[mapserver-dev] Documentation updates

[Daniel Morissette]

Howard Butler wrote:
> 
> So, we're at a fork in the road.  We could keep the Plone site, just as 
> it is, and suffer through it, just as we have.  More Plone admins could 
> magically appear from thin air and fix the problems we have with our 
> current site and take it to the next level (I am not this guy).  We 
> could dump the official docs like the WMS HowTo, etc into SVN and then 
> hook them up to Trac wiki pages for user contribution (loosing a lot of 
> the good things we have in the Plone site in the process).
> 
> Where do we go?
> 

I agree with your analysis Howard.

With respect to where we go: I don't know...

I kind of like your idea of having official docs maintained in 
RestructuredText in SVN and transformed/pushed to the website by some 
automated mechanism, in combination with Wiki links for people to 
comment and contribute enhancements. This is more or less what we were 
doing with the "blue" site so that may sound like a step back, but as a 
developer that seems like a good solution, at least for the "official 
docs" part. That would allow us to branch docs for each release which is 
a big issue for me with the current site. With respect to user 
contributed docs, FAQs, etc, we may need something that makes it easier 
for users to contribute. Maybe that's the Trac wiki? I dunno.

I'll try to have a look at what other OSGeo projects do today and see if 
anything stands out as a great solution. Or did someone do that exercise 
already? Or does anyone from other projects have useful advice to provide?

Daniel
-- 
Daniel Morissette
http://www.mapgears.com/