[Live-demo] I'm reviewing the OSGeo-Live Overview documentation

[Cameron Shorter]

Over this upcoming week, I'll be reviewing the Overview documentation 
that has been created for the OSGeo-Live project.

Thank you everyone for putting this documentation together - the 
resulting output is looking fantastic - very professional.

I'll start with general comments, please feel free to update your docs 
to address these, and this will save me having to re-iterate the 
comments specifically for you. For projects which still haven't finished 
Overview docs, can you please get onto it ASAP.

General comments that I will keep coming back to are:

Keep language simple
==============
Assume the reader has minimal understanding of geospatial, or open 
source, or OGC standards, and has even less understanding about your 
specific domain.
So if you are describing the 52 North WPS, in your first few sentences 
you will need to include a brief explaination about what a WPS is and 
why you would use it.
Try to avoid using buzz words or acronyms, as you will loose the audience.

Use less words
=========
A standard marketing principle is "Less written, more read". Almost 
every sentence can be simplified to have 3/4 of the words used and it 
will flow better. Don't go into technical details about all the 
different variants of a standard your application supports - if a reader 
is that interested, they can find it out on your website.

Don't mention "Open Source"
==================
Everything on OSGeo-Live is Open Source, which is explained in general 
documentation, so don't waste words explaining it again.

Include an image
===========
An image (usually a screen shot) draws the reader in, and makes the 
description interesting and professional. Please ensure you have one.

Follow the template
============
Where ever appropriate, please use the same headings as the template, as 
it provides a level of consistency and professionalism across projects, 
and infers a high level of integration between projects (as you would 
expect from projects which all integrate via standards).
Projects which stand out by looking different will look less polished, 
and less professional.

-- 
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Director
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254

Think Globally, Fix Locally
Geospatial Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Source
http://www.lisasoft.com