[Typo3-doc] Waht we can do now. was: G'day!

[Charlie Dale]

Hi Patrick,

On Friday, 11 November 2005 04:45, Patrick Gaumond wrote:
> Charlie Dale wrote:
> 
>> POSSIBLE APPROACH, GUIDEBOOK LIKE
> 
>> POSSIBLE APPROACH, QUESTION BASED
> 
> Both have merits but one thing still bugs me when reading part of the
> official doc and even your beta texts: "Happy talk".

Thanks for the feedback. You make a good point, I think you're right - the
"happy talk" needs to be limited. Actually as I lay in bed last night, brain
ticking away, I was thinking of a new approach that you would probably like
more: a scannable list, with discussion where appropriate, e.g.

INSTALLATION

* For Windows: read the <Installation Guide>. Further information available:
<link to other docs?>, <link to Wiki stuff?>.
* For Unix: download the source and a site package, then read INSTALL.txt.
[Hrm, can we have the INSTALL.txt on the t3 site somewhere so we can link to
it?]

LEARNING TYPO3

* Required reading: the <Getting Started tutorial>. Work through sections x
- y.
* Look up any word you don't understand (e.g. "TypoScript", "Constants") in
the <Glossary>.
* Understanding the backend: read [Inside TYPO3?? or what?]
* Introduction to Extensions: is there such a thing??
* Understanding how frontend rendering works: read [??]
* TypoScript docs

DELVING INTO TYPO3

* API references
* TSref
... lots more here

Something that's easily scannable and useful both for newbies on their first
visit but also everyone who has something to learn about TYPO3 (everyone?!).

Actually your "New to TYPO3" page that you mentioned in another email looks
like it would be usable at least for now as a Start Here page. Why don't we
just link Start Here to that?? It needs extending with links into the key
docs such as Inside TYPO3, TS docs, etc, but it's a good start.

At the same time I'm also a big fan of the chatty style of Kasper's docs.
Perhaps this is only appropriate in tutorials though.

Cheers,
Charlie

P.S. I had some other ideas too. I was thinking we could draw a big diagram
of a body and link the various docs in at different points. E.g. Inside
TYPO3 as the heart, Getting Started as the left hand, Modern Template
Building as the right hand. Not sure if that'd work so well... Actually
TYPO3 is more like a journey. Perhaps we could do a map??