[PD] [PD-announce] Pd FLOSS Manual Update pt 1

[Derek Holzer]

Dear list,

the book sprint for the Pd FLOSS Manual last weekend went very well! 
Several writers and proofreaders joined us at each location in New York 
City and Berlin, as well as remote contributors online (see contributors 
below).

The good news is that quite a lot of content was generated over the 
weekend, including the beginnings of entirely new sections on GEM, MIDI, 
Network Data and Sensors. You can see the work-in-progress FLOSS Manual 
via the editing interface here:

http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/WebHome

The not-so-good news is that most of these new sections are in limbo! 
Next month, Adam and I hope to publish version 1.0 of the Pure Data 
FLOSS Manual to the front page of the FLOSS Manuals site for public viewing:

http://en.flossmanuals.net/

The chapters that will be included in Version 1.0 will be:

INTRODUCTION
INSTALLING
GETTING STARTED
THE INTERFACE
AUDIO TUTORIALS
DATAFLOW TUTORIALS
STREAMING
LIST OF OBJECTS
APPENDICES

But in order to do this, some of the chapters in each section need some 
improvement. Here's what needs to happen immediately. Please take a look 
and see if you can help!

____ALL CHAPTERS____
--Proofreading for spelling, simplicity, new-user-friendliness and 
consistent tone (see INSTALLING, GETTING STARTED, THE INTERFACE and 
AUDIO TUTORIALS chapters for style and format examples).

____AUDIO TUTORIALS___

-> This section is almost done. What remains is to make a proper 
tutorial out of it... i.e. that the examples in the chapter follow a 
"story" which leads up the construction of a simple synthesizer. Due to 
changes in structure of the chapters inside, this needs updating, but I 
will work on it.
-> In general, structure, tone and content of these chapters should 
serve as guide for the rest of the manual.
-> I would like to see all sections follow this tutorial model, of 
building up a project from the various elements introduced in each chapter.
-> keep in mind that other sections (such as MIDI, NETWORK DATA, 
SENSORS, etc) can build on examples started in this chapter, so that the 
whole manual is interconnected and has a proper "storyline".

* http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/Tables
--where does this go? Dataflow or Audio? (Audio I think)
--Would be good to integrate with 
http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/ArraysGraphsTables
--I'd like to crop screenshots to get rid of menu bar
--Incomplete, needs expansion and also "loop it" and "play sections" parts
--Could this also be structured like tutorial rather than taxonomy?

____DATAFLOW____

* http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/Messages
--Looks very good!

* http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/Math
--"I guess it isn't necessary to explain how [+], [-], [*] and [/] work. 
" Check for tone.
--Bit twiddling: empty
--Expr: empty
--Audio math: empty

* http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/Lists
--Needs more than taxonomy, i.e. real world examples!!!!!

* http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/OrderOfOperations
--Needs a little attention, but I'm not sure, maybe simpler examples, 
clearer screenshots, explain object abbreviations in-line if used

* http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/WirelessConnections
--Examples too busy, need to be simpler!!!!!!
--Text doesn't really connect to examples

* Subpatches, Abstractions & Dollarsigns
--These should all be in one chapter, explaining how to make reusable 
patches with nice interfaces, rather than atomized into different 
chapters(title = Patch Management?)

* http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/Subpatches
--Needs final real world example, maybe in connection with abstractions 
+ GoP

* http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/Abstractions
--Tie in with Patch Management (to be created)
--Better examples!

* http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/DollarSigns
--Get rid of this chapter, confusing collision with dollar signs in messages
--Better examples, explained in-line in text
--Tie in with Patch Management (to be created)
--All examples are not saved anywhere!!!!!

* http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/GraphOnParent
--Move to Patch Management (to be created)
--Not completely explained (colored background canvas)
--No colors in Pd patch screenshots please!

* http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/PureData/ArraysGraphsTables
--Check text for clarity, accuracy, simplicity
--Redo screenshots with antialiased text please!

___LIST OF OBJECTS____
-> Table format doesn't work in some browsers (Adam Hyde will look into 
this)

____GLOSSARY____
-> HTML tables don't work well here, Adam Hyde will reformat text with 
<h1>, <h2> and <h3 tags>



...and finally, THE CONTRIBUTORS!

Here are the folks that helped us rock last weekend, in no particular order:

AdamHyde
DerekHolzer
HansChristophSteiner
ScottFitzgerald
VincentRioux
PatrickDavison
JoaoPais
ServandoBarreiro
KorayTahiroglu
MariusSchebella
JeremySchaller
MaxNeupert
EvanRaskob
GeorgWerner
AlexandrePorres
JayMaechtlen
RomanHaefeli
DanielShiffman
LauraGarciaBarrio
AlejoDuque

(My apologies if I accidentally left someone out!)

Thanks all, I'm looking forward to seeing this 1.0 version looking its best!
Derek

-- 
::: derek holzer ::: http://blog.myspace.com/macumbista ::: 
http://www.vimeo.com/macumbista :::
---Oblique Strategy # 123:
"Once the search has begun, something will be found"

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