Can we please finalise the 7.x template?

Hi all,

The decision on finalising the 7.x has been on the Docs Team meeting
agenda for several weeks without any final decision/agreement.

I make no secret of the fact that, apart from a couple of minor
technical points, I saw no good reason to change from the 6.x template.
Nevertheless, Jean has put forward a very good 7.x template proposal and
I think we should use this thread to discuss her proposal and come to a
final agreement on changes, if any, that should be made to that proposal.

My only recommendation for the proposed 7.x template would be to change
the black Heading text colours back to the previous #18a303
RGB(24,163,3), because the stark B&W presentation would make the guides
appear dull, uninteresting and to some degree unprofessional, when
compared to our previous publications.

I am not a fan of deadlines, but it would be good if we could come to
some level of agreement by, or before, the next Docs Team meeting on
September 24th.

Best Regards
Dave

HI Dave
If we keep discussion on the color of the template elements, we will
never set a final decision.

I recommend we take Jean's final template as basis for each Guide. It
does not prevent authors to choose another color for their book.
Actually it is trivial to change, as we know.

Kind regards
Olivier

My personal preference is to keep the former green headings. I changed them
to black because several of us objected to the idea of different colour
headings for different books.

I was primarily focusing on functional aspects of the template, not
appearance.

I agree with Olivier that we need to approve some template and move on.
Note that once we start using a new template, problems will appear that
were not noticed in draft. That is always the case.

Jean

Hello

The green headings do look good on screen, but black is better for printing. As most users would probably read (!!!) a user guide online, I think we can revert back to green. I was in favour of black because there are still a lot of printers out there that only print black and the colours chosen for the different guides were not a good choice for monochrome printers.

The green for headings should be same green as used for LibreOffice logos to keep the corporate look.

Regards

Regards
Peter Schofield
psauthor@gmail.com

Hi Olivier,

I did not in any way suggest we enter into a long protracted discussion
about the color of every element of the template. My only recommendation
was that we keep the same green heading colors used since the first
publication of our 3.4 guides. As Jean said in another post to this
thread, she only changed them to black as a compromise to the idea of
different color headings for different books.

I agree that we take Jean's final template as basis for the version 7
Guides, with the recommendation that we keep the original heading colors.

I completely disagree with your suggestion that authors (however we
define them) should be able to choose any color(s) for the book they are
working on. Would the team be happy if I make "Fire Engine Red" the
color for the next Getting Started guide?

Best Regards
Dave

Sorry, I missed one other change we must make to the 7.x template.
Remove "Community Edition" from the image on the first page.

Regards
Dave

Hi All,

In an attempt to move this forward to a conclusion, I have created an
updated version of Jean's template and uploaded to NextCloud:
https://nextcloud.documentfoundation.org/s/Cqxmk2ySt5ZQ3f2

The only two things I have changed are the heading colors, reverted back
to the original green and the the removal of the words "Community
Edition" from the image on the first page.

Jean, Peter and myself have already indicated a preference for the
heading colors to be reverted back to the original green and the TDF ESC
have postponed the introduction of LibreOffice "Community Edition".

If there are no qualified objections to this updated template, I propose
we vote to finalise this template at Thursday's (24th. September) meeting.

Best Regards
Dave

Sounds good to me.

Dan

Hello Dave

Thank you. I have downloaded your draft template and will give it a test run.

There are still a few glitches, but I do not have enough experience with templates to sort them out.

Regards
Peter Schofield
psauthor@gmail.com

Hi Peter,

Thanks for that. As Jean mentioned earlier in this thread, there might
still be things discovered that we need to tweak, but I seriously doubt
such tweaks will have a major impact on the overall structure of the
finally agreed template.

If you find or experience any glitches would you be kind enough to note
them in a separate post to the list as you encounter them. Then we all
have the opportunity to investigate and fix where necessary.

Best Regards
Dave

Hello Dave

Only error I have discovered so far is the border below Heading 1 and Contents Heading. It is black and should be LO Green.

Regards
Peter Schofield
psauthor@gmail.com

Hi Peter,

Sorry, that was me being lazy. When I made the color change to the main
heading I relied on the style hierarchy and forgot the other aspects
(eg. bottom border) needed for some headings.

I have uploaded a fixed edition of the template to:
https://nextcloud.documentfoundation.org/s/3yHCCcrMT3Nc83F

Best Regards
Dave