[Typo3-doc] The new extension repository (TER2)

[Robert Lemke]

Dear fellows,

as you may know, the foundation of the new extension repository is now in
alpha state. Although it is a complete rewrite of most of the extensions on
typo3.org, the visual part has not changed very much.

However, while creating the new documentation rendering extension I have
implemented a few features which should help us a lot in the future to
provide and maintain excellent documentation. Internally the TER2 is
working with DocBook which is automatically generated from the Open Office
Documents.

So what implications does that have on the documentation and for the TYPO3
manual authors? At first, nothing will change. You will still be able to
write a manual with Open Office Writer 1.x and include it into your
extensions. Until January, it will be the only way to upload documentation.

But later on we will be able to truly take advantage of DocBook and it will
be possible to use DocBook instead of Open Office as a source format. If
you have questions about DocBook or ask yourself why it's so much better
than Open Office documents, I'll gladly answer your questions and point you
to interesting resources.

We now have the foundation on which we can build. But if it turns out to be
succesful all depends on a highly motivated docteam with a consistent
leadership and people with the right skills. I'm sorry that I could not be
of too much help for Peter Kindström in the past, and I'm not sure if I can
help a lot in the future. 

But what I'll try to provide is all the information you might need from me
and the infrastructure and accounts which a required for your projects.

As a start I suggest you try to get familar with DocBook and have a look at
other projects who successfully use it. One of my favourite projects I
frequently look at is KDE. Have a look at their internationalization site
[1], there is a lot we can learn from them.

Although it's still alpha state, you should also look at the TER2 test
installation [2] and collect some feedback.

Well, I don't want to push you too much into one directory, but just let you
know that I want to help you getting started again, as much as I can afford
beside my other jobs. I also appreciate any constructive criticism and
ideas for the future. 

Just let's get started, it would be so cool if we had the best documentation
site of all free software projects!

Cheers,
robert

[1] http://i18n.kde.org/sitedoc.html
[2] http://ter.dev.robertlemke.de
-- 
Robert Lemke
TYPO3 Association - Research & Development
Member of the board
http://association.typo3.org