[documentation] Some thoughts

[Addison Berry]

Rarg, sorry it took me so long to reply to all of this. My response  
here isn't right on with all of the initial things that Shari raises,  
but is a more general discussion. I've been thinking this sort of  
thing over for a good while now, since getting more people involved,  
in ways that aren't weird, standoff-ish or confusing, is a major  
concern for Drupal particularly and OS generally. A full half of the  
"docs roadmap" [http://drupal.org/node/488070] is people/outreach  
(versus the docs themselves).

We started out by looking at rewards and what people want, but over  
time it becomes more clear to me that we really need to focus on the  
goal of "Foster relationships between people," which is the first  
thing in the App. B goal list [http://drupal.org/files/roadmap-AppendixB-outreach-tasks.pdf 
]. The four main starter, brainstorm tasks that we have under there are:
- Identify missing people (SMEs - subject matter experts)
- Connect Mentors to Mentees
- Connect Peers to Peers
- Connect Humans to Topics

I'd love for us to get a group of folks to sit down and really hash  
out what these tasks entail, organize tasks to find some answers and  
come up with suggestions. I think the most pertinent to the discussion  
this post started, and generally all new folks trying to figure things  
out, is the mentor/mentee task. Ideally we need people involved from  
both sides of it: people who already "get" the community and docs work  
in particular, and folks who are new and trying to figure out WTH is  
going on.

Ideally we can have some discussions/surveys/brainstorming that will  
result in concrete things we can try out. As in, what kind of  
framework/tools can we provide? What are the resources we already  
have? What are our restrictions? Can we change that or how do we work  
within them? As a new community member, what are you looking for? As  
an experienced community member, what would make it easier for you to  
help others?

If anyone will be in-person or online during DrupalCon Paris, I'd love  
to chat about this (I'm add1sun online and if you can't find me at  
Drupalcon, I'll definitely be at the doc sprints ;-), and you can  
always ask folks to point me out anytime during the con. I don't bite.  
Really. I also do encourage everyone to talk about this on the mailing  
list since lots of people won't be in Paris and this is a big issue  
I'd love for us to tackle as a team.

- Addi

On Aug 7, 2009, at 3:57 PM, Shari wrote:

> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> Out of the CMS's that are out there that I've tried and looked into  
> I chose Drupal originally for 2 reasons.
> 1. It can grow as my experience grows.
> 2. People actually answered my questions in the forum.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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?
>
> Unfriendly feeling... again.
>
> If Drupal truly intends to appeal to people outside the "geek"  
> community, this is the 1st thing that needs to be addressed.
>
> 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?
>
> I'm willing to do something, I just need a bit of help getting there.
>
> Shari
> WebWeaver64 @ Drupal.org
> --
> Pending work: http://drupal.org/project/issues/documentation/
> List archives: http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/documentation/

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/documentation/attachments/20090821/cbba9a8d/attachment.htm>