LinuxMCE Forums

General => Users => Topic started by: danielk on January 22, 2008, 03:45:35 pm

Title: Creating a FAQ
Post by: danielk on January 22, 2008, 03:45:35 pm
One of the suggestions for the furums that came up when I was out in Sunnyvale talking to various people about UI3 was to create a a list of frequently asked questions for both this forum, the Developers forum. The idea is to make a sticky post to the respective forums with the questions and short answers which point to the wiki for each in depth answer.

So lets figure out what should go in that FAQ in this thread.

My initial suggestions:

Q: I just installed LinuxMCE and all I see is a blank screen, what now?
A: The AVWizard is running on a different video port, or at a resolution your screen can't resolve so you can't see it. See here http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/AVWizard (http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/AVWizard) for instructions on making it visible.

Q: Why does the LinuxMCE core router want to act as the DHCP server?
A: In order to netboot Orbiters it needs to be able to run a DHCP server that tells new computers and devices on it's private network where to find their operating system kernels; or in some cases their configuration parameters. Running the DHCP server on the core also allows it to locate network devices such as a HDHomeRun tuner without constantly scanning the network for new devices. This allows you to do things like temporarily boot your MS Windows laptop as a LinuxMCE orbiter without installing any software on that laptop, just by selecting network boot (aka PXE boot) at startup via BIOS hot-keys.

Q: What is the easiest way to set up networking for the LinuxMCE core router?
A: Use two network ports on your core, one with connected to your DSL or cable modem, and the other connected to the network switch that serves the rest of the computers in your home. When it receives a response to it's DHCP request on one port it will automatically use the other port for it's DHCP server, to serve the rest of your network.

Q: If I can't add a second NIC to my LinuxMCE core, how can I still allow LinuxMCE to furnish DHCP to my network?
A: This can be done by turning off DHCP on your cable or DSL modem, and configuring LinuxMCE external networking parameters in the admin panel. [link to step-by-step instructions].

Q: If I can't turn off DHCP on my cable or DSL modem, and I can't add another NIC to my LinuxMCE core, can I still use LinuxMCE?
A: Yes, but you will not be able netboot orbiters and some external control and recording devices will not function. To do this you must reconfigure LinuxMCE to disable it's DHCP server in the admin panel. [link to step-by-step instructions].

Q: What kinds of remotes are best for LinuxMCE?
A: ....

Q: How do I use my existing infrared remote with LinuxMCE?
A: ....

Q: What do I do about video tearing in LinuxMCE?
A: This usually happens when you try to use a more advanced UI than your graphics card can handle with the video resolutions you are using. Try turning off alpha blending if you have it enabled for UI2, or switching to UI1. This can be done in the AVWizard. You can launch the AVWizard at boot time by pressing the shift key on your keyboard when rebooting just after the rising series of beeps, but before the descending series of beeps. See [url]http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/AVWizard[url] for instructions on using the AVWizard.

Q: My monitor has a resolution not supported by the AVWizard, how do I make things look right?
A: First run the AVWizard to set things up using any resolution supported by both the AVWizard and your monitor. See  [url]http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/AVWizard[url] for instructions on using the AVWizard. Now once you have successfully set up LinuxMCE at this resolution you will have to manually edit your X.org configuration file. It is located at "/etc/X11/xorg.conf". Normally all you have to do is change the Modes "640x480" line below the Depth 24 line to match the resolution of your monitor, but you may also need to commend out some additional configuration lines for nVidia cards in particular. Once the right resolution is set, simply reboot and LinuxMCE will adjust to the new resolution. [link to more detailed explanation/howto].



Please add any other, non-development, questions and answers [if you know them] to this thread....
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: golgoj4 on January 22, 2008, 07:05:43 pm
Q. How do I make additional mouse-buttons behave as F6, F7, F8 in UI2?



A. See here: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Use_Additional_Mouse_Buttons

thanks to chewi for helping me out on this one.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: Matthew on January 22, 2008, 08:02:59 pm
How about a separate User FAQ with "get it", "install it" and "troubleshoot it" and "use it" (features) sections. And a separate Developer FAQ, with "get source", "compile", "navigate", "report bugs" and "contribute changes" sections.

And then a separate Community FAQ that identifies all the documentation, notification and discussion locations. Where to see news, where and how to post questions, how to search for answers, how to contribute to the discussions, the wiki, the code.

Probably some crossreferencing between them.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: golgoj4 on January 23, 2008, 08:13:42 am
How about a separate User FAQ with "get it", "install it" and "troubleshoot it" and "use it" (features) sections. And a separate Developer FAQ, with "get source", "compile", "navigate", "report bugs" and "contribute changes" sections.

And then a separate Community FAQ that identifies all the documentation, notification and discussion locations. Where to see news, where and how to post questions, how to search for answers, how to contribute to the discussions, the wiki, the code.

Probably some crossreferencing between them.

So who

A. Makes the decision of organizing it?
B. Actually does it?

Because your idea sounds like a nice mod to the original post.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: Matthew on January 23, 2008, 04:01:48 pm
How about a separate User FAQ with "get it", "install it" and "troubleshoot it" and "use it" (features) sections. And a separate Developer FAQ, with "get source", "compile", "navigate", "report bugs" and "contribute changes" sections.

And then a separate Community FAQ that identifies all the documentation, notification and discussion locations. Where to see news, where and how to post questions, how to search for answers, how to contribute to the discussions, the wiki, the code.

Probably some crossreferencing between them.

So who

A. Makes the decision of organizing it?
B. Actually does it?

Because your idea sounds like a nice mod to the original post.

I think that if danielk starts a FAQ in the wiki structured like that, then we can all have a go at populating it.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: danielk on January 23, 2008, 04:25:28 pm
I think "get it", "install it" and "troubleshoot it" all belong in one FAQ, but I can see a "use it" FAQ as a separate entity. I already think the developer FAQ should be a separate entity and started a discussion in the developer forum about that FAQ.

FYI There is already a FAQ in the Wiki which Zaerc and Lozzo edited, but these answer more general questions than some of the 'how do I do X' questions I see posted in the forums.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: Matthew on January 23, 2008, 04:53:30 pm
I think "get it", "install it" and "troubleshoot it" all belong in one FAQ, but I can see a "use it" FAQ as a separate entity. I already think the developer FAQ should be a separate entity and started a discussion in the developer forum about that FAQ.

FYI There is already a FAQ in the Wiki which Zaerc and Lozzo edited, but these answer more general questions than some of the 'how do I do X' questions I see posted in the forums.

Keep in mind that most FAQs I see these days aren't really Frequently Asked Questions. They're just more top-down instructions repackaged as Q&A. I wonder if there's any way to actually find out which questions are frequently asked, and then answer them. That would have a lot more value to the questioners. Though there's still a lot of value in answering the "Most Important Questions".
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: golgoj4 on January 24, 2008, 12:37:51 am
I think "get it", "install it" and "troubleshoot it" all belong in one FAQ, but I can see a "use it" FAQ as a separate entity. I already think the developer FAQ should be a separate entity and started a discussion in the developer forum about that FAQ.

FYI There is already a FAQ in the Wiki which Zaerc and Lozzo edited, but these answer more general questions than some of the 'how do I do X' questions I see posted in the forums.

Keep in mind that most FAQs I see these days aren't really Frequently Asked Questions. They're just more top-down instructions repackaged as Q&A. I wonder if there's any way to actually find out which questions are frequently asked, and then answer them. That would have a lot more value to the questioners. Though there's still a lot of value in answering the "Most Important Questions".

unless there is some way to cull the existing forum, i think someone is gonna have to manually look through the threads.
Some things I notice a lot
-Resolution - Displays, screen resolution, UI choices.
-Recommended system specs, ie HD ready vs standard def ready systems.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: golgoj4 on January 25, 2008, 12:50:06 am
We should also make it a point not to spam the board if you haven't taken the time to SEARCH for what you are looking for.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: Matthew on January 27, 2008, 04:52:20 am
how about the wiki is connected to pluto wizard and puts together wiki pages you need to read when it gathers info about your computer.  and add devices etc...

What would be great would be a page in the wiki for each page in the Adminsite, linked from the adminsite, and then linked to the existing content in the rest of the wiki.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: Nephus on February 12, 2008, 09:41:38 am
It's good to see an attempt at reorganizing some of this info in a more logical and easier to search format.  I've been researching this package for months trying to figure out how to get everything properly set up before I began, and some info is almost impossible to find a clear answer on.  The wiki has become a mess, and posting a question on the forums... well you're more likely to be attacked than get any help.  It does no good to search when all you find is thread after thread of people being too full of themselves, yet not a single answer to the issue you're searching for.  There's no point in building a community full of bad neighbors.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: sk1 on February 12, 2008, 10:44:07 pm
I would disagree about the attacked part, I've only see people get attacked if they post for the first time saying, "This Linux MCE is the suxxor cuz I get get it installed and I'm l33t" or "I'm a fricking idiot cuz I didn't read the instructions and formatted my drive and it's all you people in the forum's fault"

People round here have been nice from the short time I've been here.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: rrambo on February 12, 2008, 10:56:23 pm
It's good to see an attempt at reorganizing some of this info in a more logical and easier to search format.  I've been researching this package for months trying to figure out how to get everything properly set up before I began, and some info is almost impossible to find a clear answer on.  The wiki has become a mess, and posting a question on the forums... well you're more likely to be attacked than get any help.  It does no good to search when all you find is thread after thread of people being too full of themselves, yet not a single answer to the issue you're searching for.  There's no point in building a community full of bad neighbors.

The only attacks on here are when someone posts a question that has been asked previously and answered to exhaustion.  If you don't bother searching first and ask one of these questions, yes you are more than likely going to be met with hostility.  I agree, the wiki needs to be worked on.  Have YOU contributed to improving the wiki?  I have..  I would have to say that 100% of the people on here have normal lives and jobs so it's a bit of a task to update all aspects of the wiki when people only have to time to work on this in their spare time.  Don't complain if you don't have anything useful to contribute yourself.

The developers are extremely helpful when asked a question that needs to be answered and hasn't been asked a million times before.  I don't consider any of them to be 'bad neighbors'
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: golgoj4 on February 13, 2008, 12:15:28 am
It's good to see an attempt at reorganizing some of this info in a more logical and easier to search format.  I've been researching this package for months trying to figure out how to get everything properly set up before I began, and some info is almost impossible to find a clear answer on.  The wiki has become a mess, and posting a question on the forums... well you're more likely to be attacked than get any help.  It does no good to search when all you find is thread after thread of people being too full of themselves, yet not a single answer to the issue you're searching for.  There's no point in building a community full of bad neighbors.

-Do you have any examples of how the wiki is 'a mess' ?
-Where are the threads with people full of themselves. Normally its someone asking the person posting to do some research before they post. Generally, when I search for something, its located. After all, it had to be answered once for people to tell you to search.

We need the users to be less needy and 'do it now' and more community based. Posting a topic without looking into it at all is pretty irresponsible. Im not saying this is you, but there seem to be a lot of recent new users who feel this is their personal support forum. Part of being a community is not being a burden to others in the community unnecessarily.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: hari on February 13, 2008, 01:05:44 am
We need the users to be less needy and 'do it now' and more community based. Posting a topic without looking into it at all is pretty irresponsible. Im not saying this is you, but there seem to be a lot of recent new users who feel this is their personal support forum. Part of being a community is not being a burden to others in the community unnecessarily.
well said.

best regards,
Hari
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: teedge77 on February 13, 2008, 04:01:23 am
We need the users to be less needy and 'do it now' and more community based. Posting a topic without looking into it at all is pretty irresponsible. Im not saying this is you, but there seem to be a lot of recent new users who feel this is their personal support forum. Part of being a community is not being a burden to others in the community unnecessarily.
well said.

best regards,
Hari


a chain is only as strong as its weakest leak.
everyone has to start somewhere.
children are born burdens to their parents. later those who bore them are the burdens to their children.
throw in another cliche here.
people do seem like they have bad attitudes on here sometimes. its the frustration of people answering the same shit over and over. what people dont seem to realize is, these friggin people see this video and think ...oh...a puter...i learned how to download a tv show off the "intranet" now i can do anything. im "leat".
seriously....listen to some of the questions and look at some of the peoples attitudes. a lot of these people are mad that they cant show how cool they are, cause they arent at the level they think they are. some people face a sad wake up call, cause shit aint always easy and you may have to do some work and learn some stuff. the forums are for support. we dont have a forum so people can come in here and just say...hey...i like this...its cool. some people need help to learn. even zaerc had to learn everything. hes got a better background than 99% of these new guys that got a computer for xmas and think itll run LMCE. he was also willing to put in some friggin effort. so it was a lot easier for him to get a grasp of it. another problem is, i think, some of these people dont really want to be a part of the "community" either...they just want their work done for them. anyway...lazy, needy, useless people cover the earth. their bound to show up in the forums too sometimes. oh well.

Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: Nephus on February 13, 2008, 11:24:39 am
there seem to be a lot of recent new users who feel this is their personal support forum.

Funny you should word it that way, as the link from the wiki is clearly labeled "Support Forum".
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: hari on February 13, 2008, 06:43:23 pm
there seem to be a lot of recent new users who feel this is their personal support forum.

Funny you should word it that way, as the link from the wiki is clearly labeled "Support Forum".
yeah, but this is a support forum for a community project. It's not like you pay for help. Get the difference?

There are many good souls in here that invest much of their spare time to help out. Honor and respect their contribution with doing one's homework before asking already answered questions.

So, this is not a lmce specific problem. I've been in many forums on different topics. There are some members helping out and others that don't care to read sticky posts, faqs and so on. Of course the helping members get angry over time answering the same questions over and over. And then responses like "wah wah you are such a bad and rude community" come up.

best regards,
Hari
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: teedge77 on February 13, 2008, 06:57:40 pm
Maybe in some stickies/FAQ we could show people some of the other forums for the parts of LMCE? like for mythtv, kubuntu/ubuntu and asterisk. sometimes the questions can be answered elsewhere too.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: Nephus on February 13, 2008, 09:12:57 pm
yeah, but this is a support forum for a community project. It's not like you pay for help. Get the difference?
Never said, suggested, or implied that this was a paid service.  I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't put words in my mouth.
Quote
There are many good souls in here that invest much of their spare time to help out. Honor and respect their contribution with doing one's homework before asking already answered questions.
I have yet to ask any questions other than a basic one about the deb package on the install CDs not behaving as it is supposed to according to the instructions given for it.  I honor and respect the many good souls, but I am merely pointing out that the self appointed welcome wagon, of which you are a prime example, would rather insult new users rather than welcoming them into the fold and strengthening the support for MCE.  I'm having several issues with my setup currently despite using recommended hardware, and you'll notice that I have yet to post a single question about it because I am searching for my answers or trying to figure it out on my own.  Despite that, it's people like you that leave me with the feeling that after I've exhausted those avenues that I don't have a community of experienced users to fall back on for a little advice now and then.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: hari on February 13, 2008, 09:59:06 pm
yeah, but this is a support forum for a community project. It's not like you pay for help. Get the difference?
Never said, suggested, or implied that this was a paid service.  I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't put words in my mouth.
If you don't want to see my point thats fine, but don't accuse me of something I have not done. Where did I say that I have cited you?

Quote
I honor and respect the many good souls, but I am merely pointing out that the self appointed welcome wagon, of which you are a prime example, would rather insult new users rather than welcoming them into the fold and strengthening the support for MCE.
look, I try to help out with coding, documentation and helping users. Many participants are fine with that. If you think my behavior is insulting and does not fit you, thats ok, too. You don't pay my salary and we are not family. I don't owe you anything. I owe really much to the many people that contribute to free software.

Quote
I'm having several issues with my setup currently despite using recommended hardware, and you'll notice that I have yet to post a single question about it because I am searching for my answers or trying to figure it out on my own.  Despite that, it's people like you that leave me with the feeling that after I've exhausted those avenues that I don't have a community of experienced users to fall back on for a little advice now and then.
so it seems like you prefer trolling around instead of debugging your problem and asking sane questions. I'm fine with that, too. If you change your mind, let us know. That package problem can't be hard to debug.

best regards,
Hari
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: golgoj4 on February 13, 2008, 10:41:10 pm
Maybe in some stickies/FAQ we could show people some of the other forums for the parts of LMCE? like for mythtv, kubuntu/ubuntu and asterisk. sometimes the questions can be answered elsewhere too.

I think it may be a good idea actually. Maybe not to those forums exclusively, but sub-forums highlighting the different areas as you said.

Nephus: Instead of debating semantics, lets try and SOLVE some problems. I believe you mentioned the dis-organization of information. What specifically was the problem?

If you feel that we are too hard edged or unfriendly, im sorry for that. But there are many questions that get posted daily that people who have no connection to the other try and help. So please, lets move away from negative and try and improve by putting forth concrete ideas and suggestions, not nebulous personal observations.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: marrandy on April 14, 2008, 04:14:08 pm

OK - it's time to say something.

Can everyone  'chill out'.

Attacking, whether it is newbies or 'experts' is neither helpful or productive.  The reason this regularly comes up, is because:-

1)   People have a been led to suspect from the video, that it just works.

2)   The docs are a mess, although they are getting better.

I bought fiire as to me, it was worth the extra $100 to get a so called working system.  It doesn't by the way.  I was testing pluto for 18+ months previously as well.  I have bought numerous pieces of compatible equipment, most of which are working in isolation.  I do contribute feedback, my equipment experiences on the wiki, when I can but due to work (longer than 40-hrs) and marriage, my time is a lot more limited than it used to be when I was younger.  Just because I can't contribute more, does NOT invalidate the following.  I also don't want any support on my issues at the moment.  I have spent over 120 hrs the past 4-months and work and home commitments have a higher priority at this time.

It didn't work with my haupaggue 250, 350 and pchdtv 3000 cards despite a couple of hours of fiire support, until I figured out that the v4l modules were loaded, instead of the, documented for over Two years, DVB module.  It worked as soon as installed that but I have numbers of slot issues so I'm switching to HDhome run. No slots needed.

It didn't work with my RCA HDTV despite many support calls, but I had never used the DVI input so that was suspect.  I couldn't find anyone that had a HD/Blue ray player to test.  Component quality was poor and breaks up.  Composite and S-video for my other older TV's in the house was virtually unusable.  After 6-weeks plus of frustration in January, I bought Sharp LC-42064U with free Sharp Blue-ray player and the fiire engine worked with the sharp stright away. The fiire station still doesn't though.  The blu-ray also worked with the RCA TV in HD straight away as well.  So why does the standard commercial blue-ray hdmi/dvi on the RCA work, but neither the fiire engine and fiire station  work on that TV ?

Something is seriously wrong with the outputs selected from the GUI screen.

I think the whole project is running before it can walk.

It's great to keep adding lot's of nifty new features ( and secondary teams can do that) but what about getting some project management (core team) in and focusing on and getting the basics working perfectly on limited hardware until later.  ie. in order:-

1)   A short list (e.g. 3) of systems/motherboards/graphics/sound that work 100% (not 90%, 98.6% or 99.8% but 100%) as a server/hybrid - and focus on those alone at the moment.  The server may be in the closet but the cable can still come through the wall into the other room.  This is called the lowest common denominator.

2)   A short list (e.g. 3) of systems/motherboards that work 100% as a director/client - and focus on those alone at the moment.

3)   Sort out and fix the standard GUI setup so that it works on every TV's input, just like commercial equipment does.

4)   Watching your pictures/photographs full screen (like flicker) just like any other media center. - Currently a major weakness.

5)   Fixing the movie system where cross-linked movies and movies with no graphic/description can be searched/selected/updated easily

6)  Next would be Blue-ray I suppose.

7)  Alarm systems (caddx) X-10. Insteon, A/C control (aprilairre) would be next or secondary teams in parallel.

Getting the basic (limited supported) hardware working 100% with all TV's is the crux.  Even though people's time is theirs and free.  It would be prudent to treat this just like a professional, commercial project if it is going to be a success.

You will then find many of the irritating newbie issues/questions will go away as they have been solved.  You can expand the motherboard/graphics/sound card/chipset later if appropriate.

I'm going to off the next couple of weeks, so have fun.  I wonder how many people will ignore the valid points and suggestions and go into attack mode.
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: Zaerc on April 14, 2008, 06:03:50 pm

OK - it's time to say something.

Can everyone  'chill out'.

Attacking, whether it is newbies or 'experts' is neither helpful or productive.  The reason this regularly comes up, is because:-

1)   People have a been led to suspect from the video, that it just works.

2)   The docs are a mess, although they are getting better.

I bought fiire as to me, it was worth the extra $100 to get a so called working system.  It doesn't by the way.  I was testing pluto for 18+ months previously as well.  I have bought numerous pieces of compatible equipment, most of which are working in isolation.  I do contribute feedback, my equipment experiences on the wiki, when I can but due to work (longer than 40-hrs) and marriage, my time is a lot more limited than it used to be when I was younger.  Just because I can't contribute more, does NOT invalidate the following.  I also don't want any support on my issues at the moment.  I have spent over 120 hrs the past 4-months and work and home commitments have a higher priority at this time.

It didn't work with my haupaggue 250, 350 and pchdtv 3000 cards despite a couple of hours of fiire support, until I figured out that the v4l modules were loaded, instead of the, documented for over Two years, DVB module.  It worked as soon as installed that but I have numbers of slot issues so I'm switching to HDhome run. No slots needed.

It didn't work with my RCA HDTV despite many support calls, but I had never used the DVI input so that was suspect.  I couldn't find anyone that had a HD/Blue ray player to test.  Component quality was poor and breaks up.  Composite and S-video for my other older TV's in the house was virtually unusable.  After 6-weeks plus of frustration in January, I bought Sharp LC-42064U with free Sharp Blue-ray player and the fiire engine worked with the sharp stright away. The fiire station still doesn't though.  The blu-ray also worked with the RCA TV in HD straight away as well.  So why does the standard commercial blue-ray hdmi/dvi on the RCA work, but neither the fiire engine and fiire station  work on that TV ?

Something is seriously wrong with the outputs selected from the GUI screen.

I think the whole project is running before it can walk.

It's great to keep adding lot's of nifty new features ( and secondary teams can do that) but what about getting some project management (core team) in and focusing on and getting the basics working perfectly on limited hardware until later.  ie. in order:-

1)   A short list (e.g. 3) of systems/motherboards/graphics/sound that work 100% (not 90%, 98.6% or 99.8% but 100%) as a server/hybrid - and focus on those alone at the moment.  The server may be in the closet but the cable can still come through the wall into the other room.  This is called the lowest common denominator.

2)   A short list (e.g. 3) of systems/motherboards that work 100% as a director/client - and focus on those alone at the moment.

3)   Sort out and fix the standard GUI setup so that it works on every TV's input, just like commercial equipment does.

4)   Watching your pictures/photographs full screen (like flicker) just like any other media center. - Currently a major weakness.

5)   Fixing the movie system where cross-linked movies and movies with no graphic/description can be searched/selected/updated easily

6)  Next would be Blue-ray I suppose.

7)  Alarm systems (caddx) X-10. Insteon, A/C control (aprilairre) would be next or secondary teams in parallel.

Getting the basic (limited supported) hardware working 100% with all TV's is the crux.  Even though people's time is theirs and free.  It would be prudent to treat this just like a professional, commercial project if it is going to be a success.

You will then find many of the irritating newbie issues/questions will go away as they have been solved.  You can expand the motherboard/graphics/sound card/chipset later if appropriate.

I'm going to off the next couple of weeks, so have fun.  I wonder how many people will ignore the valid points and suggestions and go into attack mode.

What exactly does this have to do with creating a FAQ? 

And what valid points are we talking about here?  I only see the wishlist of somebody who is clearly indicating he can't be bothered to put in the effort himself, yet everybody else should work on this like it's a professional, commercial project, for free!

Another thing is that we didn't sell you the fiire hardware, neither are we responsible for their (lack of) professional support.  If you have a problem with that I suggest you go bitch at them, not us.


Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: Lexje on April 28, 2008, 10:40:47 am
Just my 2cents:

I do agree on the 'feelings' behind these posts;
It is definitely true that a lot often depends on the 'tone' of how things are said or paraphrased.

Fortunately I am 'computer savvy ' enough to find my way around (most of the times).

Having found myself in most of these 'recognisable' positions creates a lot of understanding and goodwill.
Until now I have not really been into using a wiki, more precise mediawiki.
I have much more, as a user, used the SMF forums around on various projects.

What are my findings:
I agree that most, if not nearly all can be found in the wiki.
I also agree that more than often it is not obvious to find what you're searching.
I think it shouldn't be more easy to use google to do a general web search instead of using the search facility of the wiki.
This needs some more explaining:
I tend to think as a wiki as a book, maybe a book under way of being written.
When I use a book as a knowledgebase or technical document, I very often hop from chapter X, paragraph 2 to chapter D, paragraph 28 e.g. In order to do this I have an index at my disposal in the book.

When I 'read' the wiki, this index is what I'm missing most.
Having installed mediawiki on one of my servers, I have deliberately observed several wiki's (most mediawiki type) and have been able to distinguish several sites where the left part column is used as an analogue 'index', making it much more easy to navigate through a wiki. I have also encountered posts indicating that it is not so 'easy' to use the left column in this sense. At least it seems to need some digging into / studying of how to do this. But it is possible. (If I come accross good examples, I'll add links to this post later, unfortunately I have not bookmarked them.)

As for the forum:
I found this tool for SMF forum: Tagging System For Topics here: http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=579 (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=579)
I have not seen a SMF forum using it yet, but I have generally experienced that the usage of such 'tags' can be extremely rewarding and handy.
I don't even know if this mod is compatible with this SMF forum, but it seems fairly up to date.

There seems to be tagging possible at user level and at administrator level.
It might be an option to start using these type of tags to 'categorize' and bring more of a structure in the forum?

Another suggestion might be the usage of the freemind extension on the wiki.
Throughout my daily activity, personal as well as professionally, I rely heavily on all kinds of mindmapping capable tools. Lately I find Freemind very up to par.
It seems there is a wiki extension which allows for Freemind maps to be used inside a (media)wiki.
This would allow to set up links to various points either in the forum or in the wiki.
The Freemind mindmap allows then for folding / unfolding of treelike items, thus functioning as an easy searcheable index system.
It would also allow to use e.g. one Freemind mindmap as a FAQ, allowing for easy shuffling (if required later on) of items inside a defined hierarchy.

Just suggestions. Always prepared to help the project where possible. ;)

Erwin
Title: Wiki is a better place for an FAQ
Post by: indulis on September 16, 2008, 07:02:53 am
FAQs in forums are a pain 'cos they take more effort than a wiki to manage. I've never seen one work really well, apart from information that never changes.

As an example, someone says on page 1 "the way to get your XYZ to work is to go to / and type rm *" (don't do this please Linux newbies!).  On page 5 someone quotes page 1 and posts "dont ever do this".  Too late- you have either done it or you have to read the whole FAQ to mentally collate the contradictory info.

FAQ by all means- but I think just a pointer to the WIKI FAQ page.

Cheers,

Indulis
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: hari on September 16, 2008, 04:21:06 pm
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/FAQ
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: indulis on September 16, 2008, 07:01:17 pm
Hari,

Yes I knew there was an FAQ there (maybe too broad in scope?), so the point was not to go about putting FAQs in forums 'cos the info should be in the Wiki in some sort of FAQ.

Indulis
Title: Re: Wiki is a better place for an FAQ
Post by: colinjones on September 17, 2008, 01:31:30 am
As an example, someone says on page 1 "the way to get your XYZ to work is to go to / and type rm *" (don't do this please Linux newbies!).  On page 5 someone quotes page 1 and posts "dont ever do this".  Too late- you have either done it or you have to read the whole FAQ to mentally collate the contradictory info.

Off topic but related to the rm * point, very amusing instance of this happening on another board, its like watching a car crash in slow motion :) http://tremulous.net/forum/index.php?topic=8956.msg139003#msg139003
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: valent on November 05, 2008, 10:33:11 pm
There are some great tips here:
http://linuxmce.wordpress.com/

that would be great for users to see also in the wiki, like how to custom partition the hard drive...
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: lindhardt on January 29, 2009, 10:24:30 pm
What about how to use LinuxMCE instead of Windows MCE?
Title: Re: Creating a FAQ
Post by: lindhardt on January 29, 2009, 10:31:47 pm
What about how to use LinuxMCE instead of Windows MCE?
Sorry to quote my self, but could the question be:

Can I use LinuxMCE as an alternative to WindowsMCE?