2009-04-26, 13:09
Please when you move / delete pages, do not leave dead links (can be seen with "What links here" on the bottom of each page).
2009-04-26, 19:01
I tried the TreeAndMenu but that did not look better. It also didnot show where you are in the manual. I think the current toc i made is not a bad idea. It is easy to maintain, it shows where you are, gives an overall view of the manual and gives newbies a guide through the manual. It doesnot look bad but if you like, it is easy to change. I tested it with 4 different browsers (ie6,ie7,firefox 3,chrome 1) the hard one was ie6, that is why i didnot use bullet lists because ie6 made big indents.
If you agree to this approach, please unlock the locked pages or change them yourself so everything will look the same.
Also keep in mind that we all will never get a manual we all will like for 100%. It is a compromise.
I will continue to update the manual in a way it is supposed to be. Some pages are outdated and should be updated, others are in the wrong place and will be moved to the appropriate place, and new ones need to be made. This may take some time, but i am not in a hurry. I hope you will like the end-result.
I think a manual can never look like wikipedia because its nature is different.A manual is often read from the start to get acquainted with a product and wikipedia is questioned just when a question pops up.
Another bonus might be that if the manual is easy you don't get so many questions from people who did not RTFM. I red a post about this in this forum.
neeltje57
If you agree to this approach, please unlock the locked pages or change them yourself so everything will look the same.
Also keep in mind that we all will never get a manual we all will like for 100%. It is a compromise.
I will continue to update the manual in a way it is supposed to be. Some pages are outdated and should be updated, others are in the wrong place and will be moved to the appropriate place, and new ones need to be made. This may take some time, but i am not in a hurry. I hope you will like the end-result.
I think a manual can never look like wikipedia because its nature is different.A manual is often read from the start to get acquainted with a product and wikipedia is questioned just when a question pops up.
Another bonus might be that if the manual is easy you don't get so many questions from people who did not RTFM. I red a post about this in this forum.
neeltje57
2009-05-03, 20:15
althekiller Wrote:I must still be uninitiatedWell, someone, somewhere along the way decided it was a good move to port the old Wiki manual to mediawiki trying to maintain the old structure.
Thus we end up with stuff like this:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=XBMC_Online_...eral_Usage
and
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=General_Usage
and
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Default_Controls
and
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=The_User_Interface
And some even deeper layers that neeltje57 has made redundant, giving an already overly complex spider web an exponential kick in the butt.
Trust me, I know how you feel.
althekiller Wrote:TheUni has a pretty good plan for what the wiki needs to be IMO (I may have influenced him just a wee bit ). Maybe the three of you should get together on IRC and get on the same page before taking things further?I will be available after the 15th of this month.
2009-05-04, 00:17
I am not sure how i should interpret sho's last post, but it is probably not a compliment for the work i did. Or do i misunderstand it completely?
The mentioned pages were already in the wiki and a lot of pages were and are linking to them. That was not something i changed, that was already in the wiki. And i don't know anything about an old wiki, all pages are in the current wiki.
As you can see, the wiki is getting a recognizable structure already. That is a lot of work but i am still convinced it is worth it and i am sure most of you will agree that it is already easier to navigate the wiki than it was before (beside the locked pages, and a few badly formatted pages).
It is a work in progress, it must be done while the store is open. Beside the structure i updated/added some content too. When all pages are in the toc, i will concentrate more on the content itself. A lot is outdated or Xbox specific, but you can't blame me for old stuff already in the wiki. It would be nice to read what you guys think of the work i did so far.
Until you guys stop me, i keep on going for the better wiki.
neeltje57
The mentioned pages were already in the wiki and a lot of pages were and are linking to them. That was not something i changed, that was already in the wiki. And i don't know anything about an old wiki, all pages are in the current wiki.
As you can see, the wiki is getting a recognizable structure already. That is a lot of work but i am still convinced it is worth it and i am sure most of you will agree that it is already easier to navigate the wiki than it was before (beside the locked pages, and a few badly formatted pages).
It is a work in progress, it must be done while the store is open. Beside the structure i updated/added some content too. When all pages are in the toc, i will concentrate more on the content itself. A lot is outdated or Xbox specific, but you can't blame me for old stuff already in the wiki. It would be nice to read what you guys think of the work i did so far.
Until you guys stop me, i keep on going for the better wiki.
neeltje57
2009-05-04, 00:53
Trust me it was as close to an compliment as I ever will give 
No, I merely stated that you have flattened some of the lower layers of the hierarchy, that must be a good thing.
It was the "others" that did the bad things.
PS. Check out the revert I did on the Video bookmarks page, I think you may have confused video bookmarks and media bookmarks (ie sources)
Which was exactly the reason media bookmarks were changed to media sources.
If the misunderstanding is mine, please get back.
No, I merely stated that you have flattened some of the lower layers of the hierarchy, that must be a good thing.
It was the "others" that did the bad things.
PS. Check out the revert I did on the Video bookmarks page, I think you may have confused video bookmarks and media bookmarks (ie sources)
Which was exactly the reason media bookmarks were changed to media sources.
If the misunderstanding is mine, please get back.
2009-05-04, 12:26
Ok, sorry for misunderstanding, i am dutch heh.
Another thing:
In http://www.xbmc.org/wiki/?title=Adding_M...ia_Windows Adding Media Sources (GUI) there is a paragraph which is probably not valid anymore, at least i could not find it in the PMIII skin. Please let me know if i am right, than i will remove that:
.Another thing:
In http://www.xbmc.org/wiki/?title=Adding_M...ia_Windows Adding Media Sources (GUI) there is a paragraph which is probably not valid anymore, at least i could not find it in the PMIII skin. Please let me know if i am right, than i will remove that:
Quote:Adding Source Shortcuts to Media Windowsneeltje57
The default Project Mayhem III skin has the ability to add shortcut buttons pointing to sources to the left hand side menu in various sections. To enable this feature, go to the Source page in the Skin Settings. Note: The label you enter must match the label of the source.
2009-05-04, 16:24
sho Wrote:Yup, shortcuts are dead.hmm, are you sure, I think one can still enable them from within the skin settings
...I am sure that I have setup one for "Games", one for "Emulators", one for "Apps", and one for "Utilities"
2009-05-05, 22:06
sho Wrote:Have you checked?Did you install on Xbox? ...I've not had time to update myself
Not to be found in my RC1 installation.
2009-05-07, 21:50
I need some help in making decisions. For the last few weeks i am busy updating the manual, for now, especially the structure.
Not all pages fit in one toc, so i splitted that in a second toc (advanced, FAQ's, Inner workings and Appendixes), although i myself would not mind one large toc. Whith one large toc you see immediately where you are in the manual and it is easier to maintain. What do you think?
During my reading of the manual i learned more about XBMC from pages i didnot see before. Some very interesting pages are hard to find so i brought them into the toc. In my opinion every page should be linked somehow to the toc. That way everyone knows to find it and you find it back again easier.
But, you cannot put every page in the toc, that will make it a mess too, especially with the HOW-TO-pages. So i made for some pages a 'GoTo button'. This way, when you surf out of the toc-structure, there is always a way to go back to that toc where you were before. It is a kind of browser back-button but in the same place as the toc and it brings you to the logical place in the toc, you don't feel lost. Here is an example: http://www.xbmc.org/wiki/?title=XBMC_9.04_Point_Release
There should be a kind of strong advice that tells you that a page should be in the toc or have a GoTo-button to a page that is in the toc. It is also a waste of good information (and our time) if the average visitor will most likely not see all the pages we all made.
Please let me know what you think of this.
neeltje57
Not all pages fit in one toc, so i splitted that in a second toc (advanced, FAQ's, Inner workings and Appendixes), although i myself would not mind one large toc. Whith one large toc you see immediately where you are in the manual and it is easier to maintain. What do you think?
During my reading of the manual i learned more about XBMC from pages i didnot see before. Some very interesting pages are hard to find so i brought them into the toc. In my opinion every page should be linked somehow to the toc. That way everyone knows to find it and you find it back again easier.
But, you cannot put every page in the toc, that will make it a mess too, especially with the HOW-TO-pages. So i made for some pages a 'GoTo button'. This way, when you surf out of the toc-structure, there is always a way to go back to that toc where you were before. It is a kind of browser back-button but in the same place as the toc and it brings you to the logical place in the toc, you don't feel lost. Here is an example: http://www.xbmc.org/wiki/?title=XBMC_9.04_Point_Release
There should be a kind of strong advice that tells you that a page should be in the toc or have a GoTo-button to a page that is in the toc. It is also a waste of good information (and our time) if the average visitor will most likely not see all the pages we all made.
Please let me know what you think of this.
neeltje57
