Hi, +1 - As a newbie to SMX this would be great as I have found it hard to get information. You have to dig around the site quite a bit.
Edell. On 3/17/08, Lars Heinemann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Bruce, > > what you wrote is correct. I remember the problems I faced when starting > to use smx. > At this time there was even less documentation than now. It is really > hard to > step in and understanding what and how to do it with smx. > The proposed separation and the new slim home page makes sense to me. > > Regards, > Lars > > > > > Bruce Snyder schrieb: > > It occurred to me recently that from a documentation standpoint we > > have not explained how to use ServiceMix very well at all to new users > > and I think we could make a dramatic improvement with a bit of work > > and some reorganization. > > > > Currently, everything is explained from the point of view of someone > > who already knows what JBI and ServiceMix provide and focuses largely > > on the ServiceMix components. IMO, this is identical to teaching > > someone how to swim by throwing them in a pool - the result of which > > could be damaging to their perception of swimming for a long time to > > come. The same thing happens with ServiceMix today. The first > > impression of ServiceMix is that it's difficult to use which is 180 > > degrees different than the truth. > > > > New users approach ServiceMix trying to understand at a very > > fundamental level what ServiceMix offers and how they should use it. > > My experience in speaking with folks all over the world has helped me > > understand that the most common approach for new users begins by > > seeking answers to a question similar to this one: > > > > 'I want to connect a system that speaks protocol X to system that > > speaks protocol Y, how can I do that with ServiceMix?' > > > > Soon after that, another common question arises: > > > > 'What if I want to do processing between the interconnect of X and Y? > > How can I do that with ServiceMix?' > > > > If you look at the ServiceMix documentation, the website provides > > little to answer these types of questions. New users really have to do > > a lot of digging in order to understand how to even approach > > ServiceMix. > > > > To fix this, I'd like to start reorganizing the wiki/website to > > improve this situation. I'd like to make the website introduce > > ServiceMix to new users by answering the questions noted above. I > > think that this is relatively easy to do, it will just take some time > > to reorganize the current content and put a few new pages in place. > > The overall explanation of using ServiceMix should focus on two areas: > > supported protocols and supported engines. This will help to answer > > the two questions above by providing information on the use cases for > > the support of a given protocol in ServiceMix and links to the > > components that provide such use cases. But we need to do more than > > this. > > > > The ServiceMix home page is a bit overwhelming. There's just simply > > too much information being thrown at folks. It's also obvious that the > > ServiceMix home page was put together by a bunch of engineers, which > > is true, but we need to improve upon it. IMO we should move some of > > the current home page content to the Features page. The home page > > should be relatively minimal providing: > > > > * info about the goal(s) of the ServiceMix project > > ** educate folks on JBI and ESBs in general > > ** buiilding an open source ESB based on JBI > > ** reuse of the Spring Framework APIs > > ** etc. > > * info specifically for ServiceMix 3 > > ** it's the current stable version > > ** It's based on JBI > > ** etc. > > * info specifically for ServiceMix 4 > > ** the all new and improved thingy > > ** it still supports JBI but also now supports OSGi bundles > > ** etc. > > * links for: > > ** using ServiceMix > > ** developing ServiceMix > > * the last 10 news items (we need to start posting more news) > > > > In the left-hand side navigation, there's a Developers section but not > > a Users section. IMO this just points out rather clearly that the > > website is too focused on providing information about *developing* the > > ServiceMix container and far too slim on content for *using* the > > ServiceMix container. I suggest that we improve this by placing two > > prominent links on the home page as suggested above; one link for > > using ServiceMix and one link for developing ServiceMix. By > > emphasizing these two links on the home page, we will more > > appropriately address the two major classes of folks who are > > interested in ServiceMix. > > > > The users section should focus on educating users about ESBs, JBI and > > ServiceMix by including the topics from the current User's Guide and > > Tutorials pages for starters, the client API, etc. The developers > > section should focus on educating users how to develop JBI components, > > core container development and a better dissection and discussion of > > the various APIs in ServiceMix (e.g., the JBI APIs, the JBI component > > framework, the core ServiceMix container APIs, etc. > > > > Additional improvements for the navigation on the left-hand side > include: > > > > * the component list should be removed from the navigation and place > > appropriately in the use case pages > > * the related projects list should be removed in favor of the related > > projects page (which needs be fleshed out more) > > > > Additional improvements: > > > > * the FAQs need a lot of love; we should be covering all of the common > > issues and challenges that folks encounter > > > > That's all my brain can dump for now. I'm gonna start reorganizing > > some of this information very soon. > > > > Bruce > > >
