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  • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 8:16 am on February 10, 2013 Permalink | Reply  

    Handbooks Wireframe – v2 

    Handbook-wireframe-01Based on feedback from the handbooks wireframe posted last week, here is a new one I worked up, which includes the following changes:

    • More text and fewer images – This is probably closer to how a typical handbook page would look, which we would expect to have more written content and fewer illustrations than was shown in the first wireframe.
    • “Checklist” in the overview section – This would allow readers to determine at a glance what will be covered on the handbook page.
    • Added subheadings – To get a better sense of how subheadings would work in a handbook layout I added a few h3 headings. Lesser headings (h4-h6) are not represented but would follow suit. Note that subheadings are also displayed as a nested list in the TOC to show hierarchy.
    • Content box for displaying code – Styling would be similar to the other alert boxes, with a background color and icon.  Though not illustrated here, it would be ideal to use a syntax highlighter as well.
    • “Next Steps” section at the bottom – This is a good place to link to related pages within the handbook, as well as other external resources.

    Please click on the image to view full size, and leave your thoughts in the comments section.

     

    • Patrick Rauland 9:11 pm on February 10, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      I think you did a great job incorporating the feedback from the last round. I had a couple of thoughts while looking through the mockup.

      1) I think the styling of the code boxes can greatly affect the UX of the whole handbook. A background color and an icon sound fine. I think there has to be syntax highlighting as well as line numbers (that’s don’t get copied when you select the text). I assume that the code won’t be italicized by default?

      2) A follow up question is what if a tip or alert incorporates some code? Ex. Don’t forget to use the global variable $wpdb instead of using the local $wpdb by putting this code in the first line of method_x:

      global $wpdb;

      3) Looking through last week’s IRC log it looks like there was some discussion as to which theme we are using for the handbooks. Depending on how much liberty with theming options I think it would be great for UX if the On This Page box would scroll with the user. I think it would be quite useful on longer handbook pages.

      • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 6:32 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        Thanks for the props, Patrick. Here’s my responses:

        1. Since this is a wireframe, and not dealing with design, I’d take the italics with a grain of salt. Presumably we’ll discuss details (such as syntax highlighting) once we decide on the overall layout.
        2. This is tough to represent in the wireframe, but I’m sure that we can add inline code snippets without too much trouble.
        3. The floating box is a nice idea, but will need to be thought-out once we know where we’re going with this, theme-wise. One problem I can think of is how to handle a floating TOC in a responsive design. We may not always have as much space as is shown in the wireframe currently.

    • Rachel McCollin 10:36 am on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      This is looking great, thanks for incorporating the feedback.

      I agree with Patrick that we need to ensure code is styled in a way that’s easy to read and to copy. I’m wondering if it would also be helpful to have some standards as to how we present the code – for example do we wrap PHP in tags? Also where a function needs to be attached to a hook to make it fire, would it be helpful to include that?

      What do others think?

      • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 6:33 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        I think that sounds great. As I am a stronger designer than a coder, I will defer to others on how to best implement this. :)

        • Siobhan 7:02 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

          It would be helpful to have @melchoyce’s thoughts into this.

    • Siobhan 2:37 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      The “what you will learn” section at the top looks great.

      ToC – this should only display two levels of headings. Otherwise it gets silly.

      At the minute I think we have Syntax Highlighter Reloaded – I’m not convinced that it requires a content box for the code, but I don’t mind too much either way.

      On the box at the bottom – there is far too much in there. If someone is using the handbook to learn then we’re forcing them to decide where to go next. There should only be one item in the “Next Step” box, which links to the next logical thing that the person should learn. Having a bunch of links in there isn’t necessary. There’ll be hyperlinks throughout the text so if someone want to navigate in a non-linear fashion they have that at their disposal.

      I do like the list of external resources. We need to think carefully about this though. When we start linking to external resources then we are endorsing content which is outside of our control. There’s no guarantee that it will be kept up-to-date. And the author could change something to render it inaccurate etc. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t do it, but I do think it warrants a discussion. If we do go ahead with linking to external resources I’d prefer to see these in a sidebar widget to differentiate them from the main text.

      • Siobhan 2:50 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        It’s also worth keeping in mind that the layout & formatting needs to work for different types of articles. Some of them will be straightforward articles. Others will be tutorials.

      • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 6:23 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        The box you see here would most likely be a blockquote with an added class to control styling, so the *container* can hold as much or as little text as is needed. For pages where there is only one logical next step, that is probably all that needs to be displayed, but this will be an editorial decision.

        I noticed that a lot of articles in the codex will have more than one “next step” depending on how the article is structured. Presumably some pages in the handbook would be similar, in that not every one will be “first read this, then next go here” but instead may have several jumping off points. I wanted to account for that in the wireframe.

        In any event, this box is pretty multipurpose. :)

        • Siobhan 7:29 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

          Yes, you’re right. I’m putting together a tutorial in the core handbook and I’ve already encountered this. User can either install WordPress using Github or SVN.

        • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 8:01 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

          Oh, I should have added that I envisioned the “External Links” as linking to other handbooks, codex articles (like the function reference), and other *official* places of WordPress knowledge, and not links to “out-of-network” sites.

          This would also be an editorial decision, but I wanted to try out the idea in wireframe form.

    • Kim Parsell 3:42 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      I really like how this is coming together. Getting ready to start writing this morning, will be using this to help me get the current content organized.

      @Patrick Rauland: The only problem I have with the “On This Page” box floating down the page is that it may inadvertently cover what someone is trying to read, with no way of getting it out of the way. Other than that, I like the idea.

      • Siobhan 5:10 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        I think I agree with Kim on this one. However, I’d like to test them out to see what the experience is like for the user.

        • Kim Parsell 5:52 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

          Perhaps make it so that you can collapse the box to get it out of the way?

        • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 6:36 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

          I think testing would be good. I wonder how we handle this in a mobile-responsive design, should we go down that road.

          For now, at least, the TOC I’m representing is using functionality that exists on a lot of the dotorg P2 blogs currently (thought totally unstyled) so all we have to do is add some simple CSS. That’s well within scope. :)

        • Patrick Rauland 5:26 pm on February 12, 2013 Permalink | Reply

          Any idea how you’d like to test it? Are you thinking something that someone whips up and shares with the rest of this group or testing on a larger scale?

      • Patrick Rauland 5:25 pm on February 12, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        Agreed, if we make the On This Page box float then we should make sure that it doesn’t cover anything up. :)

    • Mel Choyce 4:04 am on February 12, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Looks great! A couple thoughts:

      • The line length is a little long. The ideal line length for readability is 50-75 characters. (I actually think it’s just about perfect at the top where it wraps around the “on this page box.”)
      • I agree with Patrick Rauland that the “on this page” navigation should follow you down the page. At the very least, there should be “back to top” links at each new section. This would be especially helpful in longer pages.

      That aside, looking great!

      • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 6:37 pm on February 12, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        Thanks Mel. I agree the line length is a bit long overall, so that would be a good thing to trim down a bit. I also like the “Back to Top” links as a fallback; that sounds easy to implement.

        About floating TOCs, I’d love your thoughts (everyone’s actually) on how to implement. Obviously we can’t float it in the text like I’ve shown. Two concerns:

        1. Avoiding covering content as the TOC follows on scroll.
        2. Avoiding stealing space on the page that could be better used in displaying content. A TOC is useful, but more useful than the content itself? Not so sure.

  • Drew Jaynes (DrewAPicture) 11:15 pm on February 9, 2013 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , site management   

    Network Help Text: An update + sites.php 

    On top of everything else, revising the Network Admin help text got kinda of got pushed to the side. I’m working this weekend to get a better handle on the project.

    1. On the tracking ticket, #23163, I incorporated changes from @raggedrobins in the patch for /network/index.php as previously discussed on make/docs. Note the initials notation in the patch name. I fully intend to get credit for contributors, whether they’re making patches or not. So we need to try to keep track of that.
    2. On that note, I’m almost finished with my tutorial for making Help Text patches in the make/docs handbook. Updates on that soon.
    3. I also took the opportunity today to start additionally working on the /network/sites.php (Sites) screen help text. The following is the first pass:

    Before:

    Tab: Overview

    Add New takes you to the Add New Site screen. You can search for a site by Name, ID number, or IP address. Screen Options allows you to choose how many sites to display on one page.

    This is the main table of all sites on this network. Switch between list and excerpt views by using the icons above the right side of the table.

    Hovering over each site reveals seven options (three for the primary site):

    • An Edit link to a separate Edit Site screen.
    • Dashboard leads to the Dashboard for that site.
    • Deactivate, Archive, and Spam which lead to confirmation screens. These actions can be reversed later.
      Delete which is a permanent action after the confirmation screens.
    • Visit to go to the frontend site live.

    The site ID is used internally, and is not shown on the front end of the site or to users/viewers.

    Clicking on bold headings can re-sort this table.

    After:

    Tab: Overview

    This area of the Administration Screens is used for managing the sites in your Multisite Network.

    From here you can:

    • Add, modify or remove sites from your network
    • Search for sites in your network
    • Perform bulk actions on multiple sites at once

    Tab: Site Management

    The site management screen allows you to modify aspects of one or many of your sites at once.

    Hovering over each site reveals seven options (three for the primary site):

    • Clicking Edit takes you to a multi-part settings screen for that site
    • Clicking Dashboard takes you to the Dashboard screen for that site
    • Clicking Deactivate, Archive, or Spam performs the specified action with a confirmation screen
    • Clicking Delete deletes a site from your network, following a confirmation screen
    • Clicking Visit takes you to the front-end view of the site

    Going forward: It should be noted that from the Sites screen, there is also an ‘Add Site’ button in the admin menu and in the header. Should that be covered in some way in the Overview tab?

     

    • Siobhan 2:43 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Overview looks fine.

      On Site Management:

      The site management screen allows you to modify aspects of one or many of your sites at once.

      Hover over the site name to reveal contextual options:

      Click Edit for settings for that site
      Click Dashboard to visit the Dashboard for that site
      Click Deactivate, Archive, or Spam to perform the specified action
      Click Delete to delete a site from your network
      Click Visit to view the front-end of the site

      —

      Have edited it to be more action based rather than descriptive.

      On the “Add Site” button – I would do something along the lines of:

      To add a site to your network you can:

      • click the Add Site button in the admin menu
      • click the Add Site button in the header

      etc etc etc

      • Drew Jaynes (DrewAPicture) 5:43 pm on February 11, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        1. Would you follow the same style of bolding we did on /index.php for the “Click” actions?
        2. On the “delete” action, I’d still like to notate that there’s a confirmation screen. I wouldn’t want to click it if I thought I was performing an irreversible action (which it is).
        3. Everything else looks great. Thanks.

  • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 2:03 am on February 8, 2013 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Wireframes   

    A Wireframe for Handbooks 

    Handbook-wireframe-01During the IRC meetup today (read the log) @siobhan shared the Handbooks Style and Formatting Guide that she has been working on; it’s purpose is to unify the tone and style of all the (awesome!) WordPress handbooks projects that have started popping up recently.

    Also discussed in the meetup was the need for a better design for the handbooks, starting with wireframing. As I already toyed with a quick wireframe for the User Manual project, which has similar goals as the handbooks, to help jumpstart the discussion I thought I would post it up here.

    Notes about the wireframe

    It’s a bit early yet to know what the final home of the various handbooks will be. Some may live on dotorg P2 sites, and others may use different themes instead.  For that reason, no sidebars, site navigation, and other theme-related features are shown in this wireframe; this is focused on the content column only for now.

    • Breadcrumbs – Nothing fancy, just lets the reader know where they are, based on the parent/child relationship of the page.
    • TOC box – Displayed at top of article is a table of contents. A lot of dotorg P2 blogs already feature this in an unstyled form, and it is generated automatically from the headings on the page.
    • Headings – Ideally, as mentioned in the style guide, only one topic or step will be used per heading. Generous top/bottom margins add whitespace between these “sections” of content, to keep the information easily scannable and digestible.
    • Body Copy – As with the headings, good whitespace between paragraph elements.  There should not be more than a paragraph or two per heading.
    • Images/Videos – These are always displayed at full width, which is helpful for detailed screenshots.  Can be linked to a larger image,  displayed in a lightbox or other modal window (not shown) so the reader does not have to navigate away from the current page when getting a closer look.
    • Image Captions – Descriptive captions help explain the image, and are also named (Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc.) with matching footnotes in the text, to help readers link the instruction text to the related illustration.
    • Alert Boxes – These will likely use the blockquote HTML tag with an added class for styling and possibly adding an icon. Boxes for “tips” and “warnings” are represented, but others can use a similar format.

    That’s pretty much it.  Leave you thoughts/feedback in the comments below, so we can start building a home for all these great new handbooks.

     

    • Rachel McCollin 7:36 am on February 8, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      This looks really good, it’s great to see a consistent approach coming together as that will help users know what to expect so they can get on with learning without taking time to understand what’s going on on the page. It also helps handbook editors like me to see how we’ll be working.

      I have a couple of comments/suggestions:

      I would recommend a section at the bottom for further reading / links. Some Codex pages have links to some really useful tutorial and resources which can be very helpful.

      I’m concerned about limiting sections to no more than a couple of paragraphs. Some of the content will be advanced and need quite detailed explanation. As long as this is done clearly and logically, I don’t see why it should be limited in length. The risk of limiting section length is that sections won’t go into the depth they need to so aren’t as useful as they could be.

      • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 9:28 am on February 8, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        The further reading section sounds like a good idea! :)

        The limit on paragraphs is probably a holdover from the User Manual, where being succinct makes more sense. I agree, for many handbooks the passages would be longer.

        • Siobhan 6:10 pm on February 8, 2013 Permalink | Reply

          I agree with Rachel. Nothing should be limited in length. Just say what needs to be said in as few words as possible.

    • Siobhan 8:38 am on February 8, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks for this Jerry! There are a few things that will be really important:

      • well differentiated headings from h2 – h6. So often I see headings that don’t look all that different to one another.
      • alert boxes are so useful when writing docs. I like the little icons that you’ve put in them too.
      • I’m not sold on image captions. I never use them for writing documentation. Readable screenshots with highlights & callouts, along with useful alt text, are better than a caption. Note that not all image will be full size.

      Some things to think about:

      • it’d be nice to have a box at the bottom that indicates which article the person should go to next. Here’s an example of what I mean: http://cl.ly/image/0b0R3s3Z0E22
      • I -love- the checklist that they have at the start of the Rails guides: http://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started.html They are a really useful learning tool. The person can read what they’re going to become familiar with, then read the guide, then have a useful checklist that they can refer to. I wonder if it would be possible to incorporate that, either in the sidebar or at the top.

      In an absolute dream world, the person would be able to check off what they’ve learned (or answer a few questions at the end) and track their progress through all of the handbooks, which would show on their .org profiles. That would be super-sexy. But, for now, a checklist would be fantastic :)

    • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 9:44 am on February 8, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      I think there are a lot of things about the Rails guide that are worth borrowing from. I’ll add a checklist in my next iteration. Same for a box at the bottom for related links or next steps. :)

      The P2 blogs really drive me crazy when it comes to how headings are styled. I think h1 – h3 are all the same size, with h4 just slightly smaller; though not represented in this wireframe, I agree there should be clearer differentiation.

    • John Saddington 1:01 pm on February 8, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      this might be crazy, but i’ve got a number of ebooks that i’ve released that had all of this done already, and color-coded based on topic… i’m discontinuing the sale of them and i could donate all the design work and original files if you’d like?

      here’s a preview: http://tentblogger.com/ebook/

      here is one of the example templates that i created as masters: http://i.john.do/Mld8

      • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 6:30 pm on February 8, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        Thanks John, those look really nice! I’d like to dig into them and see what can be adapted to work in a website (as opposed to an ebook) format but the design is really clean and straightforward.

        • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 6:39 pm on February 8, 2013 Permalink | Reply

          I wonder what @raggedrobins thoughts are on pullquotes. I don’t know if they’re right for the Handbooks, but I have a soft spot for them.

          • Siobhan 6:43 pm on February 8, 2013 Permalink | Reply

            I -love- pull quotes. But I don’t think they’re that suitable for this use-case.

            @John The ebooks look great! Will also have a look to see what we can adapt to the web.

      • Jason Hoffmann 6:51 pm on February 8, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        Yea I think that the “Action Plan” template on the last page would go great wit these handbooks (expanding on your point Siobhan). It shouldn’t be too much work to make those boxes checkable or even printable…

        • Jerry Bates (JerrySarcastic) 8:28 pm on February 8, 2013 Permalink | Reply

          That seems to be in line with Siobhan’s comments as well; I also like the idea (and possibly tying in to .org user profiles) but it hints at some deep functionality that may be out of scope for the time being.

          Maybe we should start a “wish list” doc somewhere so we can keep ideas like this from getting lost. :)

    • John Saddington 1:30 pm on February 9, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Cool guys. Just let me know. I have all the original files. Glad to do it.

    • John Saddington 2:00 pm on February 9, 2013 Permalink | Reply

  • Siobhan 11:29 pm on January 30, 2013 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Core Contributor Handbook Chat 30th January Summary 

    Read the Chat Log

    We had a great discussion about the Core Contributor Handbook this evening. Here’s what we covered:

    1. Status update

    We went over what we’ve done, and reviewed the Table of Contents.

    2. Actions Decided

    @raggedrobins to put together a style guide & writing guidance
    Create ToC for the handbooks
    Look for source material that we can incorporate into the handbook
    Start writing additional articles for the handbook

    3. Other CCH items discussed

    We discussed using some of the functionality that is used in the bbPress and BuddyPress codices for author attribution and last updated, date created. See here.

    Totally off topic but we discussed creating a better code reference for WordPress.org than we currently have in the Codex. We can return to this discussion at a later date.

    The next CCH chat will be on Wednesday 13th February at 2200 UTC.

     

  • Siobhan 2:25 pm on January 29, 2013 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Core Contributor Handbook Chat 30th January 

    We’ve got a group of people who are keen to work on the Core Contributor Handbook so I’m going to start moving things forward. We’ve done an audit of the content and have put together a new Table of Contents.

    To kick things off we’re going to have a chat. This will be:

    2200 UTC
    Wednesday 30th January
    Location: #wordpress-sfd
    i.e. following the core dev chat

    If you’re already involved with the CCH or would like to get involved, or have an opinion on it, please come along.

     

  • rachelbaker 9:51 am on January 24, 2013 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Theme Handbook Update Jan 24th 

    Friends, Romans, Theme developers, lend me your hooks…and let us together take “action”.
    For those that haven’t heard, I am the editor of the Theme Handbook. I am responsible for  bringing together the different theme topics, to be written by volunteers like you, into a cohesive reference on building a WordPress theme.
    With the help of Siobhan, Chip, and many others we have compiled the table of contents for the Theme Handbook.  The Handbook contains five different sections that are split among many different topics:
    • Introduction – Content Management in WordPress, What is a Theme?
    • Theme Basics – Template Files, The Loop, Template Tags, Theme Functions, Including CSS, Including JavaScript
    • Theme Functionality – Comments, Sidebars, Navigation Menus, Thumbnails, Image Galleries, Accessibility, Translation, Misc.
    • Advanced Theme Topics – Best Practices, UI/UX, Theme Customizer, Theme Options, Security, Child Themes
    • Theme Release – Required Files, Testing, Writing Documentation, Submission Process

    Our team is in need of a few more contributors.  Each topic will be written by one or more volunteer contributors.   If you know of anyone that would be interested or perhaps a good fit for an open section please do let me know.

    The next steps are to get the current volunteers access to the Theme Handbook site, find volunteers for the unclaimed sections, and get this show on the road.
    The next IRC Docs Chat is today at 2100 UTC on #wordpress-sfd.  Hope to see you there.
     

    • Christine Rondeau 5:25 pm on January 24, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Unless someone wants to wrestle me for it, I’d be happy to take the Sidebars sections.

      • rachelbaker 5:49 pm on January 24, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        Christine,

        The Sidebars are a pretty hefty topic, registering the sidebars and then displaying them along with the contained widgets in a theme. Ideally I want at least 2 contributors to work together on this section. I made myself a note to keep you in mind, and I will gladly use any time you can spare.

    • BFTrick 6:16 pm on January 24, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      I can write a section on Including Javascript. That shouldn’t be too crazy. :)

      • nofearinc 10:49 pm on January 24, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        want me to ping you for a sanity check/review when I have a readable version?

    • BFTrick 6:22 pm on January 24, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      *Sigh*. I should’ve read the Google Doc before posting. How about the Template Tags section?

      • rachelbaker 7:12 pm on January 24, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        Patrick,

        Thanks, I added you to the Template Tags section. Join us on the IRC chat if you can, otherwise I will send you “getting started” information in the next few days.

    • John Saddington 3:08 am on January 27, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      can’t wait to see this!

  • Siobhan 1:03 pm on January 21, 2013 Permalink | Reply  

    Plugin and Theme Developer Handbook Editors 

    I’m really happy that we have identified two editors for the Plugin and Theme Developer Handbooks:

    • Plugin Developer – Tom McFarlin
    • Theme Developer – Rachel Baker

    Rachel and Tom will be leading and managing each of the handbooks, with me on hand to support them with anything that they need. We’ve almost finalised the table of contents for each of these handbooks, so writing will be able to begin soon.

    I’ve added Rachel and Tom as editors here so they’ll be posting about their respective handbooks. As a reminder, here is a list of the people who are involved with these two handbooks:

    Plugin Dev

    Pippin Williamson
    Dougal Campbell (Best Practices)
    Thomas Griffin
    Maor Chasen
    Justin Sainton
    Daniel Bachhuber
    Drew Jaynes

    Theme Dev

    Chris Reynolds
    Tammie Lister
    Jay Hoffman
    Mario Peshev
    Suzette Franck
    Drew Jaynes

    Accessibility – Esmi
    UI/UX – Mel Choyce/Shane Pearlman

    We’re low on numbers for Theme Dev so if you know of anyone who would like to get involved send them our way.

     

    • Mario Peshev 1:16 pm on January 21, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Count me in for the Theme Dev team, if there is a free slot

    • Suzette Franck 7:40 pm on January 21, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Would love to help out with Theme Dev documentation, will you all be on IRC on Thursday? I spoke with Drew at #wcphx, just itching to get involved

      • rachelbaker 3:42 pm on January 24, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        Suzette,
        Can you make the #wordpress-sfd docs chat today at 2100 UTC? If not, just send me an email (rachel@rachelbaker.me) and I will get you assigned a section. I look forward to working with you.

    • Sofia Woods 11:02 pm on January 21, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      I’d like to put my hand up too for Theme Dev docs . When is next IRC?

      • Drew Jaynes (DrewAPicture) 11:09 pm on January 22, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        This Thursday at 2100 UTC in #wordpress-sfd on freenode. It’s also over there >> in the sidebar ;)

      • rachelbaker 3:42 pm on January 24, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        Sofia,
        Can you make the #wordpress-sfd docs chat today at 2100 UTC? If not, just send me an email (rachel@rachelbaker.me) and I will get you assigned a section. I look forward to working with you.

    • Maor Chasen 8:48 pm on January 22, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Congrats, Tom and Rachel! Getting my fingers ready to type about plugin dev goodness.

  • Siobhan 10:59 pm on January 17, 2013 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Docs Chat 17th January 

    Thanks everyone who came to the support & docs chat! We had nearly 30 people, which is a record for SFD.

    Here’s what we discussed:

    • @ipstenu started a discussion about tools that will make moderating forums easier. You can get involved with the discussion on support P2.
    • Handbooks – handbooks are ongoing.
    • Core Contributor Handbook – I shared the spreadsheet with the of the current content. We agreed that pages such as Submitting a Patch are in dire need of help. There should be information so that non-coders know how to make a patch.
    • Network Admin Help Text – @drewapicture reported that this is ongoing. He’s going to try to get through 2/3 pages of text a week and will post here for feedback.
    • Communication – punted to next week
    • Documentation Roadmap – we discussed the documentation roadmap, which was an action from the summit. I asked what people would like in an ideal world. There was a consensus among developers that the current function reference isn’t adequate. I asked Rarst to come along to the chat to discuss Query Posts. We agreed that this is an improvement on the MediaWiki function reference. Rarst will be open sourcing most of the components of QP. We will carry out a documentation survey to try to get a sense of what other WordPress users would find useful.

    Chat Log

    As an aside: @jane – Ryan McCue came along to the chat because I asked him to in an email. He said that he wasn’t aware that this chat took place every week, and suggested posting something about it on make/core to see if other people are interested. I think this is a great idea – even just a one-off to alert people. It might also be worth listing the other chats that take place – Mobile, Polyglots, bbPress, BuddyPress (I’m assuming they know about UI)

     

    • Jen Mylo 11:09 pm on January 17, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Good point. Checking with all the other groups that are still getting chats going and will post about all of them.

    • Daniel Bachhuber 1:33 am on January 18, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Is there an editor yet for the plugins handbook?

      • Siobhan 9:33 am on January 18, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        Tom McFarlin – will post something about it over the weekend :)

    • Daniel Bachhuber 1:43 am on January 18, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Oh, and my feature request for support forums: search within a forum :)

    • Julio Potier (Juliobox) 8:35 am on January 22, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Hello, i’m Julio Potier. I missed all of this post earlier. Can i contribute or it’s too late ? I’m a French WP Expert, Web Security Consultant and WordCamp (Paris) Speaker (2011 & 2013).
      I want to do the “nonces” part, and if possible “sanitization” part. (and more ? ^^)
      Thank you in advance

      • Siobhan 9:41 pm on January 31, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        Hi Julio – really sorry for not responding to you earlier – I was offline last week :(

        The best way to get involved is to come along to @wordpress-sfd on IRC freenode and message me. I’ll put you in touch with Tom (who’s the plugin dev editor). Or ping me on Twitter: @SiobhanPMcKeown

  • Siobhan 3:26 pm on January 16, 2013 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Support and Docs Chat 17th January: Docs agenda 

    The Support & docs chat will be 17th January at 2100 UTC in IRC freenode #wordpress-sfd. That’s:

    • 4pm US Eastern
    • 1pm US Pacific
    • 2:30am (Friday) Bangalore

    From the docs side, we’ll discuss:

    If there is anything else you’d like to discuss, please add it to the comments. See you there!

    [Update: added Documentation Roadmap]

     

    • Shane 4:07 pm on January 16, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      I’m buried leading interviews at that time. If one cancels I’ll join.

    • Daniel Bachhuber 6:04 pm on January 16, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      I’m in transit tomorrow but I’ll do my best to be online.

  • Drew Jaynes (DrewAPicture) 5:36 pm on January 14, 2013 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , help tabs, multisite,   

    Got the ball rolling on Network Admin help text 

    I’ve submitted changes for the first set of text to be refreshed/rewritten in Network Admin on the tracking ticket: #23163

    The hope is to maintain a balance between action and description text.

    For the main Network Admin index I propose this initial draft. Feedback is encouraged!

    Before:

    Tab: Overview:

    Until WordPress 3.0, running multiple sites required using WordPress MU instead of regular WordPress. In version 3.0, these applications have merged. If you are a former MU user, you should be aware of the following changes:

    • Site Admin is now Super Admin (we highly encourage you to get yourself a cape!).
    • Blogs are now called Sites; Site is now called Network.

    The Right Now box provides the network administrator with links to the screens to either create a new site or user, or to search existing users and sites. Screens for Sites and Users are also accessible through the left-hand navigation in the Network Admin section.

    After:

    Tab: Overview:

    Welcome to your Network Admin. This area of the Dashboard is used for managing all aspects of your Multisite network.

    The menus on the left side allow you to:

    • Add and manage sites or users
    • Install and activate themes or plugins
    • Update your network
    • Modify global network settings

    Tab: Quick Tasks:

    The Right Now widget on this screen provides current user and site counts on your network. New users and sites are easily created by clicking the ‘Create a New Site’ or ‘Create a New User’ links.

    You can also search for any user or site in your network by using the search boxes. Users can be searched by entering all or part of a username or email address. Sites are searchable by path or domain, depending on which type of network you have.

     

    • John Saddington 11:27 am on January 15, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      great job here Drew!

    • John Saddington 11:32 am on January 15, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      “Welcome to your Network Admin. This area of the Dashboard is used for managing all aspects of your Multisite (n)etwork.”

      Nitpicky, but you used a capital “N” on the first “network” and not on the second.

      “site counts” maybe “site statistics”?

      “You can also search for any user or site in your network by using the search boxes. ” perhaps “search boxes ____.” where ____ is location? You specified and helped with location on the menu statement “on the left side”.
      ;)

    • Siobhan 7:12 pm on January 15, 2013 Permalink | Reply

      Just a few things:

      a) The general back end of WordPress is called the Admin Screens or Administration Screens. The Dashboard is that one page where the right now widget, etc are (i.e. the “Dashboard” menu item)

      b) At the minute, this feels quite descriptive, as opposed to action-based. I would suggest revising to:

      Welcome to your Network Admin. This area of the Administration Screens is used for managing all aspects of your Multisite Network.

      From here you can:

      Add and manage sites or users
      Install and activate themes or plugins
      Update your network
      Modify global network settings

      Tab: Quick Tasks:

      The Right Now widget on this screen provides current user and site counts on your network.

      • To add new users click Create a New Site
      • To add a new site click Create a New Site

      To search for a user or site, use the search box.

      • To search for a site enter all or part of a username or email.
      • To search for a user enter the path or domain.

      • Drew Jaynes (DrewAPicture) 8:58 pm on January 15, 2013 Permalink | Reply

        I like this better. Something @saddington brought up a few comments up was the the “search” section not being pinpointed. The user/site search boxes in the Right Now box are what are being referenced here. So in not wanting to be redundant about saying “The Right Now widget”, maybe we can just make the 2 sets of bullets into one set of 4.

        • Siobhan 11:13 am on January 16, 2013 Permalink | Reply

          I will set up a MS somewhere so that I have a clue what you’re talking about :)

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