On 12/13/13, 1:00 PM, Chris Mills wrote:

On 13 Dec 2013, at 14:51, Adrian Custer <[email protected]> wrote:
You are lost in a maze of twisty pages, all alike…

This is definitely a thing I need to work on. There is a lot here,
and it could use some improved IA. I kind of got to the point where I
couldn’t see the wood for the trees with this section of the site, so
I left it for a while and went on to other things. Again, any ideas
will be listened to ;-)


Do you have a higher level overview of the docs? The current organization seems kind of strange. When I was writing the Gnumeric Manual, I needed a clear outline just to keep my own mind clear of what goes where. We surely need something similar to all be on the same page when working collaboratively on a wiki.


The current layout lacks a coherent logic. Working from the left-hand menu on:
  https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox_OS
(Note that right clicking on each top level element opens an extra page for that top level element.)


Introduction:
  => Is this focused at everyone or just developers? A key question is
     who is tragetted by these docs and how can we redirect the other
     readers quickly to other docs.
  => Needs a clear purpose (ie. Hardware requirements is strange to find
     here.)

Usage Tips:
  => These are tips for developers, i.e. not 'usage'

Platform Guide:
  => Needs to start with a simple archi diagram:
            [ Gaia Web Apps ] [ Other Web Apps]
            [             Gecko               ]
            [    Gonk: kernel, drivers, libs  ]
  => Needs to work systematically through the layers:
       * Kernel
       * Drivers and libs
         = Gonk
       * Gecko
       * Web App Security Control
       * Web App APIs
         = 'Gecko'?
       * Common libraries for Web Apps
       * Shared UI elements
       * Gaia Apps
         = 'Gaia'?
  => The FxOS startup process should be separate from describing
     the layers
  => The App Execution Environment ("Apps Architecture") should be
     its own section.

  => Feature Support Chart had better happen after explaining that
     there are 3 Runtime Environments: Device, Emmulator, Desktop.
     Actually, that should be part of the initial 'Introduction'.
  => Settings list should be part of the 'Web App Environment' It is
     not related to the Platform.
  => Developer Settings should be part of the Web App Hacking Guide
     which is should be a separate section here but might be in a
     different part of the dev.moz.org site. They are not part of the
     'Platform'.

Build and Install:
  => we've talked about this.
  => installing on a mobile device should also explain about working
     with the AOSP tools: adb and fastboot. That is the Android
     tradition. Also, it makes more sense to work from full filesystem
     images than relying on the magic of ./flash.sh
  => Dual boot... should be part of a device specific discussion
     subsection.


Hacking:
  => this is mixing working on the OS and working on apps

Developer Phone Guide:
  => The initial section 'Firefox OS phones' is missing from the menu.
     AAAAHHHH! That's where the device <-> codename mapping lives!
  => The sections should all be different phone names: "Updating..."
     is way too long a title.
  => Is this 'developer' phone or just a 'phone' guide? Once you root
     the phone, the Alcatel thing is just as much a developer phone as
     any other.
  => Troubleshooting should be an overview of "Working with physical
     devices"


Release notes:
  => API support does not belong buried here.
  => App permission does not either.


App Design and Development:
  => link broken when right-clicking on the title (goes to Release#)
  => This is a separate effort that will need organizing in its own
     right.




All in all there is lots of material here. If it can be systematically organized, it provides a good scaffolding for the future. But someone, probably you, needs to come up with a coherent outline of the whole thing so it is clear to all what goes where.

For example, the Introduction could be:
   Defn: FxOS is a lightweight OS that runs user applications in an HTML
         web page like environment. FxOS is designed to run on mobile
         devices like smartphones and tablets.

   Benefits: It's free software.
             It's a familar develop. environment. Mozilla provides help
               (ie docs, the store).
             It leverages Android so device makers know the basics and
               it can be widely ported.

   ?Overview of the OS: 3 layer view

   ?Overview of OS Execution Environment(s)? Devices, emulators... API

   ?Current status of use, deployments...?

but that takes someone making a coherent outline of the whole thing.


cheers,
  ~adrian
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