Audacity Forum

Fascinating.

Does the fact that How-To-Geek needs to provide such tutorials mean that ours, in the wiki and the manual, are not good enough - or just not found by our users?

Personally I've always thought that the tutorials are hard to spot in the 1.3 manual as the only link to them is via the navigation sidebar. I did post a request on the Main Page/discusion page last February suggesting that we created more visible tutorial links in the main section of the manual's front page by creating a Tutorials section. And note carefully that the nav sidebar disappears off-screen as soon as you scroll down to the main section of the front page. See: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Talk:Main_Page

A couple of things I note from the HTG article:

1) They recommmend 1.3 as the version to use

2) the image of the sample recording is recorded too hot and appears to clip - setting a bad example for users.

WC

WC

Gale Andrews wrote: Here's an amusing codicil to the story, given there was no consensus on (or obvious) two-word phrase rather than three - we might have called it "Track Properties":
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/39681/th ... he-basics/

Wouldn't really have done because Properties ought really to have an interface element attached to it as per "properties sheet" or "properties tab". Fascinating though that despite our efforts to name it consistently in the Manual they still come up with their own phrase for it.

They also came up with their own names for all the toolbars. It's kind of like they didn't read the manual, just played with it and figured out what it did.

-- Bill

Following my comments in this thread earlier today re the hard-to-spot Tutorials - I have created a mockup of a revised Table Of Contents for the front page of the manual - I have added a new section for the Tutorials. See: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/User ... ge_Mock_Up

Compare with current front page: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Main_Page

Comments welcomed.

WC

P.S. thanks Bill for the steer in the Wiki Talk page - WC

waxcylinder wrote:Following my comments in this thread earlier today re the hard-to-spot Tutorials - I have created a mockup of a revised Table Of Contents for the front page of the manual - I have added a new section for the Tutorials. See: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/User ... ge_Mock_Up

Compare with current front page: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Main_Page

Comments welcomed.

Looks good!

Sometimes I have trouble myself finding some of the tutorials/guides. I think that might help

Regarding the How-to Geek page ...

Would it be worth contacting them and:
1) pointing out that their naming of the interface elements conflicts with ours
2) ask them to link to the 1.3.12 manual
3) ask them to link to the forum, so those people who are asking questions we see all the time on the forum can get timely answers

?

-- Bill

waxcylinder wrote:I have created a mockup of a revised Table Of Contents for the front page of the manual - I have added a new section for the Tutorials. See: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/User ... ge_Mock_Up

Compare with current front page: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Main_Page

I like the added Tutorials section.

billw58 wrote:Regarding the How-to Geek page ...

Would it be worth contacting them

It's a Do-ocracy, just "Do it"!

I like the new layout as well, but I'd move the Tutorials section above the Reference section.

-- Bill

billw58 wrote:I like the new layout as well, but I'd move the Tutorials section above the Reference section.

Thanks for that suggestion Bill. I've created a second user page with an alternative layout based on that ordering - see: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/User ... _Version-2

And I updated the Talk Page to add the link to this revision - see: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Talk:Main_Page

And thanks fore the votes so far - that's +3 (Bruno, Ed & Bill)

WC

Thanks, Peter - I hadn't noticed your suggestion before, though the how-to-geek article is really more like a "reference" than a tutorial in our sense, so I don't entirely see the relevance. It does suggest they did not find the Quick Guide image.

I don't especially like all that screen estate for the Tutorials, though if we were to do this on grounds of "increased visibility" I agree the Tutorials would have to be between "Using Audacity" and "Reference". Personally once I know where the Tutorials are I would not want all that stuff about Tutorials in the way - as an experienced user it would actively impede me. And I don't understand your logic about losing the yellow panel and the sidebar when you scroll down - you will lose a new "Tutorials" panel when you scroll up or down past it as well.

I get a lot of feedback off the e-mail link on the front page and while a few users have said they would like to be able to find the Tutorials more easily and one suggested exactly what is being suggested here, a couple made my point that it's good not to clutter the front page with details of Tutorials and Quick Help. That said, I still think we probably haven't got "New users may want to look at" right yet (especially the actual contents of Quick Help which perhaps should be a single page of links to more extended "hand-holding" tutorial material). Nor are Tutorials visible enough. My gut reaction would be to work on that "yellow panel" (e.g. give links in a single line to the individual tutorials, and possibly give tutorials a "not-too-blatant" image to draw attention to them) rather than have that large blue panel.

The major tutorial feedback - which concurs with what Bill and I have discussed on the WIki - is that "setting up for playback and recording" is needed. I think that could replace http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Auda ... figuration .

--------------------

Do you still want me to put a link to the Forum in the Manual? I think we need a link, but I'm not sure if it should be in the Sidebar - if it is, it has implications for the offline manual that is included in the downloads.

billw58 wrote: Re how-to geek
Would it be worth contacting them and:
1) pointing out that their naming of the interface elements conflicts with ours
2) ask them to link to the 1.3.12 manual
3) ask them to link to the forum, so those people who are asking questions we see all the time on the forum can get timely answers

Have you done this, Bill? I casually know someone there I could mention those points to. I almost added a comment, but if I did so it would be a long way down now.


Gale