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<font size="-1"><font face="Verdana">Hi my name is Shari, and I've been
a member of this group for a long while (actually forgot). I joined
drupal.org over 2 years ago. I've started and stopped working with
Drupal over and over. I am however recommitting myself to actually
sticking with it. I plan to do this by investing my time & money,
and that means also giving back to the community. However it's been my
experience in the past, and again that although it's everywhere that
Drupal wants people to join in, and to make Drupal user friendly, this
isn't my experience. <br>
<br>
I joined the documentation originally because this is the 1st thing
anyone new sees, if it doesn't make someone feel included & that it
is understandable, they're gone. <br>
<br>
Out of the CMS's that are out there that I've tried and looked into I
chose Drupal originally for 2 reasons.<br>
1. It can grow as my experience grows.<br>
2. People actually answered my questions in the forum.<br>
<br>
I've walked away from Drupal for 2 main reasons.<br>
1. Documentation is way over my head.<br>
2. Outside of the forum, it feels unfriendly.<br>
<br>
I got started today by looking for something I could do, and went with
the Documentation Issues for D7. Review and update the Installation
guide. So started at the installation instructions and downloading D7.
Right off the bat, I noticed it saying "This documentation focuses on
performing tasks at the command line." Maybe I missed something but,
that right there is not user friendly. I've installed Drupal any number
of times, and I still don't know what the command line is. Most people
who know nothing about Drupal and want to install it, are going to
start with the Installation Guide, and right off it's made Drupal feel
like if your not a programmer or someone who is familiar with the "back
end" of a system you should turn around.<br>
<br>
So I wondered where should I discuss this, I jumped into the IRC
channel posted just that question "Where is the best place to discuss
documentation?" There were 25 people sitting in the channel, I waited
over 25 minutes and never received a response. Why are you in the
channel if your not going to chat?<br>
<br>
Unfriendly feeling... again.<br>
<br>
If Drupal truly intends to appeal to people outside the "geek"
community, this is the 1st thing that needs to be addressed. <br>
<br>
What can I, what is the 1st step, I can take towards making that
happen? Do I post a comment to the issue about my thoughts on it. Do I
go into the IRC channel, do I post to this mailing list. Where does the
discussion begin, and happen?<br>
<br>
I'm willing to do something, I just need a bit of help getting there.<br>
<br>
Shari<br>
WebWeaver64 @ Drupal.org<br>
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