Overview bloat? (was Update of "Docs/Beats/Desktop" by RahulSundaram)

> The following page has been changed by RahulSundaram:
> http
://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Docs/Beats/Desktop
> + 
> + 
> + = Comment =
> + 
> + Since the overview section covers the destkop
already, do we need this section for FC6?
> + 

Good question.  My thoughts are like this ...

1. What does a user/reader do when coming to a massive
release notes
like this, with a comprehensive Tables of Contents?
  a. Look through the ToC for relevant items and go read
them?
  b. Read the introduction/overview, and consider going
deeper?

Our current setup actually supports both, except that from
the OverView,
the reader is not directed to the relevant content areas. 
Instead, they
get a comprehensive overview right there.

Perhaps the OverView should say something brief, then link
to more
content?

We faced this with FC5, where the OverView grew to be so big
that it was
repeating information stated elsewhere, which means it now
had to be
maintained twice.

The OverView is starting to remind me of the old Fedora/RHEL
release
notes.  One, long page with all the information in brief.  

Is it useful to have both styles supported?

- Karsten
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Project 
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Karsten Wade wrote:
>> The following page has been changed by
RahulSundaram:
>> http
://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Docs/Beats/Desktop
>> + 
>> + 
>> + = Comment =
>> + 
>> + Since the overview section covers the destkop
already, do we need this section for FC6?
>> + 
> 
> Good question.  My thoughts are like this ...
> 
> 1. What does a user/reader do when coming to a massive
release notes
> like this, with a comprehensive Tables of Contents?
>   a. Look through the ToC for relevant items and go
read them?
>   b. Read the introduction/overview, and consider going
deeper?
> 
> Our current setup actually supports both, except that
from the OverView,
> the reader is not directed to the relevant content
areas.  Instead, they
> get a comprehensive overview right there.
> 
> Perhaps the OverView should say something brief, then
link to more
> content?
> 
> We faced this with FC5, where the OverView grew to be
so big that it was
> repeating information stated elsewhere, which means it
now had to be
> maintained twice.
> 
> The OverView is starting to remind me of the old
Fedora/RHEL release
> notes.  One, long page with all the information in
brief.  
> 
> Is it useful to have both styles supported?
> 

As the beat writer for the section, I chose the current
style to give 
our users a very quick glance at major changes rather than
make them 
scroll through different sections to get an idea of the
improvements. It 
could be possible that there are desktop changes that arent
major and 
require some brief coverage in other sections but if a
section is empty 
as it is right now, we can drop it before the final release
IMO.

Rahul

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Karsten Wade wrote:
>> The following page has been changed by
RahulSundaram:
>> http
://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Docs/Beats/Desktop
>> + 
>> + 
>> + = Comment =
>> + 
>> + Since the overview section covers the destkop
already, do we need this section for FC6?
>> + 
> 
> Good question.  My thoughts are like this ...
> 
> 1. What does a user/reader do when coming to a massive
release notes
> like this, with a comprehensive Tables of Contents?
>   a. Look through the ToC for relevant items and go
read them?
>   b. Read the introduction/overview, and consider going
deeper?
> 
> Our current setup actually supports both, except that
from the OverView,
> the reader is not directed to the relevant content
areas.  Instead, they
> get a comprehensive overview right there.
> 
> Perhaps the OverView should say something brief, then
link to more
> content?
> 
> We faced this with FC5, where the OverView grew to be
so big that it was
> repeating information stated elsewhere, which means it
now had to be
> maintained twice.
> 
> The OverView is starting to remind me of the old
Fedora/RHEL release
> notes.  One, long page with all the information in
brief.  
> 
> Is it useful to have both styles supported?
> 

As the beat writer for the section, I chose the current
style to give 
our users a very quick glance at major changes rather than
make them 
scroll through different sections to get an idea of the
improvements. It 
could be possible that there are desktop changes that arent
major and 
require some brief coverage in other sections but if a
section is empty 
as it is right now, we can drop it before the final release
IMO.

Rahul

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On Wed, 2006-08-30 at 19:38 +0530, Rahul wrote:

> As the beat writer for the section, I chose the current
style to give 
> our users a very quick glance at major changes rather
than make them 
> scroll through different sections to get an idea of the
improvements. It 
> could be possible that there are desktop changes that
arent major and 
> require some brief coverage in other sections but if a
section is empty 
> as it is right now, we can drop it before the final
release IMO.

I agree with both of these.  I just don't want to see all
the content
migrate to the OverView.   As the
overview beat writer, I'm sure you'd
agree.

Let's wait until 20 Sep (the deadline we're pushing out to
the devel
lists) for any changes/additions from that group.  At that
point, we'll
cull all the beats that have no content.

- Karsten
-- 
Karsten Wade, RHCE, 108 Editor    ^     Fedora Documentation
Project 
 Sr. Developer Relations Mgr.     | 
fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject
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On Wed, 2006-08-30 at 07:48 -0700, Karsten Wade wrote:
> On Wed, 2006-08-30 at 19:38 +0530, Rahul wrote:
> 
> > As the beat writer for the section, I chose the
current style to give 
> > our users a very quick glance at major changes
rather than make them 
> > scroll through different sections to get an idea
of the improvements. It 
> > could be possible that there are desktop changes
that arent major and 
> > require some brief coverage in other sections but
if a section is empty 
> > as it is right now, we can drop it before the
final release IMO.
> 
> I agree with both of these.  I just don't want to see
all the content
> migrate to the OverView.   As the
overview beat writer, I'm sure you'd
> agree.
> 
> Let's wait until 20 Sep (the deadline we're pushing
out to the devel
> lists) for any changes/additions from that group.  At
that point, we'll
> cull all the beats that have no content.

+1.  From a docs perspective, a good way to make the
Overview do what's
needed while maintaining a slim profile is for any
particular bullet to
be no more than a short sentence of, say, 20 words.  If you
need more
space than that, it's probably better pushed to the
appropriate section.
That allows the idea to be fully explained without
overloading the
Overview, and might mean the difference between a
"missing" section and
a section with meaningful content.

-- 
Paul W. Frields, RHCE                          http://paul.frields.org/
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BD11 3717
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raproject.org/wiki/DocsProject
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On Wed, 2006-08-30 at 19:38 +0530, Rahul wrote:

> As the beat writer for the section, I chose the current
style to give 
> our users a very quick glance at major changes rather
than make them 
> scroll through different sections to get an idea of the
improvements. It 
> could be possible that there are desktop changes that
arent major and 
> require some brief coverage in other sections but if a
section is empty 
> as it is right now, we can drop it before the final
release IMO.

I agree with both of these.  I just don't want to see all
the content
migrate to the OverView.   As the
overview beat writer, I'm sure you'd
agree.

Let's wait until 20 Sep (the deadline we're pushing out to
the devel
lists) for any changes/additions from that group.  At that
point, we'll
cull all the beats that have no content.

- Karsten
-- 
Karsten Wade, RHCE, 108 Editor    ^     Fedora Documentation
Project 
 Sr. Developer Relations Mgr.     | 
fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject
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AD0E0C41
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On Wed, 2006-08-30 at 07:48 -0700, Karsten Wade wrote:
> On Wed, 2006-08-30 at 19:38 +0530, Rahul wrote:
> 
> > As the beat writer for the section, I chose the
current style to give 
> > our users a very quick glance at major changes
rather than make them 
> > scroll through different sections to get an idea
of the improvements. It 
> > could be possible that there are desktop changes
that arent major and 
> > require some brief coverage in other sections but
if a section is empty 
> > as it is right now, we can drop it before the
final release IMO.
> 
> I agree with both of these.  I just don't want to see
all the content
> migrate to the OverView.   As the
overview beat writer, I'm sure you'd
> agree.
> 
> Let's wait until 20 Sep (the deadline we're pushing
out to the devel
> lists) for any changes/additions from that group.  At
that point, we'll
> cull all the beats that have no content.

+1.  From a docs perspective, a good way to make the
Overview do what's
needed while maintaining a slim profile is for any
particular bullet to
be no more than a short sentence of, say, 20 words.  If you
need more
space than that, it's probably better pushed to the
appropriate section.
That allows the idea to be fully explained without
overloading the
Overview, and might mean the difference between a
"missing" section and
a section with meaningful content.

-- 
Paul W. Frields, RHCE                          http://paul.frields.org/
  gpg fingerprint: 3DA6 A0AC 6D58 FEC4 0233  5906 ACDB C937
BD11 3717
       Fedora Project Board: http://fedoraproj
ect.org/wiki/Board
    Fedora Docs Project:  http://fedo
raproject.org/wiki/DocsProject
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