I agree with the problem of probably becoming out of dated, but we can find a solution for that. But i think we shouln't mix the two things.
One thing about RIA's is that they are about improved user experience. When we talk about user experience, that are some premisses to take in account. One is "keep it simple". Another is "put yourself on the user side". Sometimes, as developers, it's kind of difficult to do that. I consider that in the osflash case there are at least two kind of users: "beginners", and advanced developers. That's why i see that there should be two different systems. Not competing, but complementing each other. Take this example in consideration. I have one friend, Zé, that made this web-site: www.lipton.pt/poder . This friend of mine is neither a developer, neither a designer: he implements user interface on Flash using both Flash timeline animations, and some actionscript. He still isn't very good at OO, and what he knows about programming, he learned by himself. I know him, and i know he has great unexplored capabilities. So i am giving him resources to improve his knowledge by himself (currently, he's reading the "Object Oriented ActionScript For Flash 8" book). He sees me working and he is very enthusiatic about osflash tools and the resulting worflow. But the osflash web-site and the community scares him as hell. He says he feels lost in this world, despite me saying that it's not as difficult as it seems, and giving in some tips and directions. Now, another example. When i first used AMFPHP (beginning if 2005, i guess), they didn't have the current website. AMFPHP at the beginning seemed something very complicated, and difficult to understand (!!! lol). After understanding it, i had some troubles explaining it to some of my colleagues (maybe i'm not a good teacher :P). Today, AMFPHP has a rather good website. It introduces AMFPHP, has documentation, has a showcase, etc. I have some friends of mine that learnt AMFPHP in one afternoon, and the most important, they were not scared by it - because the website has everything it needs to make AMFPHP look simple and trustfull, so there isn't that fear at the beginning. Users take a glance on what AMFPHP is in a matter of minutes, become convinced, and start trying to using it. This is what i am talking about for the OsFlash community... Cheers, João Saleiro Ian Thomas wrote: > Hi Joao, > Well, why not just create a 'welcome to OSFlash' page off the main > page? Or 'OSFlash newbies' or whatever you want to call it. Put a very > large link to it on the main page in a prominent place - like right at > the top? "Start here!" > > One of my concerns about starting a seperate OSFlash newbie site is > that it might get sidelined/out of date; if it's actually rolled into > the main Wiki I think it's easier to maintain. > > Ian > > On 9/5/06, João Saleiro <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Well, people here are geek, and we have geek talks. And we prefer being >> geek and talking geek. Personally i would prefer to have two different >> systems: and "introductory" site, *presenting* what's osflash and how to >> use it, and the current system for developers. >> It's not discrimination: when i was starting with osflash, i had a lot >> of doubts (concerning the language itself, despite knowing quite a lot >> about actionscript already) that i didn't formulated on the mailing >> list, because they weren't "geeky" enough. And some of the ones i've >> asked were never answered. And today, i prefer reading and talking about >> "how to apply this design pattern" or "what do you think about this >> framework" than "how can i load a MovieClip?". >> >> In resume, I would prefer one "Welcome to Osflash, learn about osflash" >> web-site and another "now that you know the basics of osflash, let's >> start doing big things like we, geeky developers, do" website. It's a >> matter of opinion, and this is mine... >> >> João Saleiro >> >> PS: Geek in a good meaning, of course :P >> > > _______________________________________________ > osflash mailing list > [email protected] > http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org > > _______________________________________________ osflash mailing list [email protected] http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
