Hi, looks like an interesting idea. anyway, I'm sure that a Style Guideline will be needed, to save the Creative Design team of going insane in two weeks ;-) I think that this can be done more easyly by using a WikiWikiWeb system. yeah, I know, they're slow and consume quite a bit of bandwidth, but they're the best option when doing documentation. cya! On 4/20/05, Zenja Solaja <solaja@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > PROBLEM > > Computers are difficult to use. > > SCENARIO > > When Haiku first becomes widely distributable, we can be assured that > there will be over 1 million enthusiasts who will want to try the Live > CD / distribution (based on R5PE stats). These curious individuals > have already tried one of the many Linux/BSD distributions available > over the years, and cursed at how difficult said systems were to use, > and within a hour or two went straight back to Windows (and repeat the > cycle every 6 months). The challenge, therefore, is to answer any > question these potential users may have which will pop up during the > first hour of usage. Haiku WILL be different from what these curious > individuals are used to, so if we can provide a simple '20 top > questions' guide, we just might take these users over the 1h > threshold. They just might continue tinkering with the system for a > week or so, and (as we all know from personal experience) thats how > long it will take them to 'get' the system, and fall in love. > > SOLUTION > > We need a HaikuPedia, with 2 sections. The first section is the > 'Quick start', which will explain the most common questions a new user > may have, and the second section is your normal 'user guide'. The > HaikuPedia will probably be in HTML format, and it would be great if > we can integrate it with BeHappy (http://www.bebits.com/app/430) or > similar for search capabilities. So what are the most common > questions newbies will have? > > 1) How do I change screen resolution? > 2) How do I adjust my sound settings? > 3) How do I mount my other disks? > 4) How can I make a program start automatically on powerup? > 5) How do I kill a misbehaving application? > 6) How do I search my disk for files? > 7) In which directory does the 'Desktop' live? > 8) How do I change system fonts? > 9) How do I configure networking? > 10) How can I rearrange all icons to fit a window? > 11) How do I kill a misbehaving application? > 12) How can I move my Deskbar? How can I add items to it? > 13) Why cant I view thumbnails of images stored on NTFS partition? > 14) Where can I download applications from? > 15) How do I install applications? > 16) How do I remove applications? > 17) A new driver crashes Haiku - how can I remove it? > 18) How do I change settings in the boot manager? > 19) How do I change ALT-C/X/V to CTRL-C/X/V > 20) Where are my preferences stored? > 21) What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything else? > (n) others??? > > PROPOSAL > > a) Create a new SVN directory for the HaikuPedia. > b) Mirror the contents of these files on the Haiku website (online > documentation). > c) Provide an email link on the Haiku main page for documentation > submissions (from volunteers without SVN access), ie. > submit_docs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > d) Have the Creative Design team modify the style of each submitted > page so that it adheres to a common standard (style, colour, > background pattern, fonts, image borders etc). > e) Invite volunteers to submit pages. We need to fill the both > sections of the HaikuPedia. > f) Distribute the HaikuPedia with Haiku > ... > z) The HaikuPedia MUST be fun to read. > > CLOSING COMMENTS > > It takes roughly a week before new users start sending emails to > hardware manufacturers and big software companies asking for OS > support. The bean counters in these companies might ignore 100K > emails, but they'll definately notice >1M emails. So the challenge is > to get these potential users past the 1h hurdle, and closer to the 1 > week hurdle (of course, hooking these users for life is also a worthy > challenge) > > Signing off. > > -- BlueSteel | | Merkoth