[documentation] Babies, Spoons, Food and Funny Faces

[themacgeek]

Based on reading doc-list archives, forum entries and and the current  
active doc-list threads, I think I will table the idea for starting  
the development of what I have called DTS (Drupal Training System).

Here are my thoughts about why I would say this:

1) In order to develop a structured training system, the base  
documentation needs to be very solid.  If not for the entire doc  
system, at least for the particular area that is going to be  
initially developed (i.e. Newbie/Install/Initial Configuration).

2) I maybe mistaken in this statement, but I have yet to find a  
Roadmap or structured plan for the documentation system itself.   
While I realize there is a documentation project page (which tracks  
bugs, feature requests, etc.), I think that a structured plan would  
be very beneficial.

Upon developing this structured attack plan, I would suggest that a  
serious effort be made to compartmentalize each of the specific  
milestones (doc sections) and assign them based on a volunteer basis.  
Once the milestones are assigned, get them completed in a very  
defined manner rather than having so many people doing different  
things at different times.

An example would be the following based on the current doc structure.:

1.0 - Open Discussion on [Drupal.org README first] (Limit to 3 day  
discussion)
-1.1 - Define Changes [Drupal.org README first] (assistant of section  
compiles changes)
-1.2 - Commit Changes [Drupal.org README first] (moderator of section  
changes compiles changes)
-1.3 - Close Changes [Drupal.org README first] (reopen at a set  
interval in the future - create a sandbox for future changes to be  
committed at next opening session.)

Multiple sections could be opened and addressed to accommodate the  
various people who have varied skills, experience and interests.

I realize that in a volunteer community, structuring the the forward  
movement of something like this will be difficult, but it seems  
necessary.  As someone who is very interested in helping, I am at a  
loss where to start.  If I begin making edits, who do I post them  
too? Will I be duplicating the work that someone else is already  
doing?  What is more important, addressing docs on old versions,  
current versions or the upcoming 4.7 release?

I realize some of these questions are probably answered in the doc  
handbook, but my point is that the whole documentation systems seems  
to be very unorganized from a newcomers perspective.

Please correct me if I am wrong and point me in the right direction.

themacgeek (Jamie)

On Jan 6, 2006, at 12:46 AM, themacgeek wrote:

> I have spent the better part of 4 days now reading through the  
> Drupal documentation, participating in IRC chats, reading forums  
> and hunting the web for Drupal related sites.  During this time I  
> have met and spoke with some wonderful people, learned A LOT about  
> Drupal and its capabilities, and discovered that communities can do  
> more than any one person ever can.
>
> After having experience all of these things, I am left with one  
> thought:
>
> A Training System Is Needed
>
> As explained my earlier post today, I have been a software trainer  
> for almost 10 years now.  And if there is one thing I have learned,  
> it is that books and words (of which Drupal has a great resource  
> of) will only help a certain percentage of people reach full  
> competency with any software package or skill set.  Many, if not  
> most, need interactive, step by step teaching to fully grasp an  
> idea or develop a set of skills. Additionally, that teaching has to  
> be tailored to the different types of individuals and their needs.
>
> As I recently discussed with a new user to Drupal, user  
> documentation has to be structured as if you were feeding a baby.
>
> There are three essential things you have to have:
>
> 1) A baby (more than we can count)
> 2) A spoon (I always loved the Tigger spoon)
> 3) Food that tastes good (no creamed peas please)
> 4) A method for feeding (complete with buzzing sounds and moving arms)
>
> In the case of Drupal there are plenty of babies (newbies) and the  
> spoon is very nice (Drupal.org).  The food is very healthy and  
> nourishing (Current Documentation) but many would say it does not  
> taste real good (Lack of User Friendliness). And as far as I can  
> tell, the methods for feeding (Training) are limited or scattered.
>
> For the sake of not delving into the marketing aspects of Drupal I  
> will preface the next section with the assumption that the user has  
> decided to use Drupal for building their site.
>
> The Baby
>
> Our baby is 8 months (knows what FTP is but not MYSQL) old and has  
> bright green hair and is generally a wild an woolly type (jumps  
> into things head first without reading the instructions).  He likes  
> to throw food and loves to laugh (not good at listening to advice).  
> Though he is not keen on eating carrots (Intro Documentation), he  
> will eat it if it is served with a bright red spoon (Special  
> Section for Green Hair Kids) while having "The Barney Song" sang to  
> him (Interactive Intro Documentation Video).
>
> The Spoon
>
> The spoon is that aspect of feeding time that every baby sees and  
> associates with the food.  It is important that it not be too big  
> or too small.  It has to be attractive but not too shinny (shinny  
> things can scare some babies).  It should be friendly and fun.
>
> Now some will say, "We cannot build special Spoons for every Baby",  
> and I would agree.  But I do think that a certain effort can be  
> made to identify the what kinds of babies we have and what kinds of  
> spoons the majority of them will eat from and with what method.
>
> The Food
>
> Unfortunately the food is something that is less flexible, but is  
> certainly something that we can easily separate into certain  
> classifications based on the age of the baby. No steak for those  
> under 1 year, bologna is ok for those 6 months to one year (so long  
> as they are watched and don't choke), and everything that comes in  
> a jar for those under 6 months.
>
> Some babies will be older and they maybe able to handle a pizza  
> crust or two ... but others will need everything pureed before they  
> can eat it.
>
> The idea of categorizing training content based on complexity is  
> something that software companies and technical sources have been  
> doing for ages.  Even the modern education system is set up this  
> way.  Easy stuff at first and build up through training/education  
> as the user grows in age.
>
> The Method
>
> Now comes the method, buzzing sounds, weird faces and sing songs  
> that all make eating the food so much more fun.  Maybe that is part  
> of the issue, lack of fun.  Though eating is not always something  
> babies want to do, it is essential for growth and energy.
>
> The method will be the hardest part within the Drupal community as  
> it will require lots of planning and a very defined methodology. It  
> will require a lot of energy for all that arm flying (recording  
> screenshot tutorials with Audio) and funny face making (creating  
> attractive graphics and user friendly copy). At first we may only  
> need to try and take on caring the youngest babies.  Heck we may  
> find that those over 6 months can goto the store, buy their own  
> food and cook eggs on the stove while changing their own diaper.
>
> But first we have to get them there.  I am more than willing to  
> help make this happen.
>
> themacgeek
>
>
> -- 
> [ documentation | http://lists.drupal.org/listinfo/documentation ]

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/documentation/attachments/20060106/c3eb815e/attachment-0001.htm