On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 5:11 PM, Rob Weir <robw...@apache.org> wrote: > On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 4:49 PM, Marcus (OOo) <marcus.m...@wtnet.de> wrote: >> Am 12/03/2012 09:19 PM, schrieb Rob Weir: >> >>> On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 2:54 PM, Keith N. McKenna >>> <keith.mcke...@comcast.net> wrote: >>>> >>>> Rob Weir wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 1:41 PM, Andrea Pescetti<pesce...@apache.org> >>>>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On 26/11/2012 Rob Weir wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> [Can I install Openoffice on my IPAD?] I nominate this for an FAQ. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> I agree. But where is our FAQ page currently? Unfortunately, there's an >>>>>> "OpenOffice FAQ" easily reachable by search engines at >>>>>> http://www.openoffice.org/faq.html and quite outdated (I don't know >>>>>> whether >>>>>> it's reachable from the home page, but it doesn't seem so). >>>>>> >>>>>> Time to make a new FAQ available or update the old one and link to it >>>>>> from >>>>>> the current site? >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> The current location of the FAQ is prominent in search results. That >>>>> is valuable and worth preserving. >>>>> >>>>> But the current FAQ contents are out of date. They would need a lot >>>>> of work to update/correct them. >>>>> >>>>> Although the FAQ's are presented in a way that is OK for the user, the >>>>> static HTML source is structured in a way that will be painful to >>>>> maintain. Getting a cleaner structure, for example using HTML >>>>> definition lists (<dl>) would be easier and could be maintained via >>>>> the CMS web interface. >>>>> >>>>> There is another set of FAQ's on the documentation wiki: >>>>> http://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/FAQ >>>>> >>>>> These also appear to be unmaintained. But I think the wiki version >>>>> would be easier to maintain. >>>>> >>>>> So one possible resolution could be: >>>>> >>>>> 1) Take anything of use from the FAQ's at >>>>> http://www.openoffice.org/faq.html and copy them into new FAQ items on >>>>> the wiki >>>>> >>>>> 2) Update the other FAQ's on the wiki >>>>> >>>>> 3) Add new items to the wiki FAQ (like the iPAD question) >>>>> >>>>> 4) Delete the old FAQ directory and replace with a single page that >>>>> directs the reader to the wiki FAQ's. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -Rob >>>>> -Rob >>>>> >>>>>> Regards, >>>>>> Andrea. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> Rob; >>>> >>>> I have been updating some of the FAQ's on the wiki site that were tagged >>>> as >>>> needing help. I am more than willing to start a comprehensive review and >>>> clean-up of the User FAQ's on the documentation wiki if that is the way >>>> we >>>> decide to go. The advantage is that the wiki is easier to maintain and it >>>> is >>>> already categorized with a toc on the main page. >>>> >>> >>> The other FAQ on the website is also categorized: >>> http://www.openoffice.org/faq.html >>> >>> So whatever direction we start from we'll probably want to update and >>> consolidate. >>> >>> In my personal opinion, mdtext on the website is a good solution here. >>> But my opinion takes a back seat when someone else actually volunteers >>> to do the work. So if you prefer the wiki for this, then you have a >>> +1 from me. I'd just recommend that you fold in anything good from >>> the existing website into the wiki, so we have can have a single FAQ >>> for the project. >>> >>> Oh, actually we have a few other FAQs: >>> >>> http://openoffice.apache.org/community-faqs.html >>> >>> http://openoffice.apache.org/developer-faqs.html >>> >>> http://openoffice.apache.org/pmc-faqs.html >>> >>> Maybe a simplifying assumption could be: >>> >>> 1) We make the MWiki FAQ's be the user-facing FAQs about the product >>> and the project >>> >>> 2) We have the "internal" project-facing FAQ's on >>> openoffice.apache.org website, in their current mdtext format. >> >> >> I also would like to see FAQs in the Wiki, for both parts. FAQs have the >> attribute that they are never complete, need to be updated regularily and >> nearly anybody has something to add. >> > > A website in mdtext is also easy to update and anyone can update it. > In some sense it is even easier than the wiki, since with the > anonymous mode an account registration is not even needed, unlike the > wiki, > > I'd also disagree with the belief that FAQs need to be frequently > changed. They only need to be frequently *asked*. For example, the > question about OpenOffice on iPad only needs to be answered once. it > does not require frequent community enhancement. > >> So, it should be the best if indeed anybody can do the update. That's best >> done within the Wiki. Mistakes can be corrected fast and bad changes >> reverted easily. >> > > The same is true of the website. > > But let's be honest: the FAQ's on the wiki have been neglected for a > long time. Technological concerns are not the reason for this, since > they are already on the wiki. Our problems are elsewhere. > > My preference for the mdtext is it is easier to style and looks > better. Wikis are dog butt ugly, IMHO. Fine for collaborating on > text, but for final publication they are ugly. IMHO. >
For reference and comparison, look at the support page that Firefox uses: http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/home Their "hot topics" is analogous to FAQs. This is a clean, attractive page, free of distractions, easy to use. I don't think we get there with a wiki. -Rob > -Rob > >> My 2 ct. >> >> Marcus
