Jeff-
Comments are inline with your email below. I'm cc'ing
gallery-
docs lists.sourceforge.net on this. Lets move this
dicussion there so
that we can get feedback from the rest of the docs team and
the
usability experts from openusability.org that we've been
working with.
You can sign up for the list at
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gallery-do
cs
Christian/Katrin/Docs team:
there are notes for input from you all in here. Please read
through
this email!
-Chris
On Feb 21, 2007, at 12:39 PM, Jeff Ward wrote:
> TO: Bharat, Chris, and other developers of Gallery
> FROM: Jeff Ward
> DATE: February 21, 2007
> SUBJECT: additional questions about your expectations
for
> documentation
>
> Professor Clark and I met yesterday. The links you
provided were
> very helpful. We have some idea of what you would like
to do, but
> we do have some additional questions in certain areas.
>
> Existing Documentation
>
> Do you have a sense of how satisfied your users are
with the
> current documentation?
Our current documentation is somewhat extensive but there is
definitely a lack of focused documentation for new users and
for
doing many of the basic tasks associated with using or
administering
a Gallery. When we have the documentation for something a
user is
trying to do, it is typically enough to get them the help
that they
need, but it's not always easy to find the right
documentation page.
A frequent forum response is "please see this
documentation page/FAQ
entry" when people post questions that have been asked
before.
> Would you like my project to include a revisiting of
the current
> documentation or do you think it should be entirely
new?
It wouldn't make sense to start over! There's a lot of
existing
information that we have and I doubt you would be able to
write the
quantity of documentation that we already have for a thesis.
One of
the things that our help from OpenUsability has focused on
is the
organization of our documentation site. We'll probably want
to keep
them in the loop and they may have information that would be
very
useful to you before you get started.
(Christian/Katrin: can you comment on this?)
> I studied the list of requested documentation in one of
the links
> you sent. Is this list comprehensive or are there other
areas you
> would like to see developed?
It certainly isn't comprehensive, but if combined with the
existing
pages, specifically the ones on:
ht
tp://codex.gallery2.org/Category:Needs_Expansion
and
http:
//codex.gallery2.org/Category:Needs_Review
it's probably a little closer to comprehensive. One of the
other doc
team members may have some feedback here.
> User Interaction
>
> Would you be interested in having user feedback built
into the
> documentation? For example, I could build the
documentation into a
> Wiki or allow commenting.
We will want to keep using the Wiki on codex.gallery2.org
for this.
We have a lot of users that use it, and lots of links from
our forums
point to specific places in the existing documentation. We
allow
anyone to create and edit pages, and the docs team keeps an
eye on
all of the edits to make sure things don't get out of hand.
Keeping
this ability is very important because just like Open Source
Software, the continual quality and timeliness of our
documentation
depends on input from users and constant review and
editing.
> Design Feedback
>
> Part of my coursework focuses on information design and
usability
> testing as well as how they inform documentation
practice. Would
> you be interested in user feedback on the interface,
structure,
> etc. in addition to the new documentation?
We can certainly use help in this area too! (Just like any
other
area 
). OpenUsability has been a lot of help, but the main
limitation is developers to actually implement the
suggestions on
usability. I think we are working at a good pace with them
as far as
reviews and changes go, but we may not have the developer
hours to
implement any of your recommendations before the completion
of your
project and I think it's important for there to be back and
forth
between the UI experts and the developers as this
progresses. (Other
people may disagree, if so speak up!) If you'd like to
continue
working on Gallery after you finish your project though, we
can
discuss this further!
> After these questions are answered, Professor Clark and
I will meet
> again to develop a tentative, strategic plan including
a timeline.
> I look forward to hearing from and communicating with
you again soon.
Sounds good. Thanks!
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