On Wed, May 8, 2013 at 9:48 PM, Keith N. McKenna <[email protected]> wrote: > <snip> > >>>> >>> On 2013-04-09 I sent the following reminder to all individuals that had >>> expressed interest in working on documentation but had not yet signed up >>> for >>> the mailing list: >>> >>>> You recently expressed interest in working on documentation for >>>> ApacheOpenOffice. To date you have not signed up for our mailing list >>>> which is >>> >>> >>> where we discuss everything having to do with documentation for the >>> project. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Currently we are concentrating on user guides for Version 4.0 and we >>> >>> >>> need help of all sorts for these.If you are still interested please >>> subscribe to the mailing list by sending a blank e-mail to >>> mailto:[email protected] and follow the instructions >>> in the return email or for those that prefer using nntp instead set your >>> news reader to news.gmane.org and subscribe to >>> gmane.comp.apache.openoffice.doc and join us. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Regards Keith McKenna >>> >>> >>> >>> To date I have had no replies. If one of our moderators could check and >>> see >>> if we have had an increase from the 63 registered users that were on the >>> list that Dave Barton sent me on 2013-03-26 it would be greatly >>> appreciated. >>> >>> It is to say the least disheartening to look at the status page and see >>> the >>> same few names as doing all the work both writing (Ricardo) and editing. >>> >>> As a group we need to work towards finding ways to motivate others to >>> become >>> more active and to recruit new members, especially those with knowledge >>> of >>> Calc, Impress and Base who can start writing the Guides for those >>> applications. >>> >> >> Some thoughts on this. >> >> We were successful in getting many offers of help. We did that by >> putting a message on the www.openoffice.org home page, linking to a >> blog post, etc. I don't know if anyone counted, but it seemed like we >> had 15 or more people volunteer to help. But of the offers of help, >> not many ultimately contributed. >> >> Why is this so? >> >> Did we call for volunteers too early, before we had enough structure >> in the documentation tasks? >> > This is very possible. I do not believe that we have near enough structure > now. > > >> Do few people actually know OpenOffice well-enough to author new >> documentation topics? >> > I think this is a part of it. Another part is that some of those that have > the expertise do not like the wiki format where anyone can edit the page and > take it in a completely different direction. > > >> Do we need more hand-holding and feedback for new volunteers as they >> get started? >> > > We definitely need more hand holding, but where are the people with the > time, inclination and knowledge to do it? >
I think even a little would help. For example, with QA we found it valuable to give new volunteers "assignments" when they started, until they were more familiar with the tools and process, and then they were able to select their own items to work on. We could do something similar. For example, a new volunteer joins the list and we say, "We're working on AOO 4.0 documentation on the wiki now. We have plenty of editing and review work available. Would you be able to do a <technical review of this chapter here> or <copyediting of these chapters> or <some other well-defined task>? I know this seems a little odd, and I resisted it at first. We're talking about a corporate way of working, where someone assigns you items. But that is how almost every charity works. If I show up at a homeless shelter and offer to volunteer, they don't just let me roam the building, trying to find stuff that needs to be done. They have a "volunteer coordinator" who talks to me initially, figures out what skills I have, and then assigns me some items to work on. I don't mind, because my goal is help. I'm looking for a meaningful way to contribute. The volunteer coordinator does not impose by giving me an assignment. She helps me achieve my goals of contributing. So it is great that we have the wiki to track the work that needs to be done. I wonder if we just need to take the next step, and suggest specific items for new volunteers from that list? Regards, -Rob > >> It is very easy for us to renew the call for volunteers. I'm sure we >> could get another 15-20 offers of help. But before we do that it >> would be good to understand what we could do differently. Otherwise >> we'll get similar results, right? >> > > I am afraid all that renewing the call for volunteers will accomplish at > this point is to add to the frustration level. > > >> Idea: In the commercial world the people who write the documentation >> do not start with product expertise. They need to learn that. So new >> writers start by taking training classes, reading existing >> documentation, etc. Their training is often similar or identical to >> what technical support representatives go through. Then for new >> features they learn about these by interviewing the developers, asking >> them questions. Or in some cases there might be a design >> specification they can work from. I could imagine that talking to >> experienced users could also be helpful. >> >> In other words, if new volunteers do not have the product expertise >> that Ricardo has, then we need to suggest some ways that they can >> develop that. Otherwise new volunteers will be limited, at least >> initially, to reviewing drafts. >> > > Rob, right now I would be ecstatic if we had people doing that. If you look > at the status page You will see Ricardo's name as author, mine as and one of > two others as proofreading, and mine as doing a technical review. > > Right now I believe the documentation effort as a whole is suffering from > the lack of people who are knowledgeable in technical writing and the > processes and tasks that go along with that. > > Let me go off and think a bit more about what else we can do to move the > documentation effort along. > > Regards > Keith > >> Regards, >> >> -Rob >> >> >>> Regards >>> Keith >>> >>> >>> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] >>> For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] >>> > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
