feedback on 2.2.9 documentation for Mac

[David T.]

Create a profile on bugzilla (bugzilla.gnome.org), and begin searching for (and adding where necessary) bugs about the Gnucash documentataion (for example, I was able to find these: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/buglist.cgi?component=Documentation;product=GnuCash)

Add your own comments, make suggestions on how the docs should read. You'll get a discussion going, and everyone will end up with better docs.

Thanks for asking!

David

--- On Wed, 12/1/10, Dennis Powless <claven123 at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Dennis Powless <claven123 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: feedback on 2.2.9 documentation for Mac
> To: "Yawar Amin" <yawar.amin at gmail.com>
> Cc: gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> Date: Wednesday, December 1, 2010, 5:25 AM
> How can someone help out with the
> documentation help areas for the
> project?  I think it would be good to be able to help
> out with some
> more detailed descriptions for some areas...
> 
> Thanks
> 
> On Tue, Nov 30, 2010 at 10:18 PM, Yawar Amin <yawar.amin at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Hi Jake,
> >
> > On 2010-11-30, at 21:00, Jacob Wegelin wrote:
> >
> >> […]
> >>
> >> The current documentation (http://code.gnucash.org/docs/guide/basics-interface1.html)
> is written for a Windows interface, so that a Mac user gets
> a little confused. For instance it refers to Edit ->
> Preferences, which does not work in Mac.
> >>
> >> And in 2.3.7. Menu Shortcuts it says, "Pressing
> the Alt key with the underlined character in the menu
> heading will bring up the menu items for that heading." This
> is Windows lore, I believe.
> >>
> >> Earlier on the same page, someone has written a
> beautiful description of what I believe is the Windows
> interface: "At the top of this window is the title bar,
> which displays the file name (once you have saved the file.)
> Below that is the menu bar."
> >>
> >> A computer-dumb newbie like me gets momentarily
> confused looking for the menu bar; then I remember that on a
> Mac the menu bar is replaced by a bunch of menus at the very
> top of the Mac screen, rather than in the window of whatever
> application is open.
> >
> > Thank you for these comments. They are good catches
> and should be fixed in the docs. Would you mind filing a bug
> report for these on our bug tracking site, Bugzilla?[1] It
> does require you to register and log in, but we really
> appreciate anyone taking a little time to file bugs. Another
> benefit is you will see our progress on the issue (Bugzilla
> will email you) and be able to give further feedback.
> >
> >> The readme for the Mac says, "Context Help doesn't
> work. Gnucash Help and the Gnucash Guide are included in the
> application bundle, in Contents/Resources/English.lproj."
> >>
> >> I did not realize that "context help" means simply
> Help. I mean, if you click on Help in GnuCash 2.2.9 on a
> Mac, it doesn't work.
> >
> > Yes, context help, or contextual help, is help that
> opens up from anywhere in the software itself. Usually it
> shows you something specific about the part of the software
> you’re in at the time. But I guess it can also mean just
> the main help from Help > Contents, or similar.
> >
> >> Also it took me a while to figure out that "the
> application bundle" means the dmg after I have opened it up
> as a volume. I had no idea what an application bundle was.
> >
> > Well, as far as I know, the application bundle is the
> Gnucash.app file. Mac OS X shows an ‘.app’ file as a
> single file even though it’s really a folder, which is I
> guess why it’s called a bundle.
> >
> >> And perhaps the most puzzling is the fact that,
> although Mac Finder displays something as an application
> file (GnuCash.app), that "file" is actually a directory, and
> one can look inside it. Only after bumbling along in that
> way (and receiving an email from someone on your list which
> told me to look again at the readme) did I find a way to
> open up GnuCash.app as a directory and find
> Contents/Resources/English.lproj/GnuCash Guide, which
> contains a bunch of html files which are Help documents.
> >
> > This is actually working fine in GnuCash 2.3 (the
> unstable series). Clicking Help > Tutorial and Concepts
> Guide or Help > Contents (on the Mac) open up the HTML
> files you mention above. So if you don’t mind using the
> ‘beta’ version of the software (it’s pretty stable if
> you use XML storage for your files), you could try that
> out.
> >
> >> Again, I really like your beginner's guide and am
> only making these comments to serve as "a new pair of
> eyes.”
> >
> > Much appreciated.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Yawar
> >
> > [1] https://bugzilla.gnome.org/
> >
> >
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