I would say the real problem isn't with the docs, as much as they are with
the lack of a good into guide withing the mootools site.
The main mootools page does lack a reference to a good guide. The only two
guides on the main page are 2 books that you can buy. Although the mootorial
exists for quite a while and is a great intro to mootools, there is no
highlighted link to it.

I would say that i agree that although the method list for each modoule is
useful, it does lack their description. It would have been nice if i didn't
have to read the full method docs to know if it's what I'm looking for. This
can be done by a tooltip that could look like this:

Array.indexOf[item [,from])
returns the index of item in array

not sure if tooltips are the way to go but you get what i mean.

anyway, I know good docs are extremely hard to manage, and the moodocs are
still my second favorite after PHP's (which are definitely the best).
and also - I would love to help improving them if help is needed (so this
won't be just me asking others to do a job i want to get done)

On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 11:12 AM, Savageman <[email protected]> wrote:

> I don't even know how you can remotely compare the MooTools doc to the
> PHP one... They're really different, and the PHP one is one of the
> best (the best?) I've been able to see.
> The PHP documentation has:
> - An introduction for each module, which explains what it's used for
> and how to use it
> - Some complete examples in relation to the module
> - A quick rereference, with a list of all the functions inside the
> module, associated with a little explanation (something like the
> download page as index would be really a really good starting point!).
> That allows a quick overview of what do each function, without wasting
> time.
> - Each function is on a single different page. That allows comments,
> which are very valuable.
>
> The MooTools docs looks like a raw text/plain document in comparison.
> Each page has too much text, that doesn't make you want to read it.
> It never says "API reference" or "API doc". It just says "docs" so i'm
> not really expecting "just" an API doc. When you click on it you
> directly arrive on the Core module API, which doesn't welcome you very
> well.
>
> On Aug 17, 8:41 pm, Tim Wienk <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > 1. it's indeed very complete, but we need time to get the information
> > > we want.
> > > 2. it's lacking a "Getting started".
> > > 4. Also demos are missing. I think they should be merged with the
> > > documentation.
> >
> > The mootools.net/docs are API docs. It's not a guide. That's why there
> > is no 'Getting started' section and that's why there are no demos.
> >
> > > 3. There is no quick reference: when we click a class on the left, all
> > > the methods are shown on the right and all their associated
> > > documentation is on the same page. As an index page for a class, it
> > > would be nicer to list all the methods from it, associated with a
> > > little explanation (like on php.net).
> >
> > I don't really see this point. When you click on a Class, all methods
> > are mentioned on the right, clicking that gets you straight to the
> > explanation.
> >
> > > 5. There is no categorized topics. The structure organisation only on
> > > the classes structure. For instance, the Element class has too much
> > > methods for a human to reasonably make it looks good in his mind.
> > > Maybe some categories like on the jQuery documentation would be nice
> > > (attributes, traversing, manipulation).
> >
> > The documentation is categorized the way MooTools itself is
> > categorized, by modules/packages (whatever you want to call them).
> > This is also because they're API docs. You get to pick the modules you
> > want, and use those, and you'll find the documentation for those
> > modules right where you'd expect them. Perhaps taking a look athttp://
> mootools.net/corewill clear things up a bit.
> >
> > I do agree that this doesn't help people who just want to download
> > MooTools and use it with plugins X, Y and Z. But then another question
> > is whether those people are MooTools' target audience. Like Arieh
> > mentioned, for more guide-like explanations, mootorial.com/wiki is a
> > better starting point.
> >
> > Tim.
>



-- 
Arieh Glazer
אריה גלזר
052-5348-561
5561

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