>>There are two major forms of documentation, online help text and printed
>>manuals. There are strong proponents of both. However if you look at the
>>questions asked on this list it is completely obvious that almost no one
>>reads the printed manuals. Their questions are easily answered by a very
>>quick look at the manual. It is certainly the case that on average most
>>major program producers have been moving more toward online documentation,
>>quite possibly because it is cheaper rather than better.
I vote for printed materials as well as online help. I do read the manuals
during lunch or when the computer is crunching numbers, times when an online
help would be little help.
I would also recommend re-organizing the printed materials to be more
user-friendly by: organizing the materials around common
usages--how-to's--and load it with examples (with a link listed to see many
more examples on the web!) Just knowing that ebase can be customized is not
enough for people who can't or won't dive into Filemaker; they need to be
able to see the different ways something can be done. Plus, seeing how
others meet their own needs helps everyone think "outside of the box."
Thanks for all this good work. Despite some hassles, I have had my share,
ebase goes a long way toward providing database managers with the computing
ability we need to do a great job for our organizations.
--
Beth Hynes
Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota
26 E Exchange St #100
Saint Paul MN 55101
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
651-281-0508
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