Excellent timing! Just about the time I am giving up BoltWire to keep looking for an "easy and flexible" software of this sort. The reason I am giving up this nice piece of work is exactly what Mark had mentioned: difficulties in getting a picture of BoltWire out of the documents. Now that I see Mark's nice suggestion in this email and the open mind that all of you developers have, I think BoltWire has a good chance to rock.
Cheers, Vincent 2009/5/20 Mark Marijnissen <[email protected]> > > 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 > > > > > -- Q-Mo Wang-Chi Vincent Yeh --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
