> >If you are, read my new entry in the wiki blog (even if you're not, > >you can read it too): > > > >http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Blog:Scribus_Times_and_Gazette/Searchin > g_for_a_new_angle_in_documentation > > > >I have little idea how much time and work this project will take, but > >it's one of these brain itches I need to scratch at a bit. > > Whenever I need to use software that I am unfamiliar with I generally > start with a simple project. And then another project, perhaps months > later. And another. And another. In fact, the initial project is > probably what drove me to try the program in the first place. > > A big advantage of learning a program this way is that I learn the > parts that *I* need to know about for the kinds of work that *I* do. It > is also very efficient. And I remember what I learned better because I > learned it by doing it. The disadvantage is that there will always be > holes in my knowledge of the program. To me, the advantages far > outweigh the disadvantages. > > Because of my way of learning programs I strongly support your idea of > task-oriented Scribus. However, I'm not sure that creating > documentation aimed at specific types of tasks is necessarily useful. > If the documentation has a search feature I can look things up as I > need them - assuming I can figure out what the feature I am looking for > is called. Knowing the terminology of a new program is always > frustrating. > > I also like the idea of workflow documentation although, again, I > wonder about its usefulness. On the other hand, when I gave a recent > talk about Scribus the audience (Linux heads, programmers, computer > science people) were amazed at ideas like line screen and banding, > colors out of gamut, and even CMYK. Some didn't even know the > difference between a vector and a raster image. I think the workflow > idea might be very useful as a framework for general DTP stuff.
I especially like the idea of task-orientation. I know that for me personally, something like this would have made learning Scribus much easier, because no matter how well a DTP program is designed, it's still very non-intuitive for someone that knows nothing about it (and Scribus is actually easier to learn than a lot of other programs out there).
