there is a lot more under the hood. I grouped the manual into sections based on categories of plugins (e.g., Browsers, Email) so that I could cover the basics of those things and then end the sections building on the more advanced parts. Typically that's first actions and objects and leading up to proxy objects and example triggers.
To use your example as an example of this: The Catalog is described in the Catalog part of the Configuration section. Again there was a chicken and egg problem here. I had to describe how to set things up before describing what all the things are. Also I tried to put the general configuration stuff first, so I didn't have to repeat stuff later on for each plugin. As far as using the catalog I'm always surprised at how much people care about what else appears. It's like using Google. If your answer is on the first page why care if there 18,000 more pages. Just keep typing until the thing you want (name and icon) ends up in the first pane and after a couple of times Quicksilver will learn what you use often. The Catalog isn't too big unless QS is slow. Now it's true that there can be duplicates and there are closely named things. In the last paragraph of the Catalog section I describe those with "(Catalog)" at the end of their name. So what I tried to do was to dive deep in each section. If you had a Catalog question, the answer should be in the Catalog section and it should get to deeper stuff at the end of the section. In this example that does kinda work. There might be more stuff of interest you in the description of the Results List in Invoking Quicksilver under Selecting Items. You can configure the results list to be filtered in a few ways via an often overlooked gear menu at the top right of the results list. I'm not sure how you'd know to find that in the manual without reading it all. :( Since everything is so flexible in Quicksilver I think it's hard to add more cross references to things than I already have without making it too repetitive. The sample user profile idea has the same problem that different people need different things. Some want iTunes and Outlook others Web Searches and Email. It's why I did the sections as I did. Files, Applications, ITunes, Contacts, Web, Text, etc. Big general categories, broken down by specific plugins so people could get to what they need. I also tried to order them from most popular uses to least. Clearly "cloud" stuff will need to be added. I added a "How to Read this Manual" section at the front in later revisions, but I'm not sure that actually helped (whether it's unclear or people skipped it). I'm not sure if this means I think the manual does what you want, or that it tries to and fails or if there's a better way to organize things or just more things to document. If you have (or anyone has) any ideas, please let me know. Howard On Jul 2, 2012, at 5:53 PM, Thomas C. Wolfe wrote: > The manual is great, don't get me wrong. And I've consulted it many, many > times. But it seems to me that Quicksilver is a curious program, in the sense > that a non-technical user like myself is struck by two contrasting > impressions. On the one hand, the program is very "easy," in that it let's > you do simple things very quickly, and it doesn't take much time to learn > some very basic, very useful, and very easy things. But as one's appetite is > whetted, then one realizes that there is a great deal of stuff under the hood > that is harder to get a grasp on. It is as if QS beckons to you, try it this > way, don't you know you *could* do it this way? And then once one starts > investigating, the program gets challenging very quickly. Something as basic > as what comes up in the first pane, when you type CH for Chrome, and among > other things up comes Chrome History (Catalog). Or "Itunes" vs. Itunes > (Catalog). Sometimes a long list of identical programs appears after I hit > spacebar to show a list for the first pane. So I wonder, am I indexing too > many things? Often, many extraneous hits seem to appear when I start typing. > Perhaps one thing for the next edition of the manual might be how to optimize > the program for one's particular uses, and discuss the best way to organize > one's catalog. Perhaps you could present different sample "user profiles" and > then show the catalog settings and key plugins for each. And since the manual > was written, the whole "cloud" phenomenon has appeared, and it would be great > to hear what you think about the pitfalls of using and accessing different > cloud sites with QS. So anyway, not sure if this helps. But I look forward to > the document whenever you get around to it. > Tom > > On Saturday, June 30, 2012 1:39:28 PM UTC-5, hmelman wrote: > I know it's a little out of date, but this is the first complaint I've heard > that it's not detailed enough. :) One of the reasons I wrote it is that there > were a lot of getting started articles and screencasts and few things that > covered a small feature in some detail. As far as I know I captured all of > that information in the manual. For every plugin that I documented I know I > documented every feature of that plugin (and I got to virtually all of them). > I also tried to cover all the advanced use cases I could find. > > As Patrick said, I'm hoping to begin updating the manual soon (going through > ever plugin again is a little daunting). I'm curious to know what kind of > "next level" you're looking for? > > Howard > > On Jun 30, 2012, at 11:55 AM, Thomas C. Wolfe wrote: > >> Thank you for the info. I echo the thanks of many users who appreciate all >> the good work and will that goes into QS. >> >> On Friday, June 29, 2012 4:34:12 PM UTC-5, Patrick wrote: >> Hi Tom, >> >> Howard has mentioned that he hopes to update his manual in the near future, >> which means he will hopefully add a lot more of the missing information to >> it. >> In the meantime, your best bet for tips and ways to improve your >> Quicksilvering is to look at the QSApp blog at http://blog.qsapp.com >> There are fairly regular posts with hints and tips. The wiki at >> http://qsapp.com/wiki also has a few useful tutorials and screencasts. >> >> Something we have been working very hard on recently is improving the >> documentation for each plugin. If you'd like to learn about the features of >> a specific plugin, then find it in the plugins preference pane, select the >> 'i' (or press ⌘I) then press the '?' (or press ⌘⌥?). >> This will bring up the plugin's help pane. For the plugins we have recently >> updated, it should give you all the information you need to know on the >> features that the plugin adds to QS >> >> On 29 June 2012 21:28, Thomas C. Wolfe <[email protected]> wrote: >> To the QS gurus: >> I am ab enthusiastic, if intermittent, user of QS, and I am writing to ask >> if the program's sustainers can point me to any other source for learning QS >> besides the Mehlman manual of a number of years ago. I feel that it provides >> a very good foundation, but it would be great to have a more in depth manual >> that would really unpack the usefulness of the program. The Mehlman manual >> is great for getting started, but are there any other useful guides, >> manuals, explanations that can then serve as a jumping off point for >> integrating QS even more into one's everyday computing? I know this would be >> a hard thing to write, but anything that could guide me to the next level, >> as it were, would be appreciated. >> Tom >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> Quicksilver group. To post to this group, send email to >> [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send >> email to [email protected]. For more >> options, visit this group at >> https://groups.google.com/d/forum/blacktree-quicksilver?hl=en >> >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> Quicksilver group. To post to this group, send email to >> [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send >> email to [email protected]. For more >> options, visit this group at >> https://groups.google.com/d/forum/blacktree-quicksilver?hl=en > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > Quicksilver group. To post to this group, send email to > [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send > email to [email protected]. For more > options, visit this group at > https://groups.google.com/d/forum/blacktree-quicksilver?hl=en -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Quicksilver group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/blacktree-quicksilver?hl=en
