[PD] thoughts on manuals

[adam]

okedoke, I had some time to check out the tutorial patches and now i 
also have a few minutes to put offer some feedback.

The patches are great, they offer a lot of information for those that 
would like to learn about specific objects and how to implement them. They 
are perfect for workshops for providing to workshop members so they can 
all look at the same patch on seperate machines and try it out. 

However, I'm now not so convinced this is a good process for a manual. I 
think there is not enough information in these tutorials to fully explain 
objects and how you implement them if there was no workshop leader to help 
you along. It is tricky, for example, to really be able to explain how the 
file menu works, or how to drag connectors between objects in a patch. 
This kind of thing is possible to show with screen shots but in a patch I 
am not sure its so easy to illustrate. 

Also, some of the tutorial patches didnt load in the externals. I guess this is because I didnt have the externals loaded. This is ok for me, I can work it out, 
but a new user woulod be very confused by this. This could perhaps be combated by making a 'plain vanilla' manual with no info for externals but I am not sure this 
is what is intended with the PDDP initiative.

Also, one of the great things about patch examples are that they are 
editable. It is also something that could cause confusion if a user edits 
a manual patch and then doesn't know how to fix their mistake. They could 
easily end up saving the faulty patch and it would stay permanently in 
their manual with incorrect or confusing info. 

Lastly, I think the layout possibilities are very restricted with patches. They seem 'clunky'...i am open to be proven wrong here if someone can show me a good 
example of a well designed tutorial patch. To me a good manual is more than just info or examples. Information is also made more acessible and readable through 
design. A README doc or a man page is good enough for a geek but not for your average user. They will run away screaming. A PD patch as a manual is half way 
between a man page and a designed manual. Its not geek chic and its not newbie friendly. As I said above, please prove me wrong on this. From what I know of PD and 
what I have seen so far though, I am not sure the patches lend themselves to good, readable, user friendly docs.

So for me, althoguh I wanted to be carried away with enthusiasm for making a patch based manual, I am not convinced this is the right way to do it. I think the 
tutorial patches have a very important role, but I am not sure this is for introducing newbies or potential PD users to the world of PD.

adam






..on 
Wed, Apr 26, 2006 at 11:12:32PM +0200, Hans-Christoph Steiner wrote:
> 
> So it sounds like Tuesday May 2nd it is.  If anyone has any time to  
> review the tutorial patches I organized recently, I'd love feedback.
> 
> .hc
> 
> On Apr 26, 2006, at 5:54 PM, Koray Tahiroglu wrote:
> 
> >I will not be join to PDDP meeting tomorrow either. I will be busy  
> >with writing the last paper for this term.
> >
> >Koray.
> >
> >On Apr 26, 2006, at 6:40 PM, pd-list-request at iem.at wrote:
> >>
> >>I'll be stuck at work working on an installation for that night,  
> >>so I'm
> >>certainly out for that day.
> >>
> >>Worth keeping the discussion going, so I encourage those who can  
> >>make it
> >>to have a meeting then...
> >>
> >>..b.
> >>
> >>Hans-Christoph Steiner wrote:
> >>>
> >>>So I couldn't make the PDDP meeting yesterday, the internet was down
> >>>all day here and I was sick as a dog anyhow.  I hope people  
> >>>didn't  wait
> >>>around for me.
> >>>
> >>>How about doing it tomorrow, Thursday April 26th at the standard  
> >>>time:
> >>>
> >>>    * 11.00 Pacific Time
> >>>    * 14.00 Eastern Time
> >>>    * 19.00 UTC
> >>>    * 20.00 Central European
> >>>
> >>>Oh, I just noticed that May 2nd is posted on the PDDP page.  I don't
> >>>think I can make that since I'll be workshopping then.
> >>>
> >>>.hc
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>____________________________________________________________________ 
> >>>____
> >>>____
> >>>
> >>>           "The arc of history bends towards justice."
> >>>                                           - Dr. Martin Luther  
> >>>King,  Jr.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>________________________________________
> >
> 
> 
> ________________________________________________________________________ 
> ____
> 
>                   ?El pueblo unido jam?s ser? vencido!
> 

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