ghrt wrote:
1. Well, I think the question here isn't how many chapters we'll have,
but how many pages and where to draw the line between Getting Started
and $Component Guide.
I prefer having some words on every major aspect that OOo delivers; I
don't know if all the words needed will fit 200-250 pages or 350 will be
needed.
I prefer having chapters for components and major ideas (themes), like
we are now. I also see App A (Shorcuts) as a chapter. No need to merge
chapters, things will get harder to find and understand.
I also prefer frequent headings, because that will help the reader
understand and, after reading, will help him finding faster what he needs.
2. I don't know if a small GS is a good idea, ie limiting the page
number. I think we must discuss what the scope / goal of GS is. For me,
Getting Started should help users not only start OOo, but also work with
all the major and daily features of OOo.
If we decide that we need a light book, I think we can compile it around
10 pages for every chapter we have now, but what's the use? Because such
a light book will force the reader to read the other guides before
working on usual office work and the GS will have no more a meaning.
[snip]
Thank you for all these excellent comments. I hope to hear from some
more people about these issues as this is a good discussion about the
purpose of the book and what should be in it.
Yes, the big problem is where to draw the line between Getting Started
and the component guides. I find it hard to choose which features are
ones that are "major and daily" for large numbers of people. I did add
to the fourth edition of the book quite a few topics that were not in
the earlier editions, because of exactly that thought: people use this
feature or often do this task, so I should include at least an
introduction to it in GS.
But some topics I can't decide about. For example, there is a section
about tracking changes in the chapter on Writer; but I wonder how many
people use that feature? Most people I work with use it, but I don't
think those people (writers and editors) are typical of OOo users.
If you, or anyone else, can tell me specific topics you think should
be added to the book (not just new features, but old features that
should be covered but are not) or any topics that are in the book that
you think could be left out, that would really help. I am sure that
many people use every day some features that I never use and never
even think about.
This whole discussion could be extended to: what should go in the
component guides? Originally we did not try to cover everything,
taking the view that the user guides should tell how to do common
tasks, not be a reference manual of all the features and choices.
At that time, the Help had this reference material but not much
how-to info. Over the years, more how-to information has gone into the
Help, and more reference material has gone into the component guides.
And, of course, some topics have never gone into the component guides
even though we think they should be covered, because no one has
written the needed material, not because of choosing to leave it out.
I will talk about page design and wasted space (the last paragraph of
your note, snipped off here) in another thread.
--Jean
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