Joe Smith wrote:
Perhaps this is outside the doc project's scope, but since the project
ran the contest and provides access to the template, this seems like
the best place to bring this up.
I came across this thread the other day:
http://www.oooforum.org/forum/viewtopic.phtml?t=58769
How to use the thesis template? - HELP
The upshot is that it seems the winning thesis template is very
difficult to actually use.
This is most unfortunate, as it is such a lovely template, and strives
to be self-documenting.
Beyond the diminished usefulness of the template, I think this makes a
clear example of how difficult it is for non-experts to use OOo for
many standard academic documents--a "perfect storm", if you will.
The users' solution was to not use the template and start over from
scratch. I'm afraid many more people will simply choose to not use OOo
at all!
Do we have any download stats or other feedback on the template? Are
people using the template? Are others having similar problems? I don't
see how it could be avoided since anyone using the template will have to
remove the meta pages. Maybe there's an easier way to deal with it than
the method given in that thread.
Perhaps a template (alone) is not the best way to get someone started
with a non-trivial document. Is there some other out-of-document channel
that could be used to deliver instructions for using the template? Maybe
a form to start off, where the user could fill-in the details and select
document options (e.g. APA style, etc.), then generate a document ready
to have the content added.
I think there are also some clear usability/user-experience lessons here
as well. Do you folks agree? Is it worth Cc'ing this to UX?
<Joe
Thanks for the heads up. I will look over the document and see how
things look. If it warrants a How To, we can do one up, and put the
link in the template for future downloads.
Any other ideas?
--
Scott Carr
OpenOffice.org
Documenation Co-Lead
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
