Hi First, I apologize for any implication that it was my original idea. I was just excited about what I think is a great idea.
Second... That's great to see that the idea has moved forward, and that some difficult decisions have already been made and do not need to be rehashed. Taking a step back and looking at the process, I realize that for someone like Jonathan, it was unlikely to find out that this feature had already been started. Is there a place where we keep a list of these types of efforts? I was not able to find mention of it in jira, but that may still be the best place for this for now. Thanks Daniel On Mon, 2007-01-29 at 03:30 -0700, David E. Jones wrote: > There is some great news about this! As Andrew mentioned this has > been discussed before, even years ago. > > Even better, the resting place for this documentation has already > been decided! It will go with the rest of the end-user oriented > documentation on the docs.ofbiz.org site. It will go in the > OFBENDUSER space: > > http://docs.ofbiz.org/pages/listpages-dirview.action?key=OFBENDUSER > > And more specifically this sort of material, reference material for > specific screens, will go under the "Manager References" document here: > > http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/RAI > > You'll see some early efforts here from Ray Barlow that are based on > the Undersun doc site exports, which all need to be moved to the wiki > format, and which are all available in PDF dump form here: > > http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/5gI > > So, as you can see this effort is already well underway. As different > areas are cleaned up refined and reorganized we can start linking to > them in the applications. > > There is a LOT more work right now needed for this to get an initial > pass done, and then there will be more help needed over time. So for > anyone that has time and interest to invest in this, please do! > > -David > > > On Jan 29, 2007, at 1:57 AM, Andrew Sykes wrote: > > > Daniel, > > > > This has been discussed before, I think it was Hans Bakker who last > > proposed it. There was a fair bit of discussion at the time... > > > > - Andrew > > > > On Mon, 2007-01-29 at 09:47 +0800, Jonathon -- Improov wrote: > >> Daniel, > >> > >> Great idea. We're working on that right now. > >> > >> Only problem with creating such in-application help texts is we > >> first have to fully document OFBiz > >> before we even know what to put in such in-app help texts. We're > >> also working on that right now. > >> > >> In case our full user manual is clear enough, then we might skip > >> the work needed to build in-app > >> help texts. > >> > >>> Finally, it seems that the instructions could be embedded into > >>> seed or demo > >>> data, and become part of the final user's website. This seems > >>> like it might > >>> work even better, but is probably the hardest to develope and > >>> configure. > >> > >> I vote for this method. It's the most OOTB approach. But I don't > >> suggest putting the help texts in > >> database. It's easy enough ("duh" kind of easy) to create help > >> texts inside individual webapp/ > >> folders. > >> > >> Also, consider the case where we customize OFBiz for individual > >> clients. Each customized OFBiz > >> will probably have different functionalities (tweaked/modified > >> from original), and they'll all > >> require their own Help texts. > >> > >> Creating a centralized Help site (say http://ofbiz.apache.org/ > >> help) will too tightly couple > >> individual OFBiz instances (including customized instances) to the > >> one-size-fits-all Help site. > >> > >> Jonathon > >> > >> Daniel Kunkel wrote: > >>> Hi > >>> > >>> I've got what I think is an awesome idea for improving the end user > >>> experience easily with page links to user documentation. > >>> > >>> The idea is pretty simple I think... Essentially most every page > >>> of the > >>> OFBiz web application would get an "Instruction for this Page" link. > >>> This link would then take the user to page describing the page > >>> and how > >>> to use it. > >>> > >>> The implementation is a little more difficult, since I'm > >>> uncertain where > >>> is the best place to locate the instruction. > >>> > >>> My first thought is to create a centralized OFBiz wiki. This way the > >>> content would be developed and improved easily by the user > >>> community as > >>> a whole, for the benefit of everyone. > >>> > >>> However, this doesn't conform to the style, formating, or system > >>> modifications that may make the documents inappropriate for some > >>> installation. > >>> > >>> The next thought then, is to create an OFBiz sub web-site. The > >>> formatting could be controlled by the maincss helping with the > >>> formatting, and can be changed. However, it's much more difficult to > >>> develop and deliver than with a wiki. > >>> > >>> Finally, it seems that the instructions could be embedded into > >>> seed or > >>> demo data, and become part of the final user's website. This > >>> seems like > >>> it might work even better, but is probably the hardest to > >>> develope and > >>> configure. > >>> > >>> Thanks > >> > > -- > > Kind Regards > > Andrew Sykes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sykes Development Ltd > > http://www.sykesdevelopment.com > > >
