I am going to have to disagree with your feelings Rick. There is a ton of work going on to help out with documentation. I believe it is David Serduke that is adding functional examples to each function in the jQuery documentation. Feel free to go to http://groups.google.com/group/jquery-docs and offer any help you can on that front.
"The response I always get is: Core developers and plug-in authors are volunteers, so no one should expect that they will participate in the work involved to coordinate and standardize the jQuery core, plug-ins, and documentation." I don't think I read anywhere that said "no one should expect" part, people say they do what they can. As I said before, I personally am not a good writer, nor am I really good at explaining what I mean, but I am very willing to except help from anyone that is willing. And as I mentioned in our last conversation[1], good documentation can only happen with help from others. For instance, if you feel documentation for any particular plugin is lacking, feel free to either contact that developer directly with some constructive tips on how to improve their docs or write up a set of docs that you feel will better the current docs for that plugin. I truly believe that that plugin developer will not be offended. Karl offered a great lecture this weekend on bettering your documentation and I believe he will be posting it to his blog[2] and Mike Alsup [3], who probably has the better documentation then any plugin author, posted a template[4] for what he does and which I am trying to implement on my plugins[5]. Ultimately this is just my two cents, but this is a community that we are trying to build and helping each other out is the best way to strengthen it. We are only as strong as our weakest link. [1] http://groups.google.com/group/jquery-en/browse_thread/thread/4c18b36d4e14dc9a/cd208523d73f7b94?lnk=gst&q=Rick+Faircloth#cd208523d73f7b94 [2] http://www.learningjquery.com/ [3] http://malsup.com/jquery [4] http://malsup.com/jquery/template.zip [5] http://benjaminsterling.com/2007/09/30/jquery-jqgalview-photo-gallery/ On 10/28/07, Rick Faircloth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > A good idea, Howa, however I've been barking up the > "standardization", "consistency", "documentation", > "plug-in-compatibility-with-various-jquery-versions", > "bring-all-this-together-in-a-standardized-format-in-one-location" > for months, now. > > The response I always get is: Core developers and plug-in authors > are volunteers, so no one should expect that they will participate > in the work involved to coordinate and standardize the jQuery core, > plug-ins, and documentation. > > Right now, it's just track down info as best you can find it, test > it all yourself to have any certainty, and good luck to you. > > As jQuery and its plug-ins mature, it's getting more and more difficult > to put the framework to use. > > Although jQuery has brought much to the JS world, we're getting what > we're paying for as far as standardization and documentation goes... > > There's time to write books, but no time to develop a database-driven > content management system to bring all the information on the core, > plug-ins, and documentation under one roof, or rather, one site. > > *sigh* > > Rick > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: jquery-en@googlegroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of howa > > Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2007 5:57 AM > > To: jQuery (English) > > Subject: [jQuery] Consider a standard documentations for plugins > > > > > > Now, JQuery has many plugins, this is good. > > > > The bad side is different authors has different taste in writing > > documentation, I think it would be good to have a standard way to > > write documents, similar the one in the jquery doc., with examples, > > arguments description etc. > > > > It does not mean most authors are bad in writing documents, but using > > a standard way can help users to explore the plugin easier & faster. > > > > Also, it would be good if allow user to comment on the plugin just > > like what we have in php.net. People can contribute to build up the > > knowledge base, such as the plugin was broken with browser abc, > > workaround etc. > > > > -- Benjamin Sterling http://www.KenzoMedia.com http://www.KenzoHosting.com http://www.benjaminsterling.com
