LebGeeks

mir

Member

on the search of stupid manuals

hello guys,
personally i am not a fan of reading manuals
i launch the damn thing... i start playing with it .. discover the features
without this..software would be boring
i read manuals of course when things are tricky or for business use
or when i know there are so many hidden features
i also read the view log files or changes between versions
sometimes i read them before downloading to see if it is worth

first i want you to share ur RTFMing experiences

second.. today i ran across a really weird and midreh kif maktub manual from google
i had to re-read the thing shi 4 times and try to do it
l english midreh kif maktoub.. bl eleb..
and surprise surprise. yes google.. that got me shocked.. they are the masters in simplicity

so.. if any of u guys ran across some really weird manuals.. please point them
i am collecting and making them... yeah.. i know i am weird .. it is learning from others mistakes.. w it is fun.. it is like collecting bad code, bad user interface.. geeky jokes

I am now researching another aspect.. wich is writing user manuals
it is a task.. not easy as it looks
how to keep the manuals updated while software being regulary changed (wich is a healthy thing)

are there any revolutionary writing methods u guy recommend
things not to make things boring
do u tend to watch videos.. flash anim ? if over internet would it make a diff
graphs
do u like help to be within the software on each form or in general

how searchable do u find the help inside the softwares...how to improve it.. any recommended software for writing help manuals.. i wonder if some tools regarding this are gonna be available withing the IDEs
(like the tracking of "who wrote this crap  http://www.lebgeeks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=4836 )

Last edited by mir (November 9 2007)

rolf

Member

Re: on the search of stupid manuals

I like references, they're good. But I dont like manuals. Like you said, I like to play around.
But there are some things that are sometimes too complicated to learn without a manual.