Re: Xaraya_documentation Digest, Vol 12, Issue 1

xaraya_documentation-request-gn8pmO+6nszQT0dZR+AlfA@public.gmane.org wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I'm starting to use xaraya and I see it already as a very good cms.
> But I see it either as a not very well documented app. So I want to
> help. Do you need some help? May someone please tell me how to catch
> up with thins that are going on?
>
> Thks,
> Bruno Reis
>   

Bruno,
My own feeling is that Xaraya is thoroughly documented, but it is 
difficult for new users to find the documentation.  It takes a little 
while to get to the point where you know enough of the vocabulary, and 
have enough of a sense of how things fit together, so that you can 
effectively search for documentation.  Sometimes documentation is 
formal... but sometimes it's just a good forum post.  But I do think all 
of the questions have been answered. (Or almost all.)

The search engine at Xaraya.com isn't working right now, but even when 
it is, it's not really up to the task of pulling the best answers out of 
all the material at Xaraya.com.  I find that when I use the search 
engine at Xaraya.com, I get a ton of search results, but it takes too 
long to sift through the results, because no summaries are presented, 
and there are too many results, and the top results aren't always the 
most relevant.  I have much better luck using my Google toolbar to 
search xaraya.com.  When I do that, very often I find that one of the 
top few search results will have what I'm looking for.

I'd say only two things are lacking from the existing documentation:
1)  A guide specifically for beginners that gets people using the CMS 
fast and answers the universal questions about positioning blocks in 
templates, adding article summaries to a template, etc.  This guide 
should be as concise as possible and oriented toward learning-by-doing.
2)  A good list of links for beginners... that is, links to some of the 
most useful existing documentation.

There is a wiki at Xaraya so there is nothing to stop us from creating 
these things.  If you agree that those two things are what is needed, we 
could work together to create those two things in the wiki.  I started 
#1 and recently submitted a rough, incomplete draft to the documentation 
team leader... haven't heard back yet.  But in any case, there's a wiki, 
so nothing's stopping us.

Since you are new to Xaraya, you can help me create these things by 
keeping records of what your questions are, where you get stuck, and 
where you found answers to questions (keep a list of URLs).  I've been 
using Xaraya for a few years, so it's sometimes difficult for me to 
remember which things stumped me in the early going.  Of course, I can 
look at some of my early forum posts to refresh my memory.  Nonetheless, 
it would be helpful if you would take some brief notes about your 
progress as you learn the CMS.  And I can also show you sections of my 
guide for beginners, and you can let me know what isn't clear and how I 
can improve the guide.

Sound good?
Ryan


-- 
Ryan Walker
www.WebCommunicate.net:
Insights and resources for effective websites.