As a new Revolution user (former HyperCard/mTropolis user) and having read through the User Manual and Dan Shafer's book, I find the program very powerful and useful. However, I'd like to make the following suggestions toward producing a new User Guide, and which I think would better attract new users. There are important basic features in the present user interface that seem to be inadequately documented even for those with a programming background, let alone those totally new to programming. I suspect Revolution may turn off new potiential users unless certain changes are made to the documentation. My suggestions toward a new manual are as follows: 1. Eliminate the printed Transcript Language reference guide. It is duplicated in a much more efficient manner in the onscreen Reference Documentation window. 2. Eliminate the "How To" section in the printed User Guide. Much of this is already in the Topics section of onscreen Reference Documentation which can be beefed up to include all of the "How To" topics. 3. Instead, have a single, smaller user manual organized so there is: A. A new friendly introductory chapter describing the general features of Revolution. As is, the manual is not very user-friendly to newbees. One has to go through some 55 pages before getting to a section called "About Revolution for new developers". These first 55 pages could largely be placed in an Appendix, so that someone totally new to programming does not have to wade through it. B. There needs to be a systematic explanation of the various windows in Revolution, in particular the Inspector and message box windows, which are not presently well documented. The reader should be taken through each checkbox and menu item in the inspector and message box windows. The Tools window also does not seem well-documented in any one place (Where is there an explanation as to how to make proper use of the slider, progress bar, little arrows and scrollbar items, and the drawing tools?) One can find scattered information but it does not seem well-organized in any one place. C. There should be a systematic explanation of the main top menubar, including all the features of the "Standalone Application Settings" part of the File menu, which presently is not well documented. Thus the "Menus" section of the present User Manual should be upgraded. D. There should be a brief overall chapter on Revolution scripting. It need not be extremely detailed. Details can be obtained in the already excellent Dictionary in the "Reference Documentation" Window. Also, when Dan Shafer completes his book (I still remember reading through and using his excellent book on HyperCard scripting some years ago) it should be very valuable in pointing out and elaborating on the more advanced and useful things that scripting can do. E. I'd keep the Shortcuts and Troubleshooting parts of the present User Manual. The Glossary terms don't have to be listed over 12 pages in the Index. It is sufficient to have them just listed in the Glossary, which could actually be eliminated in favor of simply putting a Glossary on disc as part of the "Reference Documentation". In general it is easier to read short segments of text on a computer than long paragraphs of text, so the short segments (Topics, Dictionary, Objects, Glossary) would fit well being placed on-screen, while longer explanations would fit better in a book. (By the way, I have been writing, editing and publishing medical books and CDs for the past 25 years, at www.medmaster.net, and am used to evaluating which forms of communication fit better in a book and which on CD). With a single, short, well-documented, organized manual it would be easier to attract new users. I'd be happy to help write (or edit) one myself at no charge, if the current developers are interested, since I am so impressed with the potential for Revolution, but first I'd have to fully understand all the features myself. So far, I've found this forum a great avenue for communication. I'm looking forward to the conference at Monterey.
Steve Goldberg www.medmaster.net [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ use-revolution mailing list use-revolution@lists.runrev.com http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution