Hi, On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 12:00 PM, Dmitry Dulepov [typo3] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Daniel Bruessler wrote: > > I also think so, that's the reason because we compare EVERY solution in > > the moment. Hopefully we can use TYPO3 even for the whole > > documentation-lifecycle. Let's see ;-) > > This is different. I am not sure if TYPO3 is truly suitable for creating > documentation that can be printed. Word processor is better for this task I > think. > > I read discussion about using TYPO3 but I am not convinced :)
I'm not completely convinced either, but I do think it's a good idea to look into. When I think about it, I start to see advantages--advantages such as maintainers for individual sections of longer documents such as the TSref. I couldn't, for example, take on the maintenance of the entire TSref or TS by Example, but I could certainly commit to maintaining a cObject or two. Using BE logins and workspaces, we could also semi-automate the process of upgrading major docs. Moreover, some parts of manuals--maybe TS property tables?--could be generated from the source itself (as, e.g. the documentation in the Ext Dev extension). This would be easier to implement in a web-based platform than in something like OpenOffice etc. In addition, while word-processors are good tools for *creating* documents, they're terrible for reading them. They don't usually have particularly good navigation tools, and they're often full of distracting visual 'noise' such as the underlines created by spell-checkers etc. Web pages and pdfs are much better in general for electronic reading. Finally, I think if the community can figure out a fairly robust system for document creation and publication (i.e. outputting from db to HTML, sxw, pdf etc), it would be a *terrific* feature for promoting TYPO3 in certain communications-heavy sectors (i.e. for clients with large marketing or PR needs). A few years ago I contracted for a commercial CMS vendor whose product, though demonstrably inferior to TYPO3 in almost every major feature, was reasonably successful since it was able to do one thing that most similar tools couldn't: publish HTML, .doc, .xls and .pdf. Their clientele consisted mostly of not-for-profits and organizations with large marketing departments who needed a way of centrally managing content creation and automatically publishing it in multiple formats at specific times or intervals. The biggest problem I can think of with respect to document creation with TYPO3 is, as I mentioned previously, pagination (i.e. given that there are two different paper sizes in very wide use). But as I also mentioned, even if this problem could *not* be solved (which I think is doubtful), it's common in academic circles to refer to specific locations in text according to numbering systems that do NOT correspond to physical pages--and it really creates no significant difficulties. Finally, some years ago, I suggested on the list that it would be a great idea to offer printed versions of the major manuals (TSref etc) for sale via one of the many online publishing services (proceeds to the association). If the costs were reasonable, I for one would buy a TSref for each new TYPO3 version (since as things stand, I have to print the docs myself and have them commercially bound anyway). -- Christopher Torgalson http://www.typo3apprentice.com/ _______________________________________________ TYPO3-english mailing list TYPO3-english@lists.netfielders.de http://lists.netfielders.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/typo3-english