Manual 1 6/Appendix 1 Guidance/2 Ideals
From Joomla! Documentation
This article contains preliminary information which is subject to change.
 |
This User Manual page requires review. Please use the talk page to comment. Once a page receives three ACCEPTABLE comments it is released from review. |
 |
Joomla! 1.6 User Manual
2 Ideals
Manual 1 6/Appendix 1 Guidance/2 Ideals has no subpages to list.
Contents |
Manual - Some scoping
What a Manual is.
A small reference book, especially one giving instructions.
This common definition serves our purpose well.
What a Manual is not.
The problem with the word Manual is that it is used loosely.
It does not describe simply what something is, it describes how to use it. Such as a recipe book.
It does not restrict itself to one level of reader. If possible, it caters for a wide range of ability and interest.
It will be proscriptive about how to do certain things but it will offer a range of alternatives - being imprecise about how to make pastry is very unhelpful but it is very helpful to precisely describe how to make several kinds of pastry.
What on-line Manuals can be
The virtual community has made great strides in publishing.
It is entirely unremarkable for a web site to recognise your language preferences and present you with pages in your language.
Routinely offered are the ability to change text sizes and colours or colors. :-)
The Joomla! 1.6 manual should allow you to browse as a beginner, practitioner or expert and match your requirements.
(I don't know how to do that, but if we are going to do English, Portugese, etc surely we can challenge someone to arrange for that to happen too.)
What I think this Manual should be
- What could be called the USERS HANDBOOK
- Pages which describe what the bells and whistles on any page encountered in using Joomla!- James Bond car analogy "What happens if I touch that button?"
- Pages which describe how that page might be used to produce a particular effect - James Bond car analogy "What are the situations when I would touch them? And with what result?"
- What could be called the USERS RECIPE BOOK
- Pages or sections which describe how Joomla! 1.6 elements are combined to some specific effect - after all you are the Bollinger makers of the Joomla! world.
Manual Help Pages synergy
The first of the USER HANDBOOK type pages could form a basis for the Help Pages of Joomla! 1.6. Either by including the Help Page into the Manual Page or by being able to dig out the appropriate section of the page for on line Help. This will be decided shortly.
