[documentation] Some thoughts

[Steve Dondley]

I'm not going to get into a point by point rebuttal over my advice.
You can choose to ignore it and this will be my last post on this. But
you stated:

"I've walked away from Drupal for 2 main reasons.
1. Documentation is way over my head.
2. Outside of the forum, it feels unfriendly."

All I'm saying is that if you really want to stick to it this time
around and have success contributing, then develop a thicker skin.
Don't take things personally if your aren't treated like a rock star
because you want to help the community. That is all.


On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 6:39 PM, Shari<webweaver64 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Yikes! umm Steve, I didn't ask for help with Drupal, or free help of any
> kind other then how I could HELP with the documentation.
>
> Steve Dondley wrote the following, On 8/7/2009 5:04 PM:
>
> And let me play devil's advocate here.
>
> You may find some people who are willing to hold your hand for some
> length of time for free, but they will be few and far between. You
> should have no expectations of that and count your blessings when you
> do.
>
>
> I don't. I was responding to the call for people to help Drupal.
>
> To really succeed, you need to be self-motivated and develop a love
> for the pleasure you feel when you stop banging your head walls for
> several hours. The 25 min. you spent waiting for an answer form others
> could have been hunting around on drupal.org finding an answer and
> googling what the command line was.
>
>
> And this is why people say what they say about Drupal.
> Isn't the documentation for the self-motivated? I didn't sit and wait, I'm a
> multitasker from way back. I wasn't looking for command line, I was looking
> where to post suggestions for the documentation as requested in the issue. I
> didn't know where to put that information.
>
> So what I'm saying is, you need to get over the "unfriendly" feeling
> you have when someone doesn't immediately respond to your question.
> You are owed nothing.
>
>
> your right. I'm not owed anything, however I don't have to get over
> anything. I was responding to Drupal.org request for contributing back.
> >From what I've read, and heard, and seen, there is a movement to change the
> publics view of Drupal. If you actually read my email I asked what I could
> do, and made an observation. If the intent of the community isn't to become
> more inclusive and user friendly, then hey sorry I offered to help. I'll
> just continue on learning it for myself.
>
> My advice is to just put your head down, work hard, bang your head on
> the wall, take pleasure when you figure something out, find something
> else to do if you get stuck, contribute when you get a chance, and
> count your blessing when you find someone who takes the time to give
> you advice. But the bottom line is, free advice and a helping hand
> will take you maybe 20% of the way there. The rest has to come from
> within.
>
> Again, I wasn't asking for free advice or a helping hand for Drupal, but for
> a way for ME to help in the documentation of Drupal.
>
> Steve, I'm very happy with the responses I've received. Yours however really
> wasn't appropriate, nor even applied to what I was asking. I hope you day
> turns out better then this email indicates. Maybe you should quit bagging
> your head against the wall and take a break. I think I may have hit a nerve
> and that wasn't my intention.
>
> Shari
>
> --
> Pending work: http://drupal.org/project/issues/documentation/
> List archives: http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/documentation/
>



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