Hi everybody, Bolttwire is really a nice solution to a lot of problems - indeed you have a good philosophy and you have done also a very good job at realizing it. However, I think the main weakness of boltwire now is the documentation. For example, I still do not know the difference between "handbook", "documentation" and "help system". They all sound so similar! I have not an expert on software documentation or user- friendliness, but since I still have fresh in memory where I stumbled on. (I can imagine that if you develop Boltwire from the beginning, you find things obvious and apparent where new users find not).
Normally, users of a product all want the same thing. However, because of boltwires flexibility, boltwire is used for blogs, forums, wikis, PIM, websites, webshops, etc.. I think all these specific wishes would best be served by making tutorials for each. These tutorials cover specific information for specific wishes. The question remains how the boltwire basics should be documented. I think the documentation would be best if it is split up into the different aspects of boltwire. I would make the following categories: * content: For people who want to add or change content - everything you can do within a "edit" action. beginner - static content: ** This should cover the wiki-markup advanced - dynamic content: ** using search, [if] and other functions ** using forms ** info/data variables * appearance: For webdesigners who want to change the look of their boltwire. ** This should cover changing skins (beginner) ** Snippets, zones and skinvars ** Hierarchical skins and the stylepage (advanced) * managing boltwire: For basic users who do not want to edit their page or change appearance. ** create/rename/undo/etc: boltwire actions. ** embedding pages (widgets like google calender, html-code, etc) ** using templates (I do not know how these work..) ** installing and managing plugins * member management: For people who want multiple users to modify their site. ** Registering users, changing their group (with join) (beginner) ** modifying their permissions (site.auth.*) ** creating custom groups, single-user permissions, etc (advanced) * Developers: For users who know PHP and want to add functionality. ** writing plugings, editing boltwire This somewhat follows my own personal learning. First I was only interested in modifying the content & appearance. I customized the top and side bar, changed the skin a bit, and filled Boltwire with static content (no searches & functions). Then later, I installed some plugins (sedit, commentbox) to add some functionality. After that, I wanted other people to be able to edit or view my wiki, so I delved into member management. And I imagine someday I will write a plugin - although this is not suited for everyone since you need to know how to program. What still remains somewhat vague/difficult for me is the "advanced content": searches, variables, functions, etc. Maybe you can document this in use cases/FAQ - since most people dont need (want) to know everything. Some people only want customized content with searches, others want to make a webshop and store variables on sites, etc.... I do not know how to order this section of the documentation. This is how I would reorganize the documentation - and I think this is the current weak spot of boltwire, preventing people from using it. I read a post the other day of somebody else who tried to learn boltwire but became stuck. (Luckily the mailing group alsways helps out!). However, I do not know if you are willing to reorganize the documentation, what other people think of it (what would you suggest?) and this could be done. I am willing to help with the documentation - when I have time left (currently very busy with university study). cheers, Mark --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BoltWire" 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 http://groups.google.com/group/boltwire?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
