Split transactions are killing me

[Will]

> I understand your frustration, but perhaps you don't understand that
GnuCash is an open source software project built, documented and maintained
by volunteers. Since you are so critical of the Help and Tutorial
documentation, you might consider making some tangible suggestions on how
that documentation can be improved, so that everyone can benefit. 

I've been in software development all my life (some open source) and am
quite aware that the entire purpose of software development is to enable
users to meet some goal with that software. Communication of the behavior of
the software to meet that goal is an area that is far too often given short
shrift. In commercial software development, that would mean the death of the
product. In open source, it merely means that frustrated users simply
abandon the software.

I'm willing to believe that 97% of those who have been frustrated by what
I've been frustrated with simply abandon GnuCash. I've taken the extra
effort to find the forum, explain the problem, provide copious screenshots
of the issue, and discuss the impacts of insufficient documentation. 

Hints or notes in section 8.7 will not help someone who is trying to work
out a split in Section 4 or 6. Just because "it's in there somewhere" in an
unrelated section does not mean it will satisfy the need to communicate the
behavior when the user needs that understanding. If users are frustrated in
Section 4, 98% are not going to go further.

90% of users for personal finance are going to be spending a significant
amount of time doing splits, and a large percentage of those will be doing
so with credit card. The bug report you filed could be helpful, though
walking through a split by saying "move to the next fields and lines using
TAB, and only used ENTER when done" would concisely address the problem. Too
much explanation (and not in the place it is needed) can cause readers to
either glaze over or begin skimming.

To recap 'tangible' suggestions;
 - For the split transaction section, provide a pertinent example. Splits to
a credit card transaction are likely the most sought after for personal
finance.
 - Make it step by step, with careful attention early in the example to
using TAB instead of ENTER when moving to subsequent fields. If one needs to
enter the first line, up to the total amount then click on SPLIT before
anything else, tell them that. I was tripped up by comments like "and you
can use the up and down arrows", which might work for advanced users who
have worked through all the quirks, but did not work for me the novice.

> It was my perception that these instructions were clear. 

Hopefully, I've shown you that the instructions are not clear on splits. 
There appears to be a lot of good work (and good documentation) accomplished
on GnuCash - let's smooth out the rough spots that might be impeding vast
numbers of potential users.



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