[Typo3-documentation] Don't know how this will go over...

[Jean-Marie Schweizer]

Johannes Reichardt wrote:

> Well to point out the recent message: I think documentation from a 
> newbie-view is actually the most important thing. After a while you know 
> pretty well how to help yourself or where to ask if you really dont come 
> any further.

If you have been following the discussions here, you know that the only 
point of writing the documentations by this group is to write 
newbie-friendly, that is to improve the existing documents that are 
mostly written for admins and programmers.

> How about more Tutorials that show "a good way of working" with typo3 - 
> i think that would help more than the most accurate typoscript reference 
> (without foolproof examples ;)

It's all planned but somebody has actually to start working on it.

>>> The high learning curve of TYPO3 will always be there even with 
>>> excellent documentation. Some people are just not willing to sit down 
>>> and read they just want to find a quick and easy way and when they 
>>> don't get it, they quit. Nothing will solve that.
>>
>> Well i can understand these people very well. On the one hand complex 
>> possibilities to translate in every language, on the other hand a 
>> system that is so huge that only professionals can deal with it - and 
>> thats mostly because you have to filter all the time what you might 
>> need what would be useful or what is just something you can accomplish 
>> in 1/8 of the time if you do it like you would WITHOUT typo3. still 
>> having a feeling you missed something.
>>
>> Typo3 in a nutshell is just missing - the guide which directs you so i 
>> can follow every step, the guide which says "allright, you can do this 
>> and that with typo with this and that way, but the most common and 
>> future-compatible way is this and that"

Everyone who knows how to put TYPO3 in a nutshell is welcome to prove 
it. I personally will elektronically applaud to that person.

My guess, it is possible to write documentations like 'getting started' 
that are more up-to-date and get more into some specifics like how to 
set up menues etc. But then we'll have a lot of FAQ/HOW-TO and 
references for more advanced user.

>> Right now i think Kaspers coming close to his problem he had a few 
>> years before: The product itself is becoming so complex that its 
>> really hard (not impossible) to "explain" it really. Even with 
>> Extensionmanager.

That's why he not only needs programmers that help him coding and 
documentation the source code but a lot of people, who IMHO don't have 
to have that big a knowledge, that write on the documentation.

My guess is that the documenting project will take several months and 
even years with approx 50 people contributing on a regular basis to get 
somewhere. Then we can talk about a real change, otherwise we are trying 
to keep up with what we have now.

Jean-Marie