[documentation] [Documentation feature] Update to Documentation writer's guide

[karldied]

Issue status update for 
http://drupal.org/node/110062
Post a follow up: 
http://drupal.org/project/comments/add/110062

 Project:      Documentation
 Version:      <none>
 Component:    Misc
 Category:     feature requests
 Priority:     normal
 Assigned to:  karldied
 Reported by:  karldied
 Updated by:   karldied
 Status:       patch (code needs work)

The current Documentation writer's guide [1] is a one-paragraph
two-sentence page: 


Drupal documentation for the Drupal handbooks and the admin/help within
each Drupal installation is collaboratively maintained on drupal.org by
the documentation team. Documentation team members additionally
coordinate the creation of marketing materials, the Drupal Newsletter,
and other document efforts relevant to the Drupal community.


This information now rests in the opening paragraph of Joining the
documentation team [2]. 


The following content is proposed to update this page: 


T: Documentataion writer's guide


This page covers overall considerations in editing and adding handbook
pages, including hierarchical organization, editing existing vs. adding
new pages, separation of documentation for different Drupal versions,
page length, author block, and page weight. The purpose of these
guidelines is to improve handbook navigation consistency and usability.
Although it concerns primarily to documentation maintainers, it also
applies to all documentation contributors, since they submit issues and
can add pages. 


You should also be familiar with the style guide [3], which covers
guidelines for individual page structure, formatting, and markup, as
well as language usage, such as italicizing, bolding, spelling, and
capitalization. 


See Handbooks overview [4] for a description of the five handbooks:
About Drupal, Installation and Configuration, Customizing and theming,
Developing for Drupal, and About Drupal documentation. 


See the End user guide [5] if you need help with adding pages [6] or
editing pages [7]. All drupal.org users can now create new pages in the
handbooks. However, when a page is updated, the latest author is
tracked; you will lose ability to edit it. You can submit an issue for
an update, or request to join the documentation team [8], which will
give you permission to edit most handbook pages. Previously, new pages
went into a moderation queue prior to publication, where they were
rejected, remanded for further revision, or approved and published. 


*Guidelines when editing and adding pages*


*Hierarchical organization*: Avoid creating unnecessary layers; they
make documentation harder to find and harder to follow. For example,
think of appendices as on the same level as other "chapters" of the
topic.

*Bad:*
Main topic
--Theory
--Implementation
--Examples
----Example one
----Example two
--Special circumstances
----Case one
----Case two

*Good:*
Main topic
--Theory
--Implementation
--Example one
--Example two
--Special circumstance considerations
--Circumstance one
--Circumstance two


In this example, the "Special circumstances" page in the top structure
covered general considerations and was more than an organizational place
holder, so a "Special circumstance considerations" page was placed ahead
of the special circumstance cases in the bottom structure.


Sometimes the temptation to use excess hierarchical structure is to
achieve the desired order, since handbook maintainers do not have access
to the weight function. Instead, submit and issue; this is a
straightforward operation that will generally be performed promptly. 


If there is a short child page covering something like "Considerations
for Windows XP," incorporate it into the parent page if practical. This
is particularly true for single child pages. 


*Main chapters*: The five handbooks should have a limited number of
chapters, perhaps around 12, since the Handbooks tab presents all the
top-level chapters of all of the books. 


*Adding versus editing* pages: The preference is to edit existing
pages, rather than create new pages. It is better to cover a topic in
one location and do so succinctly, and then reference the topic from
other related pages. Also, many handbook pages are referenced, so
editing them instead of replacing them keeps links intact.


*Version separation*: The preference is generally to have one page that
covers all versions, rather than placing the older version information
in a child page. If there are substantial differences between versions,
separate pages are appropriate. The reason for keeping the information
together is that segregated version pages produce maintenance problems.
When an issue is updated on one version page, the other version pages
are often neglected. 


*Page length*: Longer pages of several screens are acceptable. Use <b>
or <strong> tags to provide sub-topic headings within the page. Very
long pages should list the contents (preferably with links) after the
opening paragraph. 


*Authorship*: Avoid changing page authorship unless you have done a
major re-write. 


*Log message*: Enter a brief log message to provide anyone reviewing
the page revisions an idea of your changes. 


*Weight*: Adjusting the order of pages under a common heading requires
site administrator role. Submit an issue report to request such changes.



-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - 
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Feedback sought. This is part of issue Improvements for Handbook - how
to contribute [9], but big enough to separate out. I also have a page in
draft to improve issue submissions for the doc project, based on my
lessons-learned joining the team. -karldied
[1] http://drupal.org//node/336
[2] http://drupal.org//node/23367
[3] http://drupal.org//node/22299
[4] http://drupal.org//node/23743
[5] http://drupal.org//node/6261
[6] http://drupal.org//node/337
[7] http://drupal.org//node/7890
[8] http://drupal.org//node/23367
[9] http://drupal.org//node/107005




karldied