On 8 May 2008, at 1:08 AM, Michael Garton wrote:
> Adam
>
> Thanks for a comprehensive reply concerning BibDesk. Your discussion
> about QuickLook - triggered by the DevonThink forum - has been
> helpful, clarifying that there is little hope that DT and Skim are
> ever going to play well together. I intend to migrate from DT.
> BibDesk comes into the frame again.
>
>> What were you looking for in the help pages? What functionality do
>> you need
>> or want? I've been using it for 6 years, so I don't have a new user
>> perspective...
> New users like me need step by step screenshots for a threefold
> process within BibDesk: downloading a pdf, control where it is filed
> along with creation of an accompanying bibliographic entry. If you
> want to send a potential user scurrying away in terror, you could do
> no better than this from the first few lines of introduction to
> Bibdesk said to be written for those unfamiliar with the programme:
> "Here's a trivial example to help illustrate. First we have a macro
> definition:
> @string{PACT = "International Conference on Processors,
> Architectures and Compilation Techniques"}"
> If that's trivial and for new users I simply dare not click on the
> Quick Start Guide for those already familiar.
>
I can imagine. I don't think the actual bibtex syntax should be at the
start, it's more something for the end of the discussion. I also don't
think macros and crossrefs should be mentioned in the general intro,
as those are really advanced features that many users won't even see
any time. Probably the only relvant part of the first paragraph is
that a bibtex entry (publication) consists of a type, an identifier
(cite key) and any number of field/value pairs.
But as we have mentioned on this list many times: that's exactly why
we, the developers, should not write the documentation.
Christiaan
> If you want a model, well overkill, Zotero shows the way:
> http://www.zotero.org/
> Zotero only works with Firefox which I find quirky - can't seem to
> consistently download and control pdf storage. I feel in control with
> Safari but I'm in desperate need of somewhere to store pdfs/handle
> bibliographies now Skim is helping me read them more efficiently.
>
> The BibDesk functionality you list is very impressive - and I don't
> use the DT AI feature anyway.
>
> Michael
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