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1Aerrin99
I'd like to see what people think about two things:
1) The HelpThing template that appears in the right when you add {{HelpThing}}. I feel like it's very word-heavy with the least useful info at the top, and that it buries the most useful info - the Table of Contents. We've also talked in the past about how it might be nice to have a search box that searches /only/ HelpThing here.
My suggestions: Leave the 'View a list of all of the HelpThing topics.' at the top and move all other text to the bottom (perhaps above the translations). I'm not sure about the search box - I like the idea, but that makes 3 search boxes on the page, which might be confusing.
2) The HelpThing Style Guide
In general I love the guide, but the page organization has always driven me a bit nuts, and there have been times that I've taken 'be bold' perhaps a bit too much to heart and kind of ignored it. For reference, here is what the guide says about page organization:
Standard sections help the reader navigate the page at first glance. The sections below are only a guide, but the more they are used, the better. The list below includes many optional sections, but the order of the sections should not change.
Overview.
Tutorials. Obviously, only include this if there are any.
Concepts. If understanding the page requires understanding a particular LibraryThing concept, like works or tags, add a "Concepts" section, but link to other pages.
Features. You can split this into sections, like "Features: Your library" and "Features: Other members' libraries."
For Power Users. To keep "features" short and clear, outline obscure or advanced features here.
Notes. An alternative to "For Power Users" if the notes are more random and less feature-driven.
Trivia. Maybe.
Known issues. I would be in favor of this, but only if it were dedicated to major shortcomings, not transient bugs. Works-within-works and the other-author problem, for example, are major shortcomings. A bug here and there, no matter how severe or long-lasting doesn't belong on the Wiki. It won't be seen, and the goal of WikiThing is to help members not LibraryThing staff.
The problem is that this does not often fit the way pages work, I think - they certainly don't fit the way /I/ would want to use help. When I write, I look at a page and ask myself 'if I needed help here, would it be in knowing what is on this page, or in trying to do specific tasks?' Sometimes it's one, sometimes it's the other. I try to cover both bases, but give prominence to whichever I feel is most important for that particular page.
Here are two examples.
- The 'Talk' page to me is a very 'specific task' page. In my mind, people want to read message, post messages, format messages, rather than take a tour of what's on the page. Here's the HelpThing page, broken down by 'things I might want to do', with 'Page Navigation' tacked on. Compare that to an older 'Page Tour' version that's more in line with the style guide.
- The 'Author' page, on the other hand, is a page where there's not a ton to do, but a lot to be read/found out. It's more of a 'Page Tour' page. Things you might want to do are folded into where they go rather than by topic.
Neither one of these uses the overview, tutorials, concepts, features style guide sections. Here are a few pages that do:
- Add Books
- Also on
- Home
So. What are you thoughts? Is the Style Guide right, and should we think about trying to remake those pages that don't conform into those guidelines? Has putting HelpThing into practice suggested different guidelines that might be better?
1) The HelpThing template that appears in the right when you add {{HelpThing}}. I feel like it's very word-heavy with the least useful info at the top, and that it buries the most useful info - the Table of Contents. We've also talked in the past about how it might be nice to have a search box that searches /only/ HelpThing here.
My suggestions: Leave the 'View a list of all of the HelpThing topics.' at the top and move all other text to the bottom (perhaps above the translations). I'm not sure about the search box - I like the idea, but that makes 3 search boxes on the page, which might be confusing.
2) The HelpThing Style Guide
In general I love the guide, but the page organization has always driven me a bit nuts, and there have been times that I've taken 'be bold' perhaps a bit too much to heart and kind of ignored it. For reference, here is what the guide says about page organization:
Standard sections help the reader navigate the page at first glance. The sections below are only a guide, but the more they are used, the better. The list below includes many optional sections, but the order of the sections should not change.
Overview.
Tutorials. Obviously, only include this if there are any.
Concepts. If understanding the page requires understanding a particular LibraryThing concept, like works or tags, add a "Concepts" section, but link to other pages.
Features. You can split this into sections, like "Features: Your library" and "Features: Other members' libraries."
For Power Users. To keep "features" short and clear, outline obscure or advanced features here.
Notes. An alternative to "For Power Users" if the notes are more random and less feature-driven.
Trivia. Maybe.
Known issues. I would be in favor of this, but only if it were dedicated to major shortcomings, not transient bugs. Works-within-works and the other-author problem, for example, are major shortcomings. A bug here and there, no matter how severe or long-lasting doesn't belong on the Wiki. It won't be seen, and the goal of WikiThing is to help members not LibraryThing staff.
The problem is that this does not often fit the way pages work, I think - they certainly don't fit the way /I/ would want to use help. When I write, I look at a page and ask myself 'if I needed help here, would it be in knowing what is on this page, or in trying to do specific tasks?' Sometimes it's one, sometimes it's the other. I try to cover both bases, but give prominence to whichever I feel is most important for that particular page.
Here are two examples.
- The 'Talk' page to me is a very 'specific task' page. In my mind, people want to read message, post messages, format messages, rather than take a tour of what's on the page. Here's the HelpThing page, broken down by 'things I might want to do', with 'Page Navigation' tacked on. Compare that to an older 'Page Tour' version that's more in line with the style guide.
- The 'Author' page, on the other hand, is a page where there's not a ton to do, but a lot to be read/found out. It's more of a 'Page Tour' page. Things you might want to do are folded into where they go rather than by topic.
Neither one of these uses the overview, tutorials, concepts, features style guide sections. Here are a few pages that do:
- Add Books
- Also on
- Home
So. What are you thoughts? Is the Style Guide right, and should we think about trying to remake those pages that don't conform into those guidelines? Has putting HelpThing into practice suggested different guidelines that might be better?
2rsterling
I like the HelpThing text as and where it is.
On the template, I think it would be better to fill out new pages than rearrange the template at this point. I also don't want to change the template in any major way without getting staff involved in the conversation.
I think Overview and Features are important main subdivisions. Overview shouldn't be long, but it should explain what the page is. Features is going to be the section that contains most everything else. Within that, the organization should be logical, with the most important sections of a page or most important features first, and secondary features second. (For the author page, for instance, I'd put the info on the top-middle of the page first, and author pictures somewhere lower down.)
The other subdivisions will only come in where necessary. Concepts is useful sometimes, to link to particular concept pages. For power users is rare, but occasionally useful, etc.
On the template, I think it would be better to fill out new pages than rearrange the template at this point. I also don't want to change the template in any major way without getting staff involved in the conversation.
I think Overview and Features are important main subdivisions. Overview shouldn't be long, but it should explain what the page is. Features is going to be the section that contains most everything else. Within that, the organization should be logical, with the most important sections of a page or most important features first, and secondary features second. (For the author page, for instance, I'd put the info on the top-middle of the page first, and author pictures somewhere lower down.)
The other subdivisions will only come in where necessary. Concepts is useful sometimes, to link to particular concept pages. For power users is rare, but occasionally useful, etc.
