Rob Beezer wrote:
> On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 12:22 PM, William Stein wrote:
>
>> Any suggestions?
>
> I'm thinking about the new user, who (a) doesn't know at all that you
> can add text (b) can't figure out why there are two colors for the
> bars or (c) tries to type code into TinyMCE and can't get it to
> evaluate.
>
> What about having a small text link, similar to "evaluate" that says
> "annotate", "add text", "doodle" or something similar? Placed
> somewhere suggestive like the "evaluate" link is. Not sure where that
> would be relative to the input cells, output cells and the blue bar.
> Maybe it could be shoved off to the right margin, keeping "evaluate"
> shoved off to the left margin (simple with CSS?).
>
> Maybe long-term the notebook could have an expert mode. Colored bars
> for the pros (which would be nice once you know what's going on) and a
> novice mode with more help or more obvious controls, but maybe a tad
> more cumbersome. You could go in/out of expert mode with a link at
> the top, and/or set your choice permanently with some configuration
> option.
>
> I really like the idea of the students having an editor that they can
> use to write on a worksheet, and especially the possibility that they
> can start learning simple LaTeX without the usual overhead of a big
> install, the \begin{document} structure, the command line, etc. So
> anything that makes TinyMCE's presence more obvious to the uninitiated
> would be another great addition.
How about, in the spirit of the "evaluate" link being real text that
someone can read and immediately guess the function, we have the
new-cell bar, when someone mouses over it, show something like:
___________________________________________________________________
| new code cell | new text cell |
|_____________________________|___________________________________|
Of course, the text would be small (small enough that the new cell bar
wouldn't be much bigger than it is now).
Jason
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