<<<Find immediate answers in our Tips and Tutorials!>>>
How about that says:
Find immediate answers in our Tips, Tutorials, and Documentation!
I know the on-line documents are up there… somewhere.
Koz
How about putting it in double size bold … and flashing?
How about a really groovy flash animation? 
(That I won’t see because I use a flash blocker).
– Bill
<<<(That I won’t see because I use a flash blocker).>>>
I won’t either because I don’t use JavaScript.
Is this enough thread wander yet?
Koz
Which documentation? The wiki, the 1.2 manual, or the 1.3 manual?
– Bill
1.2 and 1.3 manuals.
Koz
I’ll second that; both manuals, and possibly the wiki home page as well. It would be very handy to have links to all the information together in one place.
And in a colour that will stand out against the blue background.
POL
+1 for manuals and wiki, but if there is a “Documentation” link, then does there need to be 3 links in the forum header? (Tips and Tutorials are in the wiki)
What about the FAQs? http://audacityteam.org/help/faq
<<<if there is a “Documentation” link, >>>
Everybody takes me at my literal word. You’d think I would eventually learn.
By “Documentation,” I mean the instruction books for these two active products. Period. Full Stop. Do not try to blow this out to Every English Word That’s Ever Been Written About Audacity. That’s a great and all too convenient way to kill the idea.
“If you look at page four of the Audacity 1.2 instruction book link at the top of the forum, you’ll see that… etc.”
It could be argued successfully that the two instruction books should be first in the listing at the top of the forum.
Koz
Isn’t the 1.3 manual included in Windows / Mac versions of Audacity? If someone is not going to read it there, why will they read it here?
IIRC we did this to death a while back - the compromise that we got back then was the somewhat muted pinkish/italicised non-obvious (IMHO) links in the header block.
+1 on making the links to tips and tutorials a lot more prominent
+1 on including links to manuals (1.2 and 1.3/2.0)
However most folk still won’t RTFM will they? (Though I do note that we have had a few good posters later who have read the documentation before posting 
Except for those that are judged to be “mature” - those are to be found in the 1.3/2.0 manual - see: http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.php?title=Tutorials
WC
If people click the big icon top left they’ll see hover text that the main site has “documentation”.
I think we’re fighting human nature here (people will usually ask before looking, and won’t RTFM even if they see the “Help” menu items in 1.3.x).
I don’t want to make the header a dartboard of links because that won’t be sellable to the “upper echelons”. In the situation we’re in now I think one extra link pointing to:
http://audacityteam.org/help/documentation
would be OK. I can add a mention there that 1.3 has its own inbuilt manual and add a link to the online version of it.
Gale
I don’t think that I’m particularly stupid, but it was months before I noticed that the logo was a link. 
IMHO, if it doesn’t poke you in the eye no one will notice it. Links need to be totally obvious if they are to be effective.
Too true.
I agree that a “dartboard of links” would be undesirable (whether sellable to the “upper echelons” or not).
I’d be happy with that, but personally I’d still like the links more prominent.
You mean on the documentation page? I think that would be a very good idea - the section “Audacity User’s Manual” on that page could be updated.
<<<If someone is not going to read it there, why will they read it here?>>>
You never read a posting from someone who was not typing at their “Audacity Machine?”
Koz
As I never tire of pointing out, much of the documentation and links are for the elves, not the users.
“The instruction book for Audacity 1.2 is linked at the top of this page. Launch it and go to page 15 for more info on your problem.”
Koz
Yes, but personally I never use the links on the forum - I have a set of links in my browser favourites to enable me to access the Wiki and the manual. When I work on the forum I usually have the forum on one tab and further tabs already open with the Wiki, the manual, and a second copy of the forum, all ready for reference.
So I still regard the links in the header as for the users and not the elves - and so I, like Steve, would like to see them made more prominent (as we discussed many months back).
But I do agree that one of the key skills of a forum elf is to know just what is where in the various sets of documentation so that we can point posters to a relavant article, section or thread.
A couple of months eh Steve? Well I never realized that the logo was a clickable link until Gale pointed it out just now in this thread 
WC
OK. I did actually “slightly” increase the font size a while ago…
Yes, that’s what I’ll do.
Thanks
Gale