[Gimp-docs] Content verification and navigation analysis of the user manual?

[Axel Wernicke]

Hi Michael,

Am 11.04.2007 um 15:33 schrieb Michael Schumacher:

> Hi all,
>
> I'm frequently pointing users to the manual from mailing lists,  
> irc, usenet and forum posts. Sometimes, I discover entries in the  
> manual that are
>
The GIMP community con really be proud of your engagement for all  
kind of GIMP users! So, having the manual as a reliable source is how  
we can support you.

> - wrong (fortunately, this doesn't happen frequently)
yeah, sometimes we are plain wrong (or simply outdated)

> - incomplete (a bit more frequently)
over 600 pages and still don't cover everything...

> - not easily reachable from a related page
Can you explain this please? There is a toc in front and an index in  
the end of the manual (in over a dozen languages each). Additionally  
there is a possibility to do a fulltext search online at  
docs.gimp.org as well as the possibility to download the whole manual  
as pdf and do a fulltext search offline.

>
> An example for the last item is the reason for this mail - I wanted  
> to point someone at the blend tool docs and discovered that there  
> is no link from http://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-tool-blend.html to an  
> explanation of gradients or the gradient editor....
OK, this is obviously a flaw. And it is one that can be fixed easily.

> a site map that does show the links between pages could be useful  
> for checking this.
um, a site map is a structured list (more a tree) like the toc is?!  
Could you be a bit more specific about your needs please?

>
> The way to fix this would be to create a bug report (and either  
> provide a patch or to wait if someone else does it).
Thats what bug filing is good for. We even have our own product by now!

> But I wonder if anything can be done to verify the docs in a more  
> organized way.
There is, but this takes time. I guess the next big thing will be an  
review for GIMP2.4, but starting this makes no sense until we have  
reached a feature and GUI freeze in the 2.3 line.

>
> "Review" is probably the most obvious answer for the first two  
> issues, the question is "What is the best way to do it?".
Right now it is _really_ important for me/us to learn about the  
weaknesses of the manual, so if you file a bug about flaws _and_ let  
us know about your ideas to enhance the manual is the best you can do.


Greetings, lexA

>
>
> Regards,
> Michael
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