[FM Discuss] using Flossmanuals (was: request to start new manual for Mifos)

[Edward Cherlin]

On Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 13:21, Anne Gentle <annegentle at justwriteclick.com> wrote:
> Thanks, Adam... some responses are below.
>
> On Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 12:04 PM, Adam Monsen <haircut at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Anne Gentle wrote:
>> > Feel free to mail the list if you get stuck.
>>
>> We've got a few questions about using the Flossmanuals interface.
>>
>> But first I wanted to say how cool it is to see who's editing what,
>> via http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/Mifos/WebHome and the
>> irc.freenode.net#flossmanuals. Great work!

One of the best features, not only for seeing who is doing what, but
for discussions while working.

>> 1. Is it possible to link to other sections of a book? For instance,
>> link to the Glossary from somewhere in the Introduction? If yes, is
>> this advisable/recommended?
>
> You can, by using the URL that is in the published manual (such as
> http://en.flossmanuals.net/Audacity/InstallingUbuntu). But you don't have a
> published manual yet - which you naturally asked about in the next question.
>
> Generally, we discourage links to other chapters for a couple of reasons:
>
> 1. links do not render well in print
> 2. if a chapter is renamed or deleted you might make the link outdated
> 3. if the manual is translated, links have to be "translated" too so that
> they point to the correct language
>
> These are mostly maintenance issues.

Also, links interfere with remixing chapters into new publications. On
the Circumvention sprint, crosslinks were simply not allowed. External
links had to be explicit URLs, so that they would remain usable in
print.

[snip]
>> 3. Is there some kind of review process? i.e.: can we accept or reject
>> individual changes?
>
> Generally, the work flow is not complex enough to "reject" a change. You
> would simply revert to a previous version of the chapter.

Or, more generally, edit any changes, as in any Wiki. For example, in
a Glossary, anybody can add a term, anybody can propose a definition,
and anybody can refine or correct a definition.

It may occasionally be necessary to discuss additions, changes, or
reversions, or even to refer them to an editor-in-chief for decisions.
This has been quite rare. We expect basic competence and good will. In
particular we expect people to know the limits of their competence.
Non-native writers never object to having their syntax fixed up,
non-experts don't object to technical corrections, and geeks don't
object to making their prose comprehensible to beginners. Nobody gets
upset when the copy editors fix the formatting and the typos.

>> 5. How does one adjust font size inside tables?
>
> Hm. As far as I know, you'd have to use the source view and use font size
> markup, which is probably not a good idea since I'm not sure how it would
> look in the resulting HTML and PDF, so your hand markup might get clobbered
> anyway upon output. Is it too small or too big? Maybe someone else on the
> list would have ideas for you.

Limiting the available styles is intentional. If you have a specific
layout or markup requirement, we can discuss it. I would like to have
two table styles, one for headings in a larger size, and one for
content cells. But I can get by with bold headings in the same size.
Adam will be able to explain the design decisions when he gets back.

> Hope this helps -

Likewise.

> Anne
>
>>
>> Thank you!
>> -Adam
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-- 
Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin
Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
http://www.earthtreasury.org/