On Aug 14, 10:54 pm, Steve Allen <[email protected]> wrote: > Let's dissect a simple sentence that makes perfect sense to long-time > Leo users: > "@edit: Leo reads the entire external file into the @edit node's > body text." > > A person new to Leo may have the following thoughts: > - What's @edit? > - What does that @ mean? > - Where is "@edit" located within the file? > - "external" files are mentioned; are there "internal" files? > - what's a node? > - what's a body text
Good example. > To those of us familiar with Leo, these seem like ridiculous > questions. But *try* to imagine what it would be like if you didn't > know *anything* about Leo. > > So how do we surmount this obstacle? [snip] > Fortunately, I stumbled across some > "Screenbooks", and it finally all started to make sense to > me.http://www.3dtree.com/ev/e/sbooks/leo/sbframetoc_ie.htm > So, back to the question: "How do we surmount the obstacle of > explaining Leo to new users"? > > Again, Edward created a very clear and succinct explanation of Leo. I > think the missing ingredient is exactly what that commenter suggested, > and what I found useful in my own experience: > > Tie the explanatory text to visuals of Leo in action. > > For example, for each one of Edward's "Leo in a Nutshell" points, > let's *show* Leo being used in that particular use case. In other > words, when we talk about clones, let a screencast visually detail how > information might be cloned and moved to different sections of the > outline to provide different views of the same information. Update > one of the cloned nodes body text, and then move to the other section > of the outline to show them how it's been updated there as well. Do > this for each point you're trying to explain. Ok. I'm convinced. Here is my wish-list for a visual tutorial for Leo: - People should be able to use it without installing Leo. - The Leo screen shots should be clearly visible, whatever the resolution. - Some form of commentary is essential, but it doesn't have to be spoken. In fact, a slideshow might be more useful: people could follow along at their own pace. - It should be easy enough to create such a presentation that people (including me) might actually do so. Joe Orr's Leo tutorial at http://www.3dtree.com/ev/e/sbooks/leo/sbframetoc_ie.htm is *very* close to what we want. BTW, it's the "other tutorial" mentioned on Leo's home page. The tutorial does a great job with both text and screen shots: they look like real text, not just blobs. And the red arrows, callout text and introductory text on each page provide all the commentary that one could want. Joe created the tutorial with Screenbook Maker: http://www.screenbooks.net/e/sbm/features.htm. Screenbook Maker looks like a great tool for creating documentation. I just downloaded Screenbook Maker 1.5.7 from http://www.brothersoft.com/screenbook-maker-285869.html. This is not the page I expected, so it's not clear whether this page is safe. I do *not* recommend downloading this program just now. I'll contact Joe Orr first to see what he says. For sure the tutorial needs updating. Besides the look of the screen, a *lot* of things have changed in Leo. An updated and expanded Screenbook tutorial might well be an effective antidote to the curse of knowledge. I wonder: would it be possible to script Screenbook Maker from Leo? Wouldn't that be great... I'll ask Joe about this. I doubt that @button existed when Joe wrote the tutorial. We might be able to automate the creation of Screenbooks from within Leo! > And I think if we can get past the "Curse of Knowledge", we might be > able to share just a little more of the brilliance of Leo with rest of > the world. I agree completely. Documenting Leo has top priority. It almost doesn't matter now what features (or bugs!) Leo has. To the first approximation, the only thing that matters is that *potential* users can start to have a feel for what Leo is all about without actually using Leo. Edward -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "leo-editor" 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/leo-editor?hl=en.
