[Qgis-community-team] Re: [Qgis-user] Wiki migration is done

[Otto Dassau]

On Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:25:51 +0300
Micha Silver <micha at arava.co.il> wrote:

> Otto Dassau wrote:
> 
> > Hi Agustin,
> >
> > On Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:55:32 +0200
> > Agustin Lobo <alobolistas at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >   
> >> Otto,
> >>
> >> When you make a web page the question is not whether a given feature is
> >> odd or not to the author and/or developers but whether it make sense for 
> >> the potential user. And it's
> >> very clear that a tab in the main menu named "User's corner" would be
> >> much more straightforward for a user than going through a "Wiki" tab
> >> that is even not in the Main menu.
> >>
> >> This is probably not important at this moment
> >> as the info currently in the User's corner is not that critical, but I
> >> think
> >> that the User's corner should become an important part of the QGIS support
> >> in the future. I'm trying to re-organize my schedule so that I have time
> >> to provide input to that section in the coming months, but this is going
> >> to depend on whether I keep using qgis for my course next fall or switch to
> >> gvsig. If I keep qgis for my own projects only (this is out of question, 
> >> as manageR
> >> is an invaluable tool for me), I'd be too taken to provide input for the 
> >> User's Corner.
> >>     
> >
> > I didn't want to bother you - hope I didn't :)! If more people think we need
> > an extra main menu link at qgis.org to the "User's corner" in the wiki
> > apart
> > from the general wiki link on top of the webpage) we can do that, but for me
> > it
> > doesn't make sense, at least not for the moment. It might change with more
> > input and relevance, but in my opinion the current "User's corner" is not
> > more
> > important or relevant than many other wiki pages or areas and therefore I
> > don't
> > think we should add a direct link to the main menu. But again, if more
> > people
> > think we need it, we can this, of course. 
> >
> > But, I also think that we could provide better information about the other
> > QGIS web platforms in general. This is missing so far. Therefore, as I wrote
> > below, I would suggest to improve the community page and add information
> > about
> > the available platforms (wiki, blog, ...) maybe with a special note about
> > the
> > "User's corner" here: http://www.qgis.org/en/community.html
> >
> > What about this idea? And thanks again, that you like the new wiki!
> >
> >   
> Hi Otto:
> 
> When I first look over the wiki  Main Page, it feels like it's intended 
> mostly (only?) for QGIS developers and project committees, not so much 
> for users. 

the QGIS wiki is (meant to be) for both: users and developers of course. At
the moment it is organized according to the PSC roles with the intention, that
people dedicated to the QGIS project can work together as teams to manage,
organize and contribute to certain project tasks (fields).

> There's no obvious way to get to the new manual, for example. 
> No link to documentation (as there *is* on the main QGIS site). No link 
> to mailing lists or download...

yes, you are right. The wiki currently is apart from some exceptions not
the place, where people (can) go to, if they simply want to get ready to use
documentation or ready to install software. And the wiki also does not provide
at a prominent place basic information like what mailing lists exist, how can
I sponsor or what features does QGIS provide in general.

Those basic information are concentrated on the QGIS webpage, with the intention
that qgis.org should be the first and central platform for people interested in
QGIS. This was at least how we tried to organize and distinguish between the
content of these two platforms (web and wiki) so far.  

> Compare, for example, the GRASS wiki Main Page. On the left menu is a 
> link straight to Documentation. The GRASS wiki is titled "Welcome to the 
> GRASS GIS *Users* Wiki". It's obvious the GRASS wiki is aimed at end 
> users. The QGIS wiki so far doesn't give that impression.

again you are right :). The grass wiki and webpage is different. There is no
separation according to the available information. For GRASS everything is
linked between both platforms. It does not matter, if you go to the GRASS
webpage or the wiki - all information is available and linked. This is not
the case for QGIS. 

The QGIS wiki does not yet provide a *user* friendly platform and it is not
explicitly designed for users. I agree that this would be better and desired.

I think on the one hand the PSC role sections are ok and important for
organising the project, but on the other hand we could discuss how the current
QGIS wiki structure can be improved to be more attractive for users. For
example, we could make the "Users Corner" an extra and more important part of
the wiki, same level as the PSC roles and start to give this area a user
friendly structure... Maybe we go on and collect more ideas.

thanks for your ideas
 Otto

> Just my $0.02 worth.
> 
> Best Regards,