Is anyone working on rebranding the Impress Guide?

Hi Tom :slight_smile:

What I am seeing is OOo specific images in documentation that is already
published on the Libreoffice website.

Before I say more, I'd like to add that I can see a lot of work has gone
into documentation already, and I'm not simply criticizing that work but
hoping to help improve upon it however I can.

That said, take for example the first image of the Getting Started Guide:
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/cgi_img_auth.php/c/c2/0101GS3-IntroducingLibO.pdf.
We
have OOo icons in that very first image at page 9 while the rest of the
screenshots have been updated for the file. In addition, several other files
still have OOo branding in the screenshots. I would be happy to clean this
up if the team deems it necessary.

~Elliot

Hi :slight_smile:

It's not taken as criticism. The documentation team has been working hard and
fast just to get documentation out there. There will be mistakes that need
fixing and mostly those are ok for now. Branding is a fairly serious issue so
it would be fantastic if you could fix it. Sometimes that is about all that
there is time to do!

The team is doing a great job but does appreciate help :slight_smile:
All good, nicely spotted :slight_smile:
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Replacing the screenshots definitely needs to be done, either at this point or during the review to see what else may need to be changed because of differences between OOo Impress and LibO Impress. So please do so if you want to and have time.

If you do replace screenshots, please note that we're avoiding taking them from Windows unless it's a Windows-specific screen or it's not evident which o/s the image is from -- most cropped images would fit in that category. Also note use of preferred icon set if icons are visible. Misc tips on anchoring and other image-related topics are in the doc on producing LibO user guides.

I assume you have also replaced OpenOffice.org with LibreOffice in the text, and done the other items on the list of things in rebranding.

Thanks for doing this! --Jean

That was certainly an oversight if any remained in a published doc, and will need to be fixed in the next update. The Getting Started book in particular was done in a great rush and has far too many uncorrected images in it. If you want to start redoing them, you are very welcome to do so.

--Jean

Oh, there's a Resources section on Alfresco. Okay, I'll review the items you
mentioned and redo the documents.

Unfortunately I won't be able to do screenshots on anything other than
Windows until I can switch to Linux. Someone else will need to take that
torch if it needs to be done soon. Sorry.

Thanks for the assist, Jean. :slight_smile:

~Elliot

Two topics:
(1) Impress Guide rebranding.
Have you been using the Template Changer extension to "assign" the LibO
template to the rebranded Impress Guide chapters? If not, please do that
at some point.

Assigning a template takes care of all the style changes, the footer on
the copyright page, and other things, though a few items need to be done
manually (like the cover page graphic).

(2) Fixing published chapters of other books.
If you work on the published books but can't do screenshots, you can
insert a comment at each image you notice that needs to be replaced;
that will help whoever does the screenshots.

Please put the revised or annotated chapters into the Drafts space for
the relevant book on Alfresco.

You'll find some inconsistency in where the "published" chapters are
stored on Alfresco, and what the file names are. (Writer Guide chapters
are, I think, in the WG Reviewed space, not the Published space. Getting
Started Guide chapters have interim file names, not the proper ones that
you'll find on the wiki.) This is dpartly due ue to a combination of us
making all this up as we go along and recovering from a crash, then not
finding time to reorganise things properly.

--Jean

(1) What I did do was overwrite the existing document's styles with the
styles from a document that was already published. Since this didn't
automatically adjust the footer, I'm going to redo it using the correct
method just in case there are other things I've missed.

Don't worry. I have a clear idea now of what I did incorrectly and what I
need to do to fix it. Again, thank you.

(2) LOL. Okay, I'll start working on that as well.

~Elliot

That last paragraph is a bit misleading. Other things don't get done
automatically, for example the formatting of the Tip/Note/Caution
tables. A fairly quick way to reformat these is to set up AutoFormats
for those tables and apply those AutoFormats; this technique is
explained in the "Producing LibO User Guides" document.

Something I haven't had time to look into is whether the AutoFormats and
AutoText can be shared easily among members of the team. Some things are
stored in a template, so that's easy; but other things are local
customisations of LibO itself. I know where the customisation files are
stored, but haven't looked into the "gotchas" of sharing these files and
how to get around those "gotchas" (if one can). If someone wants to look
into this, please do! Hmmm... wonder if the old OOo Admin Guide covers
this? And if it does, whether the info is correct for LibO?

--Jean

Tossing out some thoughts for discussion...

1) In addition to the user guides and the blog, IMO we need to develop a set of tutorials or howtos. Videos would be great for many topics, but that is outside my area of expertise, so I'll talk here about written ones (some of which could be used as the starting point for someone doing videos, of course).

2) The user list is a great source of ideas for tutorials and howto documents. In many cases I read them and realise there is a topic in the user guides that could be repurposed into a tutorial with a bit of rewriting and usually the addition of an example or two. In fact, many topics in the user guides began life several years ago as answers to questions on the OOO forums.

3) I have a collection of tutorial type material that I've written, which has either been published on my own blog or in a book I've written, but which has never been placed on the OOo wiki. Also some items of mine that are on the OOo wiki. All of these could become part of the LibO documentation set... if I ever find time to do it.

4) These tutorials and howtos could be published on the blog, but they could --IMO should-- also be collected on one or more pages of the wiki, for easier reference. Also, some are too long for the blog, so having them on the wiki with teasers on the blog could be the way to go.

5) Some items might go well in wiki format, unlike the user guides which are in ODT with only a download link on the wiki. However, many of my items already exist in ODT, so it would be easier and faster to get an initial set of material on the wiki in that form. People writing new stuff, especially if adapting existing material from the user guides, might find it easier to use ODT too. Others might prefer to work directly in the wiki.

Any thoughts or comments on any of this? I haven't begun to look at the wiki and how best to add this sort of thing to it, but as we are reorganising the wiki anyway, this could be part of the reorganisation. I do hope David N finds time to work on the reorg, because I've been so involved with some of it, I no longer see the problems or what's missing. But wiki reorganisation is a topic for a separate note... This one is too long already.

Sometimes I think that I think too much. I dream up ideas faster than I can put them into practice. :wink:

--Jean

*John Shabanowitz
http://libodocs.wordpress.com
We're recruiting, come join us.*

Tossing out some thoughts for discussion...

1) In addition to the user guides and the blog, IMO we need to develop a
set of tutorials or howtos. Videos would be great for many topics, but that
is outside my area of expertise, so I'll talk here about written ones (some
of which could be used as the starting point for someone doing videos, of
course).

2) The user list is a great source of ideas for tutorials and howto
documents. In many cases I read them and realise there is a topic in the
user guides that could be repurposed into a tutorial with a bit of rewriting
and usually the addition of an example or two. In fact, many topics in the
user guides began life several years ago as answers to questions on the OOO
forums.

This is how I saw as getting blogging inspiration.

3) I have a collection of tutorial type material that I've written, which
has either been published on my own blog or in a book I've written, but
which has never been placed on the OOo wiki. Also some items of mine that
are on the OOo wiki. All of these could become part of the LibO
documentation set... if I ever find time to do it.

4) These tutorials and howtos could be published on the blog, but they
could --IMO should-- also be collected on one or more pages of the wiki, for
easier reference. Also, some are too long for the blog, so having them on
the wiki with teasers on the blog could be the way to go.

I follow a blog that has recently changed to that type of format. A tease on
the front page and click through for the article. I don't like it. I want
the whole article there to read when I click from the newsletter. I don't
see it as a problem if it is only within certain blog posts, not as a format
of the blog.

5) Some items might go well in wiki format, unlike the user guides which
are in ODT with only a download link on the wiki. However, many of my items
already exist in ODT, so it would be easier and faster to get an initial set
of material on the wiki in that form. People writing new stuff, especially
if adapting existing material from the user guides, might find it easier to
use ODT too. Others might prefer to work directly in the wiki.

IMHO, we should all be working in LibO and then cutting and pasting into the
blog. That way we get important user vision and gain user voice for our blog
posts. There is a post about filtering text in Calc on the users list. Is
that for real? It's so easy, it is all there when you bring up the filter
dialogue box, even the copy to command. I sometimes wonder if we are being
tested by others.

Any thoughts or comments on any of this? I haven't begun to look at the
wiki and how best to add this sort of thing to it, but as we are
reorganising the wiki anyway, this could be part of the reorganisation. I do
hope David N finds time to work on the reorg, because I've been so involved
with some of it, I no longer see the problems or what's missing. But wiki
reorganisation is a topic for a separate note... This one is too long
already.

It's the wiki that confuses me. LOL. Anyway, there are two extensions for
OO.o, There is a blog poster and a wiki poster. I have been able to use the
blog poster extension to post to blogger but not wordpress. Anyone else use
it? I haven't used the wiki poster extension yet. Do you use it?

Hi John, thanks for your comments. My responses are interleaved below.

>
> 3) I have a collection of tutorial type material that I've written, which
> has either been published on my own blog or in a book I've written, but
> which has never been placed on the OOo wiki. Also some items of mine that
> are on the OOo wiki. All of these could become part of the LibO
> documentation set... if I ever find time to do it.
>
> 4) These tutorials and howtos could be published on the blog, but they
> could --IMO should-- also be collected on one or more pages of the wiki, for
> easier reference. Also, some are too long for the blog, so having them on
> the wiki with teasers on the blog could be the way to go.
>

I follow a blog that has recently changed to that type of format. A tease on
the front page and click through for the article. I don't like it. I want
the whole article there to read when I click from the newsletter. I don't
see it as a problem if it is only within certain blog posts, not as a format
of the blog.

I certainly would not like to see the blog use that method as a standard
thing, but if the article is in ODT and is longish and has many
pictures, then putting it into the blog is extra work (which, for me,
won't get done). See my comments below about using the wiki publisher
extension. I suspect the same problem would apply to the blog publisher,
but I've never tried it. Have you used it for articles that contain
graphics?

>
> 5) Some items might go well in wiki format, unlike the user guides which
> are in ODT with only a download link on the wiki. However, many of my items
> already exist in ODT, so it would be easier and faster to get an initial set
> of material on the wiki in that form. People writing new stuff, especially
> if adapting existing material from the user guides, might find it easier to
> use ODT too. Others might prefer to work directly in the wiki.
>

IMHO, we should all be working in LibO and then cutting and pasting into the
blog. That way we get important user vision and gain user voice for our blog
posts. There is a post about filtering text in Calc on the users list. Is
that for real? It's so easy, it is all there when you bring up the filter
dialogue box, even the copy to command. I sometimes wonder if we are being
tested by others.

>
> Any thoughts or comments on any of this? I haven't begun to look at the
> wiki and how best to add this sort of thing to it, but as we are
> reorganising the wiki anyway, this could be part of the reorganisation. I do
> hope David N finds time to work on the reorg, because I've been so involved
> with some of it, I no longer see the problems or what's missing. But wiki
> reorganisation is a topic for a separate note... This one is too long
> already.
>

It's the wiki that confuses me. LOL. Anyway, there are two extensions for
OO.o, There is a blog poster and a wiki poster. I have been able to use the
blog poster extension to post to blogger but not wordpress. Anyone else use
it? I haven't used the wiki poster extension yet. Do you use it?

I have not used the wiki publisher extension to post directly to a wiki,
mainly because all of the things I've done so far need manual cleanup
after going through the wiki publisher. So I send the results from the
wiki publisher to a text file, do the manual cleanup, and then paste the
results into the wiki itself.

I believe that the wiki publisher works fine for files containing text
and perhaps some tables, but as soon as you add images, it can't cope.

--Jean

Jean

Tossing out some thoughts for discussion...

1) In addition to the user guides and the blog, IMO we need to develop a set of tutorials or howtos. Videos would be great for many topics, but that is outside my area of expertise, so I'll talk here about written ones (some of which could be used as the starting point for someone doing videos, of course).

2) The user list is a great source of ideas for tutorials and howto documents. In many cases I read them and realise there is a topic in the user guides that could be repurposed into a tutorial with a bit of rewriting and usually the addition of an example or two. In fact, many topics in the user guides began life several years ago as answers to questions on the OOO forums.

3) I have a collection of tutorial type material that I've written, which has either been published on my own blog or in a book I've written, but which has never been placed on the OOo wiki. Also some items of mine that are on the OOo wiki. All of these could become part of the LibO documentation set... if I ever find time to do it.

4) These tutorials and howtos could be published on the blog, but they could --IMO should-- also be collected on one or more pages of the wiki, for easier reference. Also, some are too long for the blog, so having them on the wiki with teasers on the blog could be the way to go.

5) Some items might go well in wiki format, unlike the user guides which are in ODT with only a download link on the wiki. However, many of my items already exist in ODT, so it would be easier and faster to get an initial set of material on the wiki in that form. People writing new stuff, especially if adapting existing material from the user guides, might find it easier to use ODT too. Others might prefer to work directly in the wiki.

Any thoughts or comments on any of this? I haven't begun to look at the wiki and how best to add this sort of thing to it, but as we are reorganising the wiki anyway, this could be part of the reorganisation. I do hope David N finds time to work on the reorg, because I've been so involved with some of it, I no longer see the problems or what's missing. But wiki reorganisation is a topic for a separate note... This one is too long already.

Sometimes I think that I think too much. I dream up ideas faster than I can put them into practice. :wink:

--Jean

I think that is a good idea for howto docs. The blogs can give a good
overview and the howtos could include screen shoots that would make a
blog excessively long. They could also be downloaded as option, may as
an Impress presentation optionally with a voice over.

I do see the advantages as outlined below. Like I said, as long as it's not
the blog itself, just individual posts. So, which one of us has the voice of
a commercial voice over artist? I know it's not me. I really like the idea
of presentations showing how to with a voice over. I know alot of people
like them. I prefer to read. I get annoyed with videos. Sometimes they are
so slow moving.

*John Shabanowitz
http://libodocs.wordpress.com
We're recruiting, come join us.*

I have used the blog poster extension with graphics. It does work. The
settings are not very self explanatory so I had to play with them till I got
them right. Then of course it was face palm time, of course that's how it
should be. You simply choose your provider as the source of the images.
Little did I know Blogger stored your images for you in Picassa. I was
wondering about wordpress. I can't even get it to connect to wordpress, at
all.
*John Shabanowitz
http://libodocs.wordpress.com
We're recruiting, come join us.*

Hello, Elliot,
What's the status of the rebranding of the Impress Guide chapters? Last
we heard (see below), you were going to redo them. Have you done so, or
are you still working on them, or did I miss a follow-up note from you,
or ??

Thanks!
--Jean

I'm going to it tonight. Sorry it took me longer to get to it than it should
have. And thanks for the push.

~Elliot

It will take awhile to get through all the chapters, so please be sure
to check them out as you are working on them and then check them back
in again as soon as you are done, so if anyone else wants to help (or
do the next step) they'll know which chapters are up for grabs.

Thanks!

--Jean

Okay, I'll just give you a quick update on my progress in general since I've
joined. This is just to reassure you that I am still planning to follow
through on things I mentioned last week. If you're not interested, feel free
to ignore and continue on with the fabulous work you're doing. There's no
need to reply.

1. I've been looking over the documentation we have, both for users and
documentation noobs like me. This is so that I don't make any further
mistakes like I did on my first assignment. (Sorry that this has taken so
long with the other things I'm doing outside of libo)
2. After the Impress Guide I plan to work on a blog-post for creating a
macro to highlight common spelling errors that spell check won't pick up on.
Example: quite / quiet, him / hem, tank / thank... The intent being a
practical introduction to macros for writers.
3. I'll also begin going through the published documents we have and
highlighting the "artwork" that needs rebranding.

Thanks again for checking up!

~Elliot

Thanks for the status report. I really appreciate it, and your plans
sound excellent. I'm sure we all understand (I certainly do) how other
things in one's life can slow down work on LibO docs, so it's good to
know when people haven't totally disappeared leaving a job half done.

I'll try to get the rest of the info for the docs team done this week
and hope that helps everyone.

--Jean

Upon further reflection, I realise that I was totally confused in my reply to Nino above. The things I was talking about are indeed on the TDF wiki. Is there a LibO wiki as distinct from the TDF wiki? Or were you saying there should be a LibO wiki? Obviously I lose track of what is under which name on the web.

Jean