New member

Hi All,

I would like to introduce myself.

I am already a non-technical writer/editor and want to develop more technical skills. I would like to start by helping to edit and write Libreoffice documentation.

It looks like the agenda for today's meeting could be useful for me. However, I have a scheduling conflict and will probably not be able to join you.

The program I have the most experience with is Writer (although I still have a lot to learn about it). It would probably make sense to start with documentation related to that.

Reviewing draft text would be a good way for me to begin. Olivier has already pointed me to some documentation resources but it would be helpful to have a sense of how to start. Thoughts?

I look forward to learning from you.

Cathy

I am updating the Writer Guide from LO v4.2 to v5.3. I have put
several chapters here:
https://www.odfauthors.org/libreoffice/english/writer-guide/drafts-v5.3

They need to be thoroughly reviewed. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

If you don't have a login for the ODFAuthors website, Olivier or I or
others can create one for you. The files are public, so you can
download them without a login; however, you'll need a login to upload
reviewed files to the Feedback folder.

-- Jean

If you do that, let me know when you've done them and I'll proof-read them.

Hi Jean,

Thank you. This is what I wanted.

I have started to review the chapters and should warn you that there will probably be a number of comments for you to look over. Nearly all would be minor issues of formatting and clarity.

As someone still trying to figure out Libreoffice, I hope that I can bring a fresh perspective that would be challenging for people with expert knowledge.

It would be great if you could tell me a little about the documentation team. About how many people are involved? Are they mostly technical specialists or are some like me? Mostly in Europe and North America?

By the way, if you are Jean Weber, is Hazel Russman an alias?

Thanks again.

Cathy

Answers inline.

There are a few questions that I hope you can help with:

   - I am getting ready to upload a file to the ODFAuthors site. Could
   you please give me login information?

I'll set this up for you. You will receive an email with details.

   - I made many changes and suggestions. After you or someone works with
   it, is the normal procedure that I would look at again?

The usual procedure is that the writer (in this case, probably me) revises
the file and makes it available for further review. You're welcome to look
at it again or not, as you prefer. As a new member of the team, it's
probably useful for you to look at it again to see the writer's responses.

   - Some styles are not being used as directed in the Style Guide.
   Examples are special styles for first, middle, and last lines in a list. To
   what extent should the Style Guide be adhered to? Also, who should I ask
   about issues that it does not cover or that I am unclear about?

The Style Guide is out of date regarding style usage and probably other
topics. Questions should be addressed to the list. In many cases there are
no answers, only opinions.

   - Who are my colleagues in this effort? How big is the documentation
   team? Tens? Hundreds? Thousands? (ha ha) Are they mostly in Europe and
   North America? Everyone is a volunteer, correct?

Many people are on the mailing list, but AFAICT only 2 or 3 are actively
working on user guides. Others are more involved with the online help, and
there are lots of translators who are not native speakers of English.
Olivier is paid; everyone else AFAIK is an unpaid volunteer. I am in
Australia. Hazel is in the UK (I think). Olivier is in Brasil.

   - How many people are subscribed to the mailing list? Are there
   guidelines for using it? That is, should I write message like this to the
   list or directly to you?

Please write to the list instead of to me or others personally. That way
others can answer questions if we're not around. I have no idea how many
people are subscribed.

Thank you for whatever information you can provide.

As background, I'm a retired technical writer and editor. I was team leader
and very involved for many years but have cut back on my participation
(hence the out of date style guide and other materials). AFAIK most other
team members come from a variety of other backgrounds.

--Jean

Cathy

Thank you for the helpful responses.

I tried to activate my account and received the following error message. Can you help with this or should I send it to the list?

Cathy,

I've done a password reset for you, which should send you a new link. If it
still doesn't work, sounds like the website may be having a hiccup again.

Olivier, if needed, can you help? I've not been very involved for some
time, so I may not know what to do about this problem.

--Jean

Hi Jean,

Thank you. That worked and I can log in.

However, I can't see how to upload the draft file in "Contents" in the Feedback folder. It says that there is an "add" button but I don't see it. When I right click, there is no "paste" option. When I drag and drop the file, it just keeps adding it to my Downloads folder.

I have to believe that there is an easy way to upload a file but it is certainly not clear. I hope that someone can help.

Cathy

Probably a permissions issue. I've added some permissions. You may
need to log off, then log in again, to activate them. You should now
see the "Add new" button, as shown in the attached screenshot (which
may not be visible on the list). Choose "File" from the drop-down
list.
As you found, there is no way to drag or paste files into the website.
--Jean

That did the trick. Thank you.

Pretty high-level security for this project!