Regina Henschel wrote:
I have started a new thread so that the problem is not hidden inside other threads or in private mails.
Thanks a lot!
First, is there consensus, that the current build-in help will be retained?
I think - the plan to go all-in for wiki-based help is on hold, until someone (Kendy?) has cycles to push it further. Would perhaps be good to extend https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Development/Wikihelp with some status/plans/more details on what is missing where.
A Authors of help texts are allowed to start in ODF to discuss and finalize the content and appearance of the intended help texts. There should be a place in the repository to store such files. This way authors did not need deep knowledge of the technical structure of helpcontent2. The person who integrates the help texts into the build-in help need not be the content author.
Makes sense. For storing those WIP versions in the repo, I'm not sure that gives us much. Perhaps collaboration via owncloud or wiki works better there?
B Improve the extension "HelpAuthoring" and fix its bugs. The extension might be principally not suitable to generate the final version of a help file, but it is useful as start, because it sets a lot of the needed XML-elements and attributes automatically. The result might still needs additions and corrections, but that is less work, than writing all from scratch. Even if someone do not know all details about the help, he can start and deliver a file, which other then can improve and integrate.
Having a list of EasyHacks / Bugs somewhere would be a great start. And a possible topic for one of the upcoming hackfests.
C Provide a development section about the build-in help to the Wiki. It should not only contain a tutorial about help authoring but in addition a description how the current help works at all from a developer view, and how it is actually structured. We can start with the document "OOo2HelpAuthoring.pdf". The content has to be revised and adapted and extended. For example the .mk files are different than described in that document and the document describes the possibilities of the help format, but not all details of the actual realization. Having it in the Wiki keeps such knowledge available, when a help expert leaves the community. It can be adapted to future developments. Experts of different areas can better work together to collect help knowledge in one place, for example experts for "Help to Wiki" and experts for "translating help".
Quite.
D It would ease work, when there would be a tool, that shows a .xhp file the same way as it it shown in the help viewer, so that it is not needed to build helpcontent2 every time when you test some changes in your way to the final version. And authors who use "HelpAuthoring" need not be able to build LibreOffice.
Sounds like another obvious Easy/HardHack idea for a Hackfest? ;) Cheers, -- Thorsten
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