Just subscribe to the bf-docboard mailing list, which will then allow you to send an email to [email protected] for us to discuss your suggestions
Thanks Greg…just did. Also PM’d you.
As promised, here’s a page explaining why the move to SVN/Sphinx/RST: http://blender.org/manual/about/migration.html
Hello,
I personally am very happy with the switch to sphinx, which system I also use at work. I would love to help with the manual (particularly with translations), I’ll see if I find enough time for that.
Some quick questions though:
-
Is there a particular reason for choosing that theme (that a personally don’t like that much - euphemism!..)? Compatibility with mobile devices? Would there be a way to make the theme changeable - dynamically, I mean?
-
Do you plan to merge the manual with the Python API doc - which is also sphinx-based?
Uhm i never knew this existed, …
And sorry to say but after reading this, i went back to the old wiki
As every topic seamed way to much text, a wiki is not a book.
A book is something you read for pleasure, where great writing skills are shown ea lord of the rings etc.
While a wiki is a short text that tells briefly how things works.
In a good wiki environment, people actively update (but that ends with to much censorship like current Wikipedia).
Now i think the online book manual seams to be a failed project (while the wiki is still popular) why not update the Wiki instead ?
Usually people tend to go to such pages, because they are working and just deal with some small problem in their current blender 3D drawing, they prefer to read 1 alinea, if its a small issue, 1 A4 page if it is something completely new > or in that case they prefer a youtube (a wiki could use youtube as well).
No, they don’t. Software without documentation and manual is useless.
I see quite often jokes about people using stuff without reading the maual first. Well, this is what everyone is doing right now with a lot of free software because developers “have better things to do”.
A perfect example for this is Krita which has ZERO documentation and no manual. I really like it but I don’t know what I can do and what I can’t or how to do it in first place.
Well as I become more and more involved in supporting students that are starting or using Blender, I am willing to try to help in redaction and correction as needed. I can work in English and French.
I just register to help with the manual and at the same time I did look at the Docs. It looks great! Very nice organization of texts and images … I am very exited to participate… Great decision
Hi Gregzaal,
As french I can help if it’s possible, to translate documentations…
i would like to be useful.
About translations - it’s better if we rather wait for a more stable English version. No point translating things that will probably change and move around, making more work for everyone 
See: http://blender.org/manual/about/translations.html
Thanks Gregzaal! Bye bye.
gregzaal Please check the Blender interface RULER and Protactor http://blender.org/manual/grease_pencil/ruler_and_protractor.html it is under Grease Pencil MENU! And it is using Grease Pencil Layer system …
Please don`t miss inform people ? I bet you did not use that feature because you miss fit it!
So better clean your mind a bit , reorganize yourself then try to give a better guide , because you kinda mashed them up and people get confusion of what they can do ?
How about automatic conversion from .ODF document ? How hard it is to be done ?
How about you stop being a moron, and read the first post again?
Great initialive, I like the new manual already very much, thanks gregzaal and everybody for your work!
Offtopic, sorry:
What about the manual, wiki, tutorials etc here?
really want to help on this,i thing its a most do task to improve the blender exprience and understanding to new and old users this would be good, but sadly i cant compile to HTML files on linux,
make# ‘./’ (input), ‘./html/’ (output)
QUICKY_CHAPTERS=
sphinx-build -b html ./manual build/html
Error: Source directory doesn’t contain a conf.py file.
Makefile:24: recipe for target ‘all’ failed
make: *** [all] Error 1
I think what Greg means is that its better developers dont take time off development and become technical writers for some months until the manual is finished.
Sure developers need to document their work on some level. but its often not their strength.
Ideally we have devs working with writers, updating the manual when they change Blender’s functionality.
@alexdmz - something strange is going on, can you run svn up and make sure your have a complete checkout?
manual/conf.py definetly exists, see:
sadly cant build to HTML under linux,mising file “conf.py” really want to contribute to this,any suggestion?
What about trying to find any useful info there? Wiki is ONE page and manual is incomplete and the stuff that is already done is useless or badly outdated. For example:
https://userbase.kde.org/Krita/Manual/VectorLayers
There are a lot (all in fact) of manipulation buttons left unexplained and there are features that you don’t know if they work or not like joining two curves.
As for me, it took me some time to get how a Wacom pen with eraser works with Krita because it isn’t explained anywhere. The info for that is so poor that I found in in this forum of all places.
that solved the problem thanks,feel so dummy i didn’t saw that step,all good for the moment,time to start working on this
@alexdmz - please always explain the problem, how did you end up with missing files in the first place?
so others may benefit, and so we might improve our docs if they’re unclear.
@Esparadrapo - weather Krita docs are/aren’t good is really off topic, please strick to relevant subjects.