The (Awful) Wiki Help Manual Quick Start

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regit

I just installed Scribus 1.4.1 on Windows 7 and began the Quick Start Guide  http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Help:Manual_Quickstart

:o   I can only say that this is a terrible guide!  :(  I'll assume this is done by volunteers, so it is not expected to have the polish of a professional work. But really, let's not use the lame excuse of being free and being done by volunteers to justify such poor work. Is this REALLY the first impression the Scribus community wants to give to new users? If I were involved with this piece, I would be ashamed to have anyone find out about it.   :-[

The first negative thing I see is inconsistent word usage.  I see "Help:Manual Quickstart", and shortly thereafter,  "Quick Start". Make a decision; right or wrong isn't as important as selecting ONE version and sticking with it!   ::)

After getting past that, the instructions say to select color palette "Scribus X11".  ???  Hmmm. No such palette on my drop down list. Is it buried somewhere else and needs installation, or is this a Mac issue? If it is a Mac issue, once again, do you REALLY want to put off your new users by presenting information that is valid only for a specific OS? So what palette am I supposed to use instad of Scribus X11?

And finally, did anyone actually put a new user in front of Scribus and look over his shoulder while he goes through this Jokestart,er, Quick Start guide? The directions are way too minimal. For example, "Click on the white (or light gray) rectangle in the menu bar ..." Why didn't you give the new user a break and indicate EXACTLY where this icon is on the "menu" bar? By the way, that is NOT a "menu" bar, but a "tool" bar. The menu bar is located on the line above the tool bar. And, what happened to referring to the icon with the assigned name of the icon, "Insert Shape", that appears in the tool tip when you hover over it along with the "rectangle" description?

I could go on and on, but I'm sure the problem is obvious without further examples.

>:(

Wena

regit I am a new user, well over the last few months, English is not my first language but from the first day I have been using it I have been able to produce all sorts of things.

Any new software is hard going, you need to learn its language or should I say its terminology.

A Manual has to cover, not only the expert but the person who is just starting. I personally have a lot  problems with any new software, there is the Language, I am 73 and not so used to computers, I am dyslexic, my sight is not so good and I could go on, but that's me not the manual.

Perseverance is what is necessary.

Using the manual, some grit I have already produced a number of books.

Wena 

regit

@wena

This is really the most important sentence in my prior post,
QuoteIs this REALLY the first impression the Scribus community wants to give to new users?
Regit

Christen_Anderson

Quote from: regit on September 05, 2012, 10:49:29 AM
I can only say that this is a terrible guide!  :(  I'll assume this is done by volunteers, so it is not expected to have the polish of a professional work. But really, let's not use the lame excuse of being free and being done by volunteers to justify such poor work. Is this REALLY the first impression the Scribus community wants to give to new users? If I were involved with this piece, I would be ashamed to have anyone find out about it.

Whoa. Next time, try stating your question (or opinion) without bashing the devs and authors of the tutorial.

Of course, the devs have known for a long time that the quickstart guide needs revamping. The problem is, finding someone with the skills and time to do it. Perhaps after you get a bit more comfortable with the program, you could work on it? :)

~Christen
Scribus 1.4.0 on Windows Vista 32-bit

https://feathercurtain.wordpress.com/

a.l.e

hi regit,

while i share your puzzles towards the official scribus quick start guide, i have the feeling that you are overreacting a bit...

... and in the impetus you're missing the important points.

a simple example? while it's true that there is no "Scribus X11" color set in 1.4, it has nothing to do with any OS specific settings but simply with the fact that it has been renamed to "X11".
but the real problem is probably  deeper than the fact that this change is not documented: a beginner should not be told how to load a color set, but rather how to create new colors and apply them.
loading and managing sets is something for advanced users and should not be in a quick start guide.

all in all, the guide is outdated and and has partially been written by people who are not of english mother language...
but it's free software man, if you have better ideas for an introduction to scribus: write it, publish it under a permissive license and if i like it, i will be promoting it! with a bit of luck it will even make into the the official help. (an historic note: this exactly how the current "hands on" has been written and included in the help... except that i was not there to promote it :-)

finally, there are several people who are working hard to make the first impression in scribus much better and, imo, until somebody made it to the  quick start guide, it already several bad impressions that urgently need to be fixed! and lot of them are slowly being fixed!

let's work together for a better scribus!

have a nice day
a.l.e

Nermander

Quote from: regit on September 05, 2012, 10:49:29 AM
If I were involved with this piece, I would be ashamed to have anyone find out about it.   :-[

Well, why not GET involved, and write a better quick start guide?

When it comes to FOSS, complaining most likely wont make anything better. It's helping improve that will make things better.