[GNC-dev] Documentation Version Display

[John Ralls]

> On Aug 24, 2018, at 5:51 AM, David T. via gnucash-devel <gnucash-devel at gnucash.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Today, I had the opportunity to examine the online Help text, where I saw detailed information about the Transaction Report, which has recently changed radically. The information provided on the online Help clearly references the new version of this report, which I surmise because I am still running 2.6.21, and I do not have this version of the report.
> 
> Here is the problem: there is no indication in the online resources (either in the document itself, or on Gnucash.org <http://gnucash.org/>) the version of GnuCash to which the documentation refers. This could lead to user confusion, as they see help that refers to functionality that they do not have.
> 
> I am sure that the stock answer here will be: “GnuCash is currently on release 3.2, and therefore the documentation available at Gnucash.org <http://gnucash.org/> reflects the current release.” I respect that. 
> 
> However, at any given time, there will be people who choose for one reason or another not to upgrade to the latest and greatest version—or more problematically, are unaware that they are not running the latest version. These users would benefit from being informed *somewhere* that the documentation that they are consulting is for a particular version. Is there some way to add the version number to the header of the documentation pages? (The footer is also an option, but is less preferable online since the footer is often well off screen, and may not be noticed by a distressed user trying to figure out a problem). If the version covered were presented on screen on every page, then the user would have a clear reminder of this.

David,

Sure there is.

 On https://www.gnucash.org/docs.phtml there’s a huge header above each set of document links: "GnuCash v3 (current stable release)”, “GnuCash v2.6 (old stable release)”,
“Nightly Documentation Builds”, and “Older GnuCash Documentation”.

Once you’re browsing the document, go to “About this Document” from the table of contents. After “Legal Notice” and “Feedback” you’ll find “History”, the top entry of which indicates the exact release for which the documentation applies.

Of course it’s possible to add the version into the header. I suppose the simplest would be to change the chapter titles e.g. “Chapter 4. GnuCash Windows & Menus Overview” to “Chapter 4. GnuCash v3.2  Windows & Menus Overview”, just change the chapter title from 
<application>&app;</application> Windows & Menus Overview
to
<application>&app; &vers-stable;</application> Windows & Menus Overview
  Chapter titles (“Getting Started”) that don’t include the application tag would need to be reworded, e.g. “Getting Started with GnuCash 3.2”.

Regards,
John Ralls