[Typo3] Helping new users - was [menu item image gets cut off or truncated]

[JoH]

>> I have seen comments indicating the community would like to know why
>> typo3 is not more prevalent than it is and would like to know some of
>> the reasons when users choose not to use it.  So, I offered feedback
>> from a new users perspective and experiences.
>>
> Yes, it is feedback like this that will be most helpful to new users
> trying to learn TYPO3. Over the years I have seen more times than I
> can count a new user ask a question, then respond to their own
> question several days later something like "Anyone...? Little help
> here...?", and then never post again. Where do these people go? Who
> knows? EZpublish? Drupal? *Nukes? Probably to whatever the first CMS
> is where they get answers to their questions and can get their site
> up and running, finally. With feedback like this, we can start to
> examine T3's weak points and come up with solutions that solve these
> issues.

I think we are talking about completely different things here.
I personally don't care about how many thousands of private people are using
TYPO3 around the globe to create some "look-mom-I-am-online" pages. (But
still I will try to help everybody as long as I find the time ... )

The original question was:
Why is TYPO3 such a big economical success in Germany?
Why are thousands of companies and among them some real global players like
BAYER, VW, GE using it as a tool for their business sites, while companies
in the US never heard about it?
A "new user" from this point of view isn't someone who installs TYPO3 or
creates websites with it, it's the end client that buys the service from a
consultancy.
So these "new users" might never be found on the lists/newsgroups, since
they will get the necessary informations from their consultant.
If you would find them on the lists this would be an indicator for some bad
consultancies.
So I don't want more people here, in fact I would like to see less because
this would show that the companies offering TYPO3 services did a great job.

But the reality at the moment is something completely different: People who
were just able to download TYPO3 because it is freely available call
themselves "Web consultants" or "TYPO3 specialists" without knowing anything
about HTML, CSS, MySQL, PHP and all the other necessary stuff. If they
managed to get an inkjet printer they will climb the ladder to be a "full
service agency". They flood the lists with questions that simply show their
overall lack of knowledge. Nevertheless you can still find them selling
TYPO3 services at Ebay for an end price of less than 50$ for a complete site
including so called "design". From my 3 years experience on the lists and
newsgroups I can tell you that I really appreciate the fact that only those
people stay here that really have something to offer. Be it a good support
for others, developing new extensions or improving the documentation. It's
the famous 10% rule that separates the wheat from the chaff in the long run.

I don't think we need the masses here on the lists because TYPO3 is not a
tool for the masses and I don't think it was ever aimed to be.
It is a tool for real web professionals that can use it to create sites for
the masses which is something completely different from systems like
EZpublish or *Nuke.
So if you're a professional, fell free to come here and ask for help, but
prove your professionalism by asking professional questions.

> Does it mean that everyone on the mailing list will now be more
> helpful? Not necessarily. But it does mean that, as it stands now,
> the support solutions we have had to date do not do the best job at
> meeting the needs of new users. There are thousands of people using
> TYPO3, but how few people on the mailing list? There are new users
> posting all the time, but very few new long-term community members as
> a result. I have even heard of one T3 forum that has around 4000
> users. What are they getting there that they don't get from the
> mailing lists?

A forum that works as a knowledgebase should never be measured by the number
of members but by the quality of information. ( ... and again the 10% rule
applies)
Most of the TYPO3 forums I know of usually got a lack of both. The only real
big forum I know (typo3.net) is managed by typo3server.com and they got
their big number of active members due to the fact that they are hosting
about 20.000 TYPO3 based domains for their clients. But I don't know much
about their quality, even though the support hotline was very helpful for
some of our clients who hosted their sites there. The O'Reilly book written
by the founder of this company is not brilliant, but a good base to start
from. But you will hardly find any of the developers in this forum due to
the fact that they don't use forums but newsgroups to share their knowledge
and I don't think you will ever manage to change these preferences.

So what we need in the long run is: More companies (or one-man-shows - it
doesn't depend on the size!) offering professional TYPO3 based solutions to
more clients.
As a matter of fact this will improve the overall quality of the system and
the documentation because we will have to supply the wants of all these
clients to get there.
As a side effect this might lead to some forums where professional TYPO3
supporters will offer help for the masses just to attract more people to
book their workshops and courses.

And please don't start that "TYPO3 developers = elitist" discussion again.
It's a simple fact that only a few people will manage to fly a 747. First
you have to learn to fly at all, but this is definitely not our job here.
Maybe they should visit some beginner courses of the TYPO3 consultant they
trust to find out if TYPO3 is the right tool for their personal skill level.
I know they currently have to go very long ways to find one in the US. So
maybe we should start some TYPO3-roadshow to convince more consultancies
that TYPO3 is the best tool for a lot of different jobs.

Now I have to grab some shuteye

Joey

-- 
Wenn man keine Ahnung hat: Einfach mal Fresse halten!
(If you have no clues: simply shut your knob sometimes!)
Dieter Nuhr, German comedian
openBC: http://www.openbc.com/go/invuid/Jo_Hasenau