[TYPO3-UG US] Learning TYPO3 (explained)

[Michelle Heizer]

Hello everyone!

I wanted to clear up some of the confusion about the "Learning TYPO3"
section of the new website.

Dimitri had a great summary of the project: "The idea was (and still is)
to develop a site and a tutorial that would cause less "culture shock"
to a typical new TYPO3 user in US/Canada and use CSS/(X)HTML. It was
supposed to replace Quickstart/Getting Started for US marketing efforts,
however if it's going to be accepted as a real successor to Quickstart I
guess it's even better."

My experience with T3 in the US is that the problem with adoption is not
so much marketing as it is learning the system. In other words, we have
many "leads" and not enough "sales". With the new website, we will be
generating quite a bit of interest in T3. This means it is even more
important that the people interested in the software understand how to
use it.

If you look at the current documentation, you will notice that there are
several tutorials, from TS examples, to GoLive, to the Test Site, to
MTB/FTB, to "Getting Started", etc. In each version, you are building a
unique site. That means to learn about TYPO3 using these manuals, you
have to build a separate and distinct site with each tutorial! The LT3
package will correct this problem. It will be "one" manual, with modules
for TS/HTML (GoLive), Template Auto-parser (MTB), and TemplaVoila. There
will be modules for content editing with screenshots and Wink movies
using the NPO website as the example.

As far as the various template methods, based on the number of downloads
in the extension repository and the survey I conducted, MTB is the
preferred method of building template. Although, we really can't gather
how many people are using the "classic" method because there isn't
anything to download. The great part of TYPO3 is that we have a choice
in building template so let's use this as a selling feature and not in
an argument on which method is better. It's all a matter of preference
anyway.

In any case, I feel we need to start our documentation from the
beginning with HTML/TS and moving from there. For example, let's build
the NPO site using HTML/TS, then move it to the Template Auto-parser and
then move it to TemplaVoila, documenting each step on the way. This has
an added benefit of showing a user (even a user that has been using T3
for awhile) the process of moving their site from one template builder
to another and how to migrate the content. That way we would be letting
the user decide which method they would want to use for their site. This
will also leave us room if another template builder comes along.

This will be a "living" document, which is what I think the current
documentation is lacking. For example, if a new way of building
templates comes out, we can just add a module to the documentation and
add it to the NPO site. If an extension we use in the NPO site gets a
complete overhaul, we can just discard that module in the documentation
and site and start over. Keeping this package modular and "timeless"
will be the key. We currently have so many tutorials on how to make a
template in TYPO3, it is difficult to keep the information current and
it suffers from outdated text and screenshots.

One of the modules will be for content editor manuals, including both
"classic" and "TV" methods of editing. The text will be mostly the same,
but the screenshots and movies will need to change to reflect the two
methods. I feel that for TYPO3 to be successfully adopted in the US, it
has to be easy for editors to use. Yes, TYPO3 has a lot of "wow" factor
as far as developing, but it's the end user that we need to worry the
most about. Once again, the manuals will be based on the NPO site and
will be a mixture of text, screenshots and Wink movies.

As an added bonus, this site will be a great demo for TYPO3, show the
high quality of T3 and show the professionalism of the consultancies and
people that put it together.

I'm working on an outline of the project this week based on the comments
that have been posted and emailed to me. Zach Davis has offered to add
the people interested in working on the project (and the TYPO3.us
project, in general) to his BaseCamp project manager. Thanks to Zach!
Greg Remington has been working on the templates so we should begin on
the tutorials very soon!

Regards,

Michelle