Documentation for non-technical usersI'd like to see more Help pages for the average non-admin user. I have written drafts of three, so far. They all need a bit of improvement. If anyone would like to jump in and improve them, or write some additional ones, that would be great.
START HERE: Information for utter beginnershttps://forum.statler.ws/help/site/en/START_HEREI wrote this for my wife, but unfortunately I haven't yet convinced her to login and try it. It's aimed at users who have just reached their Stream page for the very first time, and have no idea what they are seeing. I probably missed some things, and it should have pictures.
Content Filtershttps://forum.statler.ws/help/site/en/Content_FiltersThe Content Filter app allows you to filter incoming content from all sources or from specific connections. This is a list of the different types of filter. I'm not satisfied with the user-friendliness of this draft.
Help for Individual Permissions in the Connection Editorhttps://forum.statler.ws/help/site/en/Individual_Permissions_for_ConnectionsI posted this here last month. It covers all the permissions, ordered by whether you can (or should) change them. It is sorely in need of a simple introduction and overview.
I've made a directory containing these pages as multicode (.mc) files:
https://forum.statler.ws/cloud/streamsgarden/Help%20File%20DraftsGroup members should be able to upload files here.
I think we should have two different types of user Help pages:
- Explanations of how to use features. (Technical reference material, written in non-technical language if possible.)
- Guides for users who are in particular situations.
Examples of "particular situations":
- My Stream is too empty. How can I see more stuff? Where are all the tools and settings I need for this?
- I usually get harassed on social networks. What should I do to reduce this problem?
- I have vision problems. Can I change any settings to help with this?
- How do I reply to a post I found in my Stream, or a post I found on Mastodon? Is it different?
- I just got here. What should I do now?
- etc etc etc
The problem is, most people can't read a list of features, and immediately understand how those features can be used (individually or in combination) to improve their experience. And they won't remember where to find features. So I think we need to anticipate their ignorance and confusion.
We can't expect Mike to drop everything and write user docs. And maybe the rest of us have a better feel for what is needed, since we have been through the "ignorance and confusion" phase ourselves.