Returning to work on GS6.0 Guide

Hi Folks,

Getting back on track following a problematic international move and a
rotten bout of flu, although I am still battling to get a decent
internet connection.

I have now pulled copies of all existing chapter contributions in both
the drafts and feedback folders from ODF Authors with the intention of
reviewing, revising and collating them into potentially publishable
book. This is going to be a sizable undertaking, so if any other members
of the team can find the time assist please contact me on or off list.

I will report to this thread as I complete chapters I consider ready for
final review and or grammatical checking.

An issue with the Template Changer Extension was reported:
https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=60592
The extension developer has now updated the extension from version 1.27c
to 1.27d. My own tests with the latest version indicate it works as
expected under LO 6.0RC2. I have updated Template Changer Extension on
ODF Authors to this latest version: http://bit.ly/2Djt9i4

Regards
Dave

Dave,
In Chapter 4 (Writer), many references to chapters in the Writer Guide
are probably out of date. I have almost finished revising the WG up to
LOv5.4, and as soon as I've finished doing that, I'll start updating
it to v6.0. So I recommend that the chapter references either be
updated for the new guide, or removed (just say "in the Writer Guide"
instead of "in Chapter N of the Writer Guide".)

The list and sequence of chapters have been significantly changed, as
you can see on the Tasks page in the wiki, and for the chapters that
I've split into 2 or 3, it's often not obvious which new chapter a
topic is in. I'm happy to go through the GS chapter and edit those,
but I don't want to work on an incorrect or obsolete copy of the GS
chapter.

Regards, Jean

Hi, Dave,

let me add, for Chapter 2, there is also this:
- Open and Save As windows are not available as a setting in the Settings
anymore;
- MediaWiki extension is not available on macOS systems, should be
mentioned somehow;

Lp, m.

Hi Jean,

Good to hear from you.

For GS6.0 it might be best if we just refer to the Writer Guide as a
whole and maybe refine details of the specific chapter numbers when we
get under way with WG6.0.

Many thanks for your work on WG5.4, it is going to be a big help.

I propose to get the "easy" bits (Preface and Appendices) cleaned up
first, then I will try to finalise the Writer chapter. Your writing
skills are much better than mine, so it would be much appreciated if you
could find time to review this chapter when I am done with it.

We are still missing the Getting Started with Base chapter for GS6.0 and
I was wondering if any contributors to the previous editions of the Base
Guide or Base Handbook might be available and willing to update the
GS5.2 chapter. Other than Firebird (still experimental) I am not aware
of any major changes in Base, so this should not be an onerous task.

Best Regards
Dave

Hi Dave,

I could help with whatever is the highest priority for GS5--either Base or Writer.

If Writer, I would prefer not to work on the sections that I previously edited for the Writer 5 guide (and I think they are now in the LO 6 drafts).

If Base is the higher priority, I should note that I am not familiar with it, but for editing user documentation, my belief is that ignorance can be strength.

Cathy

Hi Cathy,

Hi Dave,

I could help with whatever is the highest priority for GS5--either
Base or Writer.

Thanks, that would be a big help. The Base or Writer chapters don't
really have different priorities, because we need both for a complete
guide. I did the last merge of the Writer chapter sections and I would
prefer not to review my own work, so it would be good if you will take
and review the merged chapter from the feedback folder on ODF Authors:
https://www.odfauthors.org/libreoffice/english/getting-started/feedback-lo-6.0

We don't yet have an initial draft for the Base chapter, but the core
Base functions and features don't often change so it is likely that
there will be very few changes needed to update the Base chapter from
the previous guide. However, I will investigate if there have been any
changes in Base we need to consider and post my findings back here.

If Writer, I would prefer not to work on the sections that I
previously edited for the Writer 5 guide (and I think they are now in
the LO 6 drafts).

We are now working on whole chapters as opposed to sections and your
previous edits have been reviewed and merged with the work of other
contributors. It's almost unavoidable that at some stage we will all
find ourselves reviewing our own edits.

If Base is the higher priority, I should note that I am not familiar
with it, but for editing user documentation, my belief is that
ignorance can be strength.

Good point. Let me check for any important changes in Base and if there
aren't any it should be a relatively simple job to update the Base chapter.

Cathy

Good to see you back on board.

Kind Regards
Dave

Hi Dave,

We don't yet have an initial draft for the Base chapter, but the core
Base functions and features don't often change so it is likely that
there will be very few changes needed to update the Base chapter from
the previous guide. However, I will investigate if there have been any
changes in Base we need to consider and post my findings back here.

I have had a look at GS5208 (Getting started Base for LO 5.2). There is
no specific content in the chapter which has to be changed. The only
changed content between LO 5.2 and LO 6.0 will be: Firebird 3.0 will be
the version for the internal (experimental) Database instead of 2.5. And
nothing in GS Base is written special for experimental internal Firebird
database.

Regards

Robert

I will look over the Writer chapter.

Hi Martin,

Again, thank you for your feedback. I have now revised the Preface
(Chapter 0) based on the points you raised. See: http://bit.ly/2nVvl96
My notes are in-line with the quote of your original message.

Hi, Dave,

Again, thank you for your feedback. I have now revised the Preface
(Chapter 0) based on the points you raised. See: http://bit.ly/2nVvl96
My notes are in-line with the quote of your original message.

Thanks for your work.

> 4. Open and Save As windows by the system: according to release notes
> (feature removal section) the system windows are still but option,
> but not via Settings anymore (only as an expert configuration);

This is not relevant to the GS Guide Preface. Although there is unlikely
to be any reference to the expert configuration in the GS Guide, I will
keep this point in mind when reviewing/revising other chapters.

Maybe I wasn't specific enough and - that is the main reason - I put that
under the wrong Chapter. Indeed, In Chapter 1 there is:

"The dialog that opens when using the *Save As* command depends on the
options that have been set in LibreOffice. See “Choosing Open and Save As
dialogs” on page 21 for more information."
And further on page 21 there is:
"Choosing Open and Save As dialogs

You can choose whether to use the LibreOffice Open and Save As dialogs or
the ones provided by your operating system. This book uses the LibreOffice
dialogs in illustrations.

If you use your computer system’s dialogs, you can move files only to and
from mounted file systems on the local computer. To provide additional
opportunities such as working with cloud or remote servers, and searching
by versions, switch to using LibreOffice dialogs. Go to *Tools > Options >
LibreOffice > General* and select or deselect the option *Use LibreOffice
dialogs*."

This feature was removed from the Settings dialog in LibreOffice 6.0 and
can only be set via expert configuration. So these parts of Chapter 1 will
have to be rewritten (and probably partly omitted, as they are too "expert"
for a novice user).

Thanks again,
m.